National

Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson is standing by his economic spending decisions, and rejects the suggestion the last Labour government did not have enough real-world experience.

Only a quarter of children at the end of intermediate school were writing and doing maths last year at the level expected by new curriculums introduced this year.

A Christchurch school's almost 70-year-old repurposed buildings are doing their best to keep the bitter cold out. But signs of water damage are visible in one classroom, while parts of a wall are rotting away and the ceiling paint is peeling.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon did not dial in to the latest Coalition of the Willing meeting due to time zone differences.

A soldier with links to far-right groups admits handing over and attempting to hand over sensitive military information to a person he thought was a foreign agent.

Primary school teachers belonging to the Educational Institute have begun a two-week series of stop-work meetings today to discuss pay talks stalled on an offer of three 1% pay rises over three years.

A South Island bakery worker questioned over missing cash from a weekend market has been awarded more than $16,000 after being unjustifiably dismissed.

The Aratere has made 53,000 crossings and taken more than 5 million passengers across Cook Strait.