Phil Pennington
Priest's sexual abuse at Upper Hutt school admitted
The Marist Fathers have admitted to "criminal" child sex abuse by a priest who led one of their top secondary schools. But decades on they still won't release the file on Francis Durning, rector of St… Audio
Auckland hospitals quake-proof data centres
Auckland and the northern region's hospitals have had to temporarily quake-proof their data centres after a warning they weren't up to scratch. Meanwhile, Christchurch Hospital has not properly… Audio
Abuser priest should not have been thanked - Bishop
The Catholic Bishop of Christchurch says his diocese should not have given thanks to God for a child molester. Bishop Paul Martin has released a file on the predator priest Cornelius O'Brien to one of… Audio
Canterbury Catholic diocese accused of enabling abusive priest
Two Canterbury men are accusing the Catholic church of enabling a priest to carry out a string of child sex attacks across the South Island. Documents show the church knew Father Cornelius O'Brien had… Audio
Abuse victim blasts school for not removing teacher after complaint
A sex abuse victim is calling for a prestigious Catholic school to sack its rector for not removing a teacher who sexually assaulted him decades earlier, when they were both teenagers.
RNZ has heard… Video, Audio
Plunket must be open about direction - Nurses Organisation
Nurses are warning changes at Plunket in Auckland will reduce clinics for babies from better off families to just 10 minutes or even cut them out entirely. Plunket is rejecting this saying it's not… Audio
Families to lose out with Plunket changes - nurses
Nurses say Plunket plans to cut its universal service meaning babies from better-off families will miss out entirely or be restricted to ten minute checks. The 111-year-old institution denies it is… Audio
Palmerston North assures water clean from foam pollution
The Palmerston North City Council is assuring residents their water supply is completely safe from high levels of contamination found in streams near the airport. Seven tests have detected the… Audio
Investigation follows scathing report on health board spending
South Auckland's health board has begun investigating itself after earning a scathing reprimand from the country's health boss but no resolution to multimillion-dollar spending questions. The Counties… Audio
Port Taranaki knew of water contamination a year before public
Documents show Port Taranaki knew in mid-2017 that groundwater near New Plymouth was contaminated with a banned chemical but the public was not told for over a year. Also, tests at the Maui… Audio
Grenfell-like cladding on NZ buildings not audited correctly
Many major buildings with combustible cladding are not being properly audited to make sure all their safety systems work adequately. Yet these are the systems the Government and councils repeatedly… Audio
Building safety check weaknesses in Auckland, Christchurch
Newly released information shows that weaknesses in building safety checks extend even to those with Grenfell Tower-type cladding. Auckland and Christchurch together have 54 buildings with varying… Audio
Australians alerted before NZ on foam contamination
The Defence Force told the Australian military it had contaminated water at its bases months before it alerted the New Zealand public. Newly released emails also show NZDF gave the Australians a heads… Audio
Toxic foam results rising a year after testing began
Manawatu was meant to be the test case for how well officials handled the toxic firefighting foam contamination countrywide, but instead it's been like David in gumboots versus Goliath. Video, Audio
Truck-trailer design problems hidden - OIA documents
Documents say a heavy vehicle engineer kept quiet about deficiencies in his design for two years until a trailer snapped off a truck, exposing the problem. A safety alert went out about the engineer… Audio
NZTA on 'witch hunt' - heavy vehicle engineer
A heavy vehicle engineer says the Transport Agency is engaged in a witch hunt against him. Dick Joyce of Wellington is subject of a safety alert and investigation into almost 500 heavy vehicle towing… Audio
Oranga Tamariki boss acknowledges judges' concerns
Family Court judges have been taking their concerns about the way Oranga Tamariki operates directly to the organisation's chief executive. Documents obtained through an Official Information Act… Audio
Historic building owners threaten govt over quake-strengthening
Owners of historic buildings in the central North Island are threatening to walk away if the Government doesn't relax tight earthquake-strengthening deadlines.And four local councils are banding… Audio
Grenfell disaster showed complancey costs lives - fire expert
A visting British fire expert says international confusion over how to keep people in high-rise buildings safe from flames is putting lives in danger. Gary Strong of the Royal Institute of Chartered… Audio
North Island towns fight ‘destruction by legislation’
Central North Island towns are mounting a challenge against tougher earthquake strengthening laws, which they say threaten their historic main streets with "destruction by legislation". Rangitikei is… Video, Audio
