Taranaki rescue helicopter workers have received a top rescue award for saving the lives of 10 people stranded on New Plymouth's Paritutu Rock.

A number of senior management at St John will lose their jobs in a huge shake-up of the under-pressure ambulance service. A new uniform is also planned.

The boat that capsized near Greymouth this week will be salvaged today, the district's mayor says.

The Greymouth Coastguard took about 45 minutes to get to the wreck of the Lady Anna; after the skipper had been pulled from the water and pronounced dead.

The devastated father of the skipper, killed today when his boat capsized near Greymouth, has spoken about the pain of losing is only son in the tragedy.

A fisherman rescued from his sinking boat on Friday had survived a similar incident three years ago.

A hunter with hypothermia has been rescued after his campsite was washed away in Fiordland this morning.

Wearing a helmet may have saved the life of a climber who fell 140m on a rocky peak near Mt Awful, in the Mt Aspiring National Park, yesterday.

A climber suffered head injuries when he fell about 100m and had to helicoptered to safety from Mt Awful in Mt Aspiring National Park this morning.

The changing climate will increase security threats to Australia, including the possible collapse of fragile states in the region and resource wars, a new report has warned.

Two swimmers on Auckland's North Shore had to be rushed to hospital in the back of a police car because ambulances had been sent to higher priority jobs.

A search is expected to resume this morning at a Northland beach for a missing swimmer presumed drowned.

Police have launched a search for a 34-year-old Auckland man who was last seen off Northland's Uretiti Beach about 5pm yesterday.

The body of a missing pilot has been found after a helicopter crash near Turangi yesterday.

A Napier couple, who got into trouble when strong winds pushed their boat near rocks on Lake Taupo, were rescued by helicopter overnight.

Two teenagers have been commended by police for their desperate efforts to save their friend after he failed to surface while swimming in the Waikato River.

A tramper has had to be airlifted out of Nelson Lakes National Park near Murchison after falling down a bank.

Swift-water rescue teams saved 16 children after their bus was trapped by flash flooding in southern Brisbane in a huge storm dumping heavy rain on southeast Queensland.

A man who fell several metres into the rough sea while fishing from rocks in Wairarapa today was rescued by a local fishing boat.

Martin lies in agony, his clavicle broken and three fingers mangled beyond recognition. He has no idea what is about to happen.

A helicopter emergency locator beacon was set off accidentally on Saturday, prompting a second warning from police in only two weeks.

Waiheke Island residents have rallied to help the Auckland rescue helicopter service which made 265 trips there last year and needs an all-weather landing pad.

A fisherman roped himself to a buoy in Tauranga Harbour after his kayak was swamped with water.