Five police officers have been charged with drink-driving in the past 12 months - including a senior constable working in an Auckland serious crash unit.

A school mini-van driver remains in hospital after being injured in an accident on a wet road in the Waikato today.

Flood waters in Canterbury and Otago have begun to recede as heavy rain eases, but there's no respite with snow forecast for tonight.

Emergency and Civil Defence teams were gearing up last night for a weather beating expected to hit within hours.

Police have named one of two young boys killed in separate crashes within minutes of each other late yesterday afternoon.

"This policy can only ever be seen as some sort of cost-cutting measure at the expense of the public," says the Firefighters Union.

John Key says it is critically important police address the child abuse investigation concerns raised in an Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) report today.

A damning report into police handling of child abuse cases shows at least one district prioritised traffic fines over abuse investigations.

The Fire Service is scaling down operations at a large fire in an industrial area of Auckland.

More than 100 firefighters were last night battling a blaze at a large abandoned cool store already charred by a fire 18 months ago.