The Maritime Union of New Zealand is concerned about the wellbeing of seafarers on board the former Interislander ferry which is anchored in Tasman Bay waiting to sail to India.

New Zealand First will campaign on a referendum on the Māori seats this year, with the party saying the time had come for a decision on their future.

"No one truly knows a nation until he's been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged on how it treats its highest citizens but how it treats its lowest ones," the Australian mosque terrorist's lawyer has claimed.

Two young people have told how they were held in slavery by an Auckland man for several years.