Matthew Littlewood

Health Minister Dr Shane Reti is assuring the public there will be a focus on training Māori and Pasifika doctors amid claims a proposed review of admission schemes was "racist dog whistling".

The government has been accused of sending "very mixed messages" after including progressing a third medical school at Waikato University in its 100-day plan.

The appointment of a new vice-chancellor at the University of Otago could be still several months away, as the institution acknowledges it is still going through the process.

New Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says there was always going to be a cost-benefit analysis for a proposed medical school at the University of Waikato.

Māori student associations are calling on the government to drop its proposal to review special entrance medical school pathways for Māori and Pasifika students, or face society "going backwards".

The University of Otago is pleased government coalition negotiations mean there will now be a "cost-benefit analysis" for any future medical school and wants to be involved in it.

University of Otago students are set to fight any possible move by the new government to limit Māori and Pacific Island special entrance pathways into medical school.

Disestablishing a mega polytechnic and cutting red tape for farmers are on the agenda for the two southern MPs made ministers outside Cabinet.

The Dunedin City Council is turning to Dutch expertise as it confronts the threat of sea level rise.

Social agencies are warning Queenstown authorities the area’s housing crisis will deepen, as the district council acknowledges plans to address the issue will be significantly delayed.

A long-awaited strategy to address housing and development issues in the Queenstown Lakes district could be delayed by up to a year after the district council failed to secure up-to-date data.