Stories by Natalie Akoorie

Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has also rejected the commission's recommendation that a Crown observer be put in place.

The discovery of vulnerable prisoners being locked inside their cells for up to two days at time, for as long as nine months, has alarmed lawyers. Audio

A man charged over a hit and run incident that left a teenager in a critical condition has failed in his bid for bail.

A coroner's inquest into a mountain biker's death in 2022 has found there was no warning of the danger and difficulty of the trail where the man suffered fatal injuries.

The owner did not provide proper heating, hot water nor kitchen facilities, but charged ex-prisoners high bonds.

Hamilton's mayor will travel to Belgium for Anzac Day at the same time the city's residents are facing their biggest rates rise in two decades.

Neighbours say the shipping container art site is a "one-finger" salute to council.

The outcome is three years too late for the educator, who says the allegations and investigation destroyed her career.

As Local Democracy Reporting begins a new chapter, here's a look at some of the best stories and their impact since the project's inception in October 2019.

A cyber security breach that brought Waikato District Health Board to its knees took out one of the country's four regional cancer hubs, prompting the Cancer Control Agency to declare a national…

The cost of managing an invasive "super weed", if it is not eradicated during construction of a billion-dollar Waikato development including 2500 new houses, will fall to ratepayers.

Waikato District Health Board was warned its IT security was inadequate and severely compromised just months before a massive ransomware attack that brought Waikato Hospital to its knees.

Five per cent of Waikato District Health Board's workstations were running out-of-date software susceptible to viruses and malware shortly before a cyber attack paralysed services at its five…

A district health board has failed to meet its requirements under the Official Information Act, prompting intervention from the chief ombudsman.

It's too early to say if amalgamation is on the cards for New Zealand's 78 councils, but the way towns and cities are run is poised for overhaul.

A set of Waikato District Health Board servers were at end-of-life and unpatched when hackers struck in the early hours of 18 May, a source claims.

A new inquiry has been ordered into the death of a patient following cancer treatment at Waikato Hospital a decade ago after the pathologist who conducted the autopsy changed his conclusion on the…

If there's one message Tanirau Manawaiti stands for, it's that having a say in local and national government decisions shouldn't be taken for granted.

Mayors are learning about Māori culture and helping rangatahi develop leadership skills in a two-way mentoring programme.

A civics and citizenship curriculum should be cemented in New Zealand schools because knowledge students are entitled to is being left to chance, says a leading academic.

A youth-led campaign to lower the voting age to 16 will take its case to the Court of Appeal in an effort to push through the change before next year's local body elections.

Local voices could be lost in major health reforms that remove elected boards from the public health system, critics say. Audio

A $3 million Ralph Hotere mural owned by Hamilton City Council has been in storage for more than three years because there is no public space big enough to hang it.

Inexperience, personality clashes and infrastructure costs are at the root of ongoing council infighting around the country, a long-time councillor says.

A $5m government unit to investigate halving the DHBs comes at the same time some boards are appointing younger people as "observers" to learn about DHB governance.