Three teenagers have been seriously injured after an explosion was sparked when a cigarette was lit while they were inhaling butane gas in a South Auckland house.

An Auckland caregiver ripped off taxpayers for nearly $70,000 to try to get her family out of a "tin shed" they were living in, a court heard.

Police are investigating how a man sustained a life-threatening injury while walking home from a family gathering in Otahuhu.

Eight people have escaped a Papatoetoe house fire this evening. Two fire crews were called out to the blaze at 8.40pm and were still at the property doing salvage work at 9.15pm.

Firefighters are currently dealing with a large chemical spill at a freight yard in South Auckland.

New Zealand First dismissed National’s first-home buyer policy – but also took a swing at Labour for being a party for “gays, lesbians and the loony intelligent left”.

Prime Minister John Key has kicked off National's election campaign in South Auckland with a boost to Government assistance for low and middle income first-time buyers.

One of the people accused of stabbing a man to death in his car can now be revealed as his wife.

Two people charged with the murder of Auckland man Davender Singh will be allowed to keep their names secret until next week.

Police have arrested a 31 year old female and 28 year old male in relation to the homicide of Davender Singh.

Sensible Sentencing Trust founder Garth McVicar has been selected to run for the Conservative Party in this year’s election.

High profile violent crimes against dairy owners boiled over into frustration for the Manukau Indian Association today.

A bronze sculpture of an eel worth $30,000 has been recovered from a scrap metal yard, after thieves tried to pawn it off for little more than $300.

The Government will set up an inquiry into crime statistics if it is not satisfied police have cleaned up the mistakes in South Auckland.

Police resolved a dispute between a sex worker and a client who refused to pay - by escorting the man to a cash machine to settle his $100 bill.

An image of an Armourguard cash transit van being held up at gunpoint has been released by police in the hopes of tracking down the would-be robber.

Footage of a vicious robbery of a liquor store, during which an employee had a bottle of spirits smashed over his head, has been released.

Counties Manukau police have busted an Auckland-wide "chop shop" believed to be trading stolen cars with false plates.

Burger chain Wendy’s has failed to get a High Court judge to revoke resource consent for a development next to one of its restaurants where a Carl’s Jr is planned.

A young mother and her newborn baby lived in a car for two days after finding themselves homeless when they were discharged from hospital.

The child stabbed in the head in a classroom altercation in Mangere hasn't woken from his coma since the incident.

A 10-year-old received critical stab injuries in a fight at a South Auckland school, and two teens were injured in another unrelated stabbing incident in the area today.

The rescue of a man was delayed by about an hour by live power lines, a coroner has heard.