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…

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…

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…

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…

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.

READ MORE: Pepper sprayed man dies in police custody in Victoria

Kidd could not be revived and died at the scene.

Her grandson will appear via video link at Melbourne Magistrates' Court this afternoon.

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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READ MORE: Police reveal two key theories behind Aussie mum's shock disappearance in Mexico

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."

A Gold Coast monorail, once an iconic tourist attraction, will soon go under the hammer at auction, starting at just one dollar this week.

The Gold Coast Oasis on Broadbeach monorail, built in 1989 operated for over 30 years before going into storage in 2017.

Lee Hames, the Chief Operations Officer at Lloyd's Auctions said several people had already expressed interest in turning the old carriages into a new tourist attraction.

READ MORE: Icy polar blast to sweep Australia as winter looms

"This is an opportunity to own a significant piece of local tourism history which many Australians know and love," Hames said.

"We've had interest from people wanting to revamp these carriages and turn them into other kinds of tourism opportunities."

The nine monorail carriages will be up for auction tomorrow, starting at $1.

In New South Wales, the Big Banana trains associated with Coffs Harbour's Big Banana tourist attraction will also be auctioned following 17 years in storage.

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The trains were a popular feature of the Big Banana Fun Park in the 1980s.

"There has been interest from buyers of all types, from people wanting to recondition the trains and people wanting to save them as memorabilia pieces," Hames said.

"This could be the start of a new niche market opening up in the auction's industry."

The train and monorail carriages will be auctioned off at 2pm tomorrow afternoon.

READ MORE: Football fans filmed brawling following AFL game in Melbourne

Several children and their teachers are trapped at an early learning centre in the Thames-Coromandel due to heavy flooding in the area. A Fire and Emergency spokesperson told the Herald fire appliances were unable to reach the Riverlee…

Barnaby Joyce has declared he is "not really" sad to have been ousted as Nationals leader following a party room meeting today.

The one-time Deputy Prime Minister shared a frank statement online following his defeat, in which he said he would now have more time to advocate for his electorate of New England.

David Littleproud won the top job from Joyce in a three-way party contest late this morning, with Victorian MP Darren Chester also contesting the leadership.

READ MORE: Dutton elected Liberal leader as David Littleproud defeats Joyce for Nationals job

Joyce has since released a statement online, and tweeted a video of him speaking the statement, which begins, "I suppose you think I am sad. Not really".

"I gave every ounce of my energy to make sure that I looked after the people of regional Australia," he said.

"I want to congratulate David, Perin and Bridget.

"They have a mighty task ahead of them and I will give them all the support I can."

Joyce went on to say he would now have the chance to get back to "his second greatest love" after his family – his "beloved people of New England".

READ MORE: Albanese and Labor still one seat from majority government

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Joyce appeared optimistic he would keep the top Nationals job this morning before the party vote.

When asked if he thought he has the numbers to retain the leadership, Joyce told 9News he was "very sanguine" about the vote and that "people in the room will make up their minds".

When asked who he thinks would be his best replacement, Joyce said: "I don't know. Jesus? Mohammad? That's a very good question."

Peter Dutton has been elected unopposed as leader of the Liberal Party, while David Littleproud has ousted Barnaby Joyce to lead the Nationals.

The leaders take the helm as the Coalition enters opposition for the first time since 2013 and reeling from an election bloodbath that saw several senior Liberal MPs swept from previously safe seats.

Dutton succeeds former prime minister Scott Morrison, with Sussan Ley elected – also unopposed – as the new deputy Liberal leader.

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Dutton was not expected to face any challengers, with his main potential opponent, former treasurer Josh Frydenberg, losing his seat of Kooyong in the May 21 election.

"We live in the best country in the world," he said after winning the contest.

"I want our country to support aspiration and reward hard work, take proper care of those Australians who – short term or long-term – can't take care of themselves.

"We have a rich and proud Indigenous heritage and a migrant story the envy of the world."

Dutton promised to keep the country safe, the economy strong, and that the Coalition won't be "Labor light".

He said he "made a mistake" in boycotting the apology to Indigenous Australians in 2008.

"That was because of my own background and experience," he said.

"Many of you have lived out in regional areas and many of you haven't. I worked in Townsville.

"I remember going to many domestic violence instances, particularly involving Indigenous communities, and for me at the time, I believed that the apology should be given when the problems were resolved and the problems are not resolved.

"There are little boys and girls in parts of our country in 2022, in this year, that slept in a shipping container last night to get through the hours of darkness in Indigenous communities and it's completely unacceptable."

Dutton held ministries in the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments.

"My greatest honour was to represent the men and women of the Australian Defence Force," he said of his recent stint as defence minister.

"My parents worked hard for every dollar and we weren't financially well-off. I started part-time work in a butcher shop after school until I started university.

"I saved and bought a house at 19 and built a business from nothing to ultimately employ 40 people.

"I was a police officer for 10 years and I have dedicated my working life to public service and I'm passionate about the protection of children and women, particularly the protection against sexual assault and harassment."

Dutton was also asked about why he didn't intervene in the case of a Tamil family from Biloela as he spoke about his time as immigration minister.

One of Labor's first acts in office was to allow the Murugappan family to return to their Queensland home after years in detention and legal limbo.

"There are hundreds of cases I acted on grounds of compassion in relation to migration policies. The minister of immigration is one of the most difficult jobs in the government," he said.

"I have no gripe against the family. No gripe against the family and as I said, I acted compassionately in hundreds of cases which were not in the media."

Liberal Party will 'listen to women'

Ley said the party would listen to the concerns of women after the election loss.

"I do acknowledge that women did not support us who may have supported us previously," she said.

"There were many women, including in my electorate, who were generally happy with the government's performance.

"We heard the notes of disappointment among the notes of endorsement.

"We are listening and we are ready to meet you and discuss the issues that matter."

Morrison offered his congratulations to both new leaders, saying they were an "incredibly experienced, well-versed" team.

"I think they'll do an incredible job," he said.

Dutton thanked Morrison and his family "for the enormous contribution they've made not just to our country but the Liberal Party".

Littleproud's 'proudest day'

Littleproud won the top job from Joyce in a three-way contest today, with Victorian MP Darren Chester also contesting the leadership.

Littleproud says he will draw on the experience of former deputy prime ministers Joyce and Michael McCormack as leader.

"The legacy that both Barnaby and Michael have left is one that indelibly can be seen every day in regional and rural Australia and for that, they should be profoundly proud of," he said.

"And one that I need to build on, and my team needs to build on as a National Party."

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Perin Davey has been elected as the party's deputy leader and Bridget McKenzie will be the leader in the Senate.

Littleproud described them as "two bright, articulate powerful women" and says the party is "moving forward".

"The diversity of our room means we can draw not only on men but the strength of these women that bring the experience of the regions together," he said.

Joyce was optimistic he would keep the top Nationals job this morning.

When asked if he thought he has the numbers to retain the leadership, Joyce told 9News he was "very sanguine" about the vote and that "people in the room will make up their minds".

When asked who he thinks would be his best replacement, Joyce said: "I don't know. Jesus? Muhammad? That's a very good question."

Littleproud, a former agribusiness banker, has been the MP for the Queensland seat of Maranoa since 2016.

He served in the Turnbull and Morrison governments as Minister for Agriculture, as well as Minister for Water Resources and Minister for Northern Australia.

The 45-year-old has entered leadership speculation for the Nationals in the past, rising to the deputy position in 2020.

He recorded a tiny 0.3 per cent swing against him in Maranoa on May 21, but nonetheless comfortably won his race, with 72.2 per cent of the two-party preferred vote.

Littleproud is considered to be more amenable to climate policy than many of his colleagues, and while in government worked to save the Murray Darling Basin Plan and improve federal biodiversity stewardship.

"We are moving forward on climate. We made that commitment and the Australian economy is moving forward on that," he said today.

He vowed to "bring common sense to Canberra" and put regional Australians and farmers at the centre of the conversation.

"My job is to protect regional and rural Australia," he said.

"I don't think regional and rural Australia are against reducing emissions.

"We should get back to first principles, and that's about reducing emissions."

He voted against legalising same-sex marriage in 2017, but stated his vote would be determined by the majority view of his electorate.

Maranoa voters sided against marriage equality with a 56.1 per cent majority.

READ MORE: Albanese and Labor still one seat from majority government

Labor gets on with the job of governing

The new government says it's getting on with the job of inspecting the nation's balance sheets, having inherited $1 trillion of debt.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher is foreshadowing spending cuts but says Labor's budget will still have a "cost of living" lens applied, as prices surge.

"We need an honest conversation about this," she said.

"We can't pretend they're not coming, and we can't pretend the budget is in good shape and able to absorb this."

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to present his full ministry and cabinet later this week.