However you look at it, the National Party has selected someone who once committed an act of criminal violence to represent the Tauranga electorate in parliament.It’s an unfortunate move for a self-styled party of law and order,…

Family members of a 21-year-old University of Otago student who fell 12m while rock climbing in the United States this week say it is easier to count the bones she did not break in the accident.Anna Parsons, formerly of Invercargill,…

At least three people in Dunedin have fallen prey to attempted blackmail this week after sharing explicit images of themselves online, police say.However, the issue could be more widespread, Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin,…

One person has died and three injured after a car hit a power pole south east of Auckland overnight.Emergency teams were called to the scene on the Papakura-Clevedon Rd in Clevedon at about 1am, police said.”The road remains closed…

Dashcam footage has captured the moment a cement truck careered into a woman on a pedestrian crossing in Victoria's west.

The 27-year-old woman was crossing the road at the intersection of Aberdeen Street and Shannon Avenue in Newtown, Geelong about 10.35am yesterday when she was hit by a cement truck turning right.

Whilst the truck appeared to flee the scene, police said the driver chose to travel a short distance to avoid blocking traffic before he pulled over.

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The woman was taken to Geelong Hospital in a stable condition with no major injuries.

The driver, a 27-year-old Corio man, has been handed an an infringement notice for failing to give way.

Authorities have issued a warning to keep away from a rare "white" whale calf spotted alongside its mother off the NSW coast.

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service said four pairs of mother and calf southern right whales had been seen during winter, including the rare calf that looked white, somewhat resembling the famous humpback Migaloo.

"The calf appears to be white but is actually brindle," NPWS marine wildlife team project officer Andrew Marshall said in a statement.

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"Its white areas will darken to grey as it ages — it's one of around one-in-30 southern right whale calves born with brindle colouring.

"This is a rare event to see a virtually white brindle calf, as southern right whales are mostly very dark, although some have splashes of white called a blaze."

The mother and its calf were captured on camera via a drone.

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"If you look closely at the video you can also see pale grey areas on the mother, who also carries the recessive brindle gene," Marshall said.

While the duo have sparked a social media frenzy, authorities are reminding people that it's illegal to approach whales any closer than 300 metres when a calf is present.

The restrictions include via boats, surfboards, paddleboards and kayaks, while drones are also legally required to stay at least 100 metres above the animals.

Stunning vision of the mother and calf was captured off the south coast recently by accredited drone volunteer Maree Jackson from the NSW government's Right Whale ID research program.

Jackson used her camera's 7x optical zoom function from above the legal height to capture the stunning close-ups as the "white" calf surfaced for a breath while swimming alongside its mother.

"Curious onlookers are reminded to keep back and give the nursing mother and calf space to rest undisturbed," Marshall said.

"A calf needs up to 300 litres of milk a day to gain the weight needed for the 5000-kilometre swim back down to Antarctic waters in the coming month, so both the mother and calf need to be left alone so they can rest and feel safe."

Backbench MP Dr Gaurav Sharma has published a fresh broadside attack against his own caucus on social media, alleging he was bullied by senior members of the Labour Party.The Hamilton West member also alleged an MP and a staffer…

Drivers travelling south over Auckland’s Harbour Bridge have come to a standstill after a multi-vehicle crash. Emergency services were called to the crash about 6.30pm and NZTA reported southbound lanes on the SH1 link to SH16 were…

A kangaroo has been caught on camera trying to break into the gates of the Russian embassy in Australia.

The not-so-sneaky marsupial was caught on CCTV trying to bounce through the gates not once but twice.

After it realised it wouldn't fit, the roo jumped away.

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The Russian embassy posted the video on Twitter late on Thursday with a comedic caption.

"The video surveillance system of the Russian Embassy in Australia detected an unauthorised access attempt," the Russian embassy said in a tweet.

"No harm done."

Watch the full video above.

National’s policy of ‘sanctioning’ benefits from youth not accepting employment is “misguided, simplistic, and lacking evidence”, a leading academic says.”To young people who don’t want to work: ‘You might have a free ride under…