Kate Shuttleworth

Auditor-General Lyn Provost has confirmed her office will investigate whether the Crown is recovering the maximum possible from insurers for properties purchased by the Crown in the red zone in Christchurch.

Petrol tax is set to rise by three cents per litre at the start of July this year and will continue to rise for the next two years.

Steven Joyce says only overseas-based residents who deliberately default on their student loan repayments will be arrested at the border.

The Government will spend $19 million on establishing the first charter schools in 2014.

Student loan borrowers who have defaulted on their repayments could be arrested at the border under new sanctions in Budget 2013 in a drive to increase student loan repayments.

The Government will cut student allowance and loan spending by $29.6 million by introducing further clamp downs on eligibility.

The Government is one step closer to banning gang patches in schools, police stations and Work and Income offices.

Outgoing National MP Aaron Gilmore gave an emotional personal statement to Parliament today, and said the media scrutiny he was placed under had prevented him from functioning properly as an MP.

Samples of the new K2 synthetic cannabis products that hit the market today have been purchased by the Government for testing.

Conservative Party leader Colin Craig spent more than $1.6 million of his own money on the party last year.