Former TVNZ Breakfast host Kamahl Santamaria was accused of sending multiple women inappropriate messages in his previous role at Al Jazeera, a former colleague claims.The former staffer at the Doha-based organisation, who asked…
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Rotorua: Flooding now unlikely in Ngongotahā after residents urged to prepare to evacuate
Flooding of the Ngongotahā stream is now unlikely as water levels and rain ease, the Bay of Plenty Regional Council said in an 8.30pm Facebook update.It would continue monitoring the situation.Residents near the stream were…
Police pull gun on rampaging woman upset by ex partner who arrived home late
A woman who went on a rampage with a tomahawk when her former partner arrived home later than planned was eventually stopped by police at gunpoint. Shanae Ashleigh Brown was today remanded in custody until July to consider sentencing…
Fatal Waihola crash: District Court sentencing for young driver
A 17-year-old driver who killed two mothers in a horror crash in Waihola last year has been convicted on all four charges he faced.The teenager is to be sentenced in the Dunedin District Court on two counts of dangerous driving…
Latest poll: No Budget bump for Labour, Nats hold steady
The political landscape is on a tightrope with neither of the main political groupings able to form a government, according to the latest 1News-Kantar poll.National is steady on 39 per cent and Labour has dropped 2 points to 35…
Pair of roading company directors named in bribery case
A pair of roading company directors accused of offering bribes for maintenance contracts can now be named after abandoning their appeal for continued name suppression.Frederick Pou and Jeanette Pou, the directors of Coastal Roading…
Wairarapa and Hutt Valley DHBs culpable for delayed breast cancer diagnosis
By RNZ Failures at two lower North Island District Health Boards (DHBs) led to a woman’s breast cancer diagnosis being delayed, a new report by the Health and Disability Commissioner has found.According to the report, the Wairarapa…
Serious crash closes State Highway 1 in Tokoroa, Waikato
One person has been seriously injured in a crash in Tokoroa, Waikato. Police, two ambulances and a helicopter attended the scene of the crash between Newell Rd and Rollett Rd around 4.10pm. St John said one patient was treated…
Grandson charged after woman found dead at Victorian home
The 20-year-old grandson of a woman found dead at a home west of Melbourne has been charged with murder.
Emergency services were called to the house in Egan Court, in Darley, 50 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, about 10.30pm on Saturday.
On arrival police found Shirley Kidd, 68, with fatal injuries near the carport of her Bacchus Marsh home, where the pair had both lived.
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Kidd could not be revived and died at the scene.
Her grandson will appear via video link at Melbourne Magistrates' Court this afternoon.
AGL dumps plans for a demerger after billionaire scuppers idea
Australian energy giant AGL has dumped plans to demerge the business following the intervention of its largest shareholder Mike Cannon-Brookes.
AGL informed shareholders this morning that it was withdrawing its proposal for the demerger, which was due to be voted on early next month.
For the demerger to go ahead, it needed to gain 75 per cent approval from shareholders – a target AGL now believes it would not meet.
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Much of this comes from an eleventh-hour play by Cannon-Brookes, Australia's third-richest person and a renewable energy advocate, who became AGL's largest shareholder via his personal investments arm Grok Ventures.
In a letter to the AGL board that was also released publicly, Cannon-Brookes said the planned demerger on June 15 was a "flawed plan".
"We intend to vote every AGL share we control at the relevant time against the demerger, and will actively encourage all AGL shareholders to do the same," Cannon-Brookes told AGL's board.
"In our view, the proposed demerger risks a terrible outcome for AGL shareholders, AGL customers, Australian taxpayers and Australia."
The demerger would have seen AGL split its retail and coal-focused operations.
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Today AGL acknowledged the power of that letter, saying while the majority of AGL stakeholders still agreed with the demerger it was no longer "the best way forward".
"In these circumstances, the AGL Energy Board considers that it is in the best interests of AGL Energy shareholders to withdraw the Demerger Proposal," AGL's board of directors said.
"AGL Energy will approach the court for orders to cancel the court ordered scheme meeting and will not proceed with the associated general meeting that was to have considered various related resolutions."
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Cannon-Brookes' broadside not only scuppered AGL's planned demerger, but some of its top brass too.
Chairman Peter Botten will resign from the board and CEO Graeme Hunt will also step down as chief executive and managing director.
Jacqueline Hey has resigned as a non-executive director effective today and Diane Smith-Gander will resign from the board following the release of AGL's full-year results in August.
"While the board believed the demerger proposal offered the best way forward for AGL Energy and its shareholders, we have made the decision to withdraw it," Botten said.
"The board will now undertake a review of AGL's strategic direction, change the composition of the board and management, and determine the best way to deliver long-term shareholder value creation in the context of Australia's energy transition."