Phil Pennington

The Defence Force has contaminated the land with heavy metals from ammunition but has not revealed just how badly.

It has released one lot of tests showing limited contamination at Waiouru army camp… Audio

Five years on from the Kaikōura earthquake, the country's defences against bad building design are weaker than they should be.

Two crucial initiatives have not seen the light of day.

And the number… Audio

The Ministry of Education admits it should have done more to test the air at a Lower Hutt high school where toxic mould has hugely disrupted teaching.

But the admission in a new review does not… Audio

The Government has been warned there are security risks in the country stopping doing any of its own oil refining.

Plans to turn New Zealand's refinery, Marsden Point, into an import-only terminal… Audio

An Auckland-based cloud storage company - that the FBI warns is being used by ransomware attackers - cannot rule out hackers are using it to store patient data stolen from Waikato hospitals.

Mega.NZ… Audio

A botched tightening of the rules around the safety of truck brakes is pushing up costs and keeping rigs off the road.

The Transport Agency admits it has caused the industry difficulties, and has… Audio

Phil Pennington has been looking at the documents sent to RNZ by a group claiming to be the hackers behind the ransomware cyber attack at Waikato DHB. He joins Lisa Owen from our Wellington studio.

The wives of two men killed in a truck crash hope their long fight to clear the driver of any wrongdoing will improve the way accidents are investigated.

New coronial findings have exonerated the… Audio

The number of new cars available for sale is at its lowest in decades.

Stock is at a quarter of normal levels and a global crunch on carmakers - thanks to a shortage of computer chips - shows no sign… Audio

New environmental data at the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter shows sea level rise is destroying bores drilled in the beach within metres of where 100,000 tonnes of hazardous waste is stored.

Coastal… Audio

Documents show the Education Ministry praised Hutt Valley High School for being well maintained and "in good shape" just two years after it was warned classrooms were being run down.

Five hundred… Audio

Vehicle inspectors who have been feeling under attack from the Transport Agency say they have won a reprieve.

The industry is now expecting the watchdog to be 'gentler', and rogue assessors to be… Audio

Vehicle inspectors who carry out Warrant of Fitness checks might have won a reprieve, after they complained of unfair treatment by Transport Agency officials.

The agency says the audits process will… Audio

Police are not overly concerned that data collected by its drones could end up in the the hands of the Chinese government.

Police are currently carrying out trials and expert advice they've received… Audio

The police pushed for an urgent ban on dodgy handbrakes after a runaway truck killed a roadworker, but transport officials took 18 months to do it.

The police say the transport agency Waka Kotahi was… Audio

While public servants are getting a pay freeze, much more highly paid contractors and consultants are not.

The directive from the government for a three-year salary freeze does not apply to thousands… Audio

A rickety wooden bridge responsible for carrying thousands of tonnes of the country's potatoes and carrots is jeopardising truckers' safety and farmers' livelihoods.

Repairing or replacing the bridge… Audio

The police were lauding their intelligence system shortly after the mosque attacks, even though they knew parts of it were in a woeful state.

In April 2019, a month after 51 people were killed, the… Audio

A police team set up to scan the internet for threats after the mosque attacks was almost immediately in danger of being shut down.

This was despite the unit quickly proving its worth many times over… Audio