Phil Pennington

The Detail podcast brings you the issues behind the news every weekday. Here's what we covered this week. Audio

The work safety watchdog says it regrets keeping the families of two temp workers who died in a car crash in the dark.

At an inquest yesterday, the families spoke out against WorkSafe and police for… Audio

'Too scared to say no.'

That's how the families of two temporary workers are describing them on a commute they did not want to take, and did not survive.

The Palmerston North men, Floyd Harris and… Audio

Government Ministers deny they are looking at public-private partnerships to pay for big health projects like new hospitals.

Internal documents from national health agency Te Whatu Ora show in… Audio

Government spending on consultants and contractors is back in the news - but what are they actually paid to do? Audio

Whakatāne hospital's acute mental health facility may have to close unless urgent work is carried out to keep patients safe in an earthquake.

Board minutes from January reveal that GNS Science has… Audio

National is keeping the heat on the government over the rising spend on contractors in the public service.

But its scattergun approach in the fraught health sector has shot wide of the mark with both… Audio

WorkSafe did not prosecute the Waka Kotahi over a roadworker being killed despite an expert telling it to.

The only company or agency which was charged, Fulton Hogan, is not happy about that.

Phil… Audio

New Zealand's being warned it needs to wake up to the threat of online voter manipulation in  this year's election.

Experts say the country should consider Europe's move to ban microtargeting that… Audio

Old-fashioned AM radio was an information lifeline for many during Cyclone Gabrielle when other sources wilted without power. Now a little-known arrangement that puts proceedings of Parliament on the… Audio

The AM radio network that has been a lifeline during Cyclone Gabrielle faces losing most of the government funding that keeps it running.  

But its operator, RNZ, says the AM network must be kept… Audio

RNZ's reporters have been out and about with locals as they pick up the pieces in the wake of cyclone Gabrielle. Earlier this week, RNZ's Phil Pennington caught up with 75 year old Keith Gore. Audio

They're noisy, they spit fumes and are experiencing a huge surge in demand thanks to Cyclone Gabrielle.

Phil Pennington goes in search of generators.
  Audio

Rain fell overnight on already swamped areas of the East Coast. There are orange heavy rain warnings in place for both Hawke's Bay and Gisborne until Saturday with the heaviest falls are likely from… Audio

It may be the world's shortest lifeline, and it certainly is New Zealand's.

The 30 metre, 13 second boat ride across a once-flooded river inland of Napier is all that is keeping hundreds of… Audio

Tales of resilience and recovery, spirit and sweat continue to emerge from the slip-scarred valleys of Hawke's Bay.

Reporter Phil Pennington came across two, about a brewery-slash-winery - and about… Audio

The big job of repairing the roads comes with big decsions for local authorities - which ones get fixed first?

The work's not easy, and it's not clean. 

Phil Pennington joined major contractor… Audio