Closing the Cadbury factory will hit Dunedin hard, but what does it say about the health of NZ manufacturing?

A yacht fire left a person suffering smoke inhalation this morning.

Police in Wellington are searching for a man seen riding a dirt bike while carrying a baby on his back.

The case of a 14-year-old autistic boy being held in police cells overnight because there was nowhere else to put him is "appalling", an autism advocate says.

WATCH: An extreme water daredevil has gone over the Huka Falls on a bodyboard, an act that has been described as "reckless and irresponsible".

Two lucky Lotto players are each half a million dollars richer after tonight's Lotto draw.

A trio of trees have toppled power lines and led to a Porirua road being closed as repair crew arrive to clear the scene.

Nearly 1000 cats have found themselves in predicaments needing rescue by fire crews in the last five years.

The Porirua community is rallying around their local Santa after his sack was stolen just weeks before Christmas.

A man who pulled a gun on a police officer remains on the run.

A 40-year-old man has been sentenced to 11 years and six months jail after "exceptionally cruel offending".

A man guilty of a shocking sex attack will today learn if he faces preventive detention.

A free service has been set up to ease the Christmas shopping horror.

A former Labour member spurned for being "right wing" by Labour leader Andrew Little has signed up with National.

Wellington Police have arrested seven people over a city-based methamphetamine dealing syndicate.

Wellington police have found an autistic 19-year-old, who was reported missing earlier this evening, "safe and sound in Paraparaumu".

Videos have emerged of a police pursuit in Porirua which ends in the driver getting out of his vehicle and running on foot.

Wellington and Kapiti drivers should expect delays due to ongoing repairs and clean-up from slips and flooding, the NZTA warns.

A number of schools have been closed due to flooding, affecting some students due to sit exams after afternoon.

A string of motorists is stranded on State Highway 2 as authorities across the Wellington region prepare for evacuations.

Two men have appeared in court in relation to a string of aggravated robberies in Porirua. A 42-year old man appeared in the Porirua

A Massey University lecturer has been sentenced on a charge of dangerous driving causing injury.

Despite feeding her family on a tight budget, this Porirua mum is changing lives with her food parcel initiative.

Kathryn Nevatt held her breath for seven minutes and 45 seconds while floating face down in Porirua pool, setting a new national record.

A Wellington firefighter had to be winched from steep terrain after a cat took exception to being rescued from a macrocarpa tree.

Around $2.1 million will be invested to build a total of six new classrooms at schools in the Wellington and Kapiti regions, Education Minister Hekia Parata announced today.

A man's held up a dairy in Porirua with a sawn-off rifle, before making off with some money.

After Warriena Wright's death at the foot of Gable Tostee's apartment building, people on both sides of the Tasman asked why and how she got there.

Unlocked vehicles parked in driveways and open garages and sheds have repeatedly been targeted in Porirua and Kapiti, say police.

Watch NZH Focus: NZ police are urging calm over creepy clown sightings as a sociologist explains the "social panic" that can give rise to such epidemics.