Tributes are pouring in for the former head of the Council of Trade Unions who died this morning after a battle with lung cancer.

Former union chief lived a rich and valued life characterised by a determination to fight for her beliefs.

The Ministry of Education is due to release a report into a cell-like seclusion room used by a Wellington primary school as punishment.

The Wellington postie who dumped thousands of mail items - including election voter packs - has been fired, and had his case referred to police.

A Wellington skier is critically injured after an accident on Mt Ruapehu which Peter Hillary witnessed from a chairlift before rushing to assist with the rescue.

Parliament's Health Committee has heard several emotional submissions from the public during hearings on voluntary euthanasia.

Shandelle Battersby checks into a hotel that celebrates the story of NZ's early settlers.

An independent inquiry should immediately investigate the use of "time out" rooms in schools, says the head of the national Autism charity.

A teacher hit one of her students across the head several times with a soft-shelled laptop case after she tripped on his items and hurt her injured hip on his desk.

No bomb has been found at Wellington's Rimutaka Prison after a member of the public reported a "suspicious package" in a carpark.

Two Jetstar flights from Wellington to Auckland have been cancelled today, frustrating dozens of passengers.

Justin Lester was getting a haircut when he took the phone call telling him he had won the race to become Wellington mayor.

New Wellington mayor had two speeches to choose from - one in a blue folder and one in a red folder. 'Fortunately,' he says, 'I get to read the one in the red folder.'

Justin Lester was getting a haircut when he took the phone call telling him he had won the race to become Wellington mayor.

A car rolled down the street after a Wellington party last night and hit several people.

EXCLUSIVE: Mother hits out at Wellington primary school's "dirty little secret": "I'm horrified a school would do that, my son is petrified of the dark."

Several crashes around the country today, three dead, at least five injured.

The race to elect a new mayor for Auckland and other cities and towns round the country is drawing to a close.

A Wellington boy was worried outgoing mayor Celia Wade-Brown would miss her mayoral chains - so he made her some new ones out of chocolate

The 47-year-old man accused of lighting a number of rubbish bins on fire across Wellington has appeared in court. Robert Mackie

Professor Norbert Lammert, the Speaker of the German Federal Parliament, will attend events in Auckland and Wellington.

Identified as having gender dysphoria, 6-year-old Ollie Maihi has "blossomed" since transitioning into a girl.

A cop has been charged with dangerous driving following a Wellington waterfront pursuit.

Seven suspicious fires have been lit across Wellington in a busy night for police and firefighters.

Wellington house values rose 21 per cent in the last year, outstripping Auckland's 15 per cent, but Queenstown values are rising fastest.

A Lower Hutt man has been arrested in connection with an assault which occurred last week in Stokes Valley. Hutt Valley Police arrested

An endangered penguin has been returned to the wild after being treated for abdominal wounds at Wellington Zoo.

Guards will be posted at Wellington's Botanic Garden after a Friday night party left a WW1 memorial sculpture damaged and litter and broken glass strewn around Remembrance Ridge.

Train passengers on the Wellington region's Hutt Valley and Kapiti lines will have 1000 more seats to choose from in morning and afternoon

Earlier reports of a gunman in Wellington this evening were a false alarm, police say.