Tainui will take all Auckland Council shares up for grabs.

She was thrilled to get the job after having suffered ill health. Then she was dismissed.

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Four former co-defendants have pleaded guilty and are set to testify against Michael Gu.

The man was duct-taped while men stole from his home in an affluent neighbourhood.

More young people are entering the Defence Force.

The man responsible for the death of a gay American mathematician who had "everything to live for" has been sentenced to nine years in jail.

Having already served part of his sentence, Scott Phillip White will be eligible for release in 2026 for punching Scott Johnson, leading him to fall to his death in the late 1980s in Sydney.

"Not much is known of the death beyond a punch on a cliff, a fall from a cliff and decades of pain and grief that followed," Justice Robert Beech-Jones said during sentencing in the Supreme Court on Thursday.

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On December 10, 1988, White met Johnson at a hotel and the pair went for a walk around North Head which was known at the time to be a gay beat.

White, then 18 years old, threw a punch at Johnson in the heat of an argument causing the 27-year-old to stagger backwards and fall to his death over the cliff.

The American was close to receiving his doctorate from the Australian National University, which he has since been awarded posthumously.

"Dr Johnson was an American citizen … he had everything to live for," Justice Beech-Jones said.

"The offender left (him) to die."

White was jailed for 12 years and seven months in 2022 after making a startling guilty plea to murdering Johnson.

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The accused killer successfully overturned his guilty plea and conviction in November before pleading guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in February.

The 52-year-old had long denied murdering Johnson, only to say "guilty, I am guilty" in a surprise plea during a pre-trial hearing in Sydney in January 2022.

He later told his confused lawyers at the time "I didn't do it but I'm saying I'm doing it … it's the only way, she's going to come after me" – suggesting his former wife would attack him.

White, who now has early onset dementia due to excessive alcohol abuse, was described as a Manly 'street kid' at the time of the killing.

"The offender was clearly a damaged albeit physically powerful young man," Justice Beech-Jones said.

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https://twitter.com/tiffgenders/status/1666677071710666752

"However he was not broken as he is now."

Originally thought of as a suicide, NSW Police eventually opened an investigation into what they thought was a gay hate crime in 2012.

In her now overturned judgment on the murder conviction, Justice Helen Wilson found there was not enough evidence to show the attack was motivated by Johnson's sexuality.

Justice Beech-Jones said he could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the crime was a "gay hate crime".

"Answers to numerous other questions about how he died, why he died and what happened … some of those answers will never be provided," Justice Beech-Jones said.

Counselling and referral services for LGBTIQ+ individuals are available through QLife on 1800 184 527 or online.

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Convicted wife-killer Chris Dawson will soon learn if he has been found guilty of a further crime – having sex with a student of his while she was underage.

Dawson, 74, denies charges he engaged in sexual activity with a woman identified only as 'AB' between July and December 1980, while she was aged 16 and attending the school where he worked on Sydney's northern beaches.

Evidence in the trial at Downing Centre District Court wrapped up on Thursday, with the parties due to present closing submissions to Judge Sarah Huggett on Tuesday.

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Judge Huggett will likely deliver her judgment two weeks after.

The former rugby league player was jailed in 2022 for the January 1982 murder of his wife Lynette, with a judge finding he was motivated by a desire to pursue an unfettered relationship with a student.

They married two years later.

Dawson does not deny having sex with AB, but his lawyer Claire Wasley argued the alleged sexual activity began in 1981, after she had turned 17 and was no longer his student.

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Earlier in the trial, AB said Dawson first became interested in her after he found a topless photo of her taken at a picnic when she was 15.

Detective Sergeant Laura Beacroft, who led Strike Force Southwood investigations into sexual abuse of students at northern beaches high schools, told the court on Thursday AB had not mentioned the photo when she was being interviewed by police in 2019.

AB also did not tell police about another incident in which Dawson was allegedly "jostling" with other teachers to take her class in year 11, Det Sgt Beacroft said.

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She also said the Department of Education did not uncover any records of complaints filed against Dawson while he was employed at Cromer High School between 1979 and 1983.

Neither Dawson nor his twin brother Paul, who the court heard kissed and cuddled with schoolgirls in a pool, have given evidence in the trial.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service is available on 1800 211 028.

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A city council is set to launch an emergency fund for locals unable to pay their rent amid the cost of living crisis – and a 'tax' on Airbnbs could help fund it.

Melbourne's Yarra Council could make a rent relief fund of $100,000 available from July 1 for renters on concession cards including students, reports The Age.

The plan will go before the council, which covers Melbourne's inner eastern and northern suburbs, when it meets to discuss budget measures on June 19.

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The move comes amid the latest rise in interest rates earlier this week, with renters feeling the ongoing effects.

Independent councillor Stephen Jolly who supports the move, told the paper the council "can't afford to wait".

"Just simply lobbying and advocating is not enough anymore. People are calling us out on it; I've been called out on it," Jolly said.

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"Because [if you're] working at a restaurant on Smith Street, on f—ing minimum wage, you're not interested in motions to the Minister for Planning and the Minister for Housing at the state and federal level from your local council. You want action right now.

"I'd be hoping that the other progressive councils follow suit – Merri-bek, Darebin, the City of Melbourne – because rental stress is a citywide and a nationwide problem."

A 'tax' on short term Airbnb rentals could feed into the fund, a councillor has suggested.

Last month councillors in Yarra backed a motion relating to short-term accommodation regulation made by Greens councillor Sophie Wade.

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She suggested a report be done on the issue including investigating if anything can be done to limit the number of Airbnb-type rentals.

"In the face of a cost-of-living and rental crisis, and in a city where 50 per cent of our population rents, it is worth Yarra Council and the Yarra community considering options in this space," Wade said.

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NSW has rules on Airbnbs including a rental limit of 180 days on some, and some Victorian councils already slap charges on short-term accommodation hosts.

Nine.com.au has contacted Yarra Council and Airbnb for comment.

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A former X-Factor contestant has been charged with murder following the death of a baby in the New South Wales central west.

Mitchell Callaway was arrested in Bowraville this morning in relation to the death of a nine-month-old girl who was found unresponsive when emergency services were called to a home in Binnaway near Coonabarabran in 2018.

The baby was taken to Coonabarabran Hospital where staff tried to save her but she died a short time later.

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Strike Force King was established to investigate the circumstances surrounding the baby's death and executed a search warrant at a Binnaway home on May 31 after receiving new information.

Callaway was taken to Macksville Police Station and charged with murder.

He appeared at Macksville Local Court, where he did not apply for bail and it was formally refused.

The former country singer competed in series three of The X-Factor Australia in 2011, placing seventh.

He will next appear before Coffs Harbour Local Court on Tuesday.

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