Latest from Work and Income New Zealand

Late start to the season means apple growers will face a race against time to have fruit picked, raising concerns about the availability of labour.

A Christchurch man who tried enter a Work and Income office with a gun and threatened to kill staff wants to meet his victims.

Work and Income is trialling new layouts at two of its offices in a bid to bolster security in the wake of the 2014 Ashburton shootings.

Beneficiaries owed more than $627 million to Work and Income at the end of the financial year, according to official figures.

More than 30,000 New Zealanders had their benefits cut last financial year for travelling overseas without letting officials know.

A man accused of trying to enter a Christchurch Work and Income office with a gun and letting off a shot outside, also threatened to kill Winz workers, police are now alleging.

Mitchell Moulton, 32, appeared in the city's district court this afternoon and was ordered to stay in custody until his next appearance.

A man has been arrested after threatening the Linwood Work and Income office with a firearm this morning.

A multimillion-dollar scheme to get beneficiaries with mental health conditions and sole parents back to work appears to have flopped.

A substance found outside the Work and Income office in Levin earlier this morning was sugar.

Since last year's Ashburton shooting the number of assaults on Work and Income staff has doubled, newly released figures show.

A bouncer who was told she was "worthless" and threatened with gang action from two WINZ workers says dealing with verbally abusive customers has become commonplace.

But bar owner says the two Ministry of Social Development workers who abused his staff won't be welcome back.

The Ministry of Social Development has pleaded not guilty this morning to charges over the deadly Ashburton Work and Income shootings.

Hine felt the centre was not a good fit for her son, and that they didn't understand her culture. Her boy would cry every day when she dropped him off.

The man accused of killing two women at Ashburton’s Work and Income office last year appeared via video link at the Christchurch District Court this morning.

New welfare benefit figures confirm that New Zealand is splitting into two: Auckland and Christchurch, and everywhere else.

Alleged Ashburton Work and Income double killer Russell John Tully made a brief court appearance today ahead of a proposed trial date in May.

Victims of the Ashburton Winz shooting and their families could be in line to receive payouts after one Crown agency prosecuted another.

WorkSafe has filed a charge against the Ministry of Social Development following the Ashburton Work and Income shootings last September.

A review of security at the Ministry of Social Development, prompted by last year's deadly shooting at the Ashburton Work and Income office, has found tighter security would not have prevented the incident.

Auckland Council is targeting its 1400 pensioner housing tenants to help solve its financial squeeze through an average 20 per cent rent increase.

The number of people sleeping rough in Auckland's streets and parks has more than doubled as the city's housing crisis deepens.

A 60-year-old Blenheim man has been charged with arson and burglary after a Work and Income building was ram-raided and then set alight early this morning.

The queues start about 3am each day, but the Auckland City Mission says just a third of the donations it needs this Christmas have been raised.

Hundreds of families from as far away as Hamilton are queuing at the Auckland City Mission for help to put food on the table this Christmas.

Staff at Ashburton's Work and Income office have today been praised for their resilience in returning to work less than three months after two co-workers were shot dead in cold blood.

Life in the quiet Mid-Canterbury farming hub of Ashburton takes a step closer to normality today when its Work and Income office reopens for the first time since September's double-shooting tragedy.