By Sam Olley of RNZ The leader of a church accused of persistent hate speech, and exploiting members for thousands of dollars of tithes and weekly unpaid work, has told parishioners he has no intention of standing down.Eleven…

The head of news and current affairs at TVNZ is on leave during an investigation into the hiring of former Breakfast host Kamahl Santamaria.Paul Yurisich has been in the spotlight for the past week after Santamaria quit abruptly…

The opportunist thief who stole a pensioner’s car and jack russell dog as the man went into a dairy to pay the owner the 30 cents he owed, has a heart after all.After stealing the car, and releasing the yelping jack russell closeby,…

When Victorian nurse Jillian Edelsten signed on the dotted line to buy her first property two years ago she was ecstatic.

Photos show the 45-year-old grinning and holding a bottle of champagne on the block of land where her townhouse was to be built in a residential estate in the regional town of Huntly, northern Bendigo.

The last thing Edelsten expected was to be living with her parents two years later.

The townhouse was due to be finished last May, but the lot is still sitting empty. 

READ MORE: Housing shockwaves predicted as rate hikes hit developers

Edelsten is one of 20 aspiring homeowners who bought a $270,000 house-and-land package in the Provenance Estate and say their dreams have now been shattered.

After a year of delays, the construction firm the landowners signed a contract with to build their homes – Vita Building Group – has pulled out of the project.

It's an increasingly common occurrence happening across the country as the construction industry faces a crisis fuelled by surging costs for raw materials, worker shortages, supply chain delays and looming interest rate rises.

Construction giants like Probuild and Condev are two of the largest firms to fold so far, while Privium Group, Dyldam Developments, Hotondo Homes franchise Tasmanian Constructions, ABD Group, BA Murphy, Pindan and Inside Out Construction have all gone bust in recent months.

In a legal letter, developer Huntly Property Holdings proposed three options to Edelsten and the other landowners going forward.

The landowners could sell their plots – either back to Huntly or on the open market. 

The third option was to proceed with a new builder, but with the increased cost of materials, the cheapest amount quoted would add an extra $120,000 to the price of each townhouse, the letter stated.

'I'll be renting forever'

Edelsten said she had just scraped together enough money to buy the house-and-land package as it was, so there was little to no chance her bank would agree to increase her loan by $120,000.

"It's crazy, it's just absolutely insane," she said.

"Are we just supposed to pull $120,000 out of thin air?"

The extra $120,000 represented a 70 per cent increase on the original price of the townhouse quoted by Vita Building Group, which seemed "excessive" even considering the hike in material costs, Edelsten said.

Having moved from Melbourne to Bendigo during the pandemic 18 months ago, Edelsten said she jumped at the chance to finally own her own place when the $25,000 Federal HomeBuilder grant was announced.

That grant, combined with the $20,000 First Home Owner grant for new homes in regional Victoria, was a huge incentive, she said.   

"As a 45-year-old single person, finally getting my first home was awesome because most of my other friends have done that already. It's been a bit harder for me," she said.

Edelsten said she and the other landowners were yet to hear from Vita Building Group directly, and had been left devastated after receiving the letter from Huntly last week.

"All my dreams of owning my first home have gone down the drain," she said. 

"I don't even know if I can afford to buy a house now. I feel like I think I'll be renting forever."

READ MORE: What Aussie house prices will do under the new government

9news.com.au has contacted Vita Building Group for comment but has not yet received a response.

A public notice from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) showed an application had been lodged by a creditor in October last year to wind-up the company.

However, the Bendigo Advertiser reports the application was dismissed in January this year. 

ASIC records show Vita Building Group is still a registered company.

In a statement issued through its lawyers, Huntly said: "Our client and our office have (on an urgent basis) been endeavouring to seek further updates from Vita and its solicitor, and have also been requesting that Vita directly provide clarity to lot owners in respect of the refund of deposits and timing for such payments, as well as clarifying Vita's intentions in respect of any lots where construction has actually commenced.

"It is our client's intention to continue to assist and work with lot owners to achieve the best possible outcome given the circumstances."

'I don't think it's going to happen for me'

Like Edelsten, aged care worker and single mum Nicole Doggett also bought a house-and-land package in the estate.

After renting in Bendigo for eight years, Doggett took the plunge to buy her own property after accessing $20,000 of her superannuation during the pandemic.

READ MORE: What's to blame for Australia's natural gas shortage?

"The rent I have been paying just keeps on rising so I thought it would be cheaper in the long run to buy this townhouse," she said.

Now, Doggett said she is stuck paying her rent, as well as land rates and the interest-only mortgage payments for her land.

"It's just exhausting, I'm devastated to be honest," she said.

Expecting to move into her new home in May last year, Doggett said she had sold all the large pieces of furniture that wouldn't fit into her new place and was now living in a half-empty house.

"I feel like my dream has just been shattered," she said. 

"I was going to be starting a new chapter in my life and this was going to be something that I had worked for and was mine."

"I don't think it's going to happen for me anymore because I can't afford to go with another builder."

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

A Napier man has been sentenced to more than five years in jail for possessing and distributing thousands of files of “serious and depraved” child pornography. Connor Hayden Graham, 24, sat double-masked with his head down, sometimes…

A man searching a Florida lake for Frisbees may have died as a result of a possible alligator attack, according to a news release from Largo Police Department.

The victim, who authorities have identified as 47-year-old Sean McGuinness, was discovered along the shoreline of Taylor Lake in Largo, Florida, by a bystander walking their dog early Tuesday morning, officials said.

Largo is located just outside of Tampa, Florida.

READ MORE: Warning states' gas supplies could be cut

Investigators believe the victim was looking for Frisbees sometime during the night when an alligator attacked him.

"While the medical examiner will determine the exact cause of death, it was apparent that McGuinness suffered injuries related to alligators in the lake," the release stated.

According to management at Taylor Park, McGuinness was known to frequent the park and enter the lake with disregard to the posted 'No Swimming' signs, authorities said.

READ MORE: Johnny Depp wins defamation trial against Amber Heard

A witness told detectives that McGuinness was known to sell discs back to people within the park, and McGuinness was found within a few feet of a disc in the water.

Two alligators were captured on Tuesday night, however, necropsies revealed no evidence of their involvement with the deceased, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesperson Forest Rothchild said in a statement on Wednesday.

Officials will continue to monitor for additional alligators in the area, the release stated.

A 19-year-old man has had his prison sentence reduced on appeal for a five-hour night-time crime spree which earned him seven convictions, including aggravated robbery, kidnapping and indecent assault. Tyreece Kohe-Davis was sentenced…

Photographer Carved Banks was flying his drone above Sydney's Maroubra Beach on Tuesday when he saw something that stopped him in his tracks – a humpback whale with a very unusual tail.

As the large black and white mammal broke through the waves, nothing seemed amiss.

Then the drone operator caught sight of its tail, which curls in on itself, forming a heart-like shape.

READ MORE: Johnny Depp wins defamation trial against Amber Heard

Carved Banks told 9news.com.au he was lucky to even spot the animal as it was travelling in a large pod.

"I was up at first light on Tuesday morning taking photos of sunrise and noticed a large pod of whales travelling past south Maroubra headland," he said.

"Fortunately I have a zoom function on my drone so was able to notice the this particular whale's unusual tail characteristics.

"I thought the whale may have been caught up in some fishing net which was restricting the movement of its tail so I reported into ORRCA."

READ MORE: Warning states' gas supplies could be cut

Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans (ORRCA) told Carved Banks he may have captured a rare sighting of a unique whale last seen of the Gold Coast in 2017.

Wildlife scientist Dr Vanessa Pirotta told 9news.com.au she believes the whale is a humpback she spotted off Sydney in June 2016.

READ MORE: Italy imports more Russian oil despite impending embargo

"I first saw this whale off Sydney six years ago during humpback whale research," she said.

"I am not sure what has caused the tail to be curved like this.

"Most likely has been born like this and does not appear to be impacting its ability to migrate.

"We do sometimes see variability and abnormalities in humpback whales migrating.

"This is a very large population of over 40,000 and there is likely to be some individuals which become well known due to their differences."

The sighting comes as humpback whales begin to head north to warmer waters.

There they will mate and give birth, before returning back to colder waters in Antarctica.

The migration begins in May and typically ends around November.

Hey Dad! star and convicted paedophile Robert Hughes has been granted parole and will be deported.

Hughes has been behind bars since 2014 for sexually and indecently assaulting four girls over a period of 20 years in the 1980s and 1990s.

He was first eligible for parole in April 2020 but has twice been knocked back.

READ MORE: Johnny Depp wins defamation trial against Amber Heard

A decision by the NSW State Parole Authority (SPA) this morning ruled that he must be released by June 14.

"On the totality of the available material the Authority is satisfied release to parole is in the interests of the safety of the community," it said.

"Release at this time presents as the only sensible course.

"The offender has been assessed as below average risk.

"He intends to live with his wife and does not intend to seek employment."

READ MORE: Warning states' gas supplies could be cut

When Hughes is released, he will be deported to the UK because he is a non-lawful citizen, having renounced his Australian citizenship in 2020.

His wife claims she has found treatment for him there.

A psychological report by Corrective Services NSW from last month referred to Hughes as "a categorical denier who lacks victim empathy".

Last week, at a NSW SPA hearing, the judge noted, "there is nothing available for him in jail".

A jury has ruled in favour of Johnny Depp in his libel lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard, vindicating his stance that Heard fabricated claims that she was abused by Depp before and during their brief marriage.

But it has also ruled partly in Heard's favour on some of her claims against her ex-husband.

The jury awarded $US15 million ($20.88 million) be paid to Depp, consisting of $US10 million ($13.94 million) for compensatory damages and $US5 million ($6.97 million) for punitive damages.

READ MORE: Jury sees photos of Amber Heard's swollen face after fight with Johnny Depp

However, state law in Virginia caps punitive damages at $US350,000 ($487,795), meaning Depp was ultimately awarded a total sum of $US10.35 million ($14.42 million).

The jury also found $US2 million ($2.78 million) should be paid to Heard as a result of multiple rulings against each of them.

The verdicts, delivered about 5.20am on Thursday AEST, bring an end to a televised trial that Depp had hoped would help restore his reputation, though it turned into a spectacle of a vicious marriage.

Heard issued a statement after the verdict, saying she was "heartbroken", and blamed the "disproportionate power, influence and sway of (her) ex-husband" for the result.

"It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously," she wrote.

"I believe Johnny's attorneys succeeded in getting the jury to overlook the key issue of Freedom of Speech and ignore evidence that was so conclusive that we won in the UK.

"I'm sad I lost this case. But I am sadder still that I seem to have lost a right I thought I had as an American – to speak freely and openly."

Depp thanked the jury and his supporters in his own statement.

"Six years ago, my life, the life of my children, the lives of those closest to me, and also, the lives of the people who for many, many years have supported and believed in me were forever changed," he said.

"All in the blink of an eye. False, very serious and criminal allegations were levied at me via the media, which triggered an endless barrage of hateful content, although no charges were ever brought against me.

"It had already travelled around the world twice within a nanosecond and it had a seismic impact on my life and my career. And six years later, the jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled."

He said his goal in the trial had been to "reveal the truth" and he now felt "at peace".

Fans — overwhelmingly on Depp's side — lined up overnight to grab a seat in the courtroom.

Spectators who couldn't get in lined up on the street to cheer Depp and jeer Heard whenever either appeared outside.

Depp sued Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as "a public figure representing domestic abuse".

His lawyers said he was defamed by the article even though it never mentioned his name.

READ MORE: Kate Moss testifies Johnny Depp never pushed her down any stairs

While the case was ostensibly about libel, most of the testimony focused on whether Heard had been physically and sexually abused, as she claimed.

Heard enumerated more than a dozen alleged assaults, including a fight in Australia — where Depp was shooting a Pirates of the Caribbean sequel — in which Depp lost the tip of his middle finger and Heard said she was sexually assaulted with a liquor bottle.

Depp said he never hit Heard and was never out of control when drinking, though Heard's attorneys highlighted text messages Depp sent to friends recounting the copious amount of alcohol and drugs he had taken at that time.

Her attorneys also showed that Depp sent texts apologising to Heard for his behaviour and wrote profane messages to a friend in which Depp said he wanted to kill Heard and defile her dead body.

In some ways, the trial was a replay of a lawsuit Depp filed in the United Kingdom against a British tabloid after he was described as a "wife beater".

The judge in that case ruled in the newspaper's favour after finding that Heard was telling the truth in her descriptions of abuse.

In the Virginia case, Depp had to prove not only that he never assaulted Heard, but that Heard's article — which focused primarily on public policy related to domestic violence — defamed him.

He also had to prove that Heard wrote the article with actual malice.

And to claim damages he had to prove that her article caused the damage to his reputation as opposed to any number of articles before and after Heard's piece that detailed the allegations against him.

Depp, in his final testimony to the jury, said the trial gave him a chance to clear his name in a way that he the UK trial never allowed.

"No matter what happens, I did get here and I did tell the truth and I have spoken up for what I've been carrying on my back, reluctantly, for six years," Depp said.

Heard, on the other hand, said the trial has been an ordeal inflicted by an orchestrated smear campaign led by Depp.

"Johnny promised me — promised me — that he'd ruin my life, that he'd ruin my career. He'd take my life from me," Heard said in her final testimony.

The case captivated millions through its gavel-to-gave television coverage and impassioned followers on social media who dissected everything from the actors' mannerisms to the possible symbolism of what they were wearing.

Both performers emerge from the trial with reputations in tatters with unclear prospects for their careers.

Eric Rose, a crisis management and communications expert in Los Angeles, called the trial a "classic murder-suicide".

"From a reputation management perspective, there can be no winners," he said.

"They've bloodied each other up.

"It becomes more difficult now for studios to hire either actor because you're potentially alienating a large segment of your audience who may not like the fact that you have retained either Johnny or Amber for a specific project because feelings are so strong now."

Depp, a three-time best actor Oscar nominee, had until recent years been a bankable star.

His turn as Captain Jack Sparrow in the first Pirates of the Caribbean film helped turn it into a global franchise, but he's lost that role. (Heard and Depp's teams each blame the other.)

He was also replaced as the title character in the third Fantastic Beasts spin-off film, The Crimes of Grindelwald.

Despite testimony at the trial that he could be violent, abusive and out of control, Depp received a standing ovation Tuesday night in London after performing for about 40 minutes with Jeff Beck at the Royal Albert Hall.

He has previously toured with Joe Perry and Alice Cooper as the group Hollywood Vampires.

Heard's acting career has been more modest, and her only two upcoming roles are in a small film and the upcoming Aquaman sequel due out next year.

Depp's lawyers fought to keep the case in Virginia, in part because state law provided some legal advantages compared with California, where the two reside.

A judge ruled that Virginia was an acceptable forum for the case because The Washington Post's printing presses and online servers are in the county.