Stories by Amy Williams

A Gisborne couple say they can only stay with people for so long and all they want to do is go home.

An insurance expert is warning flood and cyclone-hit homeowners with claims for write-offs are likely to get cash payouts that won't fully cover their rebuild costs.

A man who planned a violent attack targeting non-Muslims, after becoming radicalised online, has been sentenced to two years and five months in prison.

A big insurance company says owners of cyclone-hit homes that were flooded in metres of water and contaminated silt can expect a write-off.

The country's largest insurer says 20,000 homes across the country are at severe risk of flooding and it is in talks with government about where flood-damaged houses should be written off for good.

Water is a sought after resource in Gisborne where restrictions mean many on town supply are going without showers, and turning the washing machine on is a distant memory.

Business owners in the cyclone-hit city are desperate to keep their doors open during the water crisis and are resorting to filling buckets and drums to do so.

Cleaning up the flood silt is like scooping up sludgy stinky cow pats, one Gisborne resident says after Cyclone Gabrielle, as he reflects on regrowing his garden.

A kitty of portable cabins is on standby to provide a roof over the head for people displaced in Auckland's flooding.

School's back in Auckland this week but for hundreds of families and some businesses forced out of homes and buildings due to flooding, it is far from a return to normal.

A national helpline for people in financial hardship says it's hearing from those in distress that banks are playing hardball.

Insurers are bringing in extra staff from overseas and warning it will be years before all claims are settled for flood damaged homes, cars and contents in Auckland.

A pregnant woman who arrived in New Zealand last year is among those left homeless and distressed by the Auckland flooding.

Three children missing with their father for a year may be feeling anxious about being isolated from other family members for so long, a clinical psychologist says.

City missions across the country say people who have jobs but can't afford their ongoing costs are increasingly turning up for help.

Only three wealthy foreign investors have applied for residency since the government overhauled the rules last spring and they are in limbo.

Elderly owners of retirement flats in Auckland have asked local boards to step in and stall the Auckland Council selling its share in the units.

The Crown is appealing a High Court decision that a 501 deportee from Australia had human rights breached. Meanwhile, an advocate for deportees says she's had an influx of queries after the decision.

The cost of putting on a Christmas spread and buying gifts for your true love has soared in recent years thanks to inflation.

More patients with the chronic condition lymphoedema could be "offered the opportunity" to be treated at a hospital outside their district or privately, due to a lack of services in every region.

A Wellington woman is angry the city has no public service for people with lymphoedema while those from most other regions can access funded care.

Melanoma survivor Joyanne Lovatt says her right leg has been a constant reminder of her battle with cancer.

Auckland's new mayor had wanted the deputy prime minister and other senior officials work alongside city councillors on key issues - but it was turned down.

The government's strategy to reduce road deaths and injuries failed to meet all but one of its targets with breath testing and reducing speed limits lagging the most.

Auckland's major events calendar looks alarmingly empty from 2024 and the city's culture and economic agency says it urgently needs to find $20 million a year to start filling it.