While Hipkins got his teeth checked today, Luxon was tucking into a mince pie.

The wheels of democracy are always turning.

Sara Sharif, the 10-year-old UK girl found alone and dead in her family home, was so badly injured her mum and grandmother could hardly recognise her in a morgue.

Police found Sara's injured body in her Woking home, south of London, after her father fled the UK in a jet and called authorities after he touched down in Pakistan.

Urfan Sharif remains on the run but his under-pressure family are urging him to surrender following the detention of a number of relatives by police in Pakistan.

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In a Polish TV interview, Sara's mother and grandmother described the injuries they claimed to have seen on the schoolgirl's body when they went to identify her in a mortuary.

"One of her cheeks was swollen and the other side was bruised," Olga Sharif, Sara's mum, said.

"Even now, when I close my eyes I can see what my baby looked like."

Sara had been dressed in Mickey Mouse pyjamas, she said, and her body was covered with a quilt.

"No mother should see something like that," she said.

Olga Sharif split from her husband in 2017 and she had only seen Sara twice in that time, she told The Sun newspaper.

Sara's grandmother was in tears describing what it was like going to the morgue.

She said Sara "was entirely changed and bruised" and "if someone hadn't told me it was Sara, I wouldn't have believed it".

Cut off from her mother, Sara was living with her father, stepmother Beinash Batool, her uncle and her five brothers and sisters in the Woking house when she died.

In an act of apparent desperation, Urfan Sharif booked eight one-way plane tickets to Pakistan one day before Sara was found.

Since August 9, he's believed to have been hiding out with Batool, his brother and children in Pakistan.

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Urfan's father Muhammad Sharif, 68, told The Guardian his son had sent him a voice message last week asking for advice on what to do.

Muhammad said he'd urged Urfan to come forward because of the heat his family was feeling from police searching for the wanted group.

"I got in contact with Urfan earlier this week for the first time since his hiding," Muhammad said, outside his home in Jhelum, where Urfan grew up.

"He contacted me through voice message. I urged him to surrender as we are unable to bear this pressure now.

"I asked him to defend your case in court of law and relieve us and we cannot bear the police pressure and more arrests."

In an earlier interview, Muhammad Sharif claimed Urfan hadn't told him how Sara had died, except that it was an "accident", and that his son was hiding "because of fear".

Police in Pakistan have detained several family members over the past few weeks, as the manhunt ramped up.

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From an unknown location, Sara's dad and stepmum last week released a surprise video to make their first public comments since her death.

Reading from a notebook, Batool described Sara's death as an "incident" and then claimed they were too scared to hand themselves in to police in Pakistan.

Batool spent only two sentences referring to Sara, while Urfan Sharif said nothing during the brief, low-quality video.

There is no formal extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan.

UK police are working with international agencies, including Interpol and the UK Foreign Office to progress their enquiries with Pakistani authorities.

The federal government's signature housing policy will become law after the Greens announced their support for the bill following the commitment of an extra $1 billion in public and community housing spending for this year.

The $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) legislation has been stuck without sufficient support in the Senate since passing the lower house earlier this year, but the Greens' support means the bill will pass parliament this week.

The crossbench party had initially demanded the federal government work to implement rent freezes and caps in exchange for their support for the bill, but on Monday said the commitment of $3 billion – today's $1 billion in addition to $2 billion in June – in "immediate and direct" housing spending was enough to secure their backing.

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"Labor's HAFF still won't fix the housing crisis, but the Greens have secured $3 billion for housing right now – not relying on a gamble on the stock market – and we've got to a position where it can pass the Senate," party leader Adam Bandt said.

He said the Greens will continue to pressure the government to introduce rent control.

"I say this to Labor: if you continue to ignore renters, your political pain has just begun," Bandt said.

"There are several more significant bills on the immediate horizon where the Greens will use our position in balance of power to push the government to address soaring rents with a freeze and cap on rents."

Speaking in Question Time after the Greens announced their support for the bill, Housing Minister Julie Collins said the bill will have long-lasting effects beyond the immediate spending.

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"This $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund is the single biggest investment from the federal government in more than a decade in social and affordable housing in this country," she said.

"For the first time, the Commonwealth government will have a legislative mandate to finance and support social and affordable housing right across the country.

"It will be there in perpetuity. Not just for this government, not just for the first five years of the fund, but there in perpetuity with returns going into higher social and affordable housing.

"This will change housing in Australia."

The HAFF will see $10 billion put into an investment fund.

The initial proposal would have seen the earnings of that fund spent on housing, but has since been amended so a minimum of $500 million in spending will be released from the fund each year.

A Canberra local is $1 million richer – and they don't know it yet.

The mystery entrant was one of 10 division one winning entries in Saturday's Lotto draw 4397

Lotto officials have no way to contact the new millionaire, who holds an unregistered winning entry and "must wait for them to come forward to claim their prize".

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The division one winning entry was purchased at Penney's Paper Shop in the suburb of Gungahlin.

"We will be eagerly waiting for the mystery winner to come into our outlet and check their Saturday Lotto ticket," business owner James Penney said.

"We hope we're able to share the winning news with them soon."

The Lott spokesperson Anna Hobdell said the latest winner is likely going about their Monday as normal with no idea they've won $1 million.

"Make sure you check your ticket, which could be in your wallet, handbag, fridge door or car glovebox because the winner could be you and you could be planning what to do with your prize too," Hobdell said.

"If you discover you are holding the winning ticket, contact The Lott on 131 868 to begin the process of claiming your prize."

Saturday night's winning numbers were were 11, 9, 14, 29, 7 and 15, while the supplementary numbers were 17 and 23.

Across Australia, there were 10 division one winning entries in the Saturday Lotto including four in New South Wales, three in Victoria, two in Queensland and one in the Australian Capital Territory.

There are many different ways to get help and information about gambling. Call the National Gambling Helpline on 1800 858 858; use online counselling; find information about help services in your state or territory; get information and support for family and friends; get information about how to talk with someone about their gambling; or contact Gamblers Anonymous. All services are free, confidential and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The iconic Hamilton Island could soon be up for sale as its billionaire owners bring in advisors to assess the future of the tourism destination.

Century Resorts Holdings, a company controlled by the Oatley family, bought Hamilton Island 20 years ago for close to $200 million and since then the island has become a key tourism attraction in the Whitsunday Islands off Queensland's coast.

A Hamilton Island spokesperson confirmed the team is looking to explore the future of the island.

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"The Oatley family has been a proud steward of Hamilton Island for 20 years and has invested significant time, affection and resources to deliver its vision for a world-class tourism destination on the Great Barrier Reef," the spokesperson said.

"As it looks to the future the family has put in place a new leadership and approach and is conducting a review with the assistance of its advisors, to explore opportunities for growth and future prosperity.

"At this stage this review is ongoing and no decisions have been made.

"We do not intend to comment further until any recommendations have been considered."

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The Australian Financial Review reported Hamilton Island could now be worth around $1 billion.

Since the Oatley family purchased the island, they have put $450 million into upgrading its tourism facilities.

The island hosts five hotel accommodations with an annual occupancy of 75 per cent – the island can host up to 5000 guests.

One person was rescued from a New Zealand mountain after they fell hundreds of metres down a slope over the weekend.

Police received reports of the fallen climber who had been part of a group climbing Taranaki Maunga at about 2pm on Saturday.

Taranaki Search and Rescue senior constable Vaughan Smith said the person was "lucky to be alive".

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Luckily for the fallen climber a Taranaki Alpine Rescue member, who had been climbing in the area at the same time, was able to respond.

"One person was located with minor injuries but without his ice axe or crampons after losing them on the way down," Smith said.

The alpine rescue member re-kitted the climber and assisted the man back down the mountain.

Due to recent spring weather, the ice had softened, and the snow had caught the climber's fall.

"He was lucky to have not sustained any serious injuries."

The man and his climbing partner were heading to the top of the mountain with little experience, knowledge and ill-fitting or wrong equipment, Smith said.

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In so many cases, visitors to the maunga are climbing in areas, where if things go wrong, there are serious consequences, he said.

Police are reminding people that are planning a trip up the mountain to let family or friends know where you're going and when to expect you back.

Trampers and climbers can also use the Mountain Safety Council's free planning app, Plan My Walk, and remembering to take a distress beacon could "save your life".

"While New Zealand's mobile phone coverage network is good in urban areas, it's unlikely you'll have reliable coverage in the backcountry or marine areas," Smith said.

Other options for trampers are checking out the AdventureSmart website which provides safety information for a huge range of activities as well as the three safety codes: The Water Safety Code, the Boating Safety Code and the Land Safety Code.

This story has been reproduced with permission from Stuff.co.nz.

A major legal firm is reminding all Australians that they have a right to compensation if they are involved in a car accident after a young Victorian woman was involved in a four-car crash while she was already en route to the hospital.

Bethany Mansbridge was booked in for her fourth hand surgery following a workplace incident when she was involved in a serious collision on the Western Freeway in Rockbank in April 2021.

"The car in front of us suddenly stopped. A car that was pulling a caravan pulled out in front of a truck, causing the accident," she said.

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She was rushed to hospital where she received treatment for a spinal fracture, a broken collarbone, internal bleeding and fractures to her sternum and ribs.

Mansbridge's hand was initially injured while working as a track work rider, training racehorses when she was kicked by a horse in the right hand in February of 2021.

"My hand was completely shattered, if I touched it my hand would just collapse, there was nothing underneath the skin," she said.

"My first thought was 'I can't do the job I love anymore'. I was so overwhelmed, but I knew I had to soldier on and focus on recovering."

After months of recovery and rehabilitation, along with multiple surgeries, the 29-year-old still struggles with day-to-day management.

Not only has the physical and mental pain been difficult to overcome, but also the financial. 

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Slater and Gordon Lawyers Practice Leader in Work and Road Claims Sue Emery said people involved in a car crash can be entitled to compensation.

An example of this includes the 'no-fault' insurance scheme owned by the Victorian Government.

"If you are nervous about getting the support you need, remember that every registered vehicle in Australia has third party insurance included in their registration to ensure compensation is available in the unfortunate event of an accident," Emery said.

"Likewise, Workers' Compensation is a compulsory insurance that covers all Australian employees. It provides protection against workplace-related injuries or illnesses regardless of who is at fault.

"These types of accidents completely change the trajectory of someone's life, and people are entitled to the support they need to heal and re-build their lives after the accident, no matter if it happened on the road or in the workplace."

Mansbridge has since taken advantage of the service, claiming compensation as she continues to service a mortgage while she is out of work.

"I didn't know I could ask for help, or that even just being in a car accident entitled you to a lawyer," Mansbridge said.

"We're not taught this and so when the unthinkable happens we can feel on our own."

The information provided on this website is general in nature only and does not constitute personal financial or legal advice. The information has been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any information on this website you should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs.

In an unprecedented move, the Vatican has beatified a Polish family of nine — a married couple and their small children — who were executed by the Nazis during World War II for sheltering Jews.

During a ceremonious Mass in the village of Markowa, in southeastern Poland, papal envoy Cardinal Marcello Semeraro read out the Latin formula of the beatification of the Ulma family signed last month by Pope Francis.

In his homily, Semeraro noted that for their "gesture of hospitality and care, of mercy" the Ulmas "paid the highest price of martyrdom".

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A contemporary painting representing Jozef and a pregnant Wiktoria Ulma with their children was revealed near the altar.

A procession brought relics taken from their grave to the altar.

It was the first time that an entire family has been beatified.

At the Vatican, speaking to the public from a window in St Peter's Square, Pope Francis said the Ulmas "represented a ray of light in the darkness" of the war and should be a model for everyone in "doing good and in the service of those in need."

The pope then invited the crowd below to applaud the family, and he clapped his hands.

Those gathered in Markowa watched Francis' address on giant screens placed by the altar.

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Last year, Francis pronounced the deeply Catholic Ulma family, including the child that Wiktoria Ulma was pregnant with, martyrs for the faith.

The Ulmas were killed at home by German Nazi troops and by Nazi-controlled local police in the small hours of March 24, 1944, together with the eight Jews they were hiding at their home, after they were apparently betrayed.

Jozef Ulma, 44, was a farmer, Catholic activist and amateur photographer who documented family and village life.

He lived with his 31-year-old wife Wiktoria; their daughters Stanislawa, seven; Barbara, six; and Maria, 18 months; and sons Wladyslaw, five; Franciszek, three; and Antoni, two.

With them were killed 70-year-old Saul Goldman with his sons Baruch, Mechel, Joachim and Mojzesz, along with Golda Grunfeld and her sister Lea Didner with her little daughter Reszla, according to Poland's state Institute of National Remembrance, IPN, which has meticulously documented the Ulmas' story.

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Giving the orders was Lieutenant Eilert Dieken, head of the regional Nazi military police.

After the war he served in the police in Germany.

Only one of his subordinates, Josef Kokott, was convicted in Poland over the killings, dying in prison in 1980.

The suspected betrayer was Wlodzimierz Les, a member of the Nazi-controlled local police.

Poland's wartime resistance sentenced him to death and executed him in September 1944, according to IPN.

The Catholic Church had faced a dilemma in beatifying Wiktoria's unborn child and declaring it a martyr because, among other things, it had not been baptised, which is a requirement for beatification.

The Vatican's Dicastery for the Causes of Saints issued a clarification saying the child was actually born during the horror of the killings and received "baptism by blood" of its martyred mother.

The clarification was issued September 5 by Cardinal Semeraro, who is the prefect of the Vatican's saint-making office.

Polish President Andrzej Duda along with the ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, as well as Poland's chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich, attended the celebration in Markowa, and thousands of pilgrims came from across Poland to take part.

Poland's conservative ruling party has been stressing family values and also the heroism of Poles during the war and the beatification ceremony added to its intense political campaigning ahead of the October 15 parliamentary elections in which the Law and Justice party wants to win an unprecedented third term.

After the Mass, Duda, who is the ruling party's ally, spoke to thank Francis for beatifying the Ulmas. He also stressed that the ceremony had a political dimension because it "told the truth about the Nazi German occupation" of Poland during the war.

Poland's government is seeking reparations from Germany for wartime damages, but Berlin says the matter had been closed.

The Ulma beatification poses several new theological concepts about the Catholic Church's ideas of saints and martyrs that also have implications for the anti-abortion movement because of the baby in the mother's womb, said the Reverend Robert Gahl, a professor of ethics at the Catholic University of America and Rome's Pontifical Holy Cross University.

The Vatican stated that the child was "born" at the moment the mother was executed.

In doing so, the Vatican also affirmed that the killers intended to kill the child out of hatred for the faith, a requirement for a martyrdom and beatification declaration, Gahl told The Associated Press.

After beatification, a miracle attributed to the Ulmas' intercession would be necessary for their eventual canonisation, as the church's sainthood process is called.

Israel's Yad Vashem Institute in 1995 recognized the Ulmas as Righteous Among Nations who gave their lives trying to save Jews during the Holocaust.

In Poland, they are a symbol of the bravery of thousands of Poles who took the utmost risk while helping Jews.

By the occupying Nazis' decree, any assistance to Jews was punished with summary execution. A Museum of Poles Saving Jews During World War II was opened in Markowa in 2016.

Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany on September 1, 1939. Around six million of its citizens were killed during the war, half of them Jews.

When Melissa Watt first moved into the Woodlea housing development in Melbourne's west five years ago, there were a few show homes around and not much else.

Now, Woodlea is fast becoming a "mini-city" in the suburbs with 14,500 residents calling the area home and the local population expected to swell past 20,000.  

There's an upgraded train station, parks, cafes, a new shopping centre, a child care centre and a doctor's surgery. A high school is under construction.

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But Watt and other locals say there's one small – but essential – item that appears to have been overlooked in the $2 billion development, which sprawls across the suburb of Aintree and north into Bonnie Brook. 

A post box.

Watt told 9news.com.au they were unsure why Australia Post was yet to install one of its red mail receptacles in the neighbourhood – but the oversight was frustrating.

Fed up with the situation, Woodlea residents started a campaign, posting an online petition two weeks ago calling on Australia Post to install a post box within the development.

Watt said she needed to drive around 10 minutes to a neighbouring suburb in order to send any mail.

"It's ridiculous. I have to go to Melton or Caroline Springs just to send a letter," she said.

"I literally drive around with mail in my car, hoping to go past the mail box at some point.

"If I miss a courier, they take it up to Melton and I have to get there to pick up my item."

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The campaign from Woodlea residents appears to have had some success, with a spokesperson for Australia Post telling 9news.com.au the service had been "working with the Woodlea developers over the past few weeks around the installation of a new street posting box".

Australia Post was also looking at the option to install "self-service parcel lockers" in Woodlea, the spokesperson said.

Australia Post has 15,000 post boxes around the country.

This number is down from about 16,000 a decade ago in 2012-2013, data from Australia Post's annual reports show.

READ MORE: Ukraine warned its offensive could have only 30 days left

The campaign from Woodlea residents comes weeks after Australia Post recorded a $200 million loss amid a massive decline in the number of letters Australians are posting.

Letter volumes have declined 7.8 per cent on the previous financial year, with Australian households now receiving on average 2.2 addressed letters each week, down from 8.5 in 2008, the postal service said.

Contact reporter Emily McPherson at em********@******om.au