New Zealand

It is understood she was accompanied by police on the flight that touched down in New Zealand yesterday morning.

Exclusive pictures show the plane that brought Aden back to New Zealand landing this morning.

In a statement, police told 1 NEWS it was “one of a number of government agencies that have been working for some time on a plan for the family’s return”.

“As this is an operational matter, police will not comment on the timings or arrangements for their return.”

It was confirmed last month that Aden would be returning to New Zealand from Turkey.

In a statement, the Health Ministry said there were now 31 cases associated with the current Auckland community outbreak.

"All cases have or are being transferred safely to a managed isolation facility, under strict infection prevention and control procedures, including the use of full PPE."

The ministry said the three in Wellington had recently travelled to Auckland and visited a location of interest there.

There are 10 cases in the community and almost 70 locations of interest in Auckland and Coromandel.

Shopping malls, bars and cinemas across Auckland have been added to the Ministry of Health list of locations of interest meaning potentially thousands of people are now considered contacts.

Last night, malls in Albany and New Lynn, and supermarkets in different parts of Auckland were added.

So far, the earliest potential exposure site dates back two weeks to 3 August.

Jacinda Ardern said that genome sequencing has detected the Delta strain, and that it originated in NSW.

"We are dealing with the Delta variant ... our case has originated in Australia."

"Now the job is to work out how and when it got here,” Ms Ardern said.

The NZ Government will examine whether the positive case leaked from one of the country's managed isolation facilities

New Zealand has detected an additional two COVID cases, bringing the total in the current outbreak to seven.

Four community cases reported in New Zealand overnight, including an Auckland hospital worker, brings the total to five.

Cases are all linked to Tuesday's first case in Auckland, which is confirmed as the Delta variant.

"While the epidemiological variance and transmission link for the community case in New Zealand is still being investigated, we must act swiftly here to minimize exposure risk for the Cook Islands so we remain safe," said prime minister Brown.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told RNZ's Morning Report one of the new cases is a nurse at Auckland Hospital.

"The health workforce are very well versed and mapping these issues and have done in the past.

We have had COVID-positive cases in our health workforce before. What's different on this occasion is that we have this individual who is fully vaccinated."

Ardern said the four new cases were the workmate of the 58-year-old Devonport man and the workmate's close or household contacts.

Andrew Alan Williams, 54, and his former partner, Laken Maree Rose, 32, have been sentenced in the High Court at Rotorua.

Williams was sentenced to 23 years and five months in prison, with a non-parole period of nine years and four months.

Rose has been given a jail sentence of 19-and-a-half years, with a non-parole period of seven years and nine months.

Williams was convicted on 56 charges and Rose 55.

They covered a raft of charges including rape, sexual violation, and making and possessing objectionable videos.

The route, which will go to Santo province, has completed bidding and contract award processes and is expected to be operational by the end of this month.

The new route is part of the Shipping Support Subsidy Scheme, which was established in 2012 by the Vanuatu Interisland Shipping Support Project (VISSP) thanks to financing from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the New Zealand Aid Programme, and the Government of Vanuatu.

In a post-Cabinet media briefing Monday afternoon, Ardern announced Cabinet had made the decision to allow Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) workers from those countries to travel one way, without using MIQ.

The countries this would apply to reflected the fact all three nations had experienced very few cases of Covid-19, she said. Tonga had seen zero Covid-91 cases, Samoa just one, and Vanuatu had four - all those cases having been at the border with no community transmission.

Ardern delivered the speech as part of a three and a half hour ceremony in front of more than 1000 people at the Auckland Town Hall.

She said the raids to find, convict and deport overstayers often took place late at night or early in the morning and were said to involve harsh verbal and physical treatment.

"Today I offer, on behalf of the government, a formal and unreserved apology to Pacific communities for the discriminatory implementation of immigration laws that led to the Dawn Raids," Ardern said.