A woman who was sacked because of her stutter has been awarded $22,000 in compensation for hurt, humiliation and lost earnings.Olivia Farrelly was hired to work as a customer service, sales and office support worker at Advance Office…

Erin Ross’ daughters knew there had been a crash, but they tried not to think the worst when their mother failed to return home.She and her partner Grant Rawson were just a few hundred metres from home when the ute they were travelling…

Seven people have been arrested after police seized firearms, drugs and cash in the Taupō and Hawke’s Bay areas today.The search warrants resulted from a two-month investigation focusing on the recruitment of legitimate firearms…

Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) says it’s managing a “Chinese wall” and doesn’t want to supply water anymore.This morning council chairman Daran Ponter appeared before a select committee on the Water Services Entities…

A businessman accused of stealing $1.3 million from a rest home to fund his lifestyle and dream home claims the money was authorised and he never acted dishonestly.The man, whose identity is suppressed, says the rest home had good…

A Black Power president is appealing against his manslaughter conviction for the slaying of a rival gang member on the grounds he was convicted for being the boss.Patched Mongrel Mob member, Kevin Neihana Ratana, was shot dead in…

A legendary architect behind some of New Zealand’s most well-known buildings has died. Sir Miles Warren passed away yesterday, aged 93. SHARE YOUR SOUTH ISLAND STORIES – EMAIL KURT BAYER Today, the New Zealand Institute…

Things were coming to a head between then-National leader Simon Bridges and MP Jami-Lee Ross in September 2018 when Ross secretly recorded a heated conversation with his colleague in which Ross offered an ultimatum: abandon plans…

The Albanese government has scrapped the COVIDSafe app after it lay dormant for almost two years.

Health Minister Mark Butler released a statement claiming his government has "acted to delete the wasteful and ineffective" app.

The COVIDSafe app was introduced during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020 by the Morrison government with hopes it could contact trace close contacts.

READ MORE: Australia's richest suburbs and jobs revealed

In April 2020, former prime minister Scott Morrison described the app as "Australia's ticket to a COVIDSafe Australia".

However, after the app launched concerns were raised about its privacy, security and effectiveness.

Butler claims the app has cost taxpayers more than $21 million while it lay unused for the better part of two years.

"This failed app cost taxpayers more than $10 million in developing the app, a further $7 million on advertising and marketing, $2.1 million on upkeep and more than $2 million on staff," Butler said.

"The failed app was a colossal waste of more than $21 million of taxpayer's money."

READ MORE: Landlord's agonising dilemma over rental hikes

Not only did it cost taxpayers a significant amount over its two-year duration, but Butler also claimed the app failed to do what it was intended to – identify COVID-19 cases and close contacts.

"Since it was launched in April 2020 only two positive COVID-19 cases were identified through the app, which were not found by manual contact tracers," Butler said.

"The app only identified 17 close contacts that hadn't already been identified through manual contact tracing."

READ MORE: Huge explosion rocks Russian airbase

Butler said there were 7.9 million registrations on the app between April 2020 and May 2022 but fewer than 800 registrants consented to the government using their data for contact tracing.

Now that the app has been scrapped the health department will no longer collect data from it and it will be removed from app stores.

"The Department is working to delete all COVIDSafe app data as soon as possible, and no COVIDSafe app data will be retained," the statement said.

READ MORE: What we know about Langya, the new virus detected in China

A 17-year-old has been arrested over several robberies across Auckland. Police said they carried out a search warrant at an address in Henderson where they found a significant amount of jewellery.The jewellery, police said, is…