Meg Lanning won the toss and Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney immediately went to work dispatching the Bangladesh attack to all corners of venue on Thursday.

Healy (83 off 53) and Mooney (81 not out off 58) ruthlessly put together a 151-run opening stand to demoralise their opponents.

Australia are hunting a convincing victory after a shock loss to India and a narrow win against Sri Lanka in their opening matches.

Victory will set up a contest on Monday against New Zealand, who lost to India by three runs on Thursday, to determine who progresses to the semi-finals.

Healy had scored just 24 runs in six innings leading into the World Cup.

But she is now the tournament's leading run-scorer with 134 runs at an average of 44.6.

Her stats enhanced by her latest assault, comprising 10 boundaries and a trio of sixes.

Mooney blasted nine boundaries, while Ashleigh Gardner (22 off 9) continued the plunder after Healy's departure in the 17th over.

The two-time league best-and-fairest winner has been named in Adelaide's team for Sunday's home clash at Hisense Stadium.

Phillips hasn't played since being named best afield in last year's decider despite rupturing her ACL during the third quarter.

The 34-year-old was unstoppable before the injury, spearheading Adelaide to a resounding 45-point win as the Crows romped to their second premiership in three seasons.

The former WNBA player's return comes at a critical time for the Crows' flag defence, given they sit fourth in their conference with a 2-1 record.

Carlton, meanwhile, are coming off a morale-boosting 21-point win against the Western Bulldogs last week.

Greene was fined $7500 for serious misconduct after he made contact with Bontempelli's face and pulled his hair in an ugly incident during the Giants' bruising elimination final win over the Dogs last season.

The pair will line up for Victoria against the All-Stars at Marvel Stadium and Greene revealed he had approached Bontempelli before Thursday's training session.

"I had a good chat with him just before and it's all good," Greene told reporters.

"We're teammates (now) and really looking forward to playing with him.

"... We were in the change rooms and it just happened naturally.

"Obviously it's something that might've got talked about but it's all on good terms now."

The fiery Giants forward has been a key player in the growing rivalry between the clubs, having been suspended for punching Caleb Daniel and fined for his hotly-debated karate-style kick to then Bulldog Luke Dahlhaus' face.

"I still might get a few boos from the Bulldogs supporters but that's fine," Greene said.

"I'm really looking forward to it.

"They obviously love their footy down here and it will be great to represent Victoria."

The Dogs were diplomatic following their brutal 58-point elimination final defeat at Giants Stadium but several players were privately seething at Greene's tactics.

Six months on from the incident, Bontempelli said he didn't feel awkward meeting his tormentor-turned-teammate and was happy to let bygones be bygones.

"Obviously you put the weapons down from a rivalry point of view, which wouldn't normally happen in the season," Bontempelli said.

"But we're all wearing the same jumper so I'm looking forward to the experience.

"We shook hands, said g'day and found out what's been going on.

"Now we're teammates for a little bit. It should be good."

The world number two saw off his 20-year-old opponent 6-2 7-5 in one hour and 35 minutes to set up a last-eight clash with Kwon Soon-woo, who stunned eighth seed Dusan Lajovic 7-6 (7-2) 6-0.

Nadal won the first five games of his match and after failing to serve out the set, immediately broke back to secure the opener.

The second set remained on serve until the eighth game, when Nadal took his second break point.

Kecmanovic, the world number 50, broke back but the 19-time grand slam champion stepped it up in the final game to break again and secure victory.

Earlier, second seed Alexander Zverev was stunned by American qualifier Tommy Paul.

The world number 66 won 6-3 6-4.

Grigor Dimitrov beat Adrian Mannarino in a final-set tie-break while Britain's Kyle Edmund saw off fourth seed Feliz Auger-Aliassime 6-4 6-4.

American duo John Isner and Taylor Fritz were also second-round winners in Acapulco while Stan Wawrinka beat Spain's Pedro Martinez 6-4 6-4.

NO STORY has just one side. Most are just getting started with two sides.

Stories, in reality, like life – and death – are multifaceted, at times bewilderingly complex.

Many of those strands that make up life will often combine to lay bare the frailty that underpins most of us.

No one thing is surer, they will all have some degree of direct and indirect involvement.

In Kyabram, on January 15, a 29-year-old man was allegedly attacked – possibly by two men.

He was taken by ambulance to Kyabram hospital and released within a couple of hours, even though he had hit his head hard on the footpath when he fell backwards during the alleged assault.

Soon after being released he was in a bus and on his way back to Echuca, where he lived in a rented room.

Overnight, on January 19-20, for reasons still to be determined by the coroner, he died.

Alone.

His name was Sean O’Halloran.

And his mother, brother and four sisters had finally lost their son and brother.

To the grave.

But he was gone from them long before that.

First, as a troubled teen to drugs; then as a young adult to schizophrenia.

And the pain doesn’t end with the funeral, with the grieving.

Sean O’Halloran’s epitaph read ‘registered sex offender’.

He had served 12 months in jail, convicted of sending incriminating videos to a teenage girl online but in another one of those twists the teenage girl was actually an online sting being run by Victoria Police.

“Sean had said many times before he needed to do such things to get incarcerated, as the psychiatric wards would often reject him – and so many others – unless they were visually suicidal,” his family said.

His death, when reported online, attracted a flurry of comment, and from beyond the grave his troubled life continued to impact on his family.

For several years Sean had been in and out of psychiatric wards, doctor’s rooms, outpatients and pharmacies.

In too many ways he was a textbook example of the shortcomings of the infrastructure when it comes to best practice care of the mentally ill.

Not his mother, nor his family, are in any way defending what he was doing online.

They told him that, they told us that, they will tell you the same.

“It was 100 per cent wrong, as bad as you could get, and that’s what we told Sean,” his sister Hannah said.

But his family are not seeking to rewrite history, or to pretend Sean was something other than the flawed human he was.
What still drives them on, like the life they have just lost, is a tangled web of the direct and indirect.

Depending on where the medical examiner and coroner take Sean’s case, it will fall somewhere between death by misadventure and manslaughter.

A decision that is, at best, still weeks away, even though the family has petitioned the coroner for a report on progress to date.

At the same time they want to use his story as a rallying point to show people how the soaring number of patients with mental health problems have overwhelmed the system.

“From the age of 15 Sean started developing real mental health problems and he, and we, tried to get help,” his mother Christine explained.

“He knew, we knew, for whatever reason, he simply wasn’t coping with life and that was reflected in depression and, occasionally, in violence,” she said.

“Which we believe too many people were happy to use as an easy out, to say Sean just needed anger management.

“But normal people with a sound mind, no matter how angry, don’t do things like attack a prosecutor in a courtroom – surely that would make it pretty obvious that person might have some much deeper problems.

“People don’t go trawling the internet, sending explicit content to random females. But nothing seemed to sound enough alarms for Sean to get the help he needed.

“But what we do already know is that when he died, the only drugs in Sean’s system were the prescribed ones to treat his psychosis.”

With Sean the teenager following the classic slippery slope of weekend parties and experimenting with drugs to not turning up for work, to hanging out with undesirables and then, jobless, rudderless, drifting to Melbourne.

His family, like many, many families, did all they could to pull him out of this spiralling decline but drug addicts are singing from a different hymn sheet to the rest of us.

Their focus is not on treating their mental health, on trying to make a future, even on seeking help. It is all about the next fix.

Not even love could help turn him around.

Not the love of his family, not the love of his girlfriend. Who could not even love herself and who would soon die from an overdose, a loss that Sean’s addled mind could not properly process, just as he could not process normality.

“And this is where our mental health system failed Sean and fails so many others in his position. Our mental health system is so reactive rather than proactive. A lot of addicts know they need help, they do want help,’’ Christine said. 

“But they don’t know how to go about it, or don’t have the mental stability to stick to a mental health plan that is set up for people of sound mind – when they are past that.”

Because by now he was hearing voices, telling him to do things, never letting him be. Voices that could only be controlled by the right cocktail of antipsychotics.

And getting that right is not easy, it is the art of the psychiatrist to find the right chemical balance and then keeping it right while the mind of the patient continues to mutate and move him back into the danger zone.

“It is the patient’s responsibility to go to the doctor, to get the right script, get it filled and then make sure to take the drugs at the right time, every time,” Christine said.

“How does someone who can barely function become responsible for all that? It just doesn’t work.

“The drugs took over his life but the schizophrenia and the damaged way the system tries to help took his life from him.”

While serving his 12 months, Sean came up for parole at six months but did not have stable accommodation, so he had to wait another three months for his next parole hearing and hit the same hurdle.

His mother said that must have meant everyone in the prison service must have been aware of the extent of his mental problems but at 12 months there were no more tests, no more checks.

“On his release he was given a Myki card, three nights at a Bendigo motel and then written off by the system,” Hannah said.

“They let him out in December, just before Christmas. He didn’t last a month.”

Christine said “local police had watched him deteriorate over a few years, they knew him, knew who he was”.

She said people like Sean always seemed to be punished with the full force of the law, when what they actually needed was help.

“I make no excuses for the things he did that were wrong but so is the system, we pick on the wrong thing, instead of helping the mentally ill we incarcerate them,” Christine said.

“Too often the approach of the police was confrontation, and for anyone who is mentally ill that just cranks up their stress levels.
“And around here, almost anywhere, there is nothing available for people over the age of 25 – except prison.

There at least they get some help; in fact it is almost like a holiday for some. They are not intimidated by having to make the most basic decisions, they get fed three times a day, have showers and a bed. Without the stress which is a daily weight on their lives on the outside.’’

Sean had been arrested several times during his short life; had appealed for help many more times, but it most usually fell on deaf ears, on a system not capable and/or equipped to deal with people with these issues.

“My son was not a terrible person,” Christine said.

“He may have done some terrible things, but that wasn’t him. 

“So much of it was the outcome of poor mental health, of his schizophrenia, of a justice system not taught how to deal with mentally ill people, it is a system only taught how to set them up legally, and then incarcerate them again, giving people who already have very little hope absolutely no chance,” she said.

“Families should not have to go through that, the system needs to be reassessed, especially with the huge drug epidemic that is ruining our people and our towns.”

Hannah said the social media that followed Sean’s death “has had an incredible impact on our families, it has wounded them, one of my daughters is now also suffering anguish because of it”. 

“We have to face it, but none of the people with their accusations knew Sean, didn’t know anything factual about his situation,” she said.

“Sean’s life, our lives, have been a 10-year battle and this is how he is remembered.

“No, no family, no person, should have to go through this, no person’s life should be taken from them.”

More than 430 people died while in the care of a registered National Disability Insurance Scheme provider between July and December 2019, the latest data shows.

The NDIS Quality and Safety Commission received 65,400 notifications about the unauthorised use of restrictive practices on people with disability, which a lawyer for the disability royal commission described as "a rather grim figure".

Most involved the use of chemical restraints or psychotic medication for dealing with certain behaviours, the independent agency's commissioner Graeme Head said.

Mr Head said the agency must be notified every time a restrictive practice has been used when it has not been authorised by state and territory authorities, and if there is no behaviour support plan in place.

"If someone is on medication twice a day, then at the end of the week that is 14 reportable incidents for that person," he told the royal commission's Sydney hearing on Thursday.

Mr Head said the reports were giving the NDIS commission insight into a very critical issue.

"The behaviour support framework is designed to, over time, reduce the use of restrictive practices and ultimately eliminate the use of restrictive practices," he said.

There were 69,400 reportable incidents in total for the six months, which included 1700 abuse and neglect allegations and 780 of unlawful physical and sexual contact.

Mr Head said the abuse complaints can range from a person feeling they have been treated unfairly to allegations of a more serious nature.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt on Thursday announced the first funding commitment under a national plan to improve health care for people with intellectual disability, the same day officials from his department fronted the royal commission.

The $6.5 million over four years will be used to develop a program to increase the skills and abilities of doctors to provide effective health care for people with intellectual disability.

There has been criticism that the reforms under the 10-year national roadmap do not respond urgently enough to the poor health and health care of people with intellectual disability.

Health department assistant secretary Simon Cotterell said the roadmap was still a draft, compiled after an initial roundtable last August.

"There would have been some decisions about what was allocated as short-, medium- and long-term that were based on instinct or the best guess at the time," he said.

Mr Cotterell agreed the roadmap may be an opportunity for a turning point in the development of a national policy to respond to the health needs of people with intellectual disability.

The extraordinary decision by Saudi Arabia stops foreigners from reaching the holy city of Mecca and the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure the world's 1.8 billion Muslims pray toward five times a day.

The decision also affected travel to Prophet Mohammed's mosque in Medina. Authorities also suspended entry to the kingdom to those with tourist visas from nations affected by the new virus.

The decision showed the worry about the outbreak potentially spreading into Saudi Arabia, whose oil-rich monarchy stakes its legitimacy on protecting Islam's holy sites.

The epicentre in the Mideast's most-affected country, Iran, appears to be in the holy Shi'Ite city of Qom, where the faithful in reverence reach out to kiss and touch a famous shrine.

Iran now has the highest death toll from the virus outside of China, where the outbreak began.

There have been no confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in Saudi Arabia amid the outbreak.

Since it emerged in December in central China, the new coronavirus has sickened 82,000 people globally, with more than 2700 deaths.

Craig Williams rides Blazejowski in Saturday's Group Three Shaftesbury Avenue Handicap (1400m) with McNeil originally booked to ride How Womantic in the Group One Surround Stakes at Randwick.

She has been scratched but McNeil, who has ridden Blazejowski in 12 of his 17 starts, will ride Bella Nipotina in the Sweet Embrace Stakes, a Golden Slipper lead-up.

Blazejowski won an 1100m-open handicap at Flemington in the first start of his current campaign last month before finishing sixth over 1400m at the same track with trainer Greg Eurell believing he had excuses.

"I thought his run was good last start," Eurell said.

"He was held in. He was looking for some daylight as they approached the straight.

"Finally he got out and hit the line pretty good.

"He needed to have a bit more time to wind up and get into the race. I was quite pleased with the way he did box on in the finish though and he never shirked the task."

The Shaftesbury Avenue Handicap has a field of nine with Blazejowski one of five runners at single figure odds in the TAB's market.

Blazejowski was at $6 on Thursday on the fourth line of betting with dual Group One placegetter Age Of Chivalry favourite at $3.50.

"If he gets a clear run at them on Saturday I'm sure he's going to be very competitive again," Eurell said.

About 400 residents in Williamtown, north of Newcastle, launched a class action against the Department of Defence in 2016 after PFAS chemicals (Per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) contaminated soil and water in the area.

About 500 residents in Oakey, Queensland, and thousands in Katherine, NT, launched their own claims soon afterwards.

PFAS was once used in firefighting foam at the defence bases in the three communities.

The federal government on Thursday said an in-principle agreement had been reached and a confidential settlement was being finalised for the three Federal Court class actions.

The announcement came just a month before the start of a Federal Court trial and the settlement will now need the approval of the court.

The settlement means the residents will be compensated for losses in the value of their properties as a result of the contamination.

Williamtown resident Lindsay Clout says it's been a long battle.

"People are really feeling comfortable again today," he told AAP on Thursday.

"There have been some tears of relief shed this morning by local residents."

The Coalition Against PFAS president added while the settlement was welcome it didn't change what the community had been through.

"We were continually told we were unimportant and what happened to us was the way it was going to be," he said.

Joshua Aylward of Shine Lawyers, which represented the actions at Oakey and Katherine, said their clients' reactions included shock and disbelief.

"Some of them never thought the Commonwealth would come good after such a long period of time, but they are excited that it actually is moving forward without ... going to trial," he told the media.

Mr Aylward said people had known for years chemicals were on their property, their land value was dropping, and their blood had highly elevated levels of the chemicals.

"These chemicals are not good and this adds a lot of stress to these families, especially in places like Katherine where it is still in the municipal town water," he said.

Port Stephens NSW MP Kate Washington says the news has been met with relief and some shock.

"I'm hopeful it will mean the residents can start healing and that the heartbreak may end," she told AAP on Thursday.

The government says it is committed to engaging with those affected by the contamination.

"Defence sees itself as part of the fabric of these communities," Defence Minister Linda Reynolds and Defence Personnel Minister Darren Chester said in a joint statement late on Wednesday.

"Reaching a settlement is not the end of Defence's engagement in these communities, however, it does represent an important milestone on what has been a difficult journey for many people over the past few years."

They said the government was committed to finishing environmental investigations into PFAS contamination around defence facilities, and to ongoing monitoring and engagement with communities.

The Richmond and Sydney premiership mentors - in charge of Victoria and the All-Stars respectively - say they will abandon the defensive mindset that often permeates modern coaches' boxes during the regular season.

Longmire joked he had a "couple of tags" lined up, but added he would likely be run out of town if he instructed players to put the negating tactic into practice at Marvel Stadium.

Victoria champions Dustin Martin, Marcus Bontempelli and Toby Greene will feature against an All-Stars line-up littered with exciting talent such as Jack Riewoldt, Jeremy Howe and Eddie Betts.

The promise of a fast-paced and high-scoring spectacle from the game's biggest stars is a tantalising prospect for fans, with a near-capacity crowd of about 50,000 expected.

"There's not going to be as many systems at play and the guys are going to be relying on their natural instinct to play the game," Hardwick said.

"We'll just be asking the guys to play their best natural game of footy and I think you're going to see a bit of a throwback game.

"Whether it's 120 to 140, there's probably a chance of that, but I don't think it's going to be a dour type of affair.

"We're just looking forward to the players putting on a showcase for such a terrific cause."

The first AFL representative match in more than a decade is effectively a pre-season contest for players building match fitness ahead of the home-and-away campaign.

The coaches and captains - Trent Cotchin (Victoria) and Nat Fyfe (All-Stars) - stressed the ultimate aim of the event was to raise money for people affected by this summer's devastating bushfires.

But Hardwick said there was no doubt both sides were playing to win.

"We're all competitive," he said.

"We want to have a great spectacle, we want the players to show why they're here and the calibre of player that we've got.

"But when it does come down to it in the last quarter, I think all the boys will want to win."

Players have been given the green light to release the shackles, free of club-mandated restrictions on workloads and playing time.

"We've got nine on the bench and we want to give all the players an opportunity to play," Longmire said.

"If someone comes off because a goal's been kicked, don't get too frustrated because we're trying to give everyone a go.

"We also want to hand the players back in the best possible condition to their clubs, so we're conscious of that too."

Morehu-Barlow, now 44, pleaded guilty to five fraud and three drug offences in 2013 after re-directing money meant for charity into his own accounts and was jailed for 14 years with a non-parole period of five.

Queensland Corrective Services confirmed the New Zealander was no longer in their custody.

It's believed he was released on Thursday afternoon, while News Corp reported he could be deported to New Zealand where he is expected to live with his mother.

An Australian Border Force spokesperson told AAP they could not comment on whether Morehu-Barlow was in their custody or was facing deportation.

Born Hohepa Hikairo 'Joel' Morehu-Barlow, he used his position as a middle manager for Queensland Health to siphon off funds between October 2007 and December 2011.

It allowed him to live a lavish lifestyle that included the purchase of an exclusive waterfront apartment in inner Brisbane.

He even had the initials HRH (His Royal Highness) on a black Amex he used at a chic Brisbane nightclub Cloudland where he drank top of the range champagne and tipped waiters $1000, according to former staff members.

His cash-splashing habits were so outlandish that one Fortitude Valley businessman described it to AAP as a Clayton's economic stimulus package for Brisbane's restaurants, pubs and retailers.

His reign as a free-spending ''royal'' was brought undone in December 2011 when he attempted to siphon off $11 million in a single transaction. He'd previously taken about $5 million.

When police searched his residence, they found hundreds of luxury items including a life-size horse lamp, saddle, a Chanel watch and a Louis Vuitton surfboard, which were seized and sold at auction.

Overall about $11.9 million was recovered from the sale of items including the apartment.

During one of his court proceedings, Morehu-Barlow's lawyer told the court that even his client knew his ''simple'' fraud - which just happened to involve an extraordinary amount of money - would be exposed.

''It was a simple fraud which was bound to be discovered,'' defence barrister David Shepherd said.

A near-capacity 50,000 crowd is expected when Victoria and the All-Stars do battle at Marvel Stadium in Friday night's bushfire relief match, which will be the first of its kind in more than a decade.

Debate rages over whether state-based competition - including genuine State of Origin contests - should be brought back as a regular fixture on the AFL calendar.

Clubs are understandably reluctant to let their stars feature in what would effectively amount to exhibition games.

But there appears to be an appetite for representative football amongst leading players and the fanbase.

"I understand both sides," Collingwood captain Pendlebury said.

"In 2008, Josh Fraser did his PCL in this game and we (Collingwood) lost our No.1 ruckman for the second half of the year going into a finals campaign.

"But I think the most important people are the fans and if they enjoy it, they really embrace the game (and) the players want to put their hands up to play, then it's hopefully something that can get up."

Players' eagerness to feature in this year's bushfire relief match forced the AFL to remove its initial limit of three per club in each representative team.

"Clearly people are interested in State of Origin in this concept," All-Stars and Richmond forward Jack Riewoldt said.

"It's going to be a great test case for what State of Origin footy could look like going forward."

The last AFL representative match in a genuine State of Origin format was in 1999, when Victoria thrashed South Australia.

Carlton captain Patrick Cripps and GWS skipper Stephen Coniglio, who will represent the All-Stars, were hopeful of one day pulling on Western Australia's 'Black Swan' jumper.

"Although it's a great privilege to play for the All-Stars, I'd love to play for WA," Coniglio said.

"To play alongside Patty (Cripps) and guys like Nic Nat, Sonny Walters and Fyfey - the players want to play.

"If we can find a way to put it in our schedule like tomorrow night, raising money for such a great cause and something that's dear to a lot of people's hearts, we can maybe use that to roll it out in the next few years and play for charities each year."

Moroney saddles up Alabama Express in Saturday's $1 million Australian Guineas at Flemington, with the colt trying to add a Group One against his own age after winning the Group One C F Orr Stakes against older horses.

The Australian Guineas is one of two 1600m Group One races for three-year-olds in Australia in seven days, with the Randwick Guineas in Sydney on Saturday week.

Trans-Tasman trainer Moroney has Harlech in line for a Randwick Guineas start but a gallop in New Zealand on Saturday morning will help determine whether he makes the trip across.

Harlech has won at Group Two level in New Zealand and finished second in two Group Ones, to Catalyst in the NZ 2000 Guineas and Travelling Light in the Levin Classic.

He has had a short break after running fourth in the Karaka Million 3YO (1600m) last month, won by Probabeel.

"He's in the Randwick Guineas and he's booked to fly on Tuesday to run," Moroney said.

"But we're going to do a bit with him on Saturday.

"He's had a bit of a break and he's got behind a little bit and if he doesn't work well enough we won't come over.

"He disappointed in the Karaka Mile and just pulled up really tired so we gave him a quick break. It's just whether we're happy with him and if not we'll put him in the paddock and wait for the four-year-old season."

Alabama Express takes on a field including Alligator Blood and Catalyst in the Australian Guineas and Moroney believes there is not much between the leading contenders.

But he was hoping for a better draw than six of eight.

"We're mapped to possibly get the worst run in the race which is a bit worrying," he said.

"We got away with it in the Orr. It ended up that he had a tough run but he was still too good.

"Hopefully it ends up the same way.

"He does fly the barriers so I presume he'll do that and we'll surge forward to a degree and just see what happens inside us.

"We're just going to have to try to get in and get a bit of luck."

The World Health Organisation has not yet formally declared a global pandemic but the prime minister said Australia was effectively operating on the basis there is one.

"We believe that the risk of a global pandemic is very much upon us and as a result, as a government, we need to take the steps necessary to prepare for such a pandemic," Mr Morrison said on Thursday.

The government was acting from an abundance of caution and at the moment the virus was being managed in Australia.

"You can still go to the football, you can still go to the cricket, you can still go and play with your friends down the street, you can go off to the concert and you can go out for a Chinese meal," Mr Morrison said.

Health Minister Greg Hunt warned parliament the "arc of the virus" continues to expand with confirmed first cases reported in Algeria, Brazil, Greece and Pakistan.

"Against that background, the very clear message for Australians is that we are not immune but we are well prepared," he said.

There are over 81,300 people diagnosed with COVID-19 worldwide and 2770 recorded deaths.

However, Mr Hunt said there remains only 15 diagnosed cases within the Australian general public - all now cleared - and eight Diamond Princess cruise ship passengers being treated in their home states.

Under the emergency response plan, health ministers around the country are making sure their hospital and medical systems are prepared to deal with an influx of cases, the Border Force commissioner is examining what extra measures should be set up at airports and ports of entry, and education ministers are putting arrangements in place for school students.

Aged care homes are being encouraged to plan in advance for how to cope, the public will be urged to practice good hygiene and hand-washing, and border security screening measures will increase for travellers coming to Australia.

Mr Hunt is working closely with his state counterparts to make sure there are stockpiles of medicines and protective equipment for hospitals and border agents and that supply chains are protected.

"One of the things we're most focused on is to make sure we have the personnel capacity if there is a surge within our hospitals and medical system," he told reporters.

The government also extended the ban on travellers entering Australia from China for another week.

While there was speculation the ban might be eased for university students, Mr Morrison said there would be no carve-outs.

Last week the government lifted the ban on Year 11 and 12 students coming from China under strict rules.

The government is also taking advice from Treasury on possible measures to boost the economy, but Mr Morrison said anything it does would be "targeted, modest and scalable".

Panic over the spread of the virus has taken an ugly turn at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital where staff and patients have been discriminated against.

Parents have refused to let doctors and nurses of Asian appearance treat their children or are sitting away from other patients because of fears surrounding coronavirus.

Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said any suggestion the spread of the virus had anything to do with ethnicity was wrong and showed complete disrespect for hardworking healthcare workers.

The 24-year-old winger always had it in his mind to return to the 15-man game which he played as a youngster in Fiji and decided the time was right when the Queensland Reds came knocking with a substantial offer.

Vunivalu reportedly signed a deal in late November worth $1.8 million with the Reds and Rugby Australia.

While he didn't comment on the size of the deal, he said hamstring issues, which ruled him out of the Storm's painful preliminary final loss to Canberra last year as well as the World Cup Nines, helped him make the decision.

"It was a hard decision as I've been here six years and wanted to continue but I've got to do what's best for me and my family," Vunivalu said.

"I wasn't going back this early but I thought that most rugby players don't play for that long and injury-wise I've had a couple of hamstrings so I thought it was the best offer for me and my family."

As well as Vunivalu, fellow flyer Josh Addo-Carr will also depart at season's end but the pair hadn't spoken about it being their final season.

"We haven't concentrated on leaving, we've got our final year to make the most of it," Vunivalu said.

"Our focus will just be on the Storm and nothing more than that."

Vunivalu will have his first hit out of the year in Melbourne's final NRL pre-season trial against North Queensland in Cranbourne on Saturday.

The Storm will be at full-strength, with skipper Cameron Smith, State of Origin stars Cameron Munster, Addo-Carr, Felise Kaufusi and Dale Finucane plus Kiwi internationals Jesse and Kenny Bromwich and Jahrome Hughes.

Only three first-grade regulars will miss the match through injury - Brandon Smith (facial fracture), Christian Welch (knee) and Nelson Asofa-Solomona (hamstring strain).

It's the Storm's last hit out prior to their round one clash with Manly in Sydney.

Marion Seve and Justin Olam will start in the centres as coach Craig Bellamy looks to replace Will Chambers and Curtis Scott.

Tui Kamikamica takes Asofa-Solomona's usual front-row starting spot, with Harry Grant inheriting Brandon Smith's regular No.14 jersey.

Melbourne Storm: Ryan Papenhuyzen, Suliasi Vunivalu, Marion Seve, Justin Olam, Josh Addo-Carr, Cameron Munster, Jahrome Hughes, Jesse Bromwich, Cameron Smith, Tui Kamikamica, Felise Kaufusi, Kenny Bromwich, Dale Finucane. Res: Harry Grant, Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, Max King, Albert Vete, Tom Eisenhuth, Darryn Schonig, Nicho Hynes, Brenko Lee, Ryley Jacks, Cooper Johns, Chris Lewis.

The mare's last win was the Kembla Grange Classic almost 12 months ago, although she has run some superb races since.

She recorded close seconds in the Group One Tatt's Tiara during the Brisbane winter carnival and the Group Two Blazer Stakes during the Melbourne spring.

After a closing first-up third behind Sweet Deal over 1200 metres in the Triscay Stakes, Pohutukawa gets a chance to exact revenge on that mare in Saturday's Guy Walter Stakes (1400m).

"She was crying out for 1400 on her return," Cummings said.

"It's been a while since she has won a race but we are confident that our patience will be rewarded."

Cummings' confidence stems not only from Pohutukawa's return performance, but also her sizzling track work.

"If her gallop this week was any better, it would have been a waste,"he said.

Co-trainer Peter Snowden predicts an improved showing from Reelem In Ruby who finished unplaced in the Triscay after getting a long way back from a wide draw.

It was the first time the usually consistent mare had missed a place in 11 starts and Snowden said she would be much better suited in a smaller field and under the weight conditions of Saturday's race.

"She was 20 lengths from the lead at one stage which made it impossible to win but to her credit, when you watch the race and how much ground she made up, there was a lot of merit to the run," Snowden said.

Sweet Deal heads early markets for the Guy Walter Stakes at $2.90, ahead of Con Te Partiro while Pohutukawa and Reelem In Ruby share the third line of betting at $6.

From this Sunday, March 1 until June 30, the designated areas in state forests or parks will be open for the collection of firewood for personal use only.

Interactive maps showing designated collection areas will become available this Saturday at 6pm.

Forest Fire Management Victoria Loddon Mallee regional manager Paul Bates said the collection area at Cohuna would not open until Wednesday, April 1.

“Gunbower State Forest is still very dry and wood-cutting activities would put the forest at unnecessary risk of fire and cause potential safety hazards to people,” Mr Bates said.

“Please remember restrictions are still in place regarding firewood collection in Gunbower State Forest.

“Only residents of Gannawarra Shire Council, Swan Hill Rural City, Loddon Shire and Shire of Campaspe area allowed to collect wood at this designated firewood collection area.

“It is important to stay within collection limits, which are in place to prevent households stockpiling large volumes of firewood from public land and denying others a supply.

“A maximum of two cubic metres per person per day and a maximum of 16 cubic metres per household per financial year is allowed. The felling of trees and cutting downed hollow logs for firewood is prohibited at any time of year.

“Designated collection areas are put in place to protect sites of cultural and environmental significance.”

“Authorised officers regularly patrol parks, forests and reserves to ensure people are doing the right thing while collecting their firewood.”

Chief conservation regulator Kate Gavens said authorities take a zero-tolerance approach to illegal firewood collection, given the negative impacts it has on forest health, wildlife habitat, public safety and the sustainability of firewood resources that local communities rely on.

“Most people follow the rules; however, it’s important for anyone collecting firewood on public land to be aware of where, when and what firewood can be collected to avoid significant penalties,” Ms Gavens said.

Under the Forest Act 1958, people who collect firewood outside designated collection areas or season or take more than the maximum allowable amounts can face fines of up to $8261, or a maximum penalty of one-year imprisonment or both, if the matter proceeds to court.

To report illegal or suspicious behaviour on public land, please contact the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning on 136 186.

For more information including rules, updates and interactive maps showing designated collection areas go to www.ffm.vic.gov.au/firewood

* 23 confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Australia: 8 in Queensland; 4 in NSW; 7 in Victoria; 3 in South Australia; 1 in Western Australia

* 15 of these cases are reported to have recovered. The remaining cases are in a stable condition.

* 8 cases are passengers who were on the Diamond Princess repatriation flight from Japan. They have returned to their home states for medical treatment.

* Across the world, there have been 81,310 confirmed cases and 2771 reported deaths

* Of the confirmed cases reported globally, the case fatality rate is 3.4 per cent. The case fatality rate in countries and regions outside mainland China is 1.4 per cent

* Australia's travel restrictions have been extended for a further week

* Foreign nationals - excluding permanent residents - who have been in mainland China will not be allowed to enter Australia for 14 days from the time they left mainland China

* Australian citizens and permanent residents will still be able to enter, as will their immediate family members (spouses, legal guardians and dependants only)

* People who have been in contact with someone confirmed to have coronavirus must self-isolate for 14 days from the time they were in contact with that person

* Australian government is operating on the basis that a pandemic will be declared soon.

"We believe the risk of a global pandemic is very much upon us and as a result as a government we need to take the steps necessary to prepare for such a pandemic," Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

The plan includes preparations for extra controls at airports and ports, further quarantine measures and detailing how schools should react to any widespread outbreak.

While the global pandemic has not been officially declared, Mr Morrison said Australia is working on the basis there is such a declaration.

The turning point was new data showing the rate of cases being confirmed outside China was growing faster than those inside China.

Australia has so far had 22 cases of COVID-19, most of whom have been cleared and are now back in the community.

There has been no evidence of transmission within the community.

State and territory health ministers will meet with federal minister Greg Hunt on Friday to discuss the next steps.

Border Force has also been asked for advice on how to step up measures at ports of entry.

Education ministers will look at what steps can be taken to further protect children.

But Mr Morrison said there was no need to cancel mass gatherings of people or stop going out for Chinese meals.

"You can do all of these things because Australia has acted quickly, Australia has gone ahead of this at this point in time," he said.

The NSW District Court, hearing a defamation claim, was asked to force a plaintiff to put $20,000 into a court-controlled bank account.

The amount would cover some of the defendant's expected legal costs, should the plaintiff lose or withdraw the case.

A lawyer for the defendant said the plaintiff's cryptocurrency account might be in Australian dollars but still represented a highly unstable investment.

Judge Judith Gibson said she was prepared to accept cryptocurrency was volatile.

"However, this is a recognised form of investment," she said in a judgment this week.

Addressing the volatility issue, she accepted the plaintiff's undertaking to give the defendant's solicitor monthly statements for the investment account.

He'll also have to alert the solicitor when the account drops below $20,000, should that occur.

"I can see the desirability of the defendant receiving prompt notification of any drop in the value of the account," the judge said.

"These are uncertain financial times."

Breaches of undertakings can lead to the defaulting party being found in contempt of court.

Doomben has been soaked in the past month and is in the soft range after showers this week.

Further rain is predicted with up to 15mm expected on Saturday.

Miss Cavallo is a noted wet-track horse and is unbeaten in two starts on soft tracks including a Doomben win as a two-year-old.

Her only run on a heavy track resulted in a second to The Odyssey in the $500,000 QTIS Two-Year-Old The Jewel last year.

Trainer Michael Nolan has set the $55,000 Magic Millions buy for a shot at going one better in the Three-Year-Old The Jewel next month and she will have her lead-up in the Prelude on Saturday.

"She likes the Doomben track and distance and she has won first-up,"Nolan said.

He will have promising filly Kisukano in the Two-Year-Old Prelude on Saturday.

Kisukano was a brilliant winner of her first start at Toowoomba and then ran second to star juvenile Rothfire at Eagle Farm.

"She was good as she got caught deep after being checked at the start," Nolan said.

Rival trainer Chris Anderson has scratched promising Plutocrat from the Two-Year-Old The Jewel Prelude after she drew barrier 13.

"I just can't draw a barrier. It is hard to win in good company from out there," Anderson said.

Plutocrat would have been one of the favourites after an impressive debut win.

Anderson is also likely to scratch She's A Tigress to run her at the Gold Coast on Saturday.

"She drew barrier 10 which is nearly as bad," he said.

Thanks to a collaboration between Moama Bowling Club and Echuca Mazda, the Echuca-Moama cancer charity is giving away a brand new Mazda CX5, valued at more than $36,000.

And with only 1000 tickets available, many of them already sold, people are urged to get their hands on one quickly.

“We are so incredibly grateful to these two wonderful organisations for gifting us this amazing prize and for their unbelievably generous support of our charity,” GNO chair Leonie Canham said.

“With your help, we are hoping to raise $50,000 through this mega-raffle to support those in our community living with cancer.”

The winner will be drawn at GNO's wildly popular Lazy Sunday Afternoon event to be held on May 31 at Junction Moama.

If the committee reaches its $50,000 target, it will take GNO's fundraising tally to almost $400,000.

Since 2008, the charity has been working to help lighten the load for cancer survivors in the community, raising more than $330,000 for the GNO Oncology Department Supportive Care Program at Echuca Regional Health.

“This program was established by GNO to provide extra care and financial support to cancer patients for things like counselling, rent payments, wigs, alternative therapies, lymphodema sleeves, fuel cards, accommodation and child care,” Leonie said.

GNO has also helped secure vital funding from the McGrath Foundation for a dedicated McGrath breast care nurse who started work at ERH in 2012.

“It costs about $380,000 to employ a full-time breast care nurse over a minimum three-year period, so this outcome was a major triumph for GNO and our community,” Leonie said.

“The GNO initiative is the much-loved creation of a small collective of Echuca-Moama women who have each experienced first-hand the impact of cancer upon loved ones.

“The movement connects, embraces and engages the sisterhood of our community to shape a strong and vibrant network of women who are there for each other in times of need.”

The Lazy Sunday Afternoon event will be held from 3 pm to 6 pm and will include speakers, auctions, a mega-raffle car giveaway, delicious food, beer, wine and bubbly.

“Our previous events have attracted between 300 and 400 women and this year will be no exception,” Leonie said.

Tickets are available from the customer service desk at Moama Bowling Club.

Runners representing Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and New Zealand line up in the Group One race over 1600m at Flemington on Saturday.

Williams rides the Ken Keys-trained Soul Patch, one of four Victorian-trained runners, joining Alabama Express, Chenier and Commodus to take on Alligator Blood (Qld), Dalasan (SA), Superstorm (WA) and Catalyst (NZ).

Soul Patch is coming off a closing fourth behind Alligator Blood, Catalyst and Chenier in the C S Hayes Stakes (1400m) at Flemington on February 15.

Williams said there were seven excellent chances as he chases a third Guineas win having scored on Miss Finland (2007) and Shamus Award (2014).

"It's a great race and great for racing," Williams said.

"I love the fact that it's a bit of a state of origin with Queensland, Adelaide, Perth and of course Melbourne plus you throw in New Zealand, it's fantastic.

"It's going to be quite tactical which will be a disadvantage for my horse but I like the fact that they get out to the mile and it might pay dividends for him, especially with that run under the belt."

Soul Patch will race without blinkers on Saturday after Williams and Keys concluded the headgear was not having the desired result.

Blinkers were originally applied to help Soul Patch leave the barriers and take up a forward position.

"He was trying to be too competitive through the whole race, rather just at the end of the race," Williams said.

"He's come up with a favourable draw, so he's going to get every possible chance from there after his first-up run when he closed off nicely.

"Alligator Blood and Catalyst were much fitter than my horse the other day and the way the race was run it was more favourable for them than where I was.

"I'm not saying I'm going to overhaul them but going into the race I'm confident I will give it a shake."

After most of the derailed train carriages were lifted and taken to Sydney on Tuesday, the Australian Rail Track Corporation said track and signalling repairs at the accident scene will be finished on Thursday.

Once the work is complete, tests will be performed and freight trains will be back in service on Friday.

Passenger services are then expected to resume over the weekend.

"I expect services to resume within the next 24 hours," Australian Rail Track Corporation CEO John Fullerton said on Thursday.

"I expect freight to start first but yes, V/Line and Transport for NSW are also working on their plans to resume services. I expect that to happen over the course of the weekend."

Noting the restart will rely on the ARTC making the track available to train operators, Mr Fullerton said track upgrades will be implemented between Melbourne and Albury.

Mr Fullerton said the top priority is safety and he sought to reassure commuters.

"The incident was a shock to us all and was a shattering incident," he said.

"I'm sure that plays in people's minds, but we've put a lot of work in this recommissioning and our priority is to run a safe railway."

The XPT train from Sydney to Melbourne derailed at Wallan on Thursday night, killing experienced driver John Kennedy and his pilot, a 49-year-old from Castlemaine in Victoria.

It was revealed on Monday that Mr Kennedy raised concerns with a friend about train faults along the same route.

Investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau will release a preliminary report after 30 days, ahead of a final report in 18 months.

The Wallabies five-eighth returns to the starting line-up after missing last round's 12-point loss to the Sharks with a minor groin injury.

The defeat leaves the Rebels with a 1-3 start the season.

Toomua turned in a first-class showing the week previous in their victory over the Waratahs and they will look for a repeat performance against the Highlanders in Dunedin, where they've never won.

They did however beat the Highlanders in their last meeting in round three in Melbourne last season.

Toomua gave credit to halves partner Ryan Louwrens but certainly put his hand up to wear the vacant Wallabies No.10 jersey with his own game.

"I felt like I was able to have an influence on that game," Toomua said.

"Ryan, myself and Dane (Haylett-Petty) probably adjusted to the conditions better than the Waratahs did in that game although that's not something we will have to focus on tomorrow because there's a roof."

The 30-year-old was on the sidelines against the Sharks in Ballarat and said despite the loss, he rated it one of their better games.

Like his coach Dave Wessels said post-match, he felt they lost some key moments which proved costly.

"I thought it was one of our better performances of the season as the Sharks are a very, very good team," Toomua said.

"A lot of areas such as our structured defence, it's probably the best we've done so we will take that now because ultimately we need a result."

The Highlanders similarly suffered at the hands of the Sharks, losing 40-22 in round two.

Wallabies hooker Jordan Uelese was named on the bench for his first match of the year after a hamstring issue.

"He's trained well so hopefully it won't take too long for him to pick up where he left off," Toomua said.

The special commission of inquiry's report was made public on Thursday a month after it was handed to the state government.

According to the report - which includes 109 recommendations - some $7.3 billion worth of crystal methamphetamine is consumed in Australia each year.

The report highlights "a clear lack of direction" by health services treating ice-affected patients and calls for a focus on prevention, education and decriminalisation.

"Recognising illicit drug use as a health and social problem rather than a criminal justice issue is a fundamental first step," it states.

The report backs the state coroner who in late 2019 called for NSW Police to stop using detection dogs at music festivals following an inquest into six MDMA-related deaths.

"The most significant concern raised in evidence to the inquiry is that the use of drug-detection dogs may increase drug-related health harms, including panic ingestion, consuming drugs before the festival, carrying drugs in vaginal and anal cavities, and buying drugs from unknown suppliers inside the festival," the report states.

But NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard says while the government will consider 104 recommendations it won't support the five relating to injecting centres, syringe programs, substance testing and drug dogs.

"The government maintains its view that drug detection dogs are the best method for police to screen large crowds of people for the presence of drug odours," the coalition's interim response states.

The Berejiklian government also remains opposed to pill or substance testing and "does not support a trial of a needle and syringe program in correctional centres due to the potential safety risks to inmates and correctional officers".

It won't expand the number of safe injecting centres beyond the single facility in Kings Cross, despite the special commission recommending consumption services be established "in areas of local need".

Providing smoking facilities within them would encourage early contact with health and social services, increase access to education and might prevent users moving on to inject amphetamine-type stimulants, the report found.

Mr Hazzard on Thursday argued the government was investing $231.6 million on preventing and treating harms associated with drug use.

"The government will consider the remaining recommendations from the Inquiry in consultation with stakeholders and will prepare a final response before the end of the year," the minister said in a statement.

Greens MP Cate Faehrmann wants the government to "put politics aside" to ensure the best policies are in place to save lives.

"In the coming months I'll be finalising a bill to decriminalise the use and possession of currently illicit drugs in NSW," Ms Faehrmann said in a statement on Thursday.

"We can't stop people from using drugs but we can stop people from dying from them."

The Ted Noffs Foundation said it was pleased the government hadn't shut the door on potentially removing criminal penalties for personal drug use.

NSW Police are searching for two men who broke into the three-time NRL premiership-winning coach's Waverley home.

Robinson and his family awoke on Wednesday morning to find their home had been broken into while they slept upstairs.

The thieves took a handbag and the keys to Robinson's Mercedes GLC63 which was parked in the driveway.

CCTV released by NSW Police shows the thieves unlocking the car before running off as a car approaches on an adjacent street.

The vision, which was captured about 11.30pm on Tuesday, shows the men return a short time later and get into the car.

Police appealed for witnesses on Thursday before the car was found parked in Greystanes later that evening.

"The men are described only as wearing hoodies and gloves," NSW Police said in a statement.

Just three weeks out from the $3.5 million Slipper, trainer Peter Snowden is not unduly surprised by the ebb and flow of candidates for the world's richest two-year-old race.

While he has Dame Giselle safely in the field, he will give up to five stablemates the chance to book their spots at Randwick on Saturday.

Snowden and his son, training partner Paul, will start Aim and debutant Argenteus in the Skyline Stakes (1200m) while Stellar Pauline, Tilia Rose and possibly Close To Me clash in the Sweet Embrace Stakes (1200m).

Peter Snowden says it is a delicate balancing act qualifying youngsters for the Golden Slipper while still keeping something in hand.

"Everyone is trying to get them to a grand final on the day and two-year-olds are just so very hard to keep up for a length of time so it's all about timing," Snowden said.

"If they win on Saturday they're in the race, if they don't win they will need to be running well to think they're a live chance in a race like the Slipper."

Stellar Pauline has finished runner-up in all her three starts, most recently to Away Game in the Magic Millions at the Gold Coast.

Snowden has been rapt with her build-up to Saturday and has no doubt she can give the Golden Slipper a shake, if she can get there.

"She is going to be a really good three-year-old but I definitely think she is a chance if she can get in the Slipper," he said.

"She is going great. Her work has been first class since she's come back from the Gold Coast."

Tilia Rose won her only start in the Max Lees Classic and gets the chance to press her Slipper claims, while the stable is weighing up whether to run Close To me at Randwick or under lights at Canterbury on Friday.

Aim returns from a luckless run in the Magic Millions when he drew inside and found himself on the wrong part of the track.

A brilliant winner of his previous two starts, the colt is showing the stable signs that he can bounce back into Slipper contention.

"His work suggests to us he is back to where he was before he went up to the Gold Coast," Snowden said.

Argenteus, a $900,000 yearling, makes his debut in the Skyline with a lack of race experience his biggest challenge.

"He is having his first start against horses who have raced before which is never easy, so he will want to be good to be beating them," Snowden said.

"But in saying that I have been impressed with his trials, they have been great and his work has been solid."

He will be ditching the cape and knee-high boots to join American performers Nicholas Ziobro and Ryan Connolly in a show dedicated to the Christmas King himself, Michael Buble.

With the broadway level performance we have come to expect from Rennie, the two authentic North American gentlemen joining him will be sure to deliver a stellar five-star performance - having already done so in Western Australia.

Shades of Bublé is heading out on the road with a number of regional tour dates across South Australia and Victoria, including our own twin towns.

Among all of the artistic expressionism flaunted across the fringe festival scene throughout Australia, Shades of Bublé is a refreshingly honest performance of pure talent showcasing the World’s greatest cover artist himself.

The 60-minute show gives audiences seamless variety by combining big-band standards from the jazz era, classic hits from the 50s, 60s and 70s, as well as Billboard chart toppers from today in a high-energy show that generates standing ovations from sold-out crowds.

With the three voices singing incredible songs like Feeling Good, Moondance, Come Fly With Me, Home, Everything, Fever, Save the Last Dance for Me and many more, Shades of Bublé: The Three-Man Tribute to Michael Bublé brings the swinging standards and pop hits of Bublé himself to the stage in an unforgettable high-energy concert event.

The singers will be welcomed on stage at the Echuca Paramount on Sunday, March 8 from 7.30pm.

Tickets can be purchased at the box office in the theatre or online at echucaparamount.com/movie/shades-of-buble---the-three-man-michael-buble-show

Alligator Blood's agonisingly close second to Super Seth in the $2 million Group One Caulfield Guineas last October is the star Queensland three-year-old's only defeat in 10 starts.

On Saturday he gets his second chance at racing's elite level in the highly anticipated Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington.

"Group Ones are Group Ones," Vandyke said.

"He's won a $2 million Magic Millions Guineas and that was fantastic. But to win a Group One is the top of the mountain.

"We get a great opportunity on Saturday. The owners and jockey Ryan Maloney and the horse, they haven't won a Group One as yet. So I'm wanting him to win on Saturday for them as much as myself."

Vandyke won two Group One races with Yankee Rose in 2016 but says Alligator Blood's win in the Group Three C S Hayes Stakes last start, when he fought off New Zealander Catalyst after a stirring duel down the Flemington straight, felt like a career highlight.

An Australian Guineas victory would trump that.

"I'd love to see him crowned Queensland Horse of the Year and we really need to win a Group One to be assured of that," Vandyke said.

"There's only eight runners but Alabama Express won a Group One last start against the older horses. Catalyst is just a top horse. To win this at Group One level would be bordering on a career highlight.

"I know that his last start, for me, was a career highlight. But winning the Australian Guineas on Saturday would probably surpass that."

Alligator Blood has barrier two which Vandyke believes is ideal.

He anticipates Maloney will let Alligator Blood roll forward and probably end up leading.

"I had nightmares that it was going to be a field of 16 and we'd draw the outside and he'd have to be used up early, which is what happened in the Caulfield Guineas when he drew wide," Vandyke said.

"He was fired up a little bit out of the gates, over-raced a bit and that certainly didn't help him get the mile at Caulfield.

"He is a risk at the mile because his only defeat is over that journey but he's a different horse now. He's a bit more relaxed and he should get every chance."

Vandyke says Alligator Blood appears to be in about the same condition as before the C S Hayes and hopes the battle with Guineas rival Catalyst has not taken too much out of him.

"Historically horses that get into those sorts of duels sometimes never reproduce that same performance. All the signs have been good otherwise I wouldn't be running him," Vandyke said.

"But whether he can back up and perform at the same level, we'll know on Saturday."

The Tahs head into Friday's home game with the Lions at Parramatta's Bankwest Stadium without a win since last May.

Two losses to finish off last year have been followed by three defeats to start the 2020 campaign and they now face a team they haven't beaten in their last five clashes.

"(We're) very hungry; that bye came at a good and a bad time," openside flanker Michael Hooper said.

"Bad, because we want to get back out on the park and start to get our play on the field where we think we can take it

"Good because we were able to reflect on why things haven't been working.

The side hasn't been able to translate what it does during the week to game day, Hooper says.

"When you get down to it, it's just about being clear on what our role is, what we're trying to be as a team on the field, and simplifying that

"You can't be everything and perhaps we were trying to be everything and then nothing and that's why things looked scattered."

Hooper relinquished the captaincy before the season and while his personal form has been good, he revealed he was still trying to find a new role.

"How I can best assist Simmo (new captain Rob Simmons and (vice-captain) Kurtley (Beale) to do their thing and what role do I fit in around that," he said.

"I've had to rethink and rejig and think about that off the field."

The Lions have a 1-2 record this season, their sole win coming at home to the Reds.

"They're big ball carriers, something that South African teams are known for, but this team is going to try and go through us for sure," Hooper said.

The nomadic Tahs will wake in their own beds on a match day for the first time this season.

The pair is set to clash for the first time at Randwick on Saturday after pursuing different spring paths with Flit winning the Group One Thousand Guineas in Melbourne while Funstar dominated Surround rival Probabeel in the Flight Stakes in Sydney.

Despite the James Cummings-trained Flit's achievements as a spring three-year-old, Bowman feels she has gone to another level this preparation.

"Funstar has to be respected. She stamped herself as clearly the best filly that raced in Sydney in the spring," Bowman said.

"I would have thought she might have had the wood on Flit in the spring but I'm not sure that will be the case this time.

"It is a good race but I wouldn't swap Flit for anything else, even though I do have a healthy respect for them all."

Early markets have also singled out the pair with Funstar narrowly holding sway at $3.40 with the TAB on Thursday, ahead of Flit at $3.60.

While the Chris Waller-trained favourite has not raced since October, Flit has a dashing Light Fingers Stakes victory on her autumn resume.

Sporting blinkers for the first time, the Godolphin filly raced on the speed and quickly put a sharp field of horses to the sword, scoring by almost two lengths.

It was a performance that convinced Bowman Flit will be a major force this autumn.

"I know I did trial her but when I saw her at the races under saddle I was just so impressed with her physical development and she's still got a bit to go to fill out that frame," Bowman said.

"She is a serious filly and I think the blinkers really did the trick too."

Waller is also upbeat ahead of the return of Funstar, who won the Tea Rose Stakes over Saturday's course and distance in the spring.

He admits she will need luck from a wide draw but has faith she is good enough to overcome it.

"She has certainly come back well and I am looking forward to seeing her run on Saturday," Waller said.

The two Godolphin fillies who finished behind Flit in the Light Fingers, Lyre for trainer Anthony Freedman and Golden Slipper winner Kiamichi, will both line up in Surround.

Jamie Richards has brought New Zealander Probabeel across the Tasman for her second Sydney campaign, while unbeaten Victorian How Womantic is an early scratching.

Eric The Eel steps up to 1600m in the Pines Pacific Ale Plate at Doomben on Saturday and if he races well he will head to Sydney for races such as the Group One Rosehill Guineas and Group One Australian Derby.

The gelding ran well in an unofficial trial when second to star three-year-old Alligator Blood before resuming with a sixth at Eagle Farm over 1200m last Saturday week.

Trainer Stuart Kendrick was happy with the comeback run but is looking for further improvement.

"He had barrier 15 and he had no choice but to go back to near last at Eagle Farm. He finished well along the fence to be in a four-way photo finish for third," Kendrick said.

"But he would need to take another step to head to Sydney.

"The blinkers at this stage of his career should switch him on."

Eric The Eel is named for swimmer Eric Moussambani Malonga, the slowest Olympic 100m-heat winner in history.

The gelding belies that but needs to do more to justify taking on the better horses in Sydney.

James Orman will ride Eric The Eel but will miss the mount on the stable's other talented three-year-old Jagged Edge in the The Jewel Prelude on Saturday because of a booking misunderstanding.

Orman rode Jagged Edge when he was second at Eagle Farm but had been expected to ride Gem of Scotland who was not among the acceptors.

"It was a genuine mix-up but by the time we all realised I had booked Brad Stewart for Jagged Edge," Kendrick said.

First-term member Pat Conaghan said 41 per cent of children in the towns of Nambucca and Kempsey in his NSW mid-north coast electorate were living below the poverty line.

"I would urge my colleagues from both sides to have a real discussion, not to throw it up in the air and punch the ball around, but actually sit down together and have a real discussion," he told ABC News on Thursday.

The $40-a-day Newstart payment has not increased in real terms for 25 years.

Mr Conaghan joins other conservative figures including partyroom colleague Barnaby Joyce and former Liberal prime minister John Howard in calling for an increase.

"We need to have a genuine conversation about raising that because in my opinion, it does need to increase," the Nationals MP said.

"It has not increased for a very long time and the effects are being felt by my communities."

It's estimated a $75-a-week increase would cost the federal budget $3.3 billion a year.

Mr Conaghan conceded it would be a tough decision with bushfires and the coronavirus expected to sink the government's promise of a surplus.

"It is probably the worst time to raise this conversation but we have to have it," he said.

The Business Council of Australia, welfare advocates, Labor, the Greens and a handful of coalition backbenchers support lifting the rate.

The Morrison government has held firm against increasing Newstart, sticking to its manta that "the best form of welfare is a job".

But the NSW health minister says he won't rule out other public-private partnership agreements in the longer term.

The upper house inquiry into the Frenchs Forest hospital - which replaced Manly and Mona Vale hospitals - began in August 2019 amid claims the facility had "lurched from crisis to crisis" since opening in late 2018.

It examined over three public hearings the operation of the facility, including standards of service, staffing and public-private partnership arrangements.

In recommendations released on Thursday, the parliamentary committee found the public-private hospital model had the "potential to negatively affect people from lower socio-economic backgrounds".

The committee recommended the government eschew public-private arrangements for future public hospitals and restore the status of Mona Vale Hospital to a "level three" emergency department.

The facility is currently serving as a sub-acute "urgent care centre".

Health Minister Brad Hazzard on Thursday said the government had no intention of entering into other public-private hospital arrangements but future governments "can do what they like".

He also ruled out upgrading Mona Vale Hospital.

"I'm extremely satisfied the hospital is doing an extraordinary job for the community ... the inquiry was put together by the Labor Party and it was done for purely political steps," Mr Hazzard said.

Under the public-private arrangement, contractor Healthscope designed, built and operates Northern Beaches Hospital, and is obliged to deliver public patient services for at least 20 years.

The contractor is paid by the government to provide public health services while the Frenchs Forest site is publicly owned.

However, there was a litany of problems at the $600 million, 488-bed facility after its launch, including medical supply shortages, staffing issues and waits of more than 24 hours for care.

Six senior appointees, including the chief of medicine, medical director and director of nursing, resigned soon after.

Labor has also accused the hospital of operating under a two-tier model in which private patients are prioritised.

Healthscope in September confirmed it was contracted to provide "level five" public patient care which excludes procedures such as heart and brain surgery.

The opposition on Thursday urged the government to accept the report's recommendations and renounce future public-private partnerships.

"This government is obsessed with privatisation and again it's the community paying the price with poor services and bad outcomes," Labor health spokesman Ryan Park said in a statement.

The Health Services Union echoed Labor's remarks and called on the government to take over running the hospital.

"Health takes up one-third of the state budget - there are plenty of people out there gouging the health system, let's call that for what it is," union secretary Gerard Hayes said.

Community group Save Mona Vale Hospital said in a statement that the root of the problem has been the "disregard" for the community and the privatisation of the area's local hospitals.

Healthscope admits to experiencing problems when the Northern Beaches Hospital first opened but, in a statement on Thursday, said the issues had been rectified.

The charity underwent a national restructure last year to find $8.6 million in savings that included making 14 staff across Queensland redundant.

The restructure came after its humanitarian services lost $13.4 million in 2017/2018 which was followed by a $21 million loss last year.

The losses were partially offset by its blood services division which made a profit of around $10 million during the same period, according to its financial reports.

ARC CEO Judy Slatyer said last year's overall loss of $19.1 million, while well above average, was expected and has no bearing on their ability to deliver humanitarian services.

"Our funding and revenue vary, and can be received in one year then spent in other years, as many programs run over multiple years," Ms Slatyer said.

"This year for example, whilst our operating budget is forecast to break even, our funding tied to contracts and other commitments is expected to result in a surplus as more funds are being received this year that will then require delivery of our work over the next couple of years."

She said the Red Cross had almost achieved its savings target and of the 60 staff made redundant over the past year, they were "a mix of contracts ending and other changes."

"There are no further redundancies planned for this financial year, bearing in mind that at any one time there are multiple projects that start, end and people leave the organisation," she said.

Among its myriad of his charitable duties, the ARC is in midst of distributing more than a $1 million per day, out of a $115 million fund, to bushfire victims.

ARC's Queensland director Garry Page said the bushfire relief fund was separate from its day-to-day operations and there would be an exemplary level of transparency on how the monies distributed.

He said that while the ARC had forecast about 10 cents in every dollar would be soaked up in administering the bushfire relief fund, it was more likely to be significantly lower.

"That's (bushfire relief fund) kept completely in a separate account and will be independently audited," he said.

"We forecast spending up to 10 cents in the dollar but we will reduce it as low as we can. In previous disasters its been as low as four cents in the dollar."

This year’s event will now take place on Sunday, March 22 with an 8.30am assembly time for a 9am tee off at Rich River Golf Club.

All money raised throughout the day will be donated to Vivid.

Lions Club golf committee chairman Barry Kelly said he was looking forward to another exciting event.

“I think it’s always one of the highlights of the year,” he said.

“Everyone involved always has a lot of fun so I would encourage people to book a place and get out on the course.

“We look forward to seeing you there.”

Bookings can be made by calling the Rich River pro shop on 5481 3372.

Entry costs $15 for club members and $20 for non-members.

There will also be raffles and auction items on offer throughout the day.

Star back Folau was sacked by Rugby Australia last year after posting on Instagram that hell awaits homosexuals and other sinners.

RA and NSW Waratahs prop Sekope Kepu said in court documents obtained by News Corp he was pulled from a Super Rugby media opportunity due to fears he might speak in Folau's favour.

The 110-Test star, who now plays for London Irish, also suggested those players who supported Folau were effectively gagged by not being put up at media conferences, and the team was split.

Asked on Thursday if he thought players were muzzled or encouraged to toe the RA and Waratahs line at the time, Hooper said: "I was never in those conversations.

"But with this stuff you are the person that gets up and speaks or chooses not to speak."

The openside flanker, who was both the Wallabies and Waratahs captain last year, was one of the first players to speak to the media after the Folau storm erupted.

"I've got no regrets, none at all," Hooper said. "It's our choice to stand here and speak or not.

"And I stood there and spoke and I'm standing here today, so no, none at all."

Kepu also said the governing body's handling of the matter had hurt the team's chances leading to the World Cup but Hooper denied this.

"Not that I was aware of," he said.

Meanwhile, incoming coach Dave Rennie is expected to draw a line under the saga when he puts his own stamp on the Wallabies culture when he starts in mid-year.

Hooper, who relinquished the Waratahs captaincy this year, had a brief meeting with Rennie on the coach's recent flying visit to Australia while on a mid-season break with Scottish club Glasgow.

He said they hadn't spoken about the Wallabies captaincy.

"A really good guy, a really personable bloke, got some good plans around the team," Hooper said.

"Exciting initial ideas; he's putting a nice team of assistants around him."

Principal David Ellis is a renowned judge of horses and has enjoyed success and longevity through the likes of Darci Brahma, Princess Coup and King's Chapel.

Since Jamie Richards took over as sole head trainer more than 18 months ago, the organisation has continued to strengthen and at Randwick on Saturday they saddle up two Group One runners.

Te Akau Shark will chase his first elite win on Australian soil in the Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m) while Probabeel tackles the Surround Stakes (1400m).

The stable also has Melody Belle headed to the All-Star Mile in Melbourne as part of what Richards admits is a pretty special team.

"We're in a very fortunate position where David Ellis goes to the sales and buys nice horses for our stable," Richards said.

"They put a lot of emphasis on trying to buy the right horses because eventually, that's where the races are won and lost, in the sales ring.

"We've got a great team of staff. It's a good team environment and a good place to be training from."

Te Akau Shark is on a mission towards the Queen Elizabeth Stakes after proving himself top-tier in the spring with a narrow second to Kolding in the Epsom Handicap and a Cox Plate placing behind Lys Gracieux and Castelvecchio.

Both times he drew wide gates and that is again the case on Saturday when he has barrier 13 of 14.

Richards will leave tactics to regular rider Opie Bosson who missed Te Akau Shark's two Sydney spring starts in the Tramway Stakes and Epsom because of commitments in New Zealand.

"We're getting used to the bad draws. It's just part of it," Richards said.

"I will leave it up to Opie a little bit but he won't rush him and do much early. He's a horse that likes to find his feet, even if he ended up three-deep with a bit of cover.

"He's got very good form from the spring so if he can run up to that form he should be competitive."

As for his own career, Richards is happily ensconced in New Zealand where he sees some positive signs of industry change.

But he has not ruled out an overseas move in the future.

"I never say never, we will just see what happens," Richards said.

"Obviously our industry isn't exactly thriving like Australia is at this stage but they are putting the wheels in motion to try to make some changes and hopefully they won't be too far away."

The Vics finally broke through some strong resistance in the final hour of a topsy-turvy rain-affected final day with Queensland dismissed for 310.

Burns had the home side on track to overhaul a challenging 355-run victory target with the Bulls reaching 1-206 after resuming on day four at 1-134.

Burns crunched 23 boundaries in scoring 135 in a 197-ball innings, and shared in a confident 84-run stand with Lachlan Pfeffer (28).

However Peter Siddle (3-89) turned the tide by having Burns trapped lbw, before knocking over top-order pair Nathan McSweeney (12) and Sam Heazlett (1) in quick succession.

An hour-long rain delay during the middle session didn't help the home side's cause after Queensland were 6-256 when the storms passed through.

Jimmy Peirson remained Queensland's best hope of victory, only for the wicketkeeper to be dismissed lbw for 27 off the bowling of part-time spinner Matt Short.

Scott Boland (4-62) quickly ran through the tail as Queensland fell 16 overs short of batting out the match.

It is second win in succession for the Vics who are now back in the hunt for a spot in next month's final with two rounds remaining.

Starcevich missed the Lions' draw with Queensland rivals Gold Coast Suns last weekend after being hospitalised the day before the match.

Released over the weekend, Starcevich has been recovering at home on the Sunshine Coast and returned to work on Tuesday.

Lions women's chief executive Bree Brock told the AFL Women's website dehydration following a bike ride had left the 52-year-old with an elevated heart rate.

"They gave him some medication and he's perfectly fine now," Brock said.

"He was back at training last night, in really high spirits and feeling very positive and excited."

The Lions face the Giants at Hickey Park from 4.10pm AEDT on Sunday.

The cross-town rivals will play their rescheduled clash at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on Friday night - but this time the Wanderers are on a hot streak.

Coming off a 5-2 win over Adelaide last weekend, the Wanderers remain undefeated from their three matches under caretaker coach Jean-Paul de Marigny.

It's been three weeks since the match was rescheduled, giving de Marigny enough time to build cohesion and confidence in the Wanderers who are now knocking on the door of the top 6.

"We've been a really positive mindset and it's a good opportunity for us to make a another statement," de Marigny said.

"We know their strength, we know their weaknesses and it's all about us now taking full advantage of that."

A loss to the Wanderers at Bankwest Stadium early this season is the first and only blemish on the Sky Blues' campaign.

Sydney FC coach Steve Corica maintains the 1-0 loss in round three was one of their better games, spurring the team to remain undefeated for the 13 games since.

Once again, he is wary of the rejuvenated Wanderers after their stunning attacking show against Adelaide last week.

"It feels like they're enjoying their football now and he's encouraging a lot of attacking football now as you can see from their weekend's game, there's a lot of goals and a lot of excitement," Corica said.

"We need to be defensively nice and ready for it but we also want to concentrate on our game with the ball and dominate the game like we did in the first game against them.

"I think we had the majority of the possession. We just need to change the result around for us. We've spoken about it many times but that was one of our best games with the ball, we just didn't score and get the win.

"It was a long time ago that game, we've gone on a very good run since then and we want to keep that run going."

Sky Blues forward Alex Baumjohann will return to the field from suspension against his former team.

STATS THAT MATTER

* Sydney FC suffered a 1-0 defeat in their most recent A-League match against Western Sydney. It was only their second loss from their last 17 encounters with their city rivals in the competition (W10, D5, L2).

* Jean-Paul de Marigny is undefeated from his first three A-League matches as coach of the Wanderers (W2, D1). Only Hayden Foxe in his five-match tenure at the club (W1, D4) has had a longer unbeaten start.

* Wanderers have had an average of 20 shots per game in the A-League since the beginning of 2020, more than any other team in the competition and nearly twice as many as Sydney FC (11).

The state government is pumping the cash into projects across East Gippsland and northeast Victoria to help the areas rebuild after the summer's devastating fires.

About 1.6 million hectares of Victoria has been razed since November.

Emergency Victoria said on Thursday there were no significant fires going anywhere in the state after the Snowy complex fire in East Gippsland was declared contained.

"We are doing lots now, and will certainly have to do much more ... to get tourists back in here, so we can get income, jobs and the prosperity we want for every community," Premier Daniel Andrews said on Thursday.

The premier made the announcement at East Gippsland's Buchan Caves, which remain partially closed to tourists because of fire damage.

The package includes $2 million to rebuild the campground at Buchan Caves and develop a master plan for the reserve.

It is one of the projects supported under the Bushfire Tourism and Business Fund.

Victoria Tourism Industry Council Felicia Mariani said the cash package would take the financial and regulatory pressure off companies in fire-affected areas.

It comes as Labor hosts its caucus meeting in the East Gippsland town of Lakes Entrance to show that even a short stay in communities recovering from the fires can help prop up local business.

The state government has assigned more than $270 million so far to bushfire recovery in the wake of the summer's disaster..

Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union national secretary Michael O'Connor wants to stop factional rival John Setka and 29 other officials "'poaching" members from his manufacturing arm.

Former union official Trevor Smith said he spoke with Mr O'Connor about the issue weeks before the impending court case.

The phone conversation centred on people "knocking off members" from other divisions, Mr Smith said.

"Members were being recruited by the incorrect division," he told the court on Thursday.

The court stoush involves members who are glaziers, floor installers and cabinet makers and what division of the union should have them.

There were 219 resignations from Mr O'Connor's manufacturing branch since August and they moved to the construction branch, it was revealed in the Federal Court on Wednesday.

The latest fight within the powerful union comes after Mr Setka was forced out of the Labor Party, also last August, following comments about family violence campaigner Rosie Batty.

He also pleaded guilty to harassing his wife, but controversially kept his union position.

The second day of the hearing continues.

Kah will have her first ride aboard the quirky Dalasan in Saturday's Group One Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington with Ben Melham, who rode the colt to fifth in the C S Hayes Stakes at Flemington, riding in Sydney.

Hugh Bowman rode Dalasan to win the Carbine Club Stakes at Flemington in November while Craig Williams has ridden him to two placings.

Adelaide's premier jockey Raquel Clark, stable rider and former apprentice for trainers Leon Macdonald and Andrew Gluyas, has had the most rides on the colt, winning four times.

Clark is out of action as she recovers from injuries suffered in a fall late last year.

In a bid to leave no stone unturned for the Australian Guineas, Kah travelled from Melbourne to ride Dalasan in trackwork at Morphettville on Tuesday.

She recommended Dalasan wear a tongue tie in Saturday's race.

"He's a bit of a tricky horse and Leon wanted me to come over and have a sit on him," Kah said.

"He did want to lay in a bit, more he wants to lean in, so Leon wanted me to get a feel for that before the race.

"I also suggested that they put a tongue tie on him, because of his laying it plays around with his tongue and his breathing so hopefully it can only help."

Kah said it was nice to team again with Macdonald and Gluyas having ridden for pair as an apprentice in Adelaide,.

Kah said she would contact Clark before Saturday's race to see if she could add anything, but said having spent time aboard Dalasan on Tuesday morning left her with a good impression.

"He is a different sort of animal, but it was good to get to know him," she said.

Teresa O'Sullivan on Thursday handed down her inquest findings into the death of DP - who cannot be named for legal reasons - at Quakers Hill Police Station in January 2016.

She found that the 45-year-old intended to provoke police into shooting him when he entered the station brandishing a kitchen knife and his judgement was "significantly impaired at that time by the effects of methylamphetamine intoxication and possible psychotic symptoms".

"The actions of the officers ... were a reasonable and proportionate response to the actions of DP and the threat that he posed," Ms O'Sullivan said in her findings.

DP was shot in the chest by a sergeant after entering the police station and being told to "drop the knife". He replied: "No, shoot me."

While working as a fly-in, fly-out worker at Curtis Island in Queensland in 2013, he had begun smoking ice more regularly.

DP - originally from New Zealand - told his older brother he took drugs "to combat the loneliness he experienced when away from home" and that ice use was "rife throughout the scaffolding industry" in which he worked.

The inquest heard in the 14 months leading up to his death, DP had reported auditory hallucinations and paranoid thoughts.

During that time he was diagnosed with drug-induced psychosis, schizophrenia and major depression.

In December 2014 he was arrested and charged after punching a complete stranger at Brisbane Airport "for no apparent reason".

He had a brief stand-off with two Australian Federal Police officers during which he begged them to use their Taser on him.

He was calmed down and later told the officers that he couldn't explain his actions and he "wanted the police to shoot him in the head".

Eight days before his death he saw a GP and reported suicidal thoughts.

He was also seen by a psychiatrist at Blacktown Hospital who noted his history of drug-induced psychosis and paranoia, and that he had self-reduced his medication.

On the morning of January 19 he drove to Quakers Hill Police Station and at about 10.30am he entered with a large knife.

After a brief confrontation, he raised the knife at an officer and took a step forward before being shot in the chest from three metres. He died soon after.

A toxicological analysis of his blood found 0.12mg/L for methylamphetamine and less than 0.2mg/L for amphetamine.

"(A pathologist) assessed the methylamphetamine level detected in DP's blood sample as being in the potentially toxic to lethal range," Ms O'Sullivan said.

There was also no trace of ziprasidone, an antipsychotic medication, and olanzapine, used to treat auditory hallucinations and paranoia, both of which he had been prescribed.

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The Tigers reached their 235-run target five wickets down but with just seven balls remaining on Thursday evening.

Test skipper Paine hit a composed 48 and was unbeaten alongside Webster, who whacked two crucial late sixes to finish on 29 from 18 balls.

Webster's cameo came after a run-a-ball rearguard 187 in the first innings that dragged Tasmania back into the contest.

It was the host's second win of the season, while the Warriors' hopes of making the final have taken a hit with two rounds to play.

Paine hit the winning runs with a four down the ground after Jake Doran (63) and Ben McDermott (54) kept the chase on track following the loss of top order wickets.

The Tigers were earlier frustrated by a 64-run final wicket stand between fast bowlers Joel Paris and Simon Mackin.

Paris hit a career-best 93 and Mackin survived for 69 balls as WA pushed their second innings out to 253.

Youngster Nathan Ellis eventually rattled the stumps of Paris to end the stubborn 26-over partnership.

Ellis, who shone with his death bowling in the Big Bash, starred on debut for the Tigers, taking 6-86 to go with three scalps in the first innings.

He trapped Aaron Hardie lbw and clean bowled David Moody to start the day after WA resumed at 6-161.

Paine's knock with the bat made up for a costly drop behind the wicket.

He grassed a tough one-handed chance off Ellis when Mackin was on zero and WA were 9-193.

Emergency services were called to the collision at 11.30am.

An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said paramedics treated the man, believed to be in his 30s, for upper body injuries.

He was taken by air ambulance to the Alfred Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

AP Eagers made $69.2 million in underlying profit after tax in the year ending December 31, down 3.1 per cent from 2018 but close to consensus estimates of $69.8 million.

On a statutory basis it recorded an after-tax loss of $80.5 million, compared to a $97.5 million profit in 2018, predominantly because of non-cash accounting issues involving its merger with Automotive Holding Group.

Underlying revenue for 2019 rose 48.5 per cent to $5.48 billion.

"The trading result reflects challenging economic conditions including subdued consumer confidence, a tighter finance market and increasing competitive pressures," the company said.

Sales were down in every Australian state, across every buyer type and nearly every type of vehicle, AP Eagers said.

Sales of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles grew 116 per cent, but from a very low base, making up just one per cent of the market.

But AP Eagers said it was poised to take advantage of a rapidly changing automotive market.

It forecasts that in future, there will be fewer dealer locations and more convenient, smaller alternatives such as auto malls within shopping centres.

AP Eagers said its integration of Automotive Holding Group was on track to surpass its target of $30 million in annual synergies.

It will sell AHG's refrigerated logistics business to Sydney-based private equity firm Anchorage Capital Partners for $100 million on a debt and cash-free basis.

AP Eagers will use the money to repay financial leases and hire purchase liabilities associated with the transport and warehousing business.

AP Eagers said its unchanged fully franked final dividend of 22.5 cents reflected its directors confidence in the business.

At 1312 AEDT, AP Eagers shares were up 42 cents, or 4.92, per cent at $8.91.

AP EAGERS 'TRANSFORMATIVE' YEAR

* Underlying full year revenue up 48.5pct at $5.48 billion, compared to 2018

* Underlying profit after tax down 3.1 pct at $69.2 million

* Final dividend unchanged at 22.5 cents, fully franked.

Maher, a dual purpose-trainer who is in partnership with David Eustace, has Big Blue nominated for four races at the famous jumps racing festival that runs from March 10 to 13.

The winner of the 2018 St Leger at Randwick and a jumps race at Warrnambool last May, Big Blue was pulled up in a hurdle at Kempton in December.

He has since been unplaced in a race at Naas but crucially completed the course to earn a handicap rating making him eligible for Cheltenham.

Maher said he was favouring the Coral Cup on the second day of the Festival while Big Blue has also been entered for a race on day three and two on the final day.

"It's one of the carnivals of the world, whether you love jumping or not and if we're in I wouldn't miss it for the world," Maher said.

"It will be a quick trip. I'd be over and back as we've got a bit on here so I probably couldn't swing five days over there, but I might swing a couple."

Maher said England's wet weather had affected Big Blue's preparation towards Cheltenham with the jumper missing a lead-up race at Newcastle.

But he hopes to further Big Blue's preparation with a gallop at Newbury races on Saturday.

"We didn't get any favours at the handicap and 140 is quite high I thought for what he has done," Maher said.

"At least he's got one now and if you had a set of flippers and a canoe you'd be more likely to win a race.

"It's not quite the ideal preparation, but it's not ideal for a lot over there at the moment.

"It's a bit daunting. He's had a few little hiccups over there, but I think we've got them ironed out now and he's going the right way."

The total number of confirmed cases in mainland China has now reached 78,497, the health authority said on Thursday.

The number of new deaths stood at 29, the lowest daily rate since January 28, and down from 52 on the previous day. The outbreak has now killed a total of 2744 people.

Hubei, the central Chinese province at the epicentre of the outbreak, reported 409 new cases and 26 deaths on Wednesday.

Beijing and the provinces of Heilongjiang and Henan were the locations of the other three fatalities.

Rothfire made it three wins from three starts when he strolled home by 4-1/2 lengths to win a two-year-old handicap at Eagle Farm last Saturday week.

He will start one of the shortest priced favourites at a Brisbane metropolitan meeting in years in the $125,000 Two-Year-Old Colts and geldings The Jewel Prelude at Doomben on Saturday.

The shortest priced favourite to win a race in Brisbane was subsequent Group One winner General Nediym who started 25-1 on ($1.04) at Eagle Farm in December 1996.

Rothfire will not start at those cramped odds but most bookmakers have him $1.20 for Saturday's race.

Heathcote was in Launceston this week as a guest at his hometown Cup but kept a long-distance eye on Rothfire.

"I have been monitoring him daily through my staff and I have some bad news for anyone who was hoping he has gone backwards since Eagle Farm," Heathcote said.

"If anything he has taken another step up. His work on Tuesday morning was very strong."

Heathcote has made it clear he has a huge opinion of Rothfire but knows too well the vagaries of racing.

"I have never said this horse is another future Group One horse like Buffering. But what I have said is that he reminds me of Buffering in the things he can do," Heathcote said.

"He has won two of his starts by big margins but in his other win he had to show a lot of courage to beat a pretty smart filly in Gotta Kiss.

"He had to climb off the canvas to beat her and that is the mark of a good horse."

Rothfire will head to the $500,000 QTIS Two-Year-The Jewel (1200m) on March 14.

"We have put in a nomination for the ATC Sires' but we just want to see how things go here first before any talk of Sydney," Heathcote said.

The trainer also has a chance with Jellishot in the fillies division of The Jewel Prelude on Saturday.

Jellishot had trialled well before failing at her first start. She was then second at Eagle Farm three weeks ago when ridden off the pace.

"There isn't much between Jellishot and Bellissimi Amici who won last week," he said.

"I have put blinkers on her and she has barrier three.

" If Jellishot races well she can go on to the Jewel as well."

Jellishot is raced by Gleeson Thoroughbreds who bred Rothfire.

Heathcote has won seven metropolitan two-year-old races this season.

Charlie Younes then allegedly told a police officer he'd been watching TV when he initially assumed the sound was his partner having a shower.

But when he investigated he said he found his stepson facedown in the bath.

The 45-year-old has pleaded not guilty to murdering 18-year-old Steven Copo Horton in October 2013 at his estranged partner's new home at Emerton.

Steven was born with severe intellectual and physical disabilities and was incapable of walking and talking. But he could move about by crawling or shuffling along on his bottom.

His mother, Rebecca Horton, has testified that she refused to let Younes stay over that night, but was awoken by his screams in the early hours and discovered her son dead in the tub.

Giving evidence in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday, paramedic Gawain Jones said he arrived at the house at 2.23am and started CPR on the teenager although he had no pulse.

A man in the room told him the teenager "liked to play with water and usually was able to crawl around the house".

The man said "he had woken up to the sound of running water".

"He heard water and found the patient floating in the bathtub," Mr Jones said.

His colleague, Cleone Robson, said the man told her he was lying in bed when he heard water running.

She said Younes explained: "I went to investigate it and I found him in the bath with water."

Ms Robson said the man replied "Yes" when she asked if the bath was full of water.

Steven was soaked head to toe and his skin discolouration indicated to her he'd been dead for a period of time.

Leading Senior Constable Younis Deen said he noticed a lot of steam and condensation on the bathroom walls.

Younes told him he'd left the home about 11pm and came back about 1am when he sat on the lounge to watch TV for 20 to 30 minutes.

"While he was watching TV he heard the shower was on," the witness said.

"He thought his partner was having a shower and didn't pay much attention."

Younes told him that after another 20 to 30 minutes he realised the water was still running and when he checked the bathroom he found Steven lying facedown in the tub.

The paramedics said they were told the last time Steven was seen alive was about 11pm.

The trial is continuing before Acting Justice Peter Hidden.

Oklahoma authorities said Trevor Rombouts' youngest alleged victim was a two-week-old baby in Victoria.

The 52-year-old has been on the run since Victorian police issued warrants for his arrest in the late 1990s.

"This clearly is a predator," Detective Lieutenant Jillian Phippen, of the Tulsa Police Department's special victims unit in Oklahoma, told AAP on Wednesday.

Tulsa detectives began investigating Rombouts last year when a victim in Oklahoma came forward to say Rombouts had assaulted her for several years when she was younger.

Lt Phippen said the investigation found Rombouts followed the same predatory pattern of moving in with women who had young children and then assaulting the children.

Two of Rombouts' alleged US victims were in Oklahoma.

A third was in Texas.

"Once we started looking at it my detective was like, 'There's going to be more victims just because of his behaviour and how he was treating the victim'," Lt Phippen said.

"Once he started diving into the investigation that's what happened.

"We found more victims who were able to come forward and tell their story.

"We reached out to Australia where he lived and we received information back saying he had been looked at there for child molestation as well.

"Our red flags went up and we knew this was a predator and he was not going to stop."

The investigation also found Rombouts had lived in Europe and he might have victims in Belgium, Lt Phippen said.

They tracked Rombouts down in Joplin, Missouri on Monday and took him into custody.

The Australian warrants from the 1990s relate to the alleged abuse of three children aged five-years-old, four-years-old and a baby just two-weeks-old.

Tulsa prosecutors have charged Rombouts with two counts of child sexual abuse and two counts of lewd molestation.

Copeland was front and centre as South Australia lost 6-25 to be dismissed for 269, leaving NSW 133-run victors at Bankstown Oval.

Despite victory not coming until the final hour, NSW had the match in control for most of the four days.

With two rounds remaining, they have a massive lead at the top of the standings and only a miraculous series of bonus-point results could tip them out of the season decider.

The Blues not only bounced back from last week's home defeat against Victoria but their win over the Redbacks was achieved without key personnel.

Aside from a galaxy of stars on international duty on in South Africa, the Blues had to make do without experienced batsman Moises Henriques and Kurtis Patterson on Australia A duty.

"It was a really big win in the context of our season, particularly given our loss against Victoria," said Copeland.

"It was up to the likes of Daniel Hughes and myself to step-up in the absence of senior players.

"It is a massive result for us."

And step-up they did. Hughes bagged a pair of centuries for the first time in his first class career, including a career-best 136 in the second innings.

Copeland ran through the lower order on day four just as SA looked like they might hold on for a draw.

The 33-year-old collected 4-60 to go with his first innings' 5-63, bowling a marathon 53 overs in the process.

Half centuries from Callum Ferguson (82), Travis Head (57) and Tom Cooper (62) had the Redbacks on target for an unlikely win at one stage.

"Callum Ferguson and Tom Cooper were incredible," Copeland said.

"It was hard trying to stop them and to get those breakthroughs that (fast bowler) Liam Hatcher got were massive.

"On a pretty docile surface, we managed to find a way to get 20 wickets and that is pretty special."

Despite defeat for South Australia, losses for Queensland and Western Australia have created a logjam on the Shield table leaving the fifth-placed Redbacks' campaign still alive.

With a record of six wins from eight outings, NSW will travel to Tasmania and Western Australia seeking to maintain momentum.

"We have had changing teams with national selections and the like," Copeland said.

"It is always a challenge for NSW cricket but we pride ourselves on being good no matter who is playing.

"The beauty is the depth of our squad and no matter who comes up against us, they know they are up for a challenge."

Edgard Ramirez, a Filipino man in his 30s, pretended to be a 12-year-old girl named Angel to send images of a girl's face and vagina to 40 people through Kik Messenger.

He was caught after baggage inspectors searched his phone and iPad when he returned from a holiday in the US in November 2018.

Officers found 1018 images and videos on the devices, the majority of which included penetrative sex between children and adults, the Victorian County Court heard on Thursday.

Investigators found another 234,000 images on multiple online accounts held by Ramirez under various names.

A sample of an unknown number revealed 5050 files of child abuse material, the majority of which included penetrative sex between children and adults, and bestiality.

Ramirez, a surgical nurse who came to Australia four years ago, revealed he hadn't been looking for the images initially but became "curious" after being sent some.

He later developed a desire to look at the images, began using the images for masturbation and began developing fantasies based on the images.

Judge Irene Lawson said there had been an "intense" period of downloading in the months before he was caught.

"You are perpetrating the harm ... of those children," Judge Lawson said, though the court heard Ramirez was "oblivious" to the role his conduct played in the abuse of children.

She said he was "really ashamed and embarrassed" having to explain his offending to his family but still had their support.

Ramirez pleaded guilty to one charge each of importing, accessing and distributing child pornography.

Judge Lawson sentenced him to three years behind bars, but ordered he be released after one year and nine months on a $1000 bond and two-year good behaviour condition.

Ramirez will be on the sex offender register for life. He's also expected to be deported upon his release.

The 24-year-old is subject of an investigation by the NRL integrity unit after pleading guilty earlier this month to being in charge of a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol level of 0.136.

Media reports suggest the 24-year-old will be slapped with a three-game ban but Seibold claimed on Thursday he's none the wiser on what sanctions Ofahengaue was facing.

"We're waiting for them to make their decision," Seibold said.

"Hopefully sooner rather than later, that way we can get some clarity and also give Joe some clarity as well.

"He's obviously a little bit anxious about finding out whether he can play round one or not."

If Ofahengaue is unavailable it will mean the Broncos will go into the new season without two key forwards after Matt Lodge's knee injury last week.

Maori All Stars representative Jordan Riki is one option along with last year's mid-season recruit Rhys Kennedy.

"We'll have a look at those guys," Seibold said.

"We'll have a look at where we play Tavita (Pangai Jr), whether it's back row or through the middle as well.

"One thing we do have is we've got some depth in the middle. Young players, no doubt about that, but there's plenty of depth there and plenty of guys looking for an opportunity."

The impact of the decision on Holden owners, including servicing and repairs, will be scrutinised along with the effect on dealers, workers, and research and development facilities.

The Senate's employment committee will also look at government or other policy on manufacturing, business support, research and development, and employee support.

Earlier in the month, the US owner of the legendary Australian brand announced Holden would leave the country at the end of the year.

The decision to pull the famous lion sparked outrage from revheads and the wider community nostalgic about Holden's place in history.

Labor's push for a Senate inquiry was unopposed on Thursday.

Liberal frontbencher Jonathon Duniam says the government is determined to make GM fulfil its obligations to dealers and workers.

"Australians are angry and disappointed by General Motors' decision to retire the Holden brand," he told parliament.

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi said the issue highlighted the need for more investment in renewable energy to restart Australian manufacturing.

"Holden's shutdown should be a wake-up call to the Morrison government," she said.

"We need to urgently deliver a coherent, forward-looking, clean and green industry with decent jobs that value workers."

More than 600 people are expected to lose their jobs as a result of GM pulling the pin on Holden.

The American company has pledged to continue to support spare parts and warranties for at least 10 years, retaining about 200 staff in Australia.

But the future of 185 dealers in Australia and 31 in New Zealand is under a cloud.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison met with dealers on Wednesday to discuss their anger at GM's compensation offer.

In a huge blow for the 2019 grand finalists, the English international went under the knife to repair an ongoing shoulder issue and is not expected to return to the field until round seven or eight.

After a heavy schedule of 26 NRL games and a Great Britain Lions tour at the end of the year, Bateman returned to the Raiders with hopes he could manage the shoulder in 2020 without surgery.

However, the option was taken to undergo the procedure to minimise the risk he would need surgery later in the year.

It's understood Bateman has previously had the same procedure on his other shoulder and has not had further problems with it.

The 26-year-old had a breakout season with the Raiders last year and quickly became one of their most important players.

Last season was his first in the NRL and finished with him being named second-rower of the year at the Dally M Awards.

The Raiders will be sweating on his return after losing each of the three games he missed in 2019.

However, there is every chance he could make an early return given he missed just three rounds with a fractured eye socket in 2019, returning in half of the usual recovery time.

Rising second-rower Hudson Young filled in as Bateman's replacement last season, but will be suspended for the first five rounds of 2020 for an alleged eye gouge in September.

He has already served three weeks, missing the 2019 NRL finals series.

Coach Ricky Stuart will be forced to reshuffle his pack without Bateman and Young, with Joseph Tapine, Ryan Sutton and Corey Horsburgh among those who can fill in.

The Raiders will play Canterbury in an NRL trial in Port Macquarie this weekend and will open their season at home to Gold Coast on Friday March 13.

Knights chief executive Phil Gardner said the Queensland powerhouse was a bigger threat than the All Blacks as far as he was concerned in the battle to secure Ponga's long-term future.

Newcastle are eager to tie up a deal with the Queensland State of Origin representative before he is able to formally field offers from rival NRL clubs in November.

Seibold said in an ideal world the Broncos would be thrilled to welcome back the fullback after he held a development scholarship at Red Hill as a 13-year-old, but the Knights' concerns were unfounded.

"If we had open slather of course I'd go for Kalyn Ponga, he's an outstanding player," Seibold said.

"I think every club in the NRL competition would like someone like Kalyn in their group regardless of what position he plays.

"We've certainly not spoken about it, I'm not sure where that came from, but we're guided by our salary cap. I think that's a bit of pie in the sky sort of stuff."

Of more immediate concern to Seibold is the retention of boom forward David Fifita.

The 20-year-old Queensland representative is off contract at the end of the season and local rivals Gold Coast have signalled they are desperate to lure him to the Titans on a big-money deal.

Seibold, however, says he's confident Fifita will stay on at Red Hill.

"I don't think it's something we need played out in public but I'm really comfortable and really confident with where we're at in the negotiations and David wants to let his footy do the talking too," he said.

"I admire that and respect that.

"As a club we want to provide an environment for Dave to feel comfortable and play his best footy. I think we do that. He's got a lot of his mates around him so again, without making any further comment in regards to where it's at, we're really comfortable."

The Broncos face the Titans in a trial match at Redcliffe on Saturday.

With Alex Glenn still overcoming a hamstring issue, Seibold confirmed young backrower Patrick Carrigan will captain the team at Dolphin Stadium.

"It's good for him, part of his development," Seibold said.

"Obviously Darius (Boyd) is there as well so we've got plenty of experience but it's a good reward for Patty."

The Queensland Women's Legal Service announced this week an urgent priority list of reforms and the LNP has proposed tough law reforms.

The premier says she wants to work with the opposition and would attend a meeting on Friday to discuss domestic violence prevention.

Ms Palaszczuk said she doesn't want to get involved in a political debate on the matter until after the funeral.

"I will look at the opposition's issues, and I always take a bipartisan approach when it comes to acting on domestic and family violence," she told media on Thursday.

"We will look at all options, I am happy to work in a bipartisan manner and the government will also be making some further comment.

"But I will not be saying anything more until we go through the process of the funeral so if everybody can please give the family respect during this time."

Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington has proposed harsher penalties for those who commit domestic and family violence acts.

One reform is to double the maximum penalty for strangulation to 14 years imprisonment, which is in line with the offence of grievous boldly harm.

Ms Frecklington said her party supports the introduction of "coercive control" laws making it an offence to commit acts to make people feel controlled of dependent on another person.

"Queensland's laws are clearly failing to protect victims and every aspect must be looked at to fix the system," Ms Frecklington said on Wednesday.

Families fleeing domestic violence situations would also be eligible for a one off payment of up to $2000 under the LNP's proposed plan.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

Lifeline 13 11 14

The 15-year-old baboon and his two female companions escaped on Tuesday evening while being transported to a Royal Prince Alfred Hospital research facility in Camperdown.

The primate was due for a vasectomy while the two females were there for support, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said earlier this week.

The trio was seen running around a car park before they were corralled by police and medical experts, and tranquillised by handlers from Taronga Zoo.

Mr Hazzard on Wednesday said the primates were resting after a "big day out" and the male's vasectomy had been delayed until Thursday.

That operation has now been performed.

"The male baboon had his vasectomy procedure this morning and I was advised the procedure had gone well and he was sleeping and resting," Mr Hazzard said on Thursday.

"His two female companions were quite relaxed and comfortable."

The incident has reignited concerns over the welfare of animals used for experiments.

The baboons are part of a colony in western Sydney used for research on reproductive health, kidney disease and gestational diabetes.

Mr Hazzard has rubbished activists' claims that the animals are used for research into human-baboon hybrid organs to address the transplant crisis.

He said there was misinformation about transparency around animal research in NSW.

The baboons' great escape was mentioned in federal parliament on Thursday, with the Senate passing a Greens motion which noted community concern regarding the use of animals in medical research.

The motion "wished the baboons well" and called on the federal government to ensure transparency around animal research, invest in alternative methods, and move towards ending animal testing.

Scott-Young wasn't part of the Reds' squad that destroyed the Sunwolves last weekend, but will combine with lock Harry Hockings and Izack Rodda before Salakaia-Loto is unleashed late at Suncorp Stadium.

Winger Filipo Daugunu has completed a five-match suspension for a dangerous tackle and will replace Bryce Hegarty on the bench.

The Sharks (3-1) have presented as one of Super Rugby's most impressive outfits this season with their speed on the flanks proving too much for the Melbourne Rebels in Ballarat last weekend.

A trip to New Zealand to face defending champions the Crusaders next weekend ensures a testing fortnight for the Reds (1-3) after their record-breaking 64-5 win last Saturday.

Thorn has challenged his side to back up that 10-try performance and, after stressing last week that Scott-Young had been rested rather than dropped, is confident his selection tactics will pay off.

"If you are to get to the business end (Super Rugby finals) and be in good shape it's good to have that depth to manage games," he said.

"I've always thought in (rugby) league and union, you can tell a great team by its bench.

"I've been in Crusaders teams when we've had All Blacks sitting on the bench."

Thorn has engineered similar on Saturday, with 21-Test backrower Salakaia-Loto a far cry from the bench talent Thorn had at his disposal two seasons ago.

"If you remember that first year (2018 season) ... it was like we were trying to scratch up players to play.

"'Put the seatbelt on', I think I remember saying to you guys (the media).

"In the second year we got some consistency but fell short and this year with these layers of age groups, Fraser (McReight), Harry (Wilson) and there's more guys coming next year.

"If you believe in it ... you'll get good pay over time."

QUEENSLAND: Jock Campbell, Chris Feauai-Sautia, Hunter Paisami, Hamish Stewart, Henry Speight, James O'Connor, Tate McDermott, Harry Wilson, Liam Wright, Angus Scott-Young, Harry Hockings, Izack Rodda, Taniela Tupou, Alex Mafi, JP Smith. Reserves: Ed Craig, Harry Hoopert, Josh Nasser, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Fraser McReight, Scott Malolua, Isaac Lucas, Filipo Daugunu.

The seasonally adjusted $28.45 billion in new capital expenditure was the lowest quarterly spend in two years and missed consensus expectations of a 0.5 per cent gain.

The result will likely heighten expectations of another RBA rate cut in the coming months, though the central bank's board may hold off at next week's meeting so it can gauge how badly the GDP has been hurt by the coronavirus, bushfires and existing economic softness.

The RBA board will meeting will be on Tuesday and December quarter GDP the day after.

Thursday's Australian Bureau of Statistics capex data follows a disappointing 0.2 per cent fall in the September quarter.

Economic data over the past two weeks has already thrown up sagging December quarter construction figures, as well as continued wage growth stagnation, and an uptick in the unemployment rate.

Building and structures capex fell 5.9 per cent in the December quarter while mining capex fell 2.7 per cent.

One encouraging sign was a 0.8 per cent rise on spending on equipment and machinery since September.

The RBA expects next week's GDP print to show growth of 0.4 per cent for the quarter and 2.0 per cent through the year.

BIS Oxford Economics chief economist Sarah Hunter said Thursday's data indicated capex growth will likely miss the RBA's forecast, fuelling expectations of another rate cut, and heaping more pressure on the federal government to open the purse strings.

"We continue to expect further monetary easing, and the pressure will mount on the government to loosen policy," Dr Hunter said.

The RBA cut the interest rate three times in 2019 to a record low 0.75 per cent with another cut to 0.5 per cent considered an even chance by May.

Another cut to 0.25 per cent by the end of the year is also currently more likely than not, based on market expectations.

Australian companies, meanwhile, appear to have bolstered their spending plans going forward.

Thursday's capex estimate for 2019/20 came in at $120.3 billion, 2.1 per cent higher than the same estimate a year ago.

The first estimate for 2020/21 is also up on last year, 8.8 per cent higher at $100.2 billion.

Riverine Herald photographer Cath Grey went along on the weekend to capture some of the action.

Sporting legend and one of Australia's most respected indigenous voices Cathy Freeman has supported the idea of changing a word in Advance Australia Fair to appease those who believe the anthem is disrespectful.

In the first verse, "we are young and free" would become "we are one and free".

"I'm not opposed to it ... if that provides comfort to people," Mr Dutton told 2GB on Thursday.

He said Cathy Freeman was one of the "greatest Australians" and was not given enough recognition for what she had done helping indigenous kids in her post-sporting career.

"I really think that should be recognised and I think her views should be respected," he said.

He said he would much prefer the focus to be on how to improve the lives of indigenous kids.

"There are boys and girls who are being sexually assaulted in Aboriginal communities today," Mr Dutton said.

"I just think there is a lot more to do and there's a lot more that we can do as a country."

He also had a crack at athletes and footballers representing Australia who refuse to sing the national anthem.

"It annoys me beyond description ... I think it is an outrage," he said.

"If you represent our country, you do so on the basis that you are proud and you sing the national anthem."

Freeman became the first indigenous athlete to win individual gold when she triumphed in the 400m at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

She established the Cathy Freeman Foundation in 2007 to help indigenous children and their families.

The bruised cafe and bakery franchisor swung to a $14.3 million statutory profit from a $111.1 million loss a year ago in a six-month period that involved an extensive recapitalisation, the signing of a new debt facility, and the continued closure of unprofitable stores.

Shares in the company jumped as much as 10 per cent and were still trading 6.45 per cent higher at 9.9 cents by 1120 AEDT.

Retail Food Group has endured a horror three years marked by more than $450 million in losses amid wide-ranging reputational and regulatory issues after it was accused of badly mistreating franchisees.

The company behind Pizza Capers and Michel's Patisserie in October got a last-minute reprieve as the deadline for its previous $260 million loan approached.

Creditors received $118.5 million from a 1.7 billion-share placement, and agreed to write off $71.8 million of the firm's existing debt as part of the restructuring deal.

Retail Food said its turnaround was evident in Thursday's results, with underlying earnings of $21.5 million on track with the FY20 guidance of between $42 million and $46 million.

Revenue and income was down 6.5 per cent to $179.5 million as another 73 local outlets and 10 vans were closed, in line with expectations.

RETAIL FOOD GROUP SWINGS TO PROFIT

* Total income and revenue down 6.5pct to $179.5m

* Net profit $14.3m vs $111.1m loss pcp

* No interim dividend

Australian Medical Association president Dr Tony Bartone says the issue can't wait in light of the aged care royal commission's interim findings.

The call comes as the Morrison government introduced legislation in parliament on Thursday to free up money for home care service users in the aged sector.

Service providers would be paid in arrears by the government, rather than invoicing it a month in advance.

"This is an important step towards addressing stakeholder concerns regarding unspent funds," government frontbencher Darren Chester told parliament.

At the moment, providers have to wait a month if they've underspent money, while overestimated budgets lock up their customers' cash for the next month.

Dr Bartone said the aged care facilities needed minimum staff-to-resident ratios, 24/7 nurse availability and mandatory minimum qualifications for carers.

"Care can't wait," he said.

"We cannot wait until the Royal Commission concludes to begin fixing the crisis."

That's life under Newcastle coach Adam O'Brien, who intends to drive out any signs of defeat in 2020 from this underperforming NRL side.

Since the former Melbourne and Sydney assistant took over in November, the players have been surprised with unscheduled drills and tested mentally and physically while their body language is noted and corrected.

O'Brien intends to avoid a mid-season slump and subsequent slide into the bottom half of the ladder that has been the trend of the past few years despite the exciting talent at their disposal.

A lack of mental strength and resilience has been to blame.

Burned by their 11th-place finish in 2019, Knights captain Mitchell Pearce is careful not to over-promise and under-deliver as the season nears.

However, the 30-year-old halfback knows as well as anyone that ridding a team of signs of defeat is the easiest way to win.

"You can run for hours but it's a matter of training with intensity and handling pressure and calming the mind down, turning up day in and day out and doing the same thing over and over again," he told AAP.

"That's what brings consistency, and that's what good coaches drill into their teams. I've experienced that at the Roosters.

"Sides like Melbourne and the Roosters don't just turn up and defend like that because they've got good players, they defend like that because it becomes ingrained in their walls. It's a culture thing. It's resilience. You work hard, you play tough and you don't give in.

"I've experienced that at the Chooks and it gets contagious. I know Adam has brought a lot of that to us. He wants us to be a really strong defensive side more than anything.

"That's what we're preparing for but if we're not winning it won't mean anything."

Aside from the new training standard under a rookie mentor, the biggest change in the Hunter this season is the addition of former Cronulla hooker Jayden Brailey, who replaces Danny Levi.

Pearce says the 23-year-old Brailey is the key to unlocking the Knights' electric attack.

"He'll be one of the signings of the year for us if we can reach our potential this year," Pearce said.

"He's tough and he's a really good ball player. He's helping my game at training and taking some heat off with the forwards which frees my game up so I don't have to organise all the time.

"He's low maintenance, he's got no ego and he works hard. He loves his footy and he's a tough kid. He's the sort of guy you want to play for.

"The best hookers in the game are that type of character, they just get in there, get their work done and work hard for their mates and defend. With the ball he's got a calm head. He's just natural."

As good as he is, Brailey creates something of a welcome selection headache for O'Brien.

Utilities Kurt Mann and Connor Watson need to be squeezed into the squad, likely at five-eighth and No.14 respectively, while young halves Mason Lino and Phoenix Crossland are pressing their claims and will need to be managed.

Among the litany of outside backs, rising star Bradman Best is expected to start the season on the wing, while Tex Hoy, Starford To'a and former Brisbane centre Gehemat Shibasaki bide their time.

But under the new regime in Newcastle, if they don't have the right attitude they won't get a look in.

"Ads has stripped it back to what this community and this culture has been about for a long time and we need to rediscover that," Pearce said.

"We need to deliver for the town and it starts with hard work and resilience."

NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS

Finishes over the past three seasons: 2019 - 11th 2018 - 11th, 2017 - 16th

Coach: Adam O'Brien

Captain: Mitchell Pearce

Key gains: Jayden Brailey (Sharks)

Key losses: Jesse Ramien (Sharks), Danny Levi (Sea Eagles), Jamie Buhrer (retired)

Best team: 1 Kalyn Ponga, 2 Bradman Best, 3 Tautau Moga, 4Hymel Hunt, 5 Edrick Lee, 6 Kurt Mann, 7 Mitchell Pearce, 8 David Klemmer, 9 Jayden Brailey, 10 Daniel Saifiti, 11 Lachlan Fitzgibbon, 12 Mitch Barnett, 13 Tim Glasby, 14 Connor Watson, 15 Aidan Guerra, 16 Sione Mata'utia, 17 Pasami Saulo

Predicted finish: 8th

About 400 residents in Williamtown, north of Newcastle, launched a class action against the Department of Defence in 2016 after PFAS chemicals contaminated soil and water in the area.

PFAS was once used in firefighting foam at the Williamtown RAAF base.

Williamtown residents, who were the first to launch the Federal Court class action, say their livelihoods and property values have been severely affected since toxic chemicals leached into ground and surface water.

Residents in Oakey in Queensland and Katherine in the Northern Territory launched their own claims soon afterwards.

The federal government on Wednesday said an in-principle agreement had been reached and a confidential settlement was being finalised for the three Federal Court class actions.

Williamtown resident Lindsay Clout says it's been a long battle.

"People are really feeling comfortable again today," he told AAP on Thursday.

"There have been some tears of relief shed this morning by local residents."

The Coalition Against PFAS president added while the settlement was welcome it didn't change what the community had been through.

"We were continually told we were unimportant and what happened to us was the way it was going to be," he said.

"We were polluted and our property values were destroyed."

Mr Clout called on the government to adopt the recommendations from the second parliamentary inquiry into PFAS contamination and to undergo a complete clean- up of the contamination in Williamtown.

Port Stephens NSW MP Kate Washington said the news has been met with relief and some shock.

"I'm hopeful it will mean the residents can start healing and that the heartbreak may end," she told AAP on Thursday.

The Labor MP referred to the "extraordinary impact" the contamination scandal has had on Williamtown residents for more than four years.

"The experience will never be forgotten," she said.

"If there's money involved in this, that's not going to mean it's over for these families."

The opposition environment spokeswoman hoped the Commonwealth will now take responsibility for its actions.

But the veteran backrower is well aware of the challenge that faces his NRL team this season after their embarrassing 2019 finals exit.

Glenn admitted he was still pinching himself after being handed the captaincy in the off-season.

"It has probably been a month now that I have been told (by coach Anthony Seibold) that I was going to be skipper - it is a huge honour," Glenn told AAP.

"I am captain of a club that I see as family.

"Once footy starts back up it will start sinking in then, but at the moment it's like a dream."

Yet the way the 2019 season finished for Brisbane still seems like a nightmare for the former Kiwi international.

Glenn admitted he was still getting his head around the Broncos' record 58-0 loss to Parramatta in the finals' first round last year.

And no wonder.

The humiliating loss itself was hard to cop.

Then came revelations that senior players were seen playing pokies until the wee hours the night before the crunch game prompting speculation Seibold had lost his playing group in his first year at the helm.

Drastic change appeared on the cards.

Yet nothing really prepared the Broncos playing group for what was to come.

Seibold delivered some sobering home truths in the post-season player interviews.

Darius Boyd lost the captaincy.

The former Test fullback and veteran hooker Andrew McCullough were reportedly told in no uncertain terms they needed a strong pre-season just to earn a nod in the top 17.

A new leadership group was named after Boyd's demotion and back-rower Matt Gillett's retirement.

Everyone, it seemed, was on notice.

But Glenn claimed the Broncos were now in a better place.

"The way that we finished the season against Parra, that hurt us," he said.

"We addressed that on the first day of pre-season, where we went wrong,

"We have used that game as motivation to make sure that it never happens again.

"I am excited about how hard we have worked this pre-season and how close the group has come.

"That was something we were missing last year. When times got tough we went into our shell and started becoming individuals out there.

"This year we are going to be a lot better because we are united as a playing group."

Despite their bitter 2019 finish, Seibold has refused to hit the panic button.

Boasting one of the NRL's most formidable packs featuring Matt Lodge, Tevita Pangai, Payne Haas and David Fifita, Seibold was selective on the player market, simply bolstering the glaring area the Broncos needed to address - their halves.

After the failed experiment of Boyd and regular hooker Jake Turpin in the halves in 2019, Seibold signed former Melbourne playmaker Brodie Croft and asked incumbent fullback Anthony Milford to have another crack at five-eighth.

Glenn reckoned it was a master stroke.

"Crofty will lead the team around the paddock which frees up Milford with his attacking game - I think they will complement each other nicely," he said.

Seibold is also set to re-jig his backline with a rejuvenated Boyd set to feature in the centres and a fit-again Jack Bird challenging Jamayne Isaako for the No.1 jersey.

It was enough to convince Glenn that the six-time premiers were back on track after enduring what is now a 14 year title drought.

Asked what was a 2020 pass mark, Glenn said: "We always aim to be a top four team.

"We can't be happy to just make the eight.

"But we need to be a strong defensive team when times get tough. That is the difference between winning and losing.

"That's where we believe we have improved."

BRISBANE BRONCOS

Finishes over the past three seasons: 2019 - Eighth, 2018 - Sixth, 2017 - Third.

Coach: Anthony Seibold

Captain: Alex Glenn

Key gains: Brodie Croft (Melbourne), Jordan Kahu (North Queensland), Jesse Arthurs (Gold Coast)

Outs: Troy Dargan (South Sydney), Gehamat Shibasaki (Newcastle), Matt Gillett, Shaun Fensom, Sam Tagataese (retired), George Fai, Patrick Mago, James Segeyaro (unsigned).

Best team: 1. Jamayne Isaako, 2. Corey Oates, 3. Kotoni Staggs, 4. Darius Boyd, 5. Xavier Coates, 6. Anthony Milford, 7. Brodie Croft, 8. Matt Lodge, 9. Jake Turpin, 10. Payne Haas, 11. Alex Glenn, 12. David Fifita, 13. Tevita Pangai. Interchange: 14. Jack Bird, 15. Joe Ofahengaue, 16. Pat Carrigan, 17. Thomas Flegler.

Predicted finish: 7th

Afterpay had 7.3 million active customers at the end of the six months to December 31, a 134 per cent improvement.

Shoppers' enthusiasm to use the online and app-based service helped drive underlying spending of $4.8 billion globally - a 109 per cent gain from the same period last year.

However, the popularity of the technology could not prevent a $28.9 million loss in the six-month period. That compares with a $22 million loss for the same period last year.

The company attributed the weaker result to costs of hiring more staff, marketing and other operating expenses. It said this is all part of its plan to boost income and growth.

Young people have been quick to use the service, preferring it to credit cards.

Afterpay can be used for online purchases, or in stores by scanning a barcode in the app.

Other players in the growing market include Zip and Ezypay.

Afterpay reported total income for the half year jumped 96 per cent to $220 million.

This amount comprised $179.6 million from retailers, who pay for every transaction they make on the platform.

Their customers, who are not charged except late payment fees, provided $32.6 million to Afterpay.

Its 3.1 million customers across Australia and New Zealand remained the biggest source of sales, accounting for $3.1 billion of the total spend.

It had 3.6 million US customers - 1 million of these having signed up in November and December with total spend of $1.4 billion.

There were 0.6 million UK customers, providing $0.2 billion.

Afterpay will start its in-store service in the US during the second half of the financial year, and expects spending to surpass that in Australia and New Zealand.

Chief Executive Anthony Eisen said growth in the US and UK was happening at a faster rate than experienced in its home market.

Mr Eisen said the company is targeting reaching 9.5 million customers by the end of the financial year.

While profitability would be impacted in the short term, the management expects higher profitability as each market matures, he said.

The company did not declare any dividend.

By 1425 AEDT, shares in the company were trading 3.1 per cent higher at $37.09.

Meanwhile, rival Zip also widened first-half loss nearly fivefold to $30.3 million after mounting costs, including the $60 million purchase of PartPay.

Zip's half-year revenue doubled to $69.6 million and underlying spending increased by a similar amount to $964.7 million.

Its active customer accounts in Australia and NZ increased to over 1.8 million - a jump of 80 per cent from a year ago.

Merchant numbers rose by two thirds to 20,800 on deals with the likes of Amazon and Optus.

Nonethless, Zip's share price had slipped by 5.6 per cent to a near six-month low of $3.10 by 1425 AEDT.

AFTERPAY USE SURGES

* Net loss $28.9m vs $22m loss yr ago

* Total income up 96 pct to $220m

* No dividend declared.

Eugene Mahauariki died in hospital four days after falling from the Cha Cha ride at the 2017 Rye Easter Carnival.

WorkSafe Victoria on Thursday announced it was withdrawing charges against ride operator Wittingslow Carnivals over the accident.

"As a model litigant, WorkSafe is unable to proceed with a prosecution if it is unlikely to succeed," it said in a statement.

"The tragic death of Eugene Mahauariki continues to have an impact on his family and the lives of those who knew him and our thoughts are with them at this time.

"Assistance has been provided by WorkSafe to Eugene's family and we will do everything possible to ensure they continue to get the support and care they need."

Eugene was the son of a Wittingslow employee and seated on the ride with another six-year-old when he slipped out from underneath the bar designed to hold patrons in place.

He was tall enough to go on the ride without a supervising adult.

Wittingslow had been charged with breaching workplace safety laws by failing to ensure people are not exposed to risk.

A court hearing to determine whether Wittingslow would stand trial was expected to continue in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday.

But WorkSafe's barrister Andrew Palmer QC announced the watchdog was dropping the case following discussions between the parties.

Eugene's family were not in court, but Mr Palmer said they had been informed beforehand.

It came after Wittingslow and WorkSafe disagreed about who was ultimately responsible for managing the safety of the Cha Cha at the time of the accident.

At a previous court hearing, Mr Palmer told magistrate Ross Maxted: "The premise of your question is WorkSafe are the experts".

"The experts in the operation of carnivals are the carnival operators," the QC said.

The Cha Cha had been certified by an engineer before the April 17 accident and a safety inspection the day after did not identify any concerns.

It was cleared to reopen just two days after the fatal fall.

Seven months later, WorkSafe issued an improvement notice for the Cha Cha, and further modifications were made.

It could still be operated but was not being used, the court was told earlier in February.

Seatbelts were fitted to the Cha Cha after Eugene fell and before the improvement notice was issued.

Wittingslow's barrister Stephen Russell earlier said there was no evidence the company knew the Cha Cha's safety measures at the time of the accident were inadequate.

Outside court on Thursday, ride operator Michael Wittingslow told reporters the process had been "stressful, very much for the family".

Legislation passed the Senate on Thursday making changes to Centrelink reporting expected to save the federal budget $2.1 billion over four years.

People reporting income to Centrelink currently have to estimate a figure based on how many hours worked in a fortnight and rate of pay, taking into account penalty rates.

Under the new system, which will come into place in July, welfare recipients will be able to enter details on their payslips.

The changes would also allow welfare recipients' employment and income data to be pre-filled online, the same as tax returns.

The government hopes Centrelink payments will become more accurate, preventing people being owed money or paid too much.

Labor amended the bill to include a one-year review of the new system, meaning it will return to the lower house for final approval.

An online portal will be set up to help people with the change, with videos and written examples to help explain the system.

The changes will impact about 550,000 Australians.

The bill also marks the start of single-touch payroll for welfare recipients.

That means a person's income data from the Australian Taxation Office will be automatically uploaded to the government system so bureaucrats can double-check figures.

It comes after the government's robo-debt debacle saw many people served with notices for money they didn't owe.

The system, which has now been wound back, was recently declared unlawful by the Federal Court and is the subject of a separate class-action lawsuit.

The assailant who attacked the Molson Coors complex in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was identified as a 51-year-old local man who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

"There were five individuals who went to work today, just like everybody goes to work, and they thought they were going to go to work, finish their day and return to their families. They didn't - and tragically they never will," Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said.

Authorities offered no immediate motive for the attack and did not release details about the shooter or how the shooting unfolded.

None of the victims was identified. Police, who were still contacting relatives, said identities would not be released for at least 24 hours. No one was wounded beyond those who were killed, authorities said.

Officers worked for hours to clear the more than 20 buildings in the complex where more than 1000 people work. They announced at a late evening news conference that the work was done and all employees had been allowed to go home. Police Chief Alfonso Morales said authorities believe the shooter operated alone.

President Donald Trump spoke of the shooting at the White House.

"Our hearts break for them and their loved ones," he said. "We send our condolences. We'll be with them, and it's a terrible thing, a terrible thing."

The attack occurred at a sprawling complex that includes a mix of corporate offices and brewing facilities. The complex is widely known in the Milwaukee area as "Miller Valley," a reference to the Miller Brewing Co. that is now part of Molson Coors.

Molson Coors CEO Gavin Hattersley called the shooter "an active brewery employee."

"Unfortunately, I am devastated to share that we lost five other members of our family in this tragic incident," he said in an email sent to employees.

"There are no words to express the deep sadness many of us are feeling right now."

He said the office would be closed the rest of the week and the brewery shuttered "for the time being" to give people time to cope.

A group of brewery employees gathered at a nearby bar to talk about what had happened.

"We are all a family. We work a lot of hours together, so we're all very sad," said Selena Curka, who was about to start her shift when the complex went on lockdown and she was turned away.

"Miller Valley" features a 160-year-old brewery, with a packaging centre that fills thousands of cans and bottles every minute and a distribution centre the size of five football fields.

The last mass shooting in the Milwaukee area was in August 2012, when white supremacist Wade Michael Page fatally shot six people and wounded four others at a Sikh temple in suburban Oak Creek.

Page killed himself after being wounded in a shootout with police.

Shortly before word of the brewery shooting broke, Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald told reporters in suburban Franklin that state gun laws would not be changing despite a push by Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, to do so.

Evers called lawmakers into special session late last year to consider expanding background checks and allowing guns to be taken from people deemed a threat. But the Republican-controlled Legislature adjourned without action.

The flight retailer reported a first-half statutory profit after tax of $22.1 million, a 74 per cent dive after writedowns following the collapse of Thomas Cook, Cox & Kings and other smaller travel operators.

Revenue for the six months to December 31 grew 5.8 per cent to $1.55 billion.

The Brisbane-headquartered firm said it now expects full-year profit before tax to be between $240 million and $300 million, down from its previous forecast range of $310 million-$350 million.

Flight Centre said it would continue to monitor the coronavirus' impact on its corporate and leisure businesses in the upcoming months - traditionally the year's peak booking periods.

As outlined in its February 7 update, the Greater China and Singapore corporate businesses - which together generate about 2.5 per cent of the group's total transaction value - have been significantly impacted by the Chinese inbound and outbound travel shutdowns.

The firm said its other corporate businesses have also been significantly impacted, particularly during the past three weeks, as companies globally amend travel policies to prevent employees from travelling to China and, in some cases, other major business travel hubs in the short-term.

Flight Centre said leisure travel patterns are also being increasingly affected recently, with some customers reviewing short-term holiday plans and monitoring the virus's possible spread to locations outside China and Asia in the future.

"It is impossible to predict the virus's impact at this time, but Flight Centre expects it will lead to subdued activity through to the end of FY20," the firm said.

The tepid outlook comes on the back of a difficult first-half.

Its net profit decline reflected a $46.1 million impairment charge relating to goodwill at its London-based Global Touring Business, $7.1 in non-recurring costs for reaccommodating customers after the collapse of Tempo and Bentours in Australia and New Zealand, a $3.1 million charge in its Ignite business as well as a $2.1 non-cash accounting adjustment.

Its results come during a tough period for the travel sector with Corporate Travel this week also cutting its full-year earnings guidance triggered by "unprecedented disruption" from the coronavirus outbreak on international travel.

Earlier this month, rival Webjet also posted a first-half profit after writing off $44 million following the collapse of British travel group Thomas Cook in September.

Flight Centre shares were trading marginally higher at $35.04 by 1335 AEDT.

FLIGHT CENTRE H1 PROFIT PLUNGES

* Half-year net profit down 74pct to $22.1m

* Revenue up 5.8pct to $1.55b

* Fully-franked interim dividend 40 cents a share vs 60 cents year ago.

"It is alleged that the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder's post breaches FA Rule E3(1) as it was insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute," the FA said in a statement on their website.

"It is further alleged that the post constitutes an "Aggravated Breach", which is defined in FA Rule E3(2), as it included a reference, whether express or implied, to race and/or colour and/or ethnic origin and/or nationality."

The charges refer to a video posted by the 23-year-old on Snapchat in which he joked about the virus and appeared to mock a man of Asian appearance.

After deleting the post, Alli apologised on Weibo, the Chinese social media platform, saying: "I let myself down and the club."

Alli has until Thursday 5 March to respond to the charges.

Losing him for any length of time would be another blow to Spurs manager Jose Mourinho, who is already expecting to be without forwards Harry Kane and Son Heung-min until May due to injury.

Last Tango in Little Grimley and Last Panto in Little Grimley will be held at The Foundry Arts Space from Friday to Sunday, so people are urged to book their tickets now.

The plays follow the Little Grimley Amateur Dramatic Society, whose membership has dwindled to just four: its bombastic and egomaniacal director Gordon (Aaron David Palmer); bossy and ill-tempered Margaret (Gemma Marchant); tone-deaf and ditzy Joyce (Suzanne Spencer); and inept set builder and banana-eating Bernard (Mark Thomson).

Fresh from their annual general meeting, the group must decide on what show to stage next to save the bank balance, their reputation — and the company.

Will it be Oklahoma? Perhaps Seven Brides for Seven Brothers?

Or will Gordon pull the club out of arrears by injecting some comedy into the next show – which also happens to be his literary masterpiece.

Will Joyce get her chance to sing her swansong, or will she just look like an angry ostrich?

Will Bernard get the set built before opening night without it collapsing on his head?

And will Margaret agree to the shenanigans Gordon has planned, or will she have to go against every maternal instinct she has to whip out something surprising before it all goes utterly pear-shaped?

Directors Lesley Summers and Tricia Deakin have been busy rehearsing, and laughing, with the cast during the past 10 weeks in preparation for the four performances.

“We have really enjoyed working with four very talented cast members and seeing their characters emerge as the weeks went by,” Lesley said.

Staged with cabaret seating, audiences are invited to bring their own nibbles and drinks, and the Little Grimley plays are a perfect excuse to get a few of your friends together and head out for a laugh-a-minute night at the theatre.

Tables of six or 10 are available and you do not need to book the whole table to buy tickets.

The Little Grimley plays open on Friday, February 28 at 7.30 pm, followed by shows on Saturday, February 29, at 2 pm and 7.30 pm and Sunday, March 1, at 2 pm.

Tickets are $30 and only available online at bit.ly/emtc-grimley

Gabriel Jesus scored an equaliser in the 78th minute and Kevin De Bruyne netted an 83rd-minute winner from the penalty spot as City came from behind for a 2-1 win over Madrid in the first leg of the last-16 tie at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Wednesday.

"It's a great satisfaction to be able to win at the Bernabeu," City coach Pep Guardiola said. "We are not used to these types of results. It shows that we can go to any stadium and win."

The Sky Blues are likely playing in their last Champions League before having to serve a two-year UEFA ban from European competitions for breaching financial regulations and failing to cooperate with investigators, a sentence they are appealing.

Francisco "Isco" Alarcon opened the scoring in the 60th for Madrid, which played the final minutes without defender Sergio Ramos after he was shown a straight red card for a foul to stop an 86th-minute breakaway by Jesus.

"Those last 10 minutes changed the game," Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said. "We played a good match, it hurts to see those mistakes in the end. We didn't deserve that, but in football you have to be fully focused for the entire 90 minutes."

The return match in England will be on March 17 and Guardiola warned.

"But it's still not over. If there is one team in the world that can overcome this, it's this club (Real Madrid)."

In Wednesday's other first leg last 16-game, Lyon beat Italian champions Juventus 1-0 at home thanks to a rare goal from Lucas Tousart.

The midfielder netted in the 31st minute with a neat volley from a cross by midfielder Houssem Aouar.

Juventus are bidding to end a 24-year-wait to win the Champions League, but woke up too late in the match.

Still, Juventus nearly came away from Groupama Stadium with a draw.

Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo threw his arms up in the air after the referee ruled against his late claim for a penalty, following an apparent push from behind by Lyon defender Jason Denayer.

Then, forward Paulo Dybala had a goal ruled out for offside in the 87th. A minute later, he also had a penalty shout turned down even though he seemed to be pulled back by a Lyon defender.

Juve coach Maurizio Sarri, who was incensed by both penalty decisions, was also bemused by his team's inability to move the ball quickly.

"I continued to tell them, and there were many who were doing it, that they were moving the ball too slowly and therefore getting into the wrong positions," he said.

"The second half was better, but frankly it's not enough for a Champions League match."

The PGL, which the British-based World Golf Group hopes to launch in 2022, would consist of 18 yearly tournaments - each with prize money of $10 million - and feature 48 of the game's top players.

Former world No.1 Koepka, who already makes a highly profitable living and has won all of his majors in the last three years, said money would not be a deciding factor in whether he joins the new circuit as he just wants to compete with the best golfers.

"I am just going to play where the best players play," Koepka, who is competing at this week's Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, said in a report on the Golf Channel website.

"I want to play against the best. I think everyone wants to play against the best. Whatever comes of it, comes of it."

World No.1 Rory McIlroy has already shut the door on the Premier Golf League, saying he would prefer to have autonomy over his career choices, and Tiger Woods has said he was gathering more information about the concept.

Koepka, who was speaking after his Honda Classic pro-am round, said more money will not change his life and so he refuses to let an opportunity to earn more sway his decision on where he competes.

"I can't speak for everybody, but for me, money doesn't matter," said Koepka, who has earned over $30 million on the PGA Tour. "It's not something that's important.

"I just want to be happy. Money is not going to make me happy. I just want to play against the best, and at the same time, I just want to play golf."

The gelding claimed his 11th career win and his third from three starts at Toowoomba in an Open Handicap (1300m) on Wednesday.

He has been accepted for the Listed Tattersall's Members Cup (1600m) on Saturday.

He has been given a half kilogram penalty for the Toowoomba win, taking his weight on Saturday to 54.5kg.

Prioritise had not won in more than a year and had a drop in class in the Toowoomba race.

Prioritise has raced in 13 stakes races during his career and rarely been disgraced.

"He can be a funny horse but he has been good for us winning nearly $500,000," trainer Steve Tregea said.

"Prioritise is a clean-winded horse and he can have a swim and a potter around which should mean he is fine for Doomben."

"I see no reason why he shouldn't back up."

Oh Five Glory finally had some luck when she won the QTIS Three-Year-Old The Jewel Prelude at the Toowoomba meeting.

Although stakes-placed last year, Oh Five Glory had won only one previous race.

At her six most recent runs she drew double digit barriers.

"We decided to take the barriers out of play by riding her aggressively and it worked," co-trainer Will Hulbert said.

"She can go on to The Jewel at the Gold Coast in a fortnight."

The NZ firm reported a 31.8 per cent increase in continuing revenue to $NZ805.3 million ($A773.6 million) for the six months to December 31, $NZ659.2 million of which came from the infant formula segment, up 33.1 per cent on a year ago.

Net profit rose 21.1 per cent to $NZ184.9 million ($A177.6 million).

The company's ASX-listed shares were 8.33 per cent higher at a near six-month high of $16.25 by 1036 AEDT.

A2, one of the few firms to achieve the all-important SAMR regulatory approval in China, said China label infant nutrition sales doubled to $NZ146.7 million during the half as distribution expanded to 18,300 stores.

US sales also doubled as A2 upped its global marketing spend and increased distribution to 17,500 stores.

While revenue for the first two months of the new year has been above expectations, a2 said potential supply chain disruption from the coronavirus outbreak and higher marketing costs could hurt in the second half.

The full year earnings margin is expected to be between 29 per cent to 30 per cent, down on 32.6 per cent during the first half.

A2 Milk is still searching for a permanent successor to former boss Jayne Hrdlicka, who stepped down in December.

A2 MILK FIRST HALF PROFIT FROTHS UP

* Revenue up 31.8pct to $NZ805.3m

* Net profit up 21.1pct to $NZ184.9m

* No dividend, unchanged

The four-year-old has won six of his eight starts including three at the highest level.

But he is perhaps best known for passing the post first in last year's Kentucky Derby, only to be demoted - becoming the first horse to be disqualified as the winner of the Churchill Downs showpiece for causing interference.

A dual Grade One winner since, most recently in the Cigar Mile at Aqueduct in December, Maximum Security is the 11-4 favourite for Saturday's $20 million feature in Riyadh.

"It's thrilling to come over," Servis said.

"The people have been great to put on this show. It's not about the money, I mean it is, but it's not.

"He's been exciting for us, to say the least. From the Derby to becoming three-year-old champion, it's been some year."

Connections of Maximum Security elected to allow the star colt to make his reappearance in Saudi Arabia, passing up the opportunity to run in the Pegasus World Cup last month.

"It wasn't an easy decision to come here. He's four from four at Gulfstream Park and could have run in the Pegasus World Cup, which is worth $3 million, so it was tough," Servis said.

"The problem was if we ran hard in the Pegasus, we didn't know if we could make here off a short rest, so we opted to skip the Pegasus."

Also forming part of a formidable American challenge in the world's richest race are the Bob Baffert-trained pair of McKinzie and Mucho Gusto, the former runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Classic and the latter winning the Pegasus World Cup.

"They've done well," Baffert said. "No negatives at all they look healthy and happy.

"The track is pretty nice. They're both getting over it pretty well.

"He worked great before he left. We just let him open up through the lane (Tuesday). Mucho Gusto did the same thing. Just to get their blood flowing.

"Mucho Gusto has really changed a lot. These last three months I've seen a big change in him. He's always shown up. He's always run hard. He'll be right there."

Kyriacou, 19, cruised to an eight-shot win at the Australian Ladies Classic at Coffs Harbour's Bonville resort last week while still an amateur.

She turned professional on Wednesday in order to take up a two-year exemption on the Ladies European Tour, which includes major championship starts at the Evian Championship in France and the Women's British Open.

Kyriacou makes her professional debut at the NSW Open starting today in Dubbo, another LET-sanctioned event with a prize pool of more than $A400,000.

Webb, a seven-time major champion and World Golf Hall of Fame member, said Kyriacou's obliteration of the Bonville Classic field was impressive.

"Steph looked like she was playing a different course to everyone else; it seemed the hole was a big as a bucket," Webb told AAP on Thursday.

Webb, 45, said the freedom of a two-year exemption would help Kyriacou make the leap to the paid ranks.

Webb enjoyed a similar comfort when she won on the same tour in her rookie season in 1994.

"Steph doesn't have to play for her card and has two years to get comfortable playing professional golf," Queenslander Webb said.

"I had a bit of success early in my career and it just made me feel comfortable competing at that level.

"Steph's win will be a huge boost of confidence; the sky is the limit for her."

Kyriacou's win adds to a list of triumphs by Australian women golfers recently.

Perth native Hannah Green secured a maiden major title at last year's US Women's PGA Championship before winning again on the LPGA Tour.

Months later, Gabi Ruffels became the first Australian to win the US Women's Amateur.

"It's fantastic to see and I think it shows that if you put money somewhere, you'll see results," Webb explained.

"(Government funding) was lacking for a long time but some attention has been put into growing the women's game from the grass roots. Still, women's golf needs more."

Webb also launched the Karrie Webb Series scholarship several years ago for Australian amateurs.

It offers financial support while taking recipients to LPGA Tour events, often majors, to learn from Webb.

Green and women's world No.8 Minjee Lee are past winners of the scholarship.

"I'm not someone who pushes themselves on players, but I love helping young girls coming through," Webb said.

"I have a lot to offer and the girls know whenever they need help, they can reach out and I'll be there."

Kyriacou will play the NSW Women's Open with fellow Australian Sarah Kemp and defending champion Meghan MacLaren.

The pair played a starring role as Australia ripped through a lacklustre South Africa in Cape Town to win by 97 runs and claim the T20 series 2-1.

Warner's 120-run opening partnership with Aaron Finch ensured the Proteas were on the back foot from the start at Newlands.

Sensing the need to apply pressure on a pitch that would likely get harder to bat on, the pair raced to 0-75 off the powerplay.

By the time Warner departed on 57, the run rate was already exceeding 10 an over.

Finch said an underrated part of Warner's game was the T20 veteran's ability to plan for and adapt to different match scenarios.

"Probably from his younger days playing T20s when it was all brute force, I think the way that he goes about thinking through his innings, planning his innings pre-game but then also adapting - it's extraordinary," Finch said.

"To sit down and talk with him about plans and how we're going to go about it at the top of the order - which very rarely works the way that you want it to work - his attention to detail and his planning is unbelievable and as good as anyone I've played with."

Smith played a similarly important role in a retooled line-up, coming in at No.5 instead of his customary No.3 position.

With less than five overs remaining by the time he walked out, Smith had a licence to thrill.

And he didn't disappoint, helping himself to 20 runs, including two sixes, off the final over from paceman Anrich Nortje.

"What's changed slightly in his game is he's probably got a little bit more freedom to play the shots," Finch said.

"That's been a huge difference to his game.

"Teams used to think they could just squeeze him, he wouldn't hurt you too much at the back end but to develop all the shots that he's got now around the ground, he's a super important player to us and he's bloody impressive to watch."

Royal Children's Hospital director of emergency, Stuart Lewena, said a doctor was told by parents of a child she was treating they were not comfortable with her.

"It was clear that message was sent on the basis of her race. We intervened to highlight to that family that wasn't acceptable and we've been supporting that staff member," Dr Lewena said on Thursday.

The doctor continued to treat the patient but the situation required the intervention of a senior staff member, Dr Lewena said.

"The message was given that we have complete confidence in that staff member and she should remain as one of the treating clinicians for that child."

The doctor took a brief period of time off but is now back at work, Dr Lewena confirmed.

After the incident had been flagged to all staff, Dr Lewena said three more staff members came forward to say they had had similar experiences.

"We want to use this as an opportunity to say that's not acceptable in health care and it's certainly not acceptable in our society," Dr Lewena said.

"Paranoia around coronavirus is acceptable, but we need to be sensible and respectful in terms of how we go about dealing with it."

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews described the racism as "shameful".

"There is no place for that in Victoria, there is no place at all," he said on Thursday.

The government says the outbreak in mainland China is of concern but the risk of exposure to coronavirus in Victoria remains very low, and certainly has nothing to do with a nurse, doctor or patient's ethnicity.

"We are aware of at least one other hospital where patients presenting have refused to sit near other patients that they have seen of Asian appearance," Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos told reporters.

"That is very concerning. There is no place for this behaviour in our public hospitals, there is no place for this in our broader community."

Victorian Chief Health Officer Dr Brett Sutton said coronavirus preparations are ongoing.

"We're going to work extremely hard on our planning. We are continually adapting to new information and circumstances as they arise," he said.

There are seven confirmed coronavirus cases in Victoria, three of whom are currently in isolation after being evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship and four who have recovered.

The Scottish giants advanced 4-2 on aggregate after coming from 2-0 down at home in Glasgow last week to win the first leg 3-2.

Ianis Hagi, who netted twice in that comeback, missed a penalty just before halftime in Portugal but then set up Kent for the winner in the 61st minute.

Romanian Hagi launched a ball over Braga's high line for Kent to run onto, and the forward drilled a left-footed finish into the corner.

"There have been a lot of opinions on Ryan of late on what type of form he is in," Rangers manager Steven Gerrard said.

"People don't give him the credit he deserves in terms of the amount of running he does for us - but he came big for the team and scored the important goal.

"The players have been outstanding to a man over both games. I'm really proud of them for getting the job done."

It was the only round of 32 game to be played ahead of Thursday's regular schedule, when Braga's Portuguese rival Porto play at home to Germany's Bayer Leverkusen.

The airline expects the COVID-19 pain for earnings to be in the range of $NZ35 million ($A34 million) to $NZ75 million ($A72 million) due to lower demand and capacity cuts.

Fewer people want to fly from Asia to New Zealand right now, and even greater numbers don't want to travel to Asia, it said.

So Air New Zealand is reducing its Asia capacity by 17 per cent until June, including cutting flights to Hong Kong, suspending Shanghai services until March and Seoul flights from March to June.

Pacific Islands' demand remains strong but the airline is reducing trans-Tasman flights by three per cent until May, mainly to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

The update came as it posted a 33 per cent drop in net profit to $NZ101 million for the six months to December 31 after an 8.8 per cent fall in earnings before significant items to $NZ198 million.

Cargo revenue fell 9.4 per cent and labour and fuel costs rose.

It maintained its interim dividend at 11 New Zealand cents a share and forecast earnings before significant items and tax to be about $NZ300-$350 million for the full year.

AIR NZ FIRST HALF PROFIT HIT

* Net profit down 33pct to $NZ101 mln

* Earnings before significant items down 8.8pct to $NZ198 mln.

* Interim dividend 11 NZ cents a share, unchanged

Bayern said that the Polish marksman "fractured the tibia where it meets the left knee joint" in Tuesday's 3-0 Champions League win against Chelsea in London, and that the leg would immobilised in a cast for 10 days before he can start rehab.

Lewandowski will miss upcoming Bundesliga matches, the last 16 return leg against Chelsea next week in Munich as well as a German Cup quarter-final at Schalke.

With Bayern saying he would be out for "around four weeks," Lewandowski could be back for the April 4 Bundesliga match against title rivals Borussia Dortmund, and a possible Champions League quarter-final tie that month.

"I'll be back soon and I'll be ready to fight," Lewandowski posted to fans on Twitter.

The 31-year-old is the Champions League's leading goalscorer this season with 11 and has netted a leading 25 in the Bundesliga for leaders Bayern.

He has started in all but two of Bayern's 34 games this season in all competitions, rested on both occasions, and did not miss any action after undergoing groin surgery at the start of the winter break.

The IRL will meet on March 18 to hear the administration's appeal, after the Tonga National Rugby League (TNRL) opted to fight their expulsion earlier this week.

It comes after months of fighting between Tongan players and the administration over finances and the initial axing of Kristian Woolf as coach.

The drama threatened to put a large dent in international rugby league last year, with Tonga players on the threat of boycotting the Nines World Cup and other matches.

Led by Andrew Fifita and Jason Taumalolo, they successfully had the TNRL suspended last October by the IRL with the Tonga Ma'a Tonga Rugby League registered by local clubs.

The players eventually ran out for an invitational side, claiming the country's first wins against Australia and Great Britain and breathing new life into the international game with Woolf reinstated.

The IRL this week continued to press on with the invitational side, confirming they would play in a four-team Pacific Nations this year alongside New Zealand. Samoa and the Cook Islands starting in June.

That could again be thrown into chaos if the TNRL's appeal is successful.

For now, Tongan players are at least relieved the saga is almost coming to an end.

"There was a big thing there going on about money, but at the end of the day we don't play for the money," Manly prop Addin Fonua-Blake told AAP.

"We made that pretty clear that we're not here for the money, we're here for the opportunity to put our country on the map and I think we did that.

"There was a lot of people from the board and all of that sort of stuff and they came out saying nasty things about the team, calling us a rebel team.

"We sat back and said we knew in house that we weren't fighting (a battle) that wasn't ours, all we wanted to do was play for our country.

"They wanted their hand in the cookie jar all the time, but they ended up getting found out."

The TNRL have long denied any wrongdoing, drawing on the support of Tongan community leaders in New Zealand to criticise their suspension last year.

However former Prime Minister Semisi Sika at one stage urged the IRL to remove the board, while he was in the country's top political job last September.

Researchers revealed on Thursday that Farmer had been posthumously diagnosed with Stage III chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) following tests on the former champion ruckman's brain.

Farmer is the first AFL player to be diagnosed with the disease believed to be caused by repeated head knocks and concussions, which is only able to be diagnosed after death.

Farmer, who played 101 games for Geelong and captained the club from 1965-67, died last year aged 84 after a long battle with Alzheimer's.

Head of neuropathology at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and clinical associate professor at the University of Sydney, Michael Buckland, is the founder of the Australian Sports Brain Bank that conducted the research.

He called on the AFL to do more to reduce the incidence of head knocks.

The league pointed to advances in concussion protocols in a statement released on Thursday and AFL boss Gillon McLachlan pledged to continue to explore the sensitive issue.

"I want to acknowledge and thank the Farmer family and Polly Farmer for their significant action in donating his brain and the learnings that we'll get from that," McLachlan said.

"Clearly it's about prevention, diagnosis and research.

"We will continue to learn."

The disease has become increasingly prevalent in NFL, boxing and soccer, while two former Rugby League players, including legendary Canterbury player and coach Steve Folkes, have been diagnosed.

Professor Buckland applauded the AFL's moves to tighten concussion protocols but said the sport must work towards further reducing the incidence of head knocks that don't necessarily result in concussion.

"There seems to be an exposure relationship between repetitive head knocks, whether they be concussive or sub-concussive, and CTE," he said.

"One thing we'd like the conversation to start focusing on is how we reduce exposure to these repetitive head knocks.

"This might be hundreds a year over many years just like smoking - it's not one cigarette that kills you, it's just that repetitive exposure."

Prof Buckland added that it was still early days in terms of research into the incidence of CTE in AFL players, with more funds required to continue that work.

Long-time concussion campaigner Peter Jess, who has advocated for a class action of concussed past players against the AFL, felt vindicated by the findings.

"Basically what this does is it tells us that the science has validated what we've been saying," Jess told SEN.

"This is the clinical evidence of what the outcome is from repetitive collisions in our sport. This is what we're seeing now in the current cohort of players."

As well as his three Sandover Medals, Farmer was runner-up for the Brownlow Medal and was three times named in the All-Australian team.

After winning a premiership with the Cats in 1963, he was also the first indigenous coach in VFL/AFL history.

The pair sit on opposite sides of the political divide, come from different generations and have contrasting leadership styles, but that hasn't stopped them building a strong relationship forged in tragedy.

"The last 12 months has, if nothing else, demonstrated just how close New Zealand and Australia are," Ms Ardern said ahead of Thursday's flight across the Tasman Sea.

"Whether it's the fires in Australia, and the hundreds of personnel that have gone from New Zealand to Australia to support them, or Whakaari White Island, or coronavirus, we've had plenty of examples ... where we have been extraordinarily close."

Most recently, there has been collaboration during the COVID-19 crisis which originated in Wuhan, with New Zealanders and Australians sharing mercy flights from the troubled Chinese region.

After the devastating Christchurch mosque shootings in March 2019 there was a collaboration with Australian police and experts.

The pair will have plenty to reflect on in Sydney on Friday during their annual prime ministerial meeting.

"Of all of the leaders that I work with, differently, Prime Minister Morrison is the one that I speak with the most," Ms Ardern said.

"I've had officials joke that they no longer think they need to do the work themselves because we often just resolve things directly together.

"It would be fair to say actually the very things that draw communities closer together are the things that often draw countries close together as well.

"We're countries that lean on one another in times of need."

That doesn't eliminate the differences, however.

New Zealand is held up as a great ally on climate issues in the Pacific while Australia is lambasted for worshipping fossil fuels.

The divide is such that Ms Ardern - who has enshrined into law a pathway to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 - says she won't bother to raise the issue in Sydney.

She has pledged to discuss the "corrosive" issue of deportations which has seen hundreds of New Zealanders, some with limited links to their country of birth, deported from Australia after committing serious crimes.

Canberra has been unrelenting and New Zealand is realistic as to whether any concessions may be forthcoming.

There will also be discussions about commerce, with Ms Ardern referring to "what we can do at our borders to make it easier for our businesses to move between each other".

On the sidelines, Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt and Maori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta will sign a groundbreaking collaboration agreement on indigenous issues.

Ms Ardern will also meet NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Governor-General David Hurley before returning to New Zealand on Friday night.

The court will decide whether or not to drop charges against Mulroy, 64, who allegedly persuaded six boys, all from poor families, to have sex with him in exchange for food and money.

If convicted he faces 15 years imprisonment for soliciting children for prostitution, after spending the past year inside Siem Reap Prison with bail denied.

Mulroy's defence commissioned a report by Ross Milosevic, a Gold Coast-based risk management consultant, into his arrest.

It followed a 10-month investigation that found the charges were a bid by police, NGOs, judiciary and government officials to extort money.

"This is a common occurrence and practice in Cambodia within the judicial process that has provided a lucrative minority of government officials and corrupt defence lawyers to work hand in hand with an extra bonus or what I call, reparations," Milosevic said.

He said police interviews with the six boys were not conducted with adult/parental supervision or legal representation and were made "under extreme duress, intimidation and extortion", and made to ensure charges against Mulroy would secure a conviction.

"These interviews were a clear violation of Cambodian and standard police procedures," he said, adding this was grounds for the case to be annulled when heard by the appeals court on March 6.

Copies of the report alongside requests for help have been sent to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Foreign Minister Marise Payne, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, the attorney-general and the head of the Australian Federal Police.

"Garry's friends and supporters have been advised to prepare for the worst but hope for the best by his lawyer, simply as a result of the corruption that he faces within the Cambodian justice and law-enforcement systems working together in a well-organised extortion ring within small-town Siem Reap," said a letter to the prime minister signed by Joel Saye, who holds power of attorney over Mulroy.

In response, a letter from Payne's office said the Australian embassy in Phnom Penh was monitoring Mulroy's case and offering consular assistance.

"However, as you appreciate, the Australian Government must respect the legal processes of another sovereign country and cannot intervene in it's judicial processes," she said.

Mulroy, a former teacher at Lismore's Trinity Catholic College, led a group of Year 11 students to Siem Reap in 2014, where they built houses for Cambodia's poor.

He moved to Cambodia and worked as a volunteer for Feeding Dreams Cambodia (FDC) and the Cambodian English School of Higher Education Organization (CESHEO), Milosevic said, before later establishing Education House with the six boys as his initial students.

According to local press reports, Khoem Vando, a child protection specialist with Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE), has claimed Mulroy brought the boys, aged 11 to 14, to his home in the commune of Slorkram where he allegedly sexually abused them in November 2018.

Milosevic said there was a close and "extremely pertinent" relationship between FDC and it's director Kerry Huntley.

His report sent to Mr Morrison includes a statutory declaration from another expatriate who spent time with the boys after Mulroy was arrested.

"Each of the boys clearly stated that Garry had done nothing inappropriate to them," the declaration said.

"I can honestly say these boys were never abused by the accused. The boys' honesty and demeanour showed no attitude that they were ever mistreated or abused sexually in any way," it said.

The Australian Energy Market Commission has accepted the rule change to end the practice of power companies charging hefty fees if customers pay late or fail to meet other conditions on bills under discount plans.

The change is set to begin on July 1.

It will be coupled with penalties of up to $100,000 for energy companies that don't comply with the new rule.

Energy Minister Angus Taylor had recommended the rule change early last year to the AEMC, which looks after how the electricity network operates.

The minister says some consumers had been slugged with late fees amounting to an extra 40 per cent on top of their bills.

"A typical household might be paying $185 a year extra as a result of the late payment fee, small businesses much more - close to $1000," he told Sky News on Thursday.

"Obviously it depends on the circumstances but this was completely unacceptable practice."

The AEMC said the rule change provided a balance between protecting consumers from excessive fees and retailers' need to recover reasonable costs for late payments.

Meanwhile, mining giant Rio Tinto has announced it wants to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and will spend $1 billion over five years on climate-related measures.

The company's 2050 pledge matches that of fellow mining titan BHP.

Federal Labor has also set its sights on a net zero emissions by 2050 goal, matching that of all states and territories as well as more than 70 countries.

The government has agreed to the Paris agreement's goal of net zero emissions in the second half of the century, and has whacked Labor for not outlining a pathway for its target.

Asked why he was critical of Labor and not Liberal state governments with the same target, Mr Taylor said it was because the opposition would have to prove its achievements on the international stage.

"The federal government, well those who would like to be the federal government, have a special level of accountability because they are the ones that go to the international negotiations ... they are required to deliver on their target," he said.

Labor's energy spokesman Mark Butler says Rio Tinto's 2050 emissions aim shows the government is out of touch.

"Scott Morrison has now found himself completely out of step with Australian business, other governments and the community," he said.

"He is locked in a reckless and extreme position because of the stranglehold the hard-right of the coalition has on climate policy."

Smith, who is currently in South Africa with the Australia team, was banned from international cricket for a year in March 2018 for his role in a plot to cheat in a Test in Cape Town.

He was also banned for a further year from holding any leadership role in the Australia team. That suspension expires at the end of next month.

Smith's appointment to captain Welsh Fire is his first permanent leadership role since the ban.

He stepped in to captain Rajasthan Royals for part of the Indian Premier League season last year.

"It's an honour to be asked to captain Welsh Fire in the first year of The Hundred," Smith said.

Welsh Fire coach Gary Kirsten, a South African, said Smith's "knowledge and experience of leading teams in pressurised situations will definitely help us.

"He's got a track record of getting the best out of his players while performing to a very high standard himself, which will be key for us this summer."

Smith is set to lead Welsh Fire against Oval Invincibles in the first game of the new limited-overs competition in London on July 17.

The Hundred is a league launched by the England and Wales Cricket Board where each match features two 100-ball innings in a new format for cricket. There are eight franchises and the league has attracted many of the game's top stars.

Barty will face 11th seed Garbine Muguruza after the Spaniard swept aside unseeded Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska 6-2 6-4 in 70 minutes in the night session's final match.

The last eight contest will be the fourth between Barty and Muguruza with the Aussie enjoying a 2-1 record, although Muguruza was victorious in their last meeting in 2019 at the Hopman Cup.

"I think it's great for me to be able to play the World No.1," Muguruza said of her upcoming clash with Barty during her on-court interview.

"I'm excited, it's going to be a good match, that's the matches that I'm looking for and that means that I'm still here and I'm still in the quarter-finals."

Former champion Petra Kvitova needed all her experience to beat Latvian Jelena Ostapenko 6-2 5-7 6-1.

The Czech eighth seed, who won the Qatar title in 2018, served nine aces but made an equal number of double faults, while former French Open champion Ostapenko also struggled in the windy conditions, with 11 double faults of her own.

The Latvian also made 32 unforced errors, and hit 11 fewer winners than Kvitova, which sealed her fate.

Kvitova will face Ons Jabeur in the last eight after the 25-year-old Tunisian enjoyed a 6-4 3-6 6-3 victory over third seed Karolina Pliskova.

Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova also advanced via a walkover after her American opponent Amanda Anisimova withdrew due to illness.

Kuznetsova will next face Swiss world No.9 Belinda Bencic, who beat Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva 6-4 6-3, while Belarussian Aryna Sabalenka lost just three games as she beat Greece's Maria Sakkari 6-3 6-0.

The Serbian world No.1, who lost to Kohlschreiber at Indian Wells a year ago, was entirely dominant, sending down 23 winners and losing only 10 points on his serve as he wrapped up the win in 59 minutes without facing a break point.

"It was a great performance," Djokovic said.

"I enjoyed the way I played, coming out with the right focus and tactics."

Next up for the 32-year-old is a meeting with Russian seventh seed Karen Khachanov.

"I've had some interesting battles with him," Djokovic added.

"He's a great guy, a very powerful player. He's one of the guys who is a pretender to be top five, top 10.

"He is very dedicated, so hopefully I'll be as sharp as I have been in the past two matches and start well."

Greek second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas also advanced to the quarters after beating Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 7-6 (7-1) 6-4.

The match marked the second time in five days that Tsitsipas faced Bublik, who also lost to the Greek at last week's Marseille Open, where he successfully defended his title.

Tsitsipas will play Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff for a place in the semi-finals. Struff made short work of Nikoloz Basilashvili in their last-16 match, beating the Georgian 6-1 6-0 in 39 minutes.

Dan Evans pulled off the day's most dramatic escape in his round-of-16 meeting with Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert, the Briton saving three match points in a third-set tiebreak before going on to win 7-5 3-6 7-6 (9-7).

Evans next faces 22-year-old Russian Andrey Rublev, the sixth seed.

Australia's middle order looms as the only real area of concern after the tourists posted a big win in Cape Town to take out the series 2-1.

With Glenn Maxwell injured, Australia opted to have Wade and Marsh batting mostly at No.4 and No.5 respectively after strong Big Bash campaigns.

Neither managed to post a score of 20 or above from three innings.

Australia's captain Aaron Finch however indicated he was satisfied with the duo's performance, noting it had been a difficult task for the middle-order batsmen to come in and immediately start striking on slower wickets.

"We're always really reluctant to change a winning formula and obviously with Maxi recovering from injury at the moment, that's one of those spots there," he said.

"The more games that middle order in particular can play together (the better), because they haven't played a huge amount of T20 cricket together.

"You just start to understand each other's game a little bit more and you start to recognise patterns with people's play and the way they're thinking, and that's a really important part of going forward and winning a tournament, I think."

Wade and Marsh, along with reserve batsman D'Arcy Short, have been retained for the forthcoming ODIs in South Africa and at home against New Zealand.

Australia then play T20 internationals in New Zealand next month and England in July before hosting the World Cup in October.

The commanding 97-run win in Cape Town means Australia have now won four straight T20 international series after clean sweeps of India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan last year.

Ashton Agar (3-16), Mitchell Starc (3-22) and Adam Zampa (2-10) were among five wicket-takers for the tourists at Newlands.

"The more experience you can keep having in games like that where there's a series on the line is going to be really important going forward," Finch said.

"I felt as though we played a pretty clinical game today."

Starc, for the second time in the series, knocked over Quinton de Kock's middle stump before accounting for the badly out-of-form Faf du Plessis.

Steve Smith, batting at No.5 in a retooled line-up, provided the fireworks when he smacked two sixes off the final over in a valuable cameo, while David Warner (57) combined with Finch (55) to put the Proteas on the back foot.

Asia reported hundreds of new cases, Brazil confirmed Latin America's first infection and the new disease - COVID-19 - was also detected for the first time in Pakistan, Sweden, Norway, Greece, Romania and Algeria.

US health authorities, managing 59 cases so far - mostly Americans repatriated from a cruise ship in Japan - have said a global pandemic is likely.

US President Donald Trump, seeking to calm markets and an increasingly worried public, said in a live broadcast that the US was "very very ready" to face the virus threat and that Vice President Mike Pence would be in charge of the national response.

Stock markets across the world have lost $US3.3 trillion of value in four days of trading.

Wall Street reversed earlier gains on Wednesday and oil prices dropped to their lowest level in over a year, spooked in part by health officials saying dozens of people who had been in China were being monitored in suburbs of populous New York city - although no confirmed cases have been found.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio urged the federal government to tighten testing for visitors from a range of countries where the virus has been spreading, adding that its eventual detection in the city was "100 per cent certain."

The virus is believed to have originated in a market selling wildlife in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. It has infected about 80,000 people and killed more than 2700, the vast majority in China.

While radical quarantining measures have helped slow the rate of transmission in China, it is accelerating elsewhere.

Germany, which has around 20 cases, said it was already impossible to trace all chains of infection, and Health Minister Jens Spahn.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said China had reported 412 new cases on Tuesday, while there were 459 in 37 other countries.

However, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus advised diplomats in Geneva on Wednesday against speaking of a pandemic - which the WHO defines as the worldwide spread of a new disease.

"Using the word pandemic carelessly has no tangible benefit, but it does have significant risk in terms of amplifying unnecessary and unjustified fear and stigma, and paralysing systems," he said.

There is no known vaccine for the virus. US pharmaceutical firm Gilead Sciences Inc said on Wednesday it had started two late-stage studies to test its experimental antiviral drug remdesivir in humans.

In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for sports and cultural events to be scrapped or curtailed for two weeks as concern mounted for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Sources told Reuters the International Monetary Fund was considering whether to make its April meeting in Washington virtual.

Latin America's first case was confirmed in a 61-year-old man in Sao Paulo, Brazil, who had recently visited Italy, a new front line in the global outbreak.

In addition to Brazil, Italians or people who recently visited Italy have tested positive in Algeria, Austria, Croatia, Greece, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Italy itself has reported more than 400 cases, centred on the industrial heartlands of Lombardy and Veneto.

A hotel in Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands was locked down over cases linked to Italy.

In France, a second person died - a teacher who had not visited any country with a known outbreak.

There have been nearly 50 deaths outside China, including 12 in Italy and 19 in Iran, according to a Reuters tally.

While Iran has reported only 139 cases, epidemiologists say the death rate of around 2 per cent seen elsewhere suggest that the true number of cases must be many times higher.

But UEFA has confirmed all other European competition matches across the continent will be unaffected.

One more death and 52 new cases of the virus in Italy were reported on Wednesday, all in the north, while nations around Europe reported additional infections linked to the Italian flare-up.

The death toll in Italy now stands at 12.

The Italian government has banned all sports events in six regions up to and including Sunday, although top-flight Serie A soccer matches can be played behind close doors.

"Following the decisions of the Italian authorities, the UEFA Europa League match between Inter Milan and Ludogorets Razgrad will be played behind closed doors at the Stadio San Siro," Euriopan soccer governing body UEFA said in a statement.

Inter said it would close the hospitality areas and media areas and there would be no news conferences for the last 32, second leg tie against the Bulgarian side. Inter lead 2-0.

"The club has shown its full commitment in taking appropriate action, such as closing the hospitality areas and cancelling all activities that would have meant the gathering of people, in order to ensure that the match can take place safely," Inter said in a statement.

Inter coach Antonio Conte said it would be difficult to play without spectators.

"Football needs the public, to feel the atmosphere," he said. "That is the nicest thing. We accept these decisions are made for health reasons but we hope we can get back to normality as soon as possible."

Six Serie A matches will be played without spectators at the weekend, including third-placed Inter's game at leaders Juventus in Turin on Sunday, one of the top fixtures of the season.

The 16-year-old disappeared in July 2015 after allegedly meeting Rodney Wayne Williams, 65, for paid sex arranged through the Oasis website.

Her body has never been found.

Williams has pleaded not guilty in the Brisbane Supreme Court to murdering Tiffany after allegedly picking her up from the Waterford Motor Inn.

Messages between the pair showed Williams agreed to pay $500 for sex, but he says it never happened.

Tiffany's boyfriend, Gregory Hill, 45, denies pimping the teenager out despite 300 messages about money and meeting men allegedly being found on his phone.

He also says he wasn't intimate with Tiffany when she was a child.

But Tiffany's brother-in-law Nathan Stocks told the court Mr Hill began pursuing her for a relationship when she was about 12-years-old.

"He started to be friendly with Tiffany and asked to take her out for dog walks and to the beach," he said on Thursday.

"At the start, it wasn't too bad but we all did not expect that was what his intentions were.

"He was obviously a much older guy and we just thought he was a friendly natured person."

Mr Stocks said Tiffany's family attempted to discourage Mr Hill but he "just kept working his way in".

They also tried to "talk sense" to Tiffany but she had begun smoking cannabis and chroming and was spending time with Mr Hill instead of going to school.

"Greg was a very demanding person ... she loved him but I couldn't see anything to say he loved her," he said.

"He was just a user getting what he wanted out of her.

"There was always a bad feeling I got off him."

Tiffany left her family's home soon after and began living with Mr Hill.

Mr Stocks told the court in the four years he knew Mr Hill he saw him work just "one or two days".

"He could have got a job ... instead of sitting in our house smoking weed," he said.

After Tiffany disappeared, Mr Stocks said he searched for Tiffany at a well-known local drug house, where one man said he had recently seen the teenager.

Earlier, prosecutor Philip McCarthy QC told the jury that after Williams picked up Tiffany he drove to Larapinta industrial park where "something happens" while he is stopped for about 20 minutes

He said Williams then drove to the Esk-Ferndale region, where police have searched dams and bushland for Tiffany's body, without success.

Later in the day, Williams also allegedly set about laying a false trail of communication with the teen on the Oasis website.

One message read: "Sorry I didn't turn up, decided I wasn't going to pay for it."

The trial continues.

But it says ultimately it was not unusual for a minister to have the final decision on such grants.

That comes as Labor has suggested a brief approving the third and final round of grants may have been improperly backdated.

The auditor-general found the controversial $100 million program favoured coalition-targeted seats before the May 18 election.

The grants were paid by Sport Australia, which is overseen by the Australian Sports Commission.

Commission chair John Wylie told a Senate committee investigating the grants on Thursday that Sport Australia assessed applications using a thorough, independent and merit-based process.

But the program was very clearly designed to give Senator McKenzie the decision-making and approval role, he said.

"It was ... ultimately the minister's prerogative to make decisions as the minister saw fit," Mr Wylie said.

He told senators it was not appropriate for Sport Australia to comment on the minister's decision-making process.

However, acting chief executive Robert Dalton told the hearing Sport Australia was not aware of what assessment process the minister might have gone through.

The organisation twice raised concerns with the minister's office over email - in December 2018 and March 2019 - about the risks involved in making decisions independently of its advice.

Mr Dalton said the commission was comfortable at the time that those risks were being managed because it had informed the minister's office of them.

It had not been alarmed at the prospect the minister had the final sign-off because that had happened before.

"This was not something that was new, that sent alarm bells. We actually had had precedent before on this particular process," he said.

The auditor-general found it was not evident what legal authority Senator McKenzie had to approve the grants.

The organisation also confirmed it received final advice from the minister's office about the third round of grants under the program at 8.46am on April 11, less than 20 minutes after the parliament had been prorogued and put into caretaker mode ahead of the election.

The brief had been dated April 4, despite Senator McKenzie's office sending a list of grants she intended to approve to Mr Morrison's office on April 10.

It was one of 136 emails between the prime minister and Senator McKenzie's office about the scheme, according to information provided by the auditor-general in response to a question on notice on Wednesday.

The timeline prompted questioning from Labor in parliament about whether the approval document had been backdated.

Mr Morrison stressed Senator McKenzie had been the "decision-maker" for the grants, not him.

"There was no authorisation provided by me as prime minister on the projects," he told parliament on Thursday.

"Those authorisations were provided on the 4th of April, according to the approval of the brief by Senator McKenzie, on that date, as advised by Sport Australia."

Senator McKenzie was forced to quit after she was found to have broken ministerial rules by not declaring potential conflicts of interest relating to gun club memberships.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese also accused Mr Morrison of being the "MasterChef of cooking the books when it comes to the corrupt sports rorts scheme", after a football club facility in the prime minister's own electorate was given funding after it had been built.

"The project was approved for funding by the then-minister for sport based on its assessed eligibility by Sport Australia," Mr Morrison said.

Peter Rex Dansie was found guilty in December of the murder of his wife Helen, 67, by pushing her wheelchair into a pond in Veale Gardens, in the Adelaide parklands, in 2017.

Sentencing the 71-year-old in the Supreme Court on Thursday, Justice David Lovell said Dansie had shown no remorse and had clearly planned the killing for some time.

"Driven by selfish motives, you planned to kill your wife then cover up your crime," the judge said.

"Yours was an evil and despicable act.

"Helen, your loving and devoted wife for over 40 years, had simply become a burden to you.

"This was a chilling, planned murder of a person whose mistake was to trust you."

During his trial, the court heard Dansie told police he briefly climbed into the pond after his wife accidentally fell in, but got out to call triple zero.

He said he tried to keep her head above water and manoeuvre her to the edge of the pond in an unsuccessful rescue attempt.

But prosecutors argued it was no accident that Mrs Dansie's wheelchair ended up in the pond, and that her husband's story was implausible.

Dansie was handed the mandatory head sentence of life in prison with a non-parole period of 25 years.

But he has also been granted leave to appeal against his conviction with a hearing to be held in May.

In a statement read on his behalf outside the court, Mrs Dansie's son Grant said justice had finally been done.

"We hope this sends a message about protecting the rights of the most vulnerable," he said.

Mrs Dansie's cousin Grant Battersby told reporters that because of his "toxic ego" Peter Dansie thought he could "just dispose of people who become a financial burden".

"Peter Dansie carefully, coldly, callously planned Helen's murder over weeks and months," Mr Battersby said.

"He probably didn't expect to be caught and punished. He still doesn't accept his own guilt."

In his remarks, Justice Lovell said Mrs Dansie's killing would continue to have an enormous impact on her family.

"The harrowing thought of how Helen spent her last few moments alive will undoubtedly linger and haunt them for the rest of their lives," the judge said.

The 24-year-old hooker played 83 games with the Knights across five seasons, reaching the heights of representative duty with New Zealand in 2017.

However a fractured relationship with coach Nathan Brown and the resulting dwindling confidence affected his performances, forcing him in and out of the NRL side over the past two seasons.

Reports constantly surfaced that Levi was on the outer and had been told he was free to look elsewhere for another NRL contract.

It came to a head when the Knights signed Cronulla hooker Jayden Brailey in the middle of 2019, confirming Levi would not be first-choice No.9 in 2020.

"It was hard, it was a bit of a rollercoaster. I thought there were things that were unfair," he said.

"You hear a lot of stories where coaches just don't like you, no matter what you do. You could be in his bad books and that's it.

"I think I might have been in a situation like that.

"I'm just happy to be out of it."

Linked to Parramatta and Canterbury before finally signing with Manly in January, Levi's exit from the Knights was swift - confirmed on a Monday and told to be at training in two days.

He'd never met coach Des Hasler but felt he was the right man to revive his once promising career.

"I thought there were a lot of things that just didn't go my way last year, things I thought were a bit unfair but were out of my control," he said.

"That's in the past now, so I'm really excited for this year and to play really good footy and put my best foot forward."

Playing behind the Sea Eagles' massive forward pack was another attraction, as well as the chance to play finals footy for the first time.

But despite the messy exit, Levi insists he has no hard feelings towards the Knights.

"I never have anything towards the club or the team, some of my best friends are in that team,' he said.

So too has former High Court justice Michael Kirby.

Thorpe voiced his concerns about the bill on Thursday, saying it didn't give any sense of a fair go.

"We know this will discriminate against young and old, it will discriminate against people based on their gender and it will also restrict people's ability and access to be able to use our hospital services and our schools," he told reporters at Parliament House in Canberra.

"It will have a huge impact on the LGBTI community in particular."

Mr Kirby, who is backing a new campaign against the bill called #DontDivideUs, believes all Australians could be worse off under the bill.

"This is not a bill that protects Australians from discrimination on religious grounds. Instead, it actively facilitates intolerance and will work to divide rather than unite Australians," he said in a statement.

"The government should heed the chorus of opposition to this law and abandon this ill-considered measure."

The draft laws - yet to be put to parliament - are aimed at protecting people of faith from discrimination.

The proposal would allow hospitals to hire on religious grounds and give doctors the ability to reject procedures on the same basis.

Business and union groups have this week urged the government to amend the proposal, saying the bill could harm employees

Thorpe travelled to the nation's capital with Equality Australia boss Anna Brown to meet ministers and other politicians.

His request is simple: ditch the plan.

"What we've been hearing from multiple people that have an interest in this is that no bill is better than a bad bill but it is something that we'd be prepared to work on," he said.

"At this stage, my preference would be that this bill is scrapped."

Ms Brown said the bill was friendless, with opposition to the legal changes growing every day.

"This bill is deeply flawed and will take us backwards," she told reporters.

Conservative Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells has also spoken out against the proposal, saying no bill would be better than the government's "flawed bill".

The dashing defender is Essendon's sole representative in Friday night's charity game at Marvel Stadium.

But he'll see at least one familiar face when he reports to training at the Docklands venue on Thursday afternoon.

"I call Bachar my brother, I've looked up to him since he started. We speak once or twice a week and we're very close," Saad said of the Richmond dual-premiership defender.

"To play alongside him on the half-back flank (will be great).

"I don't know if there will be much defending - hopefully there will be - but we're just really privileged to be able to pull on the jumper and help out a great cause.

"For me to represent Victoria it's a privilege and honour and I really can't wait."

Saad spoke to reporters on Wednesday at CFA Headquarters where he was on hand to help unveil the special Sherrins that will be used on Friday night.

Sherrin has produced an orange ball, the colour worn by State Emergency Service workers, featuring the names of football clubs from 230 towns ravaged by bushfires.

The Australian Red Cross (ARC), which has about 60 staff distributing grants of up to $20,000 per application, has come under attack by computer-generated applications for bushfire relief assistance.

ARC's director of Australian Services Noel Clement said they are weeding out false claims but it's time consuming and wastes resources.

"There have been hundreds of automated attempts to access financial assistance," he told AAP.

"There are a couple of hundred claims that we have concerns about and we are working through all of those and we have already referred a number of cases to the police.

He said in one community alone we had applications for 15 homes that had been destroyed but when they physically checked the addresses none of them had been impacted by the fires.

An Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission representative said online fraud was a constant challenge for charities that drained limited resources and forced them to engage cybersecurity experts.

"This can be time-consuming, expensive and resource intensive."

A spokeswoman for the National Bushfire Recovery Agency said they are working closely with the Commonwealth Fraud Prevention Centre to build robust fraud prevention strategies into computer programs.

She also warned of an SMS scam that offered increased tax relief for donations.

The Wests Tigers player had pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm related to an alleged domestic violence incident involving his former partner, Arabella Del Busso, in Caringbah South last year.

NSW Police had accused the 30-year-old of causing bruising to Ms Del Busso's right arm and left leg on September 12. She reported the incident to police on December 11.

A NSW Police spokesman told AAP on Wednesday that an application will be made to withdraw charges against Reynolds when he is due before Sydney's Downing Centre on April 29.

In a statement issued through his lawyer, Reynolds on Wednesday described the weeks since he was charged as one of the most "tumultuous and difficult" periods of his life.

He insisted the charge should have never been laid against him and says he's relieved that it will be dropped.

The 30-year-old thanked his mother, manager and lawyer for standing by him through some of his "darkest moments".

He also thanked the fans who he says never doubted his "true character".

His lawyer Dan McGirr told AAP that police made the decision after conducting a "thorough investigation" into the matter and finding the charge had "no merit".

Lawyers for Ms Del Busso told AAP in a statement they have received no formal communication from NSW Police regarding the decision to drop the charge.

Roberts Gray Lawyers managing director Rhys Roberts added that he was "shocked" at the treatment of Ms Del Busso by the police and media.

Mr Roberts said the firm is having further discussions with Ms Del Busso and will be seeking a "full and frank" explanation from NSW Police.

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The State Parole Authority on Wednesday found Orkopoulos had allegedly breached two parole conditions, including a failure to comply with requirements of the Child Protection Register.

He was granted parole last December but has since been arrested twice for allegedly failing to comply with his reporting obligations.

Orkopoulos will remain in prison as those charges move through the courts and the parole authority will then review its decision.

The former Labor MP spent 11-and-a-half years in jail after he was convicted of 30 child sex, drug and child porn offences.

Still, Australian financial markets were relatively calm on Thursday after three straight days of hefty falls as fears of the impact of COVID-19 gripped the global economy.

New figures on Thursday showed business investment was unexpectedly weak in the December quarter, following on from Wednesday's equally disappointing construction data over the same three months.

The data feeds into next Wednesday's national accounts for the December quarter.

Economists at JP Morgan trimmed their December quarter forecast to a slim 0.4 per cent, which would keep annual growth to a modest two per cent as a result of a 2.8 per cent drop in business investment and a three per cent fall in construction.

BIS Oxford Economics chief economist Sarah Hunter said Thursday's data confirmed capital expenditure growth will be soft in 2020, with an additional drag from the coronavirus.

Dr Hunter expects the Reserve Bank will need to cut the cash rate further, which is already at a record low 0.75 per cent.

"The pressure will mount on the government to loosen policy in its May budget," she said.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has repeatedly warned that bushfires and the coronavirus will have a negative impact on the Australian economy while being vague on what this will mean for his much-promised budget surplus.

But shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers said the collapse in capital expenditure "absolutely destroys" the Treasurer's claim the economy was performing strongly before the coronavirus outbreak.

"Because of the Morrison government's inaction, Australia meets the serious challenges and uncertainties of the fire season and the coronavirus outbreak from a position of weakness, not strength," he said.

Education and tourism are two sectors that are expected to suffer as a result of the travel ban on Chinese visitors and students to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Australia.

Travel retailer Flight Centre has cut its full-year profit guidance following the emergence of the virus to between $240 million and $300 million from a previous forecast range of $310 million-$350 million.

It announced a 74 per cent plunge in its first-half profit on Thursday.

Deloitte Access Economics' initial forecasts of the combined impact of bushfires and coronavirus are for a 10 to 15 per cent drop in international visitors to Australia in 2020.

That is equivalent to between 900,000 and 1.5 million fewer visitors.

"The dreadful bushfire season we've just experienced, combined with the ongoing challenge of the coronavirus, is having a significant impact on the Australian tourism sector," Deloitte Access Economics partner Adele Labine-Romain told AAP.

"While there is continuing discussion about the impact of the coronavirus on the global and Australian economy, the impact on the tourism sector was immediate."

Harry and wife Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have announced they will step down from their duties as senior royals next month to spend more time in North America.

Although Harry will no longer be known as His Royal Highness, he will still be a prince.

Before his speech on sustainable travel in Edinburgh on Wednesday, event host Ayesha Hazarika told delegates the Duke of Sussex does not want to to be addressed formally.

"He's made it clear that we are all just to call him Harry," she said.

Harry and Meghan have been in Canada with their son Archie for several weeks but Harry came back to Britain on Tuesday, according to local media.

On Friday, he is due to visit the studios at Abbey Road in north London, where the Beatles recorded 11 of their 13 albums, to meet the singer Jon Bon Jovi and the Invictus Games Choir, who are recording a single for charity.

His trip to Britain comes after news last week that he and Meghan would not use the word "royal" in their branding, following weeks of talks between the couple and the royal family about how they will present themselves to the world in future.

Harry has spoken of his sadness at being forced to give up his royal duties, saying there was no other option if he and Meghan, an American actor, were to seek an independent future away from stifling media intrusion.

The future of the longest format has been the subject of debate since the rise of popular T20 leagues over the last decade coincided with dwindling crowds at test matches outside cricket hotbeds Australia and England.

Officials view day-night Tests as having the potential to reverse the trend.

"I am a big fan of Test cricket, to me test cricket is still the ultimate and we've got to keep the game fresh, people enjoying it," McGrath told reporters after a Tourism Australia event to attract more Indian visitors.

"T20 has taken the world by storm, it is bringing a lot more people to cricket and that is brilliant and hopefully that will filter into Test cricket."

The International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport's world governing body, is also set to discuss the idea of reducing Test matches by a day to free up a crowded international calendar.

But McGrath, who took 563 wickets from 124 matches, is not in favour of having four-day Tests.

"We have got to keep Test cricket alive and moving forward and positive and people coming to the game. And, to me, the way to do that is day-night Test cricket.

"I'm big fan of it. I'm not a big fan of four-day Test cricket," he said.

"I'm very much a traditionalist - five days that's Test cricket to me.

"But if we can bring something new that keeps people coming to the game, then that's brilliant. Day-night cricket is that, it brings different challenges."

Horses drew Mubarak's coffin, draped in the Egyptian flag, at a mosque complex on Wednesday as canons fired into the air.

The coffin was followed by a procession led by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, as well as Mubarak's two sons Alaa and Gamal.

The funeral march was attended by key political figures from Mubarak's years in power, some of whom had been scarcely seen in public since he was removed from office.

Sisi stayed for the duration of the procession, offering condolences to Alaa, Gamal and Mubarak's wife Suzanne before his departure.

Mubarak died on Tuesday in intensive care weeks after undergoing surgery, leaving Egyptians divided over the legacy of his era, marked by stagnation and repression but recalled by some as more stable than the chaos that followed.

The stately funeral was a contrast from the rejoicing on the streets in 2011 when he was swept out of power as an early victim of the Arab Spring revolutions across the region.

Mubarak spent many of the years after he was ousted moving between jail and military hospitals before being freed in 2017 under Sisi, who has jailed Islamist and liberal opponents in the name of stability.

Egypt's presidency and armed forces mourned the former air force officer as a hero for his role in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. The presidency declared three days of national mourning.

Mubarak's coffin was airlifted to the family burial compound from the funeral at Field Marshall Tantawi mosque - named for Mubarak's defence minister of 20 years, who presided over an abortive transition to democracy after Mubarak resigned.

Dozens of Mubarak supporters, some from his home village Kafr al-Meselha in the Nile Delta, gathered outside the mosque.

A small crowd also gathered outside of his burial site in the upscale neighbourhood of Heliopolis, where supporters chanted: "Alaa, tell your father that the 100 million are saying goodbye".

Cairo woman Zeenat Touhami, 35, said she was happy that Mubarak's "pride was restored" after his fall, and that the state was showing appreciation to him after his death.

"This is the history of 30 years, the farewell of 30 years," she said.

Human rights activist Mohamed Zaree, said autocracy and economic hardship were now worse under Sisi than under Mubarak.

The latest science results from the national assessment program, released on Thursday, show 58 per cent of Year 6 students achieved the proficient standard.

This is the highest since testing began in 2003 but officials in charge of the program concede that overall it was only an incremental improvement.

"But they are improvements since we first started," ACARA general manager Peter Titmanis told reporters ahead of the 2019 results' release.

For the first time, Year 10 students were also tested for their science literacy, with 50 per cent reaching the proficient standard.

Mr Titmanis said while Year 10 students were about the same age as the 15-year-olds examined in the international PISA tests, the results were not comparable.

The ACARA tests are directly linked to the Australian curriculum and are pitched at a higher level than the international ones.

Unlike the national literacy and numeracy tests, the science assessments don't have a minimum level students are benchmarked against.

Instead, proficiency is defined as "challenging but reasonable" while recognising not everyone is expected to master all concepts.

"We (want) to see the performance of students increase around the proficient standard but it is a challenging but reasonable expectation for the students," Mr Titmanis said.

Education Minister Dan Tehan said it was clear from the results there was more work needed to improve science education in schools.

"If this was a report card it would say, 'must do better'," he said.

"Strong science skills must be a key feature of our education system because STEM skills will drive the jobs of the future."

The assessment also includes a survey of student attitudes towards science and asking what their lessons involve.

Mr Titmanis said it was encouraging to see 85 per cent of Year 6 students respond they would like to study more science, and nearly two-thirds say it would be interesting to be a scientist.

"That's a positive attitude," he said.

But just a quarter of Year 6 students and one-fifth of Year 10s said guest speakers came to their school to discuss science topics.

The Balonne River reached a peak of about 12.3m on Thursday at the drought-ravaged town of St George, about 500km west of Brisbane.

Now eyes are on areas downstream where flood waters are expected to peak at Dirranbandi, about 100km south, in the coming days.

The swollen river has cut off roads, isolating people in outlying towns.

Diesel generators have been working at all hours pumping water into private dams for farmland across the region.

But there are still some areas that resemble a dust bowl which need more rain, says Balonne Shire Mayor Richard Marsh.

"What we're looking at now is can we pick up some more rain for some of our more outlying properties that maybe haven't had enough," Cr Marsh said.

"But that'll come hopefully.

"We'll take one of these every 12 months if they'll throw it as us. I don't want anything much larger but this size is great."

He said the flooded river would eventually attract people back to the area.

"I can hear diesel pumps going when I go to bed at night and they're pumping into reservoirs and dams so they can then irrigate crop," Cr Marsh said.

"It puts some activity back into the community, it puts jobs back into the community, it puts productivity back into the community which is really important."

St George pensioner Peter Goodwin lives on the banks of the Balonne River and was never in doubt his house would flood.

"I do not have a worry at all, it won't get anywhere near me," Mr Goodwin told AAP.

"All rain is a good help, it's nothing to be nervous about, no one has been impacted a great deal that I know of."

Cr Marsh says floodwaters at Dirrinbandi tend to travel slower and spread out over a flood plain.

The river at the town is currently at about 5m, or about 0.2m below the bridge, says the weather bureau.

River levels are likely to peak at about 5.2m on Saturday night at the level of the Balonne Minor Bridge.

The Bureau of Meteorology says the water is expected to take several days, possibly weeks, to recede.

The excess water is expected to cross the border into northwest NSW by early March.

Siberia-born Sharapova, whose Wimbledon victory over Serena Williams in 2004, aged 17, propelled her to superstardom and riches, broke the news in an article for magazine Vanity Fair.

"I'm new to this, so please forgive me. Tennis -I'm saying goodbye," Sharapova, whose rags to riches story captivated the sporting world but turned sour when she was banned for doping, wrote in a farewell article.

Her decision to quit is hardly a major surprise as she has been a pale imitation of her former self since returning in 2017 from the 15-month ban for taking prohibited heart drug meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open.

The former world No.1 has played only two matches this year, losing in the first round of the Australian Open, with her ranking sliding to 373.

"Looking back now, I realise that tennis has been my mountain. My path has been filled with valleys and detours, but the views from its peak were incredible," she said.

"After 28 years and five grand slam titles, though, I'm ready to scale another mountain, to compete on a different type of terrain."

Sharapova, whose trademarks were her ferocious intensity and pounding groundstrokes, completed her career grand slam when she won the French Open in 2012.

She also won at Roland Garros again in 2014, her last major title.

She became the first Russian woman to reach number one in the rankings in 2005 and claimed the US Open title in 2006. She also won the Australian Open in 2008.

"It's a shame, of course, because Maria was a role model for everyone," Shamil Tarpischev, president of Russia's Tennis Federation, told RIA news agency.

"Many girls compared themselves to her. She was number one for the popularisation of Russian tennis. Her image was huge."

WTA Tour chairman Steve Simon added: "She will be greatly missed by her millions of fans around the world."

The Australian Communications and Media Authority chair Nerida O'Loughlin says the watchdog's latest annual report shows Australians love "data-hungry" technologies.

"It's clear that Australians have embraced technology which is helping drive demand for faster internet," Ms O'Loughlin said.

The majority of data downloads in 2018/19 was over fixed internet lines with nearly nine in ten Australians accessing the internet on their mobiles.

Fewer than half of Australians have a home phone with 51 per cent going mobile only.

The household market for "internet of things" - like smart speakers, smart air conditioners, security cameras - grew by 57 per cent in the 12 months to 2018, and is now worth $1.1 billion.

"The average household is predicted to have 18 internet- connected devices by 2023," Ms O'Loughlin said.

Netflix is dominating the video streaming market, with more than half of Australians using the service in the seven days leading up to May 2019.

One in ten Australians had at least four or more video streaming services.

Spotify has a firm hold as Australia's favoured music streaming service, with 70 per cent of Australians using it in the seven days leading up to May 2019.

Its closest competitor was Apple Music, with 13 per cent of Australians listening to music on the service over the same period.

Between 2014 to 2018, spending on online advertising has only grown, with the now $8.8 billion industry making up more than half of ads spending, compared to 37 per cent in 2014.

Ads in online directories or searches made up the largest portion of online advertising, worth more than $4 billion.

Former captain Du Plessis missed the 1-1 series draw with world champions England earlier this month, but was recalled for the three Twenty20 International matches against Australia that conclude in Cape Town on Wednesday.

"With the completion of the 2019 Cricket World Cup and the next one being three years away from now, we always saw the series against England and Australia as an opportunity to play some fresh talent," Boucher said in a media release from Cricket South Africa.

"If we feel that we need to rest players, we will, as we have done in the recent past.

"Faf has been fantastic for us in white ball cricket and remains very much in our ODI plans and we will manage his workload for the near future diligently.

"I would like to strengthen our depth pool right now and see what players we have out there. I feel that this is the time and opportunity to do so."

That means a recall for spinner Keshav Maharaj, who won the last of his four ODI caps against Sri Lanka in 2018, while seamer Lutho Sipamla, hard-hitting opening batsman Janneman Malan and back-up wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne are selected.

Batsman Rassie van der Dussen and allrounder Dwaine Pretorius are also rested along with Du Plessis. The side will be captained by Quinton de Kock.

The series starts in Paarl on Saturday, before matches in Bloemfontein next Wednesday and Potchefstroom on March 7.

South Africa squad: Quinton de Kock (capt), Temba Bavuma, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi, Beuran Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Janneman Malan, Jon-Jon Smuts, Anrich Nortje, Lutho Sipamla, Keshav Maharaj, Kyle Verreynne.

Mubarak's sons Alaa and Gamal, joined by soldiers, walked next to their father's coffin on Wednesday at a huge mosque built by the army in a Cairo suburb where the funeral took place.

Mubarak died on Tuesday in intensive care weeks after undergoing surgery, leaving Egyptians divided over his legacy presiding over an era of stagnation and repression, which some nevertheless recall as more stable than the chaos that followed.

He was swept out of power as an early victim of the Arab Spring revolutions that swept the region in 2011. He spent many of the subsequent years in jail and military hospitals before being freed in 2017.

Egypt's presidency and armed forces mourned the former air force officer as a hero for his role in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. The presidency declared three days of national mourning.

Egypt's top military officials were expected to attend the funeral. Mubarak's coffin was to be airlifted from the Field Marshall Tantawi mosque to the family burial grounds, state television reported.

Dozens of Mubarak supporters, some from his home village Kafr al-Meselha in the Nile Delta, gathered outside the mosque.

The club met their late-Monday deadline to challenge UEFA, a court date is yet to be set.

It is unclear if City will seek UEFA's consent for a public hearing. They could try to reach an out-of-court settlement to resolve the dispute.

UEFA found City guilty of "serious breaches" of financial monitoring rules and failing to cooperate with an investigation opened almost one year ago.

Leaked internal club documents published in German magazine Der Spiegel in November 2018 showed City deceived UEFA by overstating sponsorship deals from 2012-16 and hiding the source of revenue tied to their owners in Abu Dhabi.

One internal email said City officials preferred to spend tens of millions on "the 50 best lawyers in the world" to sue UEFA rather than accept punishment.

City never disputed the authenticity of documents, which it said were illegally obtained.

The club is currently excluded from playing in the Champions League, Europa League or Super Cup in the next two seasons.

UEFA also fined City 30 million euros ($A49 million).

The punishment does not affect City's current Champions League campaign.

City CEO Ferran Soriano hopes to resolve the case by the end of the season.

CAS verdicts typically take about a year to reach unless both parties agree to a fast-track process.

Previous appeals to CAS involving clubs who broke UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules were dealt with after a few months in June or July to avoid harming the next season's competitions.

Clubs have typically been banned for one European season for breaking finance rules, but that is without bad faith and deception as part of the case.

The latest Man City battle against UEFA follows a CAS ruling in November which dismissed the club's attempt to end the investigation on procedural grounds.

The Australian has been following the hearing from behind bullet-proof glass for three days at London's Woolwich Crown Court.

His lawyer revealed on he is taking medication, and Judge Vanessa Baraitser stopped proceedings on Wednesday to check if Assange was "right to carry on".

"I am as much a participant in these proceedings as I am watching Wimbledon," Assange replied.

"I cannot communicate with my lawyers or ask them for clarifications without the other side seeing. There has been enough spying on my lawyers already.

"What's the point of asking if I can concentrate if I can't participate?'"

Assange's lawyer asked the judge whether he could sit next to them on the bench.

"This is a gentleman of an intellectual nature. There's no reason he shouldn't sit with us and be able to communicate with us if he needs to," barrister Edward Fitzgerald said.

The judge ruled that Assange needed to apply for bail to leave the dock, with his legal team saying they would think about it overnight.

Earlier, Assange's lawyers argued he can't be extradited for political offences under the UK-US extradition treaty.

"If it's not a terrorist case, not a violent offence, then the principle you should not be extradited for a political offence is of virtually universal application," Fitzgerald said.

"It dates back for more than 100 years.

"The US, of course, writes it into every treaty because they don't want their citizens being extradited for political offences."

But James Lewis QC, for the US government, said Assange's crimes were "common criminality" and political offences were not included in England's 2003 Extradition Act anyway.

"Mr Assange has no right to argue for political offence exception: it has been abrogated by parliament," he said.

Lewis added that offences like treason, espionage and sedition were not considered political under English law either.

"It cannot ever be said that we cannot prosecute members of the the IRA (Irish Republican Army) for sedition. There is no such thing a political offence here," Lewis said.

Assange has been charged in the US with 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act and one of conspiring to commit computer intrusion over the leaking and publishing of thousands of classified US diplomatic and military files in 2010.

The charges carry a total of 175 years' imprisonment.

Judge Baraitser opened the day with a stern warning, saying a photograph had been taken in the courtroom and the offender faced prosecution if discovered.

"I want to make is absolutely clear that it is a criminal offence to attempt to take photograph or to take photograph in any court," she said.

The Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday commenced a closed hearing, bowing to Leifer's defence who had requested the court-appointed psychiatric panel be probed.

The court process marks hearing number 64 in a nine-year battle to extradite Leifer to Australia to face 74 charges of rape and child abuse.

The allegations stem from her time as principal at Melbourne's Ultra-Orthodox Adass Israel School.

Nicole Meyer, one of three sisters and alleged victims of Leifer's abuse, flew to Israel from Australia to be in court at a critical time in the case.

Speaking to AAP before entering the courtroom, Ms Meyer said she was looking forward to hearing how the psychiatrists came to their decision that Malka is "100 per cent faking".

"It's been a year since I've been here last. I'm feeling confident but I'm also nervous, obviously," she said.

She further mentioned how her and her sister's presence in the courtroom has an impact on the judge, prosecutor and defence.

"I feel it's very important to be at as many court hearings as possible now until she comes back," Mr Meyer said, referring to Leifer's expected extradition to Australia.

Ms Meyer and her sisters - Dassi Erlich and Elly Sapper - were filled with hope in mid-January after the expert panel had announced their findings, though this was soon hindered as the defence insisted on further delays.

Leifer had already been found to be feigning mental illness and was arrested on charges of fraud in 2018.

Victim supporter Manny Waks spoke at a press conference before the closed court commenced, emphasising how "bewildering" the Israeli judge's decision was to once again cross examine the psychiatrists.

"They are allowing the defence lawyers all sorts of accommodation. What about the welfare of Leifer's victims? We need to draw the boundaries somewhere," Mr Waks said.

Ms Meyer and her sisters are attending weekly therapy sessions in Australia, though the constant delays in the Israeli judicial system only make their healing more difficult.

"We are trying to heal. At the same time this court process is not allowing us to heal, it is giving us trauma in our lives, time and time again," Ms Meyer said outside court.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin met with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and various MPs in Canberra before Wednesday's court hearing.

Following pressure from the Australian government, Mr Rivlin stated he would meet with the Chief Justice of Israel if the court proceedings this week do not progress towards Leifer's extradition.

Ms Erlich had requested to meet Mr Rivlin during his visit in Australia, but he declined.

The Australian had delighted fans with some superb tennis en route to the title in Mexico last year but it was a different story in Acapulco on Tuesday when he was forced to quit the first-round clash after losing the opening set 6-3.

The 24-year-old, who was on court for only 32 minutes, later vented his anger in an expletive-laden news conference.

"I'm not healthy, I tried to come here, I tried to play," Kyrgios told reporters.

"I've been doing media for the tournament, been helping out. I tried to give the fans a little bit of tennis. And their disrespect?"

Kyrgios, placed on probation by the governing body of men's tennis over his behaviour last year, had shown a different side to his character in the lead up to this year's Australian Open.

He had called on the tennis world to help the victims of Australia's bushfire crisis and triggered an appeal that raised millions of dollars.

His exit robs the tournament of a potential blockbuster clash with Rafa Nadal, who advanced with a 6-3 6-2 win over fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar.

Second seed Alexander Zverev moved past qualifier Jason Jung 7-6(7-6) 6-1 to reach the second round.

John Isner took just over an hour to beat Mischa Zverev 6-3 7-6 (7-4), Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Australian Alex Bolt 6-3 7-6 (7-5), while there were also wins for Grigor Dimitrov, Soonwoo Kwon, Pedro Martinez, Taylor Fritz and Dusan Lajovic.

Heart Of Puissance was last week granted a spot in the All-Star Mile at Caulfield as one of the top 10 horses voted into the race on March 14.

While finishing in fourth position in Wednesday's Ladbrokes Odds Boost Handicap (1500m), co-trainer Ciaron Maher was happy with the way the three-year-old finished off the race.

Heart Of Puissance was a little slow to begin from his inside draw and buried back in the field before jockey John Allen was able to get to the outside where the three-year-old worked home strongly.

"He'll improve a lot off that as it was a bit leaderish today," Maher said.

"Once he got out it took him a little bit of time to wind up, but he'll be much better suited out to the mile and will come on a lot for that.

"All things being well we'll see him second-up in the All-Star Mile."

While the day might not have ended the way Maher, who trains in partnership with David Eustace, had hoped, he did have an earlier winner with Unanimous in the Ladbrokes Back Yourself Handicap.

Having his first start, Unanimous ran out a two-length winner under Jye McNeil in a victory that provided the perfect birthday present for David Azzopardi and syndicator Dream Thoroughbreds.

Unanimous was a $34,000 yearling purchase at the Magic Millions Sale on the Gold Coast last year, with Azzopardi saying the colt was a cheap buy.

"We actually stole this horse. He was the sixth last lot at the Magic Millions last year," Azzopardi said.

"Newgate Farm had him and we had a big price on him but there was no one else around and I was the only one who bid.

"When we first bought him we thought he'd be an early two-year-old, he's physically quite strong but mentally he's not.

"It looks like he's taken benefit from that little bit of time and he ran away from them today and should have a bit of a future."

Four-year-old Evelyn Greenup, Clinton Speedy-Duroux, 16, and Colleen Walker-Craig, 16, disappeared from the northern NSW town over a five-month period from September 1990.

An application to retry the man suspected of killing the children was rejected in 2018.

NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman on Wednesday informed the families the government wouldn't support two proposals to change double jeopardy laws and potentially facilitate a retrial.

Mr Speakman said the double jeopardy rule was a fundamental principle of criminal justice systems that prevented the retrial of someone after a valid acquittal.

"I know this is a devastating blow to families who do not deserve this, to families who have lost their children to a murderer that has never been brought to account," Mr Speakman told reporters in Sydney.

Gavin Stanbrook, Colleen's cousin, said his family was "outraged" and "absolutely disgusted" by the news.

"It's deeply distressing and deeply upsetting that we have to deal with another kick in the guts from the state in a situation where three Aboriginal children have been murdered," Mr Stanbrook told reporters.

He vowed to keep hope and rely on his family and community as they continued fighting for justice.

"The fight is definitely not over," Mr Stanbrook said.

The government and NSW Police on Wednesday also announced a one million dollar reward for information leading to a conviction over the children's deaths.

Mr Stanbrook said it wasn't much consolation, with his family confident they could get justice based on the evidence they have.

"We had a quarter of a million dollars previously and unfortunately we never saw any results out of that," he said.

"Going forward, I think, what needs to be done is we need that legislation changed. That is the barrier to justice."

The suspected murderer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was acquitted of Clinton's murder in 1994 and of Evelyn's in 2006.

The government unsuccessfully argued in the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal that there was fresh and compelling evidence to justify overturning the acquittals and proceeding with a single trial on three murder charges.

The High Court refused to grant special leave to appeal the decision, before Greens MP David Shoebridge responded with a bill seeking to change double jeopardy laws.

However, a NSW upper house inquiry found the bill would impact on too many unrelated parts of the criminal justice system and should not proceed.

Mr Speakman on Wednesday said he couldn't support Mr Shoebridge's model or an alternative by the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research.

"This is not about keeping guilty people out of jail, this is about protecting the innocent when they have the full might of the state against them," he said.

"It's also making sure we have finality in litigation."

Mr Speakman also considered the prospects of any retrial application in the Bowraville case, concluding that an application on either model would fail.

Mr Shoebridge said he would be working with legal experts and talking with the families about their next steps.

"Maybe it's civil litigation, maybe it's a demand for ex-gratia payments from the state government, maybe it's a formal state apology, but any one of those won't answer the core demand for justice," the Greens MP told reporters.

The coronavirus outbreak has weighed on China's economy and BHP Group warned earlier this month that demand this year could take a hit if the fallout extended beyond March.

"We are closely monitoring the impact of the Covid-19 virus and are prepared for some short-term impacts, such as supply-chain issues. Our products are currently reaching our customers," Chief Executive Officer Jean-Sebastien Jacques said in a statement.

The world's top iron ore producer said underlying earnings for the full year ended December 31 rose to $US10.37 billion ($A15.76 billion), from $US8.81 billion ($A13.39 billion) a year earlier. It was slightly under a consensus estimate of $US10.40 billion ($A15.81 billion) by 17 analysts compiled by research firm Vuma Financial.

Rio also declared a final dividend of $US2.31 ($A3.51) per share, higher than $US1.8 ($A2.7) per share in 2018, but did not announce a special dividend like last year.

Iron ore miners have all cashed in on high prices for the steel-making commodity last year following supply disruption in Brazil and robust Chinese demand.

China's iron ore imports were at their second-highest level in 2019, fuelled by strong demand at steel mills. Prices in Shanghai closed up by a quarter last year.

Underlying earnings from iron ore, which accounts for about 85 per cent of Rio's underlying earnings, surged 48 per cent to $US9.64 billion ($A14.65 billion) in the year.

The eighth to come down with the COVID-19 infection was a Victorian man whose partner had been diagnosed with the disease and they had returned to their home state together.

He probably had the infection while on the ship in Japan as he has since disclosed that he felt unwell then, Acting NT chief health officer Dianne Stephens said.

He was "more than likely in the recovery phase of the disease" now as he had not had any symptoms at the Howard Springs quarantine facility near Darwin, she said.

Prof Stephens said she could not say why the infection had not been identified while the more than 3700 passengers and crew were in quarantine for a fortnight in Japan.

Globally there are now 80,410 reported COVID-19 cases and 2707 deaths.

The results of the latest tests for two people in Darwin are due on Wednesday night.

One person was in isolation at Howard Springs while a 61-year-old NSW woman went to Royal Darwin Hospital due to a cardiac condition. She was tested and isolated in a "negative pressure room", used for droplet infections such as tuberculosis, which is often seen in remote communities.

The Australians left in Darwin, mostly aged in their 60s and 70s, but some over 80, were past the halfway mark of their 14-day quarantine period - after being isolated for 14 days on the ship - and their morale was improving, Prof Stephens said.

Another 266 people already quarantined at Howard Springs who were evacuated from the epicentre of the virus at Wuhan in China left the facility last weekend.

WorkSafe Tasmania last week issued a ban on the protesters over 'unsafe behaviours' and threatened fines of up to $500,000 if they didn't comply.

It prompted legal action from the foundation, with Bob Brown labelling the edict unconstitutional.

The ban was on Wednesday set aside in a Hobart Magistrates Court hearing after agreement from both parties.

"As you heard in court, their representative conceded that the notice was too wide," lawyer representing the foundation, Roland Browne, said outside court.

"Next time the regulator wants to try and use work health and safety to stop protests in Tasmania he is going to have to think twice and confine himself to the law."

Dr Brown said anti-logging activists in the northwest Tarkine rainforest remain undeterred.

"The defenders of the Tarkine are in good heart and I have been with them all the way through these very trying times," he said.

Several foundation protesters are facing criminal charges after earlier this month chaining themselves to machinery and gates at forestry operations.

Prior to the court hearing, WorkSafe indicated the ban was about protecting the safety of activists and workers.

In its letter to the foundation, WorkSafe claimed protesters engaged in high-risk construction work and were at risk of falling from wooden tripods and platforms.

The regulator also had issues with the risk of protesters falling or being crushed when climbing machinery.

The foundation argued the ban was too broad-ranging and was contrary to the constitution because it stopped communication about political matters.

India was also home to 21 of the world's 30 most polluted cities, IQ AirVisual said in the study which focused on the amount of PM2.5, fine particulate matter, in major urban areas.

The study measured the concentration of poisonous PM2.5, particles that are less than 2.5 microns in diameter and can be carried deep into the lungs, as higher PM2.5 levels could cause deadly diseases, including cancer and cardiac problems.

In 2019, New Delhi's average annual concentration of PM2.5 in a cubic metre of air was 98.6, the study said, more than double the level of Beijing, which averaged 42.1 during the year, making it the ninth most polluted city in the world.

New Delhi's toxic air is caused by vehicle and industrial emissions, dust from building sites, smoke from the burning of rubbish and crop residue in nearby fields.

Last year, residents of New Delhi, home to more than 20 million people, could breathe "moderate" to "satisfactory" air only for four days in November and December, when pollution levels peaked.

Late last year, the spike in air pollution levels forced authorities, who termed the crisis as a public health emergency, to shut schools twice.

The study, however, said India did see "widespread improvements" in PM2.5 levels in 2019 compared to a year earlier, largely due to favourable meteorological conditions, government efforts to clean the air and an overall economic slowdown.

"Despite improvements, India still faces serious air pollution challenges," the study said.

Young winger Mark Nawaqanitawase returns in place of Cam Clark and Lachlan Swinton regains the blindside flanker spot from Jed Holloway, who is on the bench alongside uncapped back James Ramm.

Penney plans to persevere with Nawaqanitawase and five-eighth Will Harrison, but admitted more setbacks for the 0-3 Tahs might force him to choose more experienced players.

"I've got a side of me that is nurturing, that has a degree of empathy for the young blokes and the position that they are in, but that's not bottomless.

"There will be a point if things don't improve that changes will need to be made," said Penney, aware his side have already conceded 14 tries and 99 points.

While poor ball retention and decision making has hurt NSW, Penney said there were moments in games where he questioned his team's work ethic and their commitment to each other.

"There are times when the talentless tasks of working hard and committing yourself totally to whatever you're involved in at the time isn't happening," Penny said.

"That's reflected in being opened up a few times in defence, and that's caused a large degree of frustration on both sides, players and management

"You can make a whole lot of excuses for those things but if you don't work really hard and put your body in a position to be able to make a defensive effort, or carry the ball hard and look after the pill, then there's a whole lot of guys out in club land that could do that effectively and with passion," Penney warned.

"They are the sort of tasks that we're really disappointed that we're not able to achieve more consistently. There's some pretty basic stuff around our defence that we've just got to get right."

NSW Waratahs: Kurtley Beale, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Alex Newsome, Karmichael Hunt, Jack Maddocks, Will Harrison, Jake Gordon, Jack Dempsey, Michael Hooper, Lachlan Swinton, Rob Simmons (capt), Tom Staniforth, Harry Johnson-Holmes, Robbie Abel, Angus Bell. Res: Damien Fitzpatrick, Tom Robertson, Tetera Faulkner, Jed Holloway, Ryan McCauley, Mitch Short, Lalakai Foketi, James Ramm.

England was in trouble early after losing the toss and then both openers for ducks, before skipper Knight dismantled the Thai bowling attack with a record-setting knock.

Her 108 not out off 66 balls and Natalie Sciver's unbeaten 59 off 52 made for the highest ever partnership (169 runs) at a women's T20 World Cup.

Thailand faced a tall order chasing England's 2-176 and finished well short at 7-78 after 20 overs as Anya Shrubsole (3-21) proved the pick of the bowlers.

Sciver (2-5) also contributed with ball as Thailand opener Natthakan Chantam (32 off 53) and Naruemol Chaiwai (19 off 23) led the chase.

Knight's innings saw her become the third Englishwoman to score a century at the T20 World Cup and the third ever in the format.

England lost their opening match to South Africa and were struggling at 2-7 in the second over.

"It was just about staying calm. Nat is brilliant at that and we just tried to keep it quite simple and keep it low risk," Knight said.

"We had lots of opportunities to score; it was a very good wicket so it was just about building that partnership, not panicking, staying very calm and we knew we could catch up.

"We were really gutted with our performance the other day so it was really important we bounce back with a good performance here which we did.

"It's nice to be contributing. I seem to like batting in Canberra so I had a bit of fun out there and Nat was brilliant down the other end."

The Eagles gave Geelong a first-round pick, two second-round picks and a future first-round selection as part of the expensive deal to secure Kelly.

The former Cat has fit in seamlessly at West Coast, with players rating his training standards elite.

Thursday's match at West Coast's base in Lathlain will be Kelly's first proper hit out in his new colours and the Kelly-Nic Naitanui combination at stoppages will hold plenty of intrigue.

Naitanui, who has been plagued by knee injuries in recent seasons, has been named for his first pre-season game in four years.

West Coast defender Jeremy McGovern (Achilles surgery) has only recently rejoined the club's main training group and won't be risked, while Jack Darling (fractured cheekbone) is also unavailable.

Oscar Allen (hernia) is another key position player still on the mend.

Essendon are even harder hit, with their injury list including Joe Daniher (groin), Dyson Heppell (foot), Cale Hooker (hip), Tom Bellchambers (knee) and Patrick Ambrose (knee).

Adam Saad and Jake Stringer are also notable absentees from Essendon's squad, while Conor McKenna is still in Ireland after getting home sick.

The state turned federal politician took a thinly veiled swipe at the NSW government during his first speech to parliament in Canberra on Wednesday.

"It is my intention to continue to dedicate myself to the plan's success and resist those naysayers," he told parliament.

"I do not see at this time any viable alternatives to maintaining environmental flows as well as maintaining sustainable farming."

Some irrigators have called for the controversial plan to be paused, while NSW has issued repeated threats to pull out over sending environmental water downstream during drought.

But Senator McLachlan argued common interests across the basin meant there were rights and obligations for all communities relying on the river.

"We are committed to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and its successful operation," he said.

He described the plan as an example of the real benefits stemming from commonwealth and state cooperation.

"In South Australia we only know too well that an open and healthy river mouth can have a dramatic impact on the health of the river upstream," Senator McLachlan said.

The former South Australian legislative council president also urged the federal government to reject calls to relocate 700 submarine maintenance jobs to Western Australia.

"It is important to all South Australians that we are allowed to make the most of the opportunity with the commitment that South Australia is and will remain the defence state," he said.

"We are grateful but we are also very attentive to ensuring opportunities are not whittled away by others or squandered by ourselves."

On the environment, the moderate Liberal said Australia faced a complex economic transition, backing free markets to manage the changes.

"All the answers and the path ways forward will not magically appear before us as if they were fully formed in the head of Zeus," Senator McLachlan said.

"My vision is this country leads innovations that will gift us new technologies to lower not only emissions, but the cost of energy."

Senator McLachlan replaced conservative Liberal turncoat Cory Bernadi, who retired last year as an independent.

The home nation was on the brink of elimination just four days into the tournament after a shock opening loss to India and having to dig deep for victory against Sri Lanka.

Lanning's troops will host Bangladesh in Canberra on Thursday in another must-win clash to keep their dream alive of playing in the final at a potentially sold-out MCG.

She is backing them to handle the expectations of a nation and deliver victory against the World Cup minnows.

"There's no doubt there's pressure around, there's pressure on everyone and obviously when you don't get off to an ideal start that gets talked about," Lanning said.

"It was great we were able to grind out a win the other night. Hopefully that win is a bit of a kickstarter and gives us a little momentum.

"Every game is a must win. In the past and we saw it the other night, this group has really embraced the pressure and played well in big moments.

"Heading into this World Cup we knew there was going to be pressure. It's nothing we weren't expecting and we've played well in the past when we're under the pump."

Australian women's cricket has moved from strength to strength with its top flight now fully-fledged professionals.

Lanning said the scrutiny Australia had faced over the past week just proved how much has been achieved.

"People want us to do well and I think it's a great sign," she said.

"Obviously you'd much prefer to be playing excellent cricket and everything going your way but that's the reality, it doesn't just happen in world cups and you've got to be able to fight your way through difficult periods.

"All we've talked about over the last two days is playing Bangladesh and how we could improve."

Lanning defended batting their best player Ellyse Perry at six and seven in the opening games and backed the superstar all-rounder to have a big impact on the rest of the tournament.

"The top six batters all could open the batting realistically and it just genuinely comes down to the matchups on the day and the game situations," Lanning said.

"Ellyse is a world-class player and no doubt she'll get her chance at some point but we've just got to be really flexible and whatever the team needs we're going to do."

All-rounder Sophie Molineux must pass a fitness test to play her first match of the tournament.

Australian Red Cross, which has about 60 staff distributing grants of up to $20,000 per application, has come under attack by computer generated applications for bushfire relief assistance.

ARC's director of Australian Services Noel Clement said they are weeding out false claims but it's time consuming and wastes resources.

"There have been hundreds of automated attempts to access financial assistance," he told AAP.

"There are a couple of hundred claims that we have concerns about and we are working through all of those and we have already referred a number of cases to the police.

He said in one community alone we had applications for 15 homes that had been destroyed but when they physically checked the addresses none of them had been impacted by the fires.

"We have distributed immediate financial assistance to more than 2,600 people who have tragically lost their homes or been hospitalised or in some cases for those who have lost family members," he said.

"For a majority of claims we have been able to confirm the information provided on the claims and made payments quickly."

The turnaround time for bushfire relief payouts, once an application is verified, is just a few days and they are distributing about $1 million a day, of the $115 million in donations received, to victims,' he said.

A spokeswoman for the National Bushfire Recovery Agency said they are working closely with the Commonwealth Fraud Prevention Centre to build robust fraud prevention strategies.

She also warned of an SMS scam that offered increased tax relief for donations.

"There is an SMS scam that is asking people to click on a link and provide personal information in order to receive an eight per cent bonus on their tax return.

"Attempted or detected fraud against these programs will be treated very seriously and action taken against those who try to take advantage of our communities during this critical time of need," she said..

An Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission representative said online fraud was a constant challenge for charities that drained limited resources and forced them to engage cybersecurity experts.

"This can be time consuming, expensive and resource intensive."

Glory are scheduled to play Ulsan Hyundai FC next Wednesday at Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium.

An outbreak of the coronavirus in South Korea has left Glory worried about the fixture.

The situation is so dire that the start of South Korea's domestic season has been indefinitely postponed.

Ulsan want their ACL game to go ahead behind closed doors, but Glory are not keen on the idea.

And they are receiving little help from the ACL governing body, who have told Glory to come to an agreement with Ulsan about rescheduling the fixture.

Popovic would prefer the game to be postponed.

"We do have concerns for this game and we've relayed our concerns," he said.

"There's been an outbreak in the virus very close to Ulsan, where we need to be playing.

"We are getting some advice on that now. Our preference is that if it's that close to Ulsan, we'd rather postpone the game.

"We need to get some clarity on that - that it's safe for the players and staff to go there. If we don't get that requirement, then it will be very difficult for us to travel."

Glory take on the Jets at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday, and are due to depart for South Korea after that match if the ACL game still goes ahead.

It's been a big few weeks for Glory, who made their ACL debut in Japan while also dealing with the bizarre planned sale of the club to a cryptocurrency group.

That sale has since fallen through after reports surfaced about the murky history of London Football Exchange.

Glory owner Tony Sage has been heavily criticised for even contemplating selling the club to the group, but Popovic leapt to his defence.

"The man's constantly looking at how can we make Perth Glory better," Popovic said.

"My association with him is that Perth Glory is No.1. He thinks, 'What can I do as an owner to try and help Perth Glory have sustained success, compete with the big boys - not just in the short term, but also in five or 10 years time?'

"That's all the man's trying to do. If it didn't work out, it didn't work out, and we'll move on accordingly."

The former Cronulla flyer has returned to rugby league after a year away and a missed shot at a roster spot with the New York Jets in the NFL.

Yet it's also a return to the town he grew up in for the 24-year-old, who will wear the No.1 in Saturday's trial game against Melbourne. And he isn't taking that for granted.

"Just driving around and seeing the new buildings that are up or driving past my old primary school, seeing mum and dad more often (than when I lived in Sydney) and just soaking up that I'm back home," he said.

"Everyone always says as long as your outside life is good you should be able to perform well at work and I feel like if I get that right it'll go a long way this year."

Holmes enjoyed a cameo last weekend against Brisbane and hopes to play 80 minutes against the Storm in the team's final trial before round one at home against the Broncos on March 13.

Holmes' good mate and captain Michael Morgan, named at No.7 alongside five-eight hopeful Jake Clifford, will also get his first minutes this year after he was rested from the NRL Nines and last week's trial.

Holmes and Morgan's wives are sisters, with Morgan admitting they are making the most of his decision to return to the NRL via the Cowboys.

"I was talking to him non stop (while he lived in New York)," Morgan told AAP.

"I was hopeful it'd go well over there and he gave it a crack and don't think he did waste time, because he learnt a lot.

"But if it didn't work out I was making sure he knew it'd be a good idea to come home and he's got a very big role in our team now."

Morgan said midweek barbecues at home were common but that they steer clear of a hobby many other teammates have long enjoyed.

"He's got no idea when it comes to fishing, so golf is our go," Morgan said.

"Lifestyle-wise it makes sense in a lot of ways and you can see how well he's fitted into the team that he is happy.

"That natural instinct is still there and he's turning those half chances into chances ... he's an exciting player that we haven't had for a while."

Grundy spoke to reporters on Wednesday at CFA Headquarters where he was on hand to unveil the special Sherrins that will be used in Friday night's charity clash at Marvel Stadium.

The 25-year-old has lived in Melbourne since he was drafted by the Magpies in the first round of the 2012 draft and recently signed a new seven-year contract.

He couldn't suppress a laugh when asked if he was "a Vic hater".

"That's a jarring question," a smiling Grundy replied.

"I'd say younger me would be, yes, but I'm becoming more and more Victorian, unfortunately, as I've settled in.

"(But) in a sporting sense, I'd be keen to win, that's for sure.

"Victoria has always bullied the smaller states, so it would be nice to get one back."

Grundy, who has his South Australian under-18 guernsey framed in his home, is hopeful the exhibition match will prove the catalyst for the return of regular state of origin footy.

He said a recent trip to bushfire-ravaged Kangaroo Island had helped drive home the importance of the charity match.

"It was a holiday destination for our family many times growing up," he said.

"So to get back there and experience what it's been like for the community was really significant.

"It's easy to be sitting in your lounge room watching it but until you're out there and you taste the ash in the air and see the regrowth starting to come through ... it really starts to bring it home.

"Leading into this week and what it's all about, it's really significant, and I'm honoured to be a part of it."

Sherrin has produced an orange ball, the colour worn by State Emergency Service workers, featuring the names of around 230 towns ravaged by bushfires for the match.

The James Cummings-trained Avilius is one of 10 individual Group One winners among the field of 14 for Saturday's Group One race (1600m), which includes grand campaigner Happy Clapper and New Zealand star Te Akau Shark.

Avilius won the George Main over the course and distance last spring while his other two Group One wins have been in the Ranvet Stakes (2000m) and Tancred Stakes (2400m) at Rosehill during the 2019 autumn.

The import made his first appearance of 2020 when hitting the line nicely for fifth in the Group One CF Orr Stakes (1400m) in Melbourne this month before heading back to NSW to prepare for the Chipping Norton.

"He's bounced back in tip-top shape from his excellent return at Caulfield a few weeks ago," Cummings said.

"There's a brightness to his eye, he's swishing his tail and his coat has that sunburnt look that he gets at this time of year."

Avilius's Group Ones have been won on rain-affected ground but Cummings believes the import can still be a major player on a good-rated surface, which Randwick was rated on Wednesday.

"The computer suggests his wet track form is superior but on top of the ground this weekend he will still butter up as a formidable opponent," Cummings said.

Cox Plate placegetter Te Akau Shark won his first Group One in New Zealand first-up this preparation over 1400m on February 8 and is favourite to add his first Australian elite-level victory on Saturday.

Te Akau Shark, who was runner-up in the Epsom Handicap over the Randwick 1600m last spring, was at $2.60 on Wednesday ahead of the John Thompson-trained Dreamforce ($5.50), who is striving for his first Group One win after being placed at the elite level three times in the past 12 months.

Avilius ($6.50) and dual Group One winner Fierce Impact ($7.50) are the other runners at single-figure odds in an early market.

King saw a surgeon on Wednesday and will go under the knife in coming weeks after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament in the opening week of NRL trials on Saturday night in Papua New Guinea.

The popular No.9 took to social media on Tuesday night to say he had a "broken heart" and "would be lying if he said he was okay".

King will remain around the club as part of the rehabilitation group, while his welfare will also be of a high priority.

His mother, Amanda King, is on the club's welfare team which is led by former Gold Coast and Parramatta winger Jordan Aitken.

The pair will keep close contact with the 28-year-old, with Aitken having been part of the crew who carried him from the field.

"He's doing well, he's obviously disappointed ... He has been through similar experiences and has a really supportive partner and family," Aitken told AAP.

"Josh Dugan and I were there with him after because we had a fair indication of the injury.

"I am obviously in touch with him regularly. (Coach) John Morris is great, I am with the players every day having lunch with them.

"And then I'll use some of the senior players, like Jayson Bukuya might take him out for a coffee or Andrew Fifita might encourage him into community work."

The NRL's wellbeing space has improved dramatically, with clubs adept at dealing with injuries and managing players through recovery when they often feel on the outer.

"There are a number of ways you manage it," Aitken said.

"From an off-field perspective it's about engagement, whether that is education, employment or mentoring of young players.

"With the support of the NRL there is access available for players to psychologists."

King's injury couldn't have come at a tougher time.

Unsigned by Parramatta in 2018 after 43 NRL games, he played a year of second-tier English football before battling to return to Australia in 2020.

"Shattered. Broken heart it's still sinking in that my season is over," King tweeted on Tuesday night.

"I'm taking things 1 day at a time and determined to not let this defeat me physically or mentally. Thank you all for the support."

Fans of the concept were buoyed when Victoria and a composite All-Stars team were picked to clash at Marvel Stadium in the name of charity.

But some detractors have expressed fears the preseason contest will descend into a glorified training run, more like the widely ridiculed AFLX tournament than the hard-nosed State of Origin battles of decades gone by.

"The reality is a lot of these players that have been picked to play are incredibly talented, but they're also competitive beasts," Richmond premiership captain Cotchin told AAP.

"That's why they've been at the top of their game for a long period of time

"I reckon once the ball is bounced and you're out there, it's effectively a game (for points) and it does bring competition.

"There will be a few egos out there that don't want to be shown up."

Cotchin has not pulled on a 'Big V' jumper since representing his state as a junior.

The 29-year-old has since gone on to play 234 games for Richmond, lead the club to two flags and be named a joint winner of the 2012 Brownlow Medal.

"It's been a while, but it doesn't feel that long ago, which is scary," Cotchin said.

"It shows how quick your footy career can ramp up."

Despite welcoming the return of representative football this year, Cotchin at this stage is not keen to see it become a regular feature on the AFL calendar.

"I don't know if I'm a supporter of it every year, but maybe my opinion of it will change after I experience it on the weekend," he said.

"I love the fact that we can come together and make it a unique experience for the players, the fans and supporters, but also contribute to the community."

Cotchin is one of six Richmond premiership players set to take part in the bushfire relief match, he represents Victoria alongside Dustin Martin, Tom Lynch and Bachar Houli.

Fellow Tigers Shane Edwards and Jack Riewoldt will play for the All-Stars.

Australia will take on Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Chile at the prestigious South American championship, which starts in June.

But because the Socceroos are an invited nation and its a tournament outside of their confederation, they won't be afforded the FIFA protection that forces clubs to release players for international duty.

Instead, Arnold will have to convince individual clubs to release Australian players - and the veteran coach is vowing to do everything within his powers.

"I will do my best to get all the best players out at the Copa America," Graham said.

"But that's got to come with a lot of conversations and planning.

"I've got a great assistant - Rene Meulensteen - who knows a lot of the coaches over in the Europe.

"I've also got a lot of their phone numbers. We speak over the phone and they're great people.

"I can imagine when I have conversations with the coaches overseas, they will see the Copa America as a great experience for the player."

If Arnold is unable to cobble together his first-choice Socceroos, he is expected to field a large number of Olyroos players in a bid to give them big-game experience ahead of the Olympics.

Arnold said A-League players would also be in the mix.

"I have ... plans for A, B and C to make sure we go to the Copa America and perform well," Arnold said.

"I do also believe with the Olyroos, the preparation is important for them (leading into the Olympics).

"But also we've got some great players here in the A-League, 25-, 26-year-olds who could step up and do a great job, if we can't get (first-choice Socceroos)."

Arnold was in Perth on Wednesday promoting the upcoming World Cup qualifier clash with Kuwait, which will be played at HBF Park on March 26.

Australia currently sit first in their group with four wins from as many games and Arnold is confident of coming away with the goods against second-played Kuwait.

"We expect to win the game and put on a great performance," Arnold said.

"We will bring our strongest team available - I'm promising that - unless there's some type of injury that we can't do anything about."

She would roll herself up in sheets and blankets, becoming drenched in sweat during the summer in Queensland.

The little girl was scared to sleep, forcing herself to stay awake for as long as possible, hoping to protect herself from the "torturous" pain of the sexual abuse.

She took the measures in fear of Shaune Timothy O'Farrell, who abused her for a decade.

Now aged 28, the woman says "the poison of these crimes" has seeped into every aspect of her life.

"My childhood was stolen and nothing in my life afterwards has come easily," she said in a statement read in court.

As a teenager, she moved school and house, was forced to end friendships and was not allowed to tell anyone she lived with O'Farrell to avoid exposing the abuse.

"I was made to rehearse lines of how to respond if I was ever questioned about the abuse or my home living situation," she said.

"My whole high school social life was turned into a terrifying ordeal, one where I was made to believe that one wrong move could potentially have me ripped away from my mother and have me put in foster care."

O'Farrell was sentenced in Brisbane District Court on Wednesday to five years' jail.

He admitted to 17 counts of rape and indecently treating the girl over a decade.

Most of the offences occurred at their house, some while she was asleep and one while her leg was in a cast, crown prosecutor Jacqueline Ball told the court.

It was persistent conduct over an extended period and a gross breach of trust, Judge Tony Moynihan said.

He accepted a letter of apology from O'Farrell to the woman, but said she might regard it as too little, too late.

"But you do seem to have some insight into the devastating consequences your actions have had on her," Judge Moynihan told O'Farrell.

The court heard O'Farrell was previously convicted for providing karate classes for children without having a blue card.

O'Farrell will be eligible for parole after serving 20 months.

The 2018 Brownlow medallist cruised through his first serious hit-out in more than 500 days when the Hawks opened the pre-season series with a 21-point loss to St Kilda last Thursday.

Mitchell won't be involved in the return bout with the Saints when the teams battle in Morwell to raise funds for emergency services workers caught up in the bushfire crisis.

But the ball magnet remains on track to play Brisbane at the MCG in round one, which would be his AFL match since the Hawks' 2018 semi-final loss to Melbourne.

Hawthorn football manager Graham Wright said Mitchell's leg had pulled up better than his feet following the match at Moorabbin.

"I think he (Mitchell) had some blisters on his feet, they were a bigger issue for him than his leg," Wright told AAP.

"He could've played longer but we thought two and a half to three quarters was as much as we wanted him to play.

"He'll play again (against Melbourne in Launceston) next week."

"I would've thought in his mind he'll certainly be on track for round one.

"At this stage with him having played a game already, I'd be surprised, outside of another injury, (if he didn't play round one)."

Wright said the Hawks were hopeful Mitchell could recapture his brilliant best following last year's freak preseason training accident.

Finding top form after breaking your fibula and tibia is never an easy thing to do.

"We know Tom's an unbelievably hardworker and sets the example from our club's perspective in relation to being professional," Wright said.

"He won't leave any stone unturned getting back to the player he was.

"He's such a natural ball-winner and a natural footballer so actually finding the football has never been an issue for him.

"Until he actually starts playing regularly we're just not going to know."

The Reds last weekend conceded five goals in a loss to Western Sydney which pitches United back into a mid-table logjam.

Adelaide, ahead of an away trip to face arch rival Melbourne Victory on Saturday night, hold fifth spot, one point ahead of Brisbane Roar.

The Reds have let in 32 goals this season - only two clubs, last-placed Central Coast (37) and ninth-placed Newcastle (36) have conceded more.

Troisi, who will return from a month-long absence because of a hamstring strain to face his former club, says Adelaide's issues are widespread.

"Conceding five goals is not good in any game you play, it doesn't matter what team you're playing against," Troisi told reporters on Wednesday.

"It wasn't that Western Sydney were amazing; I think we were very poor.

"So that is something we need to change and we need to change really quickly.

"Consistency is key, that is the most important thing, especially now with eight or nine games remaining.

"We need to rectify those things as soon as possible if we want to have a chance in continuing to finish in a good position, which we can do very easily.

"But it's easier said than done ... it's all over the pitch, not just defensively, because it's structure, it's mentality, it's a bit of everything."

Adelaide's lack of consistency is evidenced by its results this season including a four-game winning stretch, a four-game losing streak and a three-game winning sequence.

Troisi's return will help steady the midfield but the 31-year-old was uncertain how much game-time he would get against his ex-club.

"I'm feeling good," he said.

"I don't know if 90 minutes is the smartest thing for me to play but I definitely want to get quite a few minutes."

The commission argues the context for remote area tax concessions has changed considerably since the first concession was introduced in 1945.

In a report released on Wednesday, it says technological advances have helped lessen the difficulties of life in remote parts of Australia.

"Some communities once considered isolated - such as Cairns and Darwin - are now well developed, internationally-connected cities, " it says.

"Their residents can no longer be considered isolated."

Senator McDonald was highly critical of the report that recommends abolishing zone tax offsets for people and businesses in remote and regional Australia while taking aim at fringe benefit tax concessions which apply to fuel, accommodation and food provided to employees.

She said such concessions were hugely important to regional Australia and the report shows a "breathtaking lack of understanding of life outside metropolitan areas".

"The report acknowledges the challenges of living and doing business in the regions, but then dismisses the measures in place to offset those challenges," she said in a statement.

"Rather than abolish the offsets, we should be enhancing them."

She said the report states tax policy doesn't do much to attract people to live in regional Australia.

"Rather than suggesting measures such as raising the concession or cutting fuel excise, it simply recommends cutting it completely," she said.

Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar was quick to put Senator McDonald's mind at ease.

He said the commission's recommendations would result in "significant disruption" to existing arrangements if implemented.

"Given the challenges faced by regional Australia, including as a result of the impacts of the recent drought, bushfires and now coronavirus, the government will not be acting on the Productivity Commission's recommendations," he said in a statement.

Andrew Heil, 30, won his bid for bail at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday after being charged with several gun offences following raids linked to the murder of Paul Virgona.

Mr Virgona was gunned down while driving to work on the EastLink Freeway at Donvale on November 9.

Heil is facing various charges including possessing more than three unregistered firearms in Port Melbourne and being a non-prohibited person with unregistered longarms, handguns and cartridge ammunition.

Magistrate Fiona Hayes granted bail, with no objection from the prosecution, which will now allow Heil to have surgery on his varicose veins.

"My client has an operation that is booked, he has profound varicose veins," Heil's defence lawyer Damian Sheales told the court.

Prosecutor Diana Karamicov said any unacceptable risks could be managed with bail conditions.

Ms Hayes granted bail on the basis that the prosecution did not oppose it, Heil has future medical treatment, works, has no prior convictions and appears to have played a "lesser role" in the alleged offending.

Heil must not associate directly or indirectly with any members of the Mongols Motorcycle Club or Raiders Motorcycle Club as part of his bail conditions.

Heil, who has an SS bolt tattoo on his face, also must not attend an address on Bertie Street in Port Melbourne. The Mongols clubhouse is reportedly on that street.

He can only have one mobile phone and SIM card to his name, must live in Carrum Downs, and report to police three times a week.

He is due back in court on April 21.

The host nation has looked wobbly during the early stages of the tournament, having started as the resounding title favourite.

Meg Lanning's side suffered an upset opening loss to India, and they were in trouble at 3-10 against Sri Lanka on Monday before recovering for the win.

Australia must beat Bangladesh and New Zealand to have a chance of reaching the semi-finals.

The men's ODI team had a similarly nervous moment early in the 2015 World Cup when they lost to New Zealand by one wicket in a thriller at Eden Park.

Cummins, who was in the squad but only played two games in that tournament, said the defeat ultimately proved to be beneficial.

"It was good, in a way, to be knocked down a peg and think we're not going to just turn up and win this tournament," he said.

"I think home support, yes it might come with added pressure but you've seen in 2011, India won the World Cup, we won a home World Cup (in 2015) and now England have won a home World Cup.

"I think it's an advantage, you've just got to embrace it.

"You might get a couple of detractors, but most of the 25 million Aussies are right behind you and you've just got to look at it like that."

Members of the Australian men's T20 squad on tour in South Africa, including Alyssa Healy's husband Mitchell Starc, have watched their female counterparts with interest whenever the time difference has allowed them to do so.

"We were following it on the team bus yesterday from the airport back to the hotel," Cummins said in Cape Town.

"There was a few nervous watchers going on in that run chase. But they got us home which was good."

Xilong won the Listed Twilight Glow Stakes last spring and was set to resume in the $1 million Inglis Sprint at Warwick Farm on February 12 but was scratched when she played up in the barriers.

It means she goes to Saturday's Surround (1400m) at Randwick first-up, which McEvoy admits is not ideal.

"We wanted to have her second-up into this at the 1400 metres but unfortunately her race day manners didn't allow us to do that," McEvoy said.

"She didn't miss any work but obviously we would have much preferred her to have had that race going into it.

"She has had a bit of a problem with barriers in the past but not for a long time, since she was a two-year-old.

"I think the day just got the better of her at Warwick Farm."

Xilong had to barrier trial to the satisfaction of stewards, which she did at Randwick five days after her Warwick Farm scratching.

McEvoy, who trains in partnership with his father Tony, said the filly did everything asked of her there and was in good order for the Surround in which she will be ridden by Glen Boss.

"Glen Boss galloped her this morning at Randwick and he really liked her," McEvoy said.

"She's a lovely filly.

"If she's on her best behaviour she'll run a really nice race, I believe."

But McEvoy is under no illusions about the task facing Xilong against a star-studded field of 14 three-year-old fillies headlined by Group One winners Flit, Funstar, Lyre and Kiamichi.

Funstar ($3.40) was shading Flit for favouritism on Wednesday while Xilong was $23.

"It's a really strong field. A genuine Group One contest," McEvoy said.

"But that's what we think of her. She's won four from six so she's a classy filly and she deserves to be there.

"She's obviously against some of the best three-year-old fillies in the country and I think they're a very good crop of fillies so we're under no illusions it's going to be a big ask of her.

"But we think she will run well and we wouldn't be running her if we didn't think that."

The Socceroos attacker was hailed as a key signing in July when he returned from Japan for a second stint at Victory.

He signed a one-year deal but has found the net just four times in 15 A-League appearances with Victory slipping nine points adrift of the top six.

"I should have finished a lot more chances than I have but I've created a lot of chances as well and I've done a lot of work in that wide role," Nabbout said.

"There's a lot of room for improvement with everyone and I look to the little parts of my game where I can improve.

"I have to score a few more and get a lot more assists.

"I'll be working on that for the rest of the season to make sure that it gets right."

Nabbout scored 18 goals from 45 starts during his two previous A-League seasons with Newcastle Jets.

He left in 2018 and spent 16 months with Japanese giants Urawa Reds before returning to his original A-League club Victory on a one-year deal.

"I've spoken to the club and we're on the same page on where we want to be," Nabbout said.

"It's now up to how we finish off the season and how the club and I want to approach it for next season."

Victory sit nine points back from sixth-placed Brisbane Roar with nine matches to play.

They are still searching for their first win under new coach Carlos Salvachua and face a crunch clash with Adelaide United at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.

"We're still in it," Nabbout said.

"The boys are determined now to get as many points (as possible) in the next five or six games.

"It's about taking maximum points, taking it game by game and hopefully we can't get there in the end.

"As long as it's mathematically possible to make the finals, we're never going to give up."

Toomua missed last round's disappointing loss to the Sharks in Ballarat due to a groin injury but has returned to relegate five-eighth Andrew Deegan to the bench.

Among the inclusions, Wallabies hooker Jordan Uelese has been named on the bench for his first match of the season after suffering a hamstring injury in January.

Rebels defence coach Kevin Foote said they were thrilled to have 23-year-old Uelese back in the line-up after he also missed most of the 2019 season with a knee injury before making the World Cup squad.

"It's really special for Jordan, who is coming back from injury after the World Cup," Foote said.

"He's a big body and a really good scrummager and set piece forward so it's good to add that depth to the squad."

Foote said they were still smarting from the 12-point loss to the Sharks, which came after a rousing breakthrough win over the Waratahs.

He said the Brumbies' last round win over the Chiefs in Waikato had given them confidence of upsetting the Highlanders to post a rare win on NZ soil.

"The Brumbies were awesome - they had some setbacks and we did too with some late injuries - but the Brumbies showed some real grit to go over there and do a job," Foote said.

"We want to go to Dunedin and keep flying the flag for Australian rugby."

Rebels: Dane Haylett-Petty (capt), Andrew Kellaway, Tom English, Billy Meakes, Marika Koroibete, Matt Toomua, Ryan Louwrens, Isi Naisarani, Richard Hardwick, Angus Cottrell, Matt Philip, Gideon Koegelenberg, Jermaine Ainsley, Anaru Rangi, Matt Gibbon. Res: Jordan Uelese, Cameron Orr, Cabous Eloff, Ross Haylett-Petty, Rob Leota, Frank Lomani, Michael Wells, Andrew Deegan.

The 32-year-old was on Wednesday spared a jail sentence of up to 15 years for trafficking more than $10,000 worth of cocaine.

Mullen was instead given a three-year community corrections order and 300 hours of community service by Wollongong Local Court magistrate Jillian Kiely.

Ms Kiely noted Mullen's turnaround since a near fatal overdose in 2018 and his aspirations to become a role model for young league players.

"Not only has he personally and professionally hit rock bottom, he almost died from an accidental overdose and now suffers from permanent hearing loss," Ms Kiely said in her sentencing remarks.

"That would have served as an extreme wake-up call."

Mullen pleaded guilty in December to supplying cocaine, after police surveillance captured him purchasing 39 grams of cocaine over four separate occasions in November 2018.

Defence lawyer Paul McGirr earlier told the court Mullen's fall from grace was an "extremely sad situation".

"He was one of Newcastle's favourite sons. He now doesn't even want to return to the area," Mr McGirr said.

He told the court Mullen was "shattered" by his offending, and it made him sick to think of the impact it had on his family.

The former halfback played 211 matches for the Knights after debuting in 2005, represented NSW in a State of Origin match and was once tipped to be the next Andrew Johns.

Instead, his injury marred career was cut short in 2017 when he received a four-year ban after testing positive for steroids, prompting his downward spiral. The drug suspension ends in January 2021.

Mullen started selling cocaine for $300 per gram to finance his heavy drug habit, which culminated in his parents finding him overdosed on their couch in the weeks before Christmas.

In arguing for a community based sentence, his lawyer told the court the former star hopes to begin playing professional football again next year.

"He still is keen to get back into rugby league, and at 32 years of age he has his work cut out for him."

If that doesn't work out, Mr McGirr said Mullen aspired to become a role model and counsellor for trouble young rugby league players.

A star of the Cowboys' victorious NRL Nines campaign, Drinkwater (pectoral strain) won't play against his former club at Casey Fields, with Clifford to be reunited with captain Michael Morgan as he attempts to nail down the spot.

Also a fullback, Drinkwater has proved his versatility by slotting into the playmaker role since the arrival of Valentine Holmes, who will wear the No.1 against the Storm after a successful return to rugby league last weekend against Brisbane.

Morgan, rested from this year's Nines and last weekend's trial, endured injuries and a double dose of concussions last season.

But the captain benefited from a full preseason in a boost for a side that has struggled to nail down their playmaking combination since Johnathan Thurston's 2018 retirement.

"It's the first time in four or five years I've had a full, healthy preseason and it's put me in a good position to go into year well and build combinations with different guys," Morgan told AAP.

"Getting Val was a spanner in the works for Drinky but we know he is happy to play in the halves and Cliffo is doing well in preseason too.

"We know things change and we've all trained there, so no matter who starts (in round one), both will play a big role this year and it's a blessing to have both options there this season."

Hooker Jake Granville will also start ahead of St George Illawarra recruit Reece Robson in what shapes as the other big selection call for coach Paul Green.

Experienced forwards John Asiata and Gavin Cooper have also been named for their first hit-outs while Wests Tigers recruit Esan Marsters will add pace and power in the centres.

Elsewhere, Moses Mbye will look to make a home in the centres for the Tigers in their trial against the Warriors on Sunday.

Joey Leilua will also play his first game for the club at right centre, while Billy Walters will get the first crack at hooker with Josh Reynolds on the bench.

Meanwhile Tyrone Roberts will play in the Gold Coast's trial against Brisbane after recovering from an ankle injury in the NRL All Stars match.

Maika Sivo will also play for Parramatta against Penrith, with the NRL yet to confirm if he will avoid being stood down with a criminal charge he has denied hanging over his head in Fiji.

The representative pair spoke detailed their recovery on Wednesday, revealing they are as fit as ever after a preseason of cardio work during rehab and aiming to return within the first month of the season.

It will leave a significant void in the Sea Eagles' pack in the difficult opening rounds as they prepare to face Melbourne, the Roosters, Warriors and Canberra.

"It's been a bit frantic but Des (Hasler) has all the boys in shape and whoever he puts out there round one, we'll all have the trust and the faith in them to do the job," Fonua-Blake told AAP.

"We lose two old heads but you'll have two eager players looking to keep their spot in the team."

Rising forwards Sean Keppie and Haumole Olakau'atu are expected to get their shot in the middle this weekend when the Sea Eagles play Cronulla in a trial at Kogarah.

The Sea Eagles struggled with injury at the end of 2019, with Keppie and Olakau'atu handed their NRL debuts in time for finals.

Both Trbojevic and Fonua-Blake needed surgery at the end of the NRL season but put it off to be able to play for Australia and Tonga respectively.

Fonua-Blake will meet with the surgeon next week with hopes of getting the all-clear to return in round two or three, while Trbojevic could be missing until round four.

"I feel fitter this year than I have been previous years. Knowing that I haven't been running I had to change up a lot of things, I couldn't eat the way I usually eat," Fonua-Blake said.

"My weight is good now. As soon as I came back, I hit the ground running. I changed up my diet now that I'm not running, I had to start eating right.

"Now I'm back in the field doing training with the boys so hopefully the surgeon has good news for me."

Trbojevic is also back training with the main group but has not progressed to full contact yet and is still building strength.

Meanwhile, Hasler underwent hip surgery over the pre-season but kept in regular contact with support staff, doing video sessions from his hospital bed while he recovered.

Trbojevic said the few weeks without Hasler at training was more relaxed, but said the coach has left no stone unturned to prepare the team for another huge season.

"He has everything recorded so he doesn't miss anything," he laughed.

Murray burst from relative obscurity 12 months ago to clinch victory in the 100th edition of the tournament, holding the lead through all four rounds.

The 22-year-old arrived on Wednesday morning off a day and half's travel following his 48th placing at the WGC Mexico Championship last week.

Adding to the strain was that the first two rounds were a slog, having suffered from food poisoning in the immediate lead-up.

"So my expectations got severely lowered ... I battled around for the first couple of days and played quite nicely," he said.

"I relied on my caddie (Simon Clarke) a fair bit. He just guided me around really and I just sipped on the water."

It continued a decent run of form for Murray.

After a slow start to the Australasian summer, he was 36th at the PGA Championship and 15th at Vic Open, bisected by a 21st placing at the Abu Dhabi Championship, a promising result given he will play on the European Tour this year.

However, he hasn't managed a top-10 finish since his triumph at New Zealand's biggest tournament, something he achieved only a handful of months after turning professional.

He hoped a return to The Hill and Millbrook Resort courses that co-host the event will prove inspirational.

"I think I've said all along, this is one of my favourite places in the world, Queenstown, and to come back here I was really excited," Murray said.

"I won't put any pressure on myself. The expectation is to come back and play well and my game is in good shape.

"It's not often you come and defend a title, but I'm definitely going to give it a red-hot crack."

Australians have won seven of the last eight editions of the tournament which is a co-sanctioned event on the PGA Tour of Australasia and Asian Tour, carrying prizemoney of $NZ1.4 million ($A1.34m).

After nine seasons at Adelaide, Jacobs is set to play his first minutes for the Giants in their opening pre-season game against Sydney on Saturday.

The 33-year-old Mumford and 31-year-old Jacobs have racked up 22 seasons and almost 400 games between them.

Perennial rivals, they are finally teammates.

"It's been unreal, obviously as a guy coming up I've got a lot of respect for," said Jacobs.

'We've played a lot of footy against each other and being able to work with him one-on-one has been really enjoyable.

"I think we've got different strengths so we've been able to bounce off each other and then see what each other do."

Jacobs has had to bang bodies with the notoriously physical Mumford on several occasions over the years .

"I'm happy to be on this side of the fence this time, happy to be his teammate, he's an absolute competitor - No.1," Jacobs said.

'You know when you're going to play Mummy he's going to make you earn it.

"That's something that I've tried to sort of take from him is his thought process round stoppage.

"He's been able to have a really big impact around there and the way he trains is the way he plays, so it's another learning as well."

While most clubs in recent times have played just one ruckman for most games, Jacobs pointed out Richmond and West Coast each fielded two in their respective grand-final wins in 2018 and 2019.

He was also aware GWS played Mumford and Dawson Simpson in the same team for a few games last year.

"Providing we're able to compete and play a role up forward there's no reason why we can't go to that (playing two ruckmen)at some stage or towards the back end of the year," Jacobs said..

GWS are coming off a grand-final loss, something Jacobs had to endure after Adelaide lost the 2017 season decider.

"Individually there's learnings from when we (Adelaide) did it, but it's probably been a bit different up here and I've actually really enjoyed the process of what they've been able to do," Jacobs said.

"I reckon off-field coming in we've done it really well so everyone is in a really good head space."

Storages have increased modestly across the river system after welcome deluges soaked large parts of Queensland and NSW.

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority's Andrew Reynolds said some rivers were seeing significant flows for the first time in years.

But the executive director of river management said more rain was needed to break the prolonged dry spell.

"It's the story of the haves, and the have-nots," Mr Reynolds said on Wednesday.

"We've had heavy falls and associated flooding in several northern catchments but generally it's been uneven and some areas have seen little or no rain at all."

Water quality is a concern across the basin, with fish deaths in the Moonie, Culgoa and Balonne rivers in Queensland.

Mr Reynolds said more were likely to die as flows move downstream.

"The legacy of the bushfires is also with us and there is still a risk that more ash and sediment will enter waterways," he said.

Northern storages are up four per cent to 11 per cent, while southern storages are steady at 33 per cent.

Between February 16 and Sunday, 210mm was recorded in Barradeen between the southwest Queensland towns of Charleville and Augathella.

To the west at Mitchell on the Maranoa River, a little less than 160mm fell in the same seven-day period.

Storages in some regions are likely to rise, but many remain close to empty with rain falling downstream.

Mr Reynolds said flows across the basin continued to be below average.

"Not only has the rain been extremely variable, the drought has left the soil bone dry," he said.

"Much of the rain is soaking into the ground before it reaches the waterways and the storages."

Laiseni Kakato, 27, faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday for a filing hearing after being charged with the murder of convicted criminal Mitat Rasimi.

Magistrate Fiona Hayes ordered tattoos on Kakato's arms, legs, chest, back and head be examined and photographed after he refused to comply with a police request.

There are "reasonable grounds" to suspect he was involved and his tattoos may be able to approve or disapprove his alleged involvement, Ms Hayes said.

"He has refused consent on a previous occasion ... making the order justified," she said.

''They can use reasonable force if you don't allow them to do that," she told Kakato.

He is the second man to be charged with murder after Rasimi, a 51-year-old former associate of Mokbel, was found dead with gunshot wounds in his car, which had crashed into a pole at Dandenong in March last year.

Kakato sat quietly in the dock wearing a fitted white T-shirt with his arms crossed while the magistrate read an affidavit from a police officer.

The 27-year-old gave a thumbs up to a man and a woman in the court.

"He has atrial fibrillation so he has an irregular heartbeat. He is on about nine or 10 pills a day to manage that," his defence lawyer told the court.

Staff have contacted St Vincent's Hospital to get his prescription.

Richard Ene, 25 of Hampton Park, faced court also charged with murder in November and is in custody awaiting his next appearance on April 9.

Melbourne underworld figure Nabil Maghnie, who was shot and killed in January, was arrested in November over Rasimi's death but was released without charge.

Kakato did not apply for bail and is due to appear via videolink for a committal mention on May 20, with the hand-up brief due in April.

* Authorities are taking a "rings of containment" approach to limiting the spread of the virus, now formally known as COVID-19, by trying to contain any confirmed cases to individuals, families or affected units

* If a coronavirus pandemic is declared globally but the disease remains contained in Australia, authorities will keep doing what they are doing now

* If there is an increase in cases in Australia or transmission within the community, then authorities would cater a fresh response to the particular circumstances. For a small outbreak, public health units would trace who infected people had come into contact with and isolate people where appropriate to try to prevent further spread. In the case of a bigger spread, they would focus on limiting the speed at which the virus is being transmitted

* Such scenarios are addressed in Australia's coronavirus emergency response plan, which is designed to guide the health sector's response

* More than 3000 people have been tested for coronavirus in Australia. There have only been 15 cases confirmed in the general population, all of whom have now cleared the condition. Anyone with an unusual form of pneumonia is now being tested for the virus

* Every hospital has some process for isolating people if needed

* Both the federal and state governments have powers to force people to enter quarantine if they won't do so voluntarily

* Australia is reviewing its travel advice as virus situations evolve in various countries. Advice levels for northern Italy, Iran, Japan and Korea have been increased

* Health Minister Greg Hunt has told Australian athletes preparing for this year's Tokyo Olympics to "just keep training" as he hopes they have a fruitful Olympics ahead - but says they will be the first to know if there is any risk

* The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee will consider whether to relax the current ban on people entering Australia from China for university students. It would also only so if it's "very confident" the virus is under control in Chinese provinces other than Hubei

* Authorities could cancel events with major crowds, such as AFL games, but only as a "last resort", if the virus situation escalates

Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union national secretary Michael O'Connor wants to stop Mr Setka and 29 other officials from taking members who are glaziers, cabinet makers and flooring installers.

Since August last year, there had been 219 resignations from Mr O'Connor's manufacturing branch who moved to the construction branch, barrister Herman Borenstein QC told the Federal Court in Melbourne on Wednesday.

"Steps were taken by the construction branch to have members of the manufacturing division resign their membership of that division and then join the construction branch," he said.

This was in breach of the national union's rules about the allocation of members, Mr Borenstein said.

While there were no specific references to the specific occupations in the union rules, it did not mean they fell under the construction division, the lawyer argued.

''That's like saying because a GP is a doctor he's also a heart surgeon,'' he said.

Delegates from the construction division had also made enterprise agreements on behalf of manufacturing workers, the court was told.

Mr O'Connor wants the members and their union dues to be returned to the manufacturing division.

The national secretary was quizzed by Mr Setka's lawyer, Craig Dowling SC, about how he voted for proposed rule changes that went as far back as 1993.

The CFMMEU boss "assumed" he would have voted on the changes but did not remember whether he was in favour of them or not.

"It's disappointing the applicant didn't attempt to resolve it through the organisation," Mr Dowling earlier told the court about the proceedings.

The latest escalation within the powerful union comes after Mr Setka was forced out of the Labor Party in August last year following comments about family violence campaigner Rosie Batty.

He also pleaded guilty to harassing his wife but controversially kept his union position.

In September, CFMMEU national and mining and energy division president Tony Maher received support for a motion condemning Mr Setka's "unprincipled actions" in stealing members from other divisions.

Mr Maher said at the time the union would not tolerate "breaches of rules and the principle of divisional autonomy".

The hearing before Justice David O'Callaghan continues on Thursday.

Daniel James Carrington stood trial in the West Australian Supreme Court, claiming he acted in self-defence against father-of-four Benjamin Egan in Northbridge in April 2017, but a jury found him guilty of murder.

CCTV footage showed some of the attack, followed by Carrington walking out of the Foundation Housing building, then running away. He later turned himself in to police.

Carrington was due to face a sentencing hearing on Wednesday but he told Justice Michael Corboy he had sacked his lawyer Jonathan Davies.

He said Legal Aid informed him he could not transfer to another lawyer but Justice Corboy offered to have his associate look into it further.

Carrington said regardless, he wanted to represent himself or look into "another option".

"I guess I don't really trust lawyers," he said.

Carrington said his preference was to proceed with his sentencing immediately but Justice Corboy said he would give him one week to think about it.

"If you insist on representing yourself then that ultimately is your choice," Justice Corboy said.

During the trial, the jury heard Mr Egan and Carrington had been neighbours and friends years earlier.

But their friendship soured after Carrington had a brief sexual relationship with Mr Egan's partner, Amanda Wilson, when the long-term couple separated for a time.

Carrington also learnt Mr Egan had allegedly broken into his storage unit.

Mr Davies said Mr Egan had a "longstanding and visceral hatred" of Carrington and had created a "climate of fear" for him, which meant he thought he was in danger.

Carrington testified Mr Egan had previously tried to attack him, including one incident in which Mr Egan came out of the shadows and tried to stab him.

Ms Wilson told the jury the final couple of years of her relationship with Mr Egan were marred by his methylamphetamine use.

She said the men had "a couple of fights" before the killing, including one incident in September 2016 when Carrington came to her home armed with a knife.

Ms Wilson wrote to Carrington while he was in prison on remand, expressing a desire to be with him, but he rejected her.

The case will return to court on March 3.

Omar Elomar, a relative of dead Islamic State terrorist Mohamed Elomar, was fatally shot in the chest on Cabramatta Avenue in Miller on February 15.

An 18-year-old, who can't be named for legal reasons, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with murder.

Police prosecutors on Wednesday told Sydney Central Local Court they were tracking down five more people in connection with the killing.

The murder accused was allegedly involved in a "joint criminal enterprise" with the other offenders, the court heard.

Prosecutors successfully argued to delay the case while those investigations progressed.

The 18-year-old was previously arrested and charged with concealing a serious indictable offence related to Mr Elomar's killing.

Defence lawyer Omar Juweinat said that charge would likely be dropped in light of the murder charges.

Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty previously said the cold-blooded killing of Mr Elomar, also 18, stemmed from a "trivial" altercation.

"It's nothing to do with any other family members except for the prior incident the day before involving a young teenager who was involved in an altercation, and that's where it led from," he told reporters.

A 15-year-old male baboon due for a vasectomy and two female companions got loose on Tuesday in a carpark near Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney's inner west.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said his heart was with the baboons.

"They operated as a modern relationship and I'm fine with that," he told reporters in Canberra.

Greens animal welfare spokeswoman Mehreen Faruqi will on Thursday move a motion in federal parliament noting the primates' "bid for freedom".

Senator Faruqi says the episode highlights the community's concern for animals used in experimentation and research.

She's calling on the government to end the use of animals for research through investing in other methods and technology.

The baboons are involved in research on reproductive issues, kidney disease and gestational diabetes before being returned to their Western Sydney colony.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the trio were well and resting.

"Breakfasted on bananas, capsicum, apple & bread after big day out. The tripping trio will rejoin their family (4 other females) post operation tomorrow," he tweeted on Wednesday.

He said the vasectomy had been delayed until Thursday.

Mr Hazzard has rubbished claims from activists the animals were being used for research into human-baboon hybrid organs to address the transplant crisis.

Saturday's Blamey Stakes (1600m) is one of two "win and you're in" races for the $5 million All-Star Mile at Caulfield on March 14, with other the Futurity Stakes, which was won by Streets Of Avalon last Saturday.

Guizot is among a field of nine for the Blamey and Purcell indicated they would head to the All-Star Mile with Guizot if he won his way in.

"We nominated him for the All-Star Mile thinking we probably weren't going to get enough public support to get in and we were hoping we could win a lead-up race on the way in," Purcell said.

"The Blamey was the obvious race.

"His form says he's going well enough to deserve his chance in the Blamey and if he happens to win that then he definitely deserves his chance in the All-Star Mile."

The seven-year-old is yet to win in four starts this campaign but has finished second in the Listed Chester Manifold Stakes three starts ago and most recently was third in the Group Three Carlyon Cup (1600m), which was won by Miss Siska.

Guizot was held up behind the leaders at crucial stages in the straight in the Carlyon Cup before getting clear running.

"If he had have got out a bit earlier he probably would have gone close," Purcell said.

"It just didn't work out for him on the day.

"He has been going better than ever. He's just probably got an awkward racing style where he has to be saved for a late run and he just hasn't had much go quite right the last few starts.

"With a bit of luck he could have had a win or two this time in.

"He's drawn the outside barrier in the Blamey so we're going to have to go back and ride him quiet but if the race is run to suit I'm sure he's going to be in the finish somewhere."

Fifty Stars was the $3.80 favourite on Wednesday, with Guizot at $8 and one of six runners at single-figure odds.

Petrit Lekaj has pleaded guilty to the murder of 20-year-old Sabrina Lekaj in Adelaide's west in July last year.

The Supreme Court heard on Wednesday Sabrina was stabbed eight times after a confrontation over her alleged partying and recreational drug-taking.

Defence counsel Ben Sale said his client got into the vehicle with his daughter to purchase takeaway food and planned to confront her about her behaviour.

"There was a realisation that the daughter, who was the apple of his eye, had been lying to him, living another life with friends that involves the use of drugs," Mr Sale said.

Justice Trish Kelly questioned the irony of that given Lekaj was previously jailed for dealing heroin in 1994, and was convicted and fined for possessing cannabis in 2007, and cultivating cannabis crops in 2009.

Lekaj admitted to taking a 15-centimetre knife from the kitchen before entering the car with the intention of scaring Sabrina when he confronted her.

Mr Sale said Lekaj, who had suffered from some mental health issues, had trouble comprehending his own actions following the murder.

"However furious and enraged the prisoner was, he quickly came to his senses and tried to take his own life with five stab wounds to his chest and slash wounds to his wrist," Mr Sale said.

The court heard Lekaj expected severe punishment and told a psychologist that he "deserved to be in hell" for his crime.

But prosecutor Melissa Wilkinson told the court Lekaj produced the knife from his pants and stabbed Sabrina without first trying to scare her.

"She screams and tries to get out of the vehicle, kicking the window and trying to escape her father," Ms Wilkinson said.

"He responds by physically restraining his daughter, gets out the car and sits behind her, further restraining her and stabbing her seven more times.

"He did not offer to save her or render aid and there was a telephone in the car and was near a hospital nearby."

A post-mortem report found Sabrina Lekaj died from a combination of blood loss and strangulation.

Lekaj will be sentenced next week.

The ethical wealth manager on Wednesday announced its first-half profits rose 40 per cent to $4.4 million on $23.3 million in revenue, as its net inflows doubled to $295.8 million.

Its net inflows to its managed flows rose 150 per cent to $96.4 million, with its overall funds under management reached $4.14 billion as of January 31.

Board chairman Steve Gibbs called it the best six months for the company ever.

"It's all about the realisation that people actually care where their money is being invested," he said.

"That sentiment is really pulling them to come to us. All of the numbers are just fantastic."

Its superannuation members increased 13 per cent in the half to 43,264.

Although Australian Ethical is the default superannuation option for a few companies most of its members come to it directly.

"They're choosing us," Mr Gibbs said. "We're not being chosen for them."

Australian Ethical said its Australian Shares Fund gained 29.6 per cent in 2019, significantly outperforming its benchmark thanks in part from a strong performance by the Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, neuroscience company Cogstate and non-retail REITS like Mirvac, Lendlease, Stockland and Charter Hall.

That's evidence, Mr Gibbs said, that taking into account ethical considerations - such as refusing to invest in fossil fuel companies - doesn't diminish investment returns.

Still all of its funds would be hard-pressed to compete with the appreciation in Australian Ethical's own share price, which has risen more than twentyfold since the start of 2013, going from 19.3 cents to over $4.

Mr Gibbs said the company's share price appreciation had been "extraordinary" but he could never countenance putting members' funds entirely in one company.

At 1320 AEDT Australian Ethical shares were down 1.7 per cent to $4.04, up 5.2 per cent for the year.

Australian Ethical announced a fully franked interim dividend of 2.5 cents per share, up 25 per cent from its interim dividend a year ago.

Ten per cent of its profit is donated to the Australian Ethical Foundation, which donated $360,000 in 2019 to 20 community organisations.

Customers with 5G phones will have faster download speeds - a benefit currently enjoyed by those using the fledgling Telstra and Optus networks.

The initial 5G network rollout, which will continue throughout the year, will be underpinned by the planned merger between the company and internet service provider TPG to create Australia's third major telecom services provider.

The news came as Hutchison Telecommunications Australia - which owns a 50 per cent stake in Vodafone Hutchison Australia, reported a $154.8 million full year loss for 2019.

The loss is in stark contrast to a $4.5 million profit it posted a year ago.

Revenue for 2019 fell sharply to $5.7 million, down from $10.6 million the year prior. This wan mainly on the back of lower interest income for Hutchison.

Vodafone Hutchison also reported fewer mobile customers, with its prepaid base the hardest hit. It had 2 million customers for 2019, down eight per cent from 2.2 million in 2018.

Chief Executive Inaki Berroeta said prepaid market had been extremely competitive and wondered if low prices could continue.

"How sustainable these propositions are moving to 5G, that is a question," he said.

In postpaid, it had 3.4 million customers - down from 3.5 million people the year prior.

Customers spending also declined, with average user payments at $33.35 per month, compared to $35.05 in 2018.

While Mr Berroeta was keen to spruik 5G services, he also said Vodafone would continue improving capacity for 4G customers.

The merger with TPG would help speed improvements to 4G capacity, he said.

Mr Berroeta does not expect a significant pickup in 5G services usage until the end of next year.

The carrier's future lies with TPG, with the two businesses this month winning their merger case in the Federal Court to merge.

The combined company could be able to better provide voice and data services and take on Telstra and Optus.

"We now have many customers of broadband products that we will be looking to become mobile customers, and vice versa," Mr Berroeta said.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission had argued the merger should not proceed as TPG was likely to provide mobile services anyway and provide a fourth competitor.

The Commission is considering whether it will appeal.

Shares in Hutchison Telecommunications Australia closed 6.5 per cent lower at 14.5 cents.

The joint analysis by Queensland, Monash and Griffith universities found people put on the cards had problems paying for bills, making purchases and often faced extra financial difficulties from fees associated with paying with a card.

The research involved more than 100 interviews with people from four areas where the cards are being trialled, as well as about 200 surveys.

University of Queensland researcher Michelle Peterie said the views of welfare recipients on the cards were often drowned out in policy debates.

"The overwhelming finding is that compulsory income management is having a disabling rather than enabling effect on the lives of many social security recipients," Dr Peterie said on Wednesday.

"This was true across all of our research sites."

The debit cards quarantine 80 per cent of Centrelink payments so the money can only be spent on items the government deems essential, rather than alcohol or gambling.

About 6000 welfare recipients in the Queensland cities of Bundaberg and Hervey Bay are already on the card, which has been rolled out in the area since last January.

They are also being trialled in Kununurra and the Goldfields in Western Australia and Ceduna in South Australia.

The government is trying to expand the card to the Northern Territory and Cape York, where many welfare recipients are already on another type of restricted debit card.

University of Queensland's Greg Marston says compulsory income management has made people in the NT less able to manage their finances.

"To manage their finances, many participants have become reliant on family members, service providers or automatic payment systems," he said.

The Australian Council of Social Services has used the study to renew its calls for a rise to the rate of Newstart so people are better supported while looking for a job.

The council is dismayed 84 per cent of people experienced shame or stigma while using the card.

"Instead of forcing people on to stigmatising cashless debit cards, which cost thousands per person to administer, we need our political leaders to help lift people out of the poverty trap by increasing Newstart and improving employment services," ACOSS chief Cassandra Goldie said.

"We're urging the Senate to block any move by the government to extend the cashless debit card and thank those senators who've visited communities subjected to the cards and have heard people's concerns."

The State Parole Authority on Wednesday found Orkopoulos had breached two parole conditions, including a failure to comply with requirements of the Child Protection Register.

He was granted parole last December but has since been arrested twice for allegedly failing to comply with his reporting obligations.

Orkopoulos will remain in prison as those charges move through the courts and the parole authority will then review its decision.

The former Labor MP was arrested in January for allegedly setting up an Instagram account - which he used to follow soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo - and not telling police within the required seven days.

He was re-arrested last week when Corrective Services NSW officers told police he'd used the mobile phone of a fellow resident at the Malabar halfway house where he lives.

Defence lawyer Omar Juweinat has described the conditions placed upon his client as "draconian" and "burdensome, onerous and unjustified".

Orkopoulos spent 11-and-a-half years in jail after he was convicted of 30 child sex, drug and child porn offences.

Lynette Bradbury, 52, was on October 31, 2011 found lying face down in a bedroom of her Oatlands home, which she shared with husband Brian.

Her arms and ankles were tied with silver duct tape. Her head was covered with a black towel sourced from the house.

An autopsy later found Mrs Bradbury had a depressed skull fracture and extensive bruising, consistent with significant force from a blunt instrument.

A dumbbell-shaped weight was found in the bedroom and NSW state coroner Teresa O'Sullivan, in findings handed down on Wednesday from a three-day inquest in June 2019, said it was likely the murder weapon.

Ms O'Sullivan also found an attempt had been made to stage a robbery of the Bradbury home but no robbery had taken place.

In the final hours of her life, Mrs Bradbury returned home from her job at Westmead Hospital about 4:20pm, with Mr Bradbury in the house at the time.

Mr Bradbury also worked at the hospital and arrived for a shift about 4:45pm before returning home before 11:30pm.

Ms O'Sullivan said the killing took place at 6:30pm at the latest.

"The evidence suggests Mrs Bradbury was killed around seven to eight hours earlier than 11:32pm - the time when ambulance officers examined her body," Ms O'Sullivan said in her findings.

The coroner also found there was insufficient evidence to suggest Mrs Bradbury was killed by an intruder or intruders.

A person was in July 2013 charged with Mrs Bradbury's murder but the prosecution of the person was terminated in October 2014.

The Director of Public Prosecutions in January 2020 confirmed criminal proceedings would not recommence against the person.

The senior planning manager of the state-owned body, Dean Kearney, appeared at a NSW upper house inquiry into koala populations and habitat on Wednesday to discuss concerns about logging in the wake of the summer's bushfires.

He told the Sydney hearing the industry undertakes extensive mapping, habitat modelling and recording devices to monitor populations and protect koalas in state forests.

Mr Kearney argued other impacts such as climate change, dog attacks, urbanisation, drought and bushfire are more of a threat to the marsupials than timber production.

"Harvesting operations have little to no impact on koalas," he said.

"I am comfortable with what we do now...and the conditions we will put in place if the need arises."

Mr Kearney said the extent of the bushfire impact on koalas and the health of the plantations is still unknown.

"The state of koalas is quite a complex and not yet fully understood picture," he added.

Mr Kearney said he's aware some environmental groups are against the industry but noted the corporation plants trees and installs water stations for koalas and has a working relationship with the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital.

During the last inquiry hearing on February 18, NSW Environmental Defenders Office lawyer Cerin Loane argued land management policies should be overhauled to protect koala habitat.

She said people were calling for "a moratorium on logging and land clearing."

Mr Kearney hit back at the claim insisting it wouldn't be effective because of the different severities of fire damage across each state forest.

The committee is chaired by NSW Greens MP Cate Faehrmann and includes two Labor and two Liberal MPs, a Nationals MP and an Animal Justice MP.

The inquiry is examining the impacts on koala populations and the effectiveness of policies in place to protect the species and is due to report back to NSW parliament by June 15.

Baby formula from Australia is a valued commodity in China, where the virus - which has killed close to 2700 people - is making the transporting and delivery of goods difficult.

Bubs, which on Wednesday reported a $7.5 million first half net loss, said some traders in China were buying more of its products since mid-February as they try to secure baby food supplies.

These customers are mainly buying from the corporate Daigou distribution channel in Australia.

But the company warned the virus impact is making delivering products to China challenging.

The virus outbreak is having adverse sales effects too.

Some retailers in Australia have reported fewer sales of Bubs products due to fewer Chinese tourists and students.

Sales of Bubs products in China grew 19 per cent for the six months to December 31. Direct sales to China account for 19 per cent of the group's overall revenue.

Bubs said the overall loss reflected the business still being in a growth phase, which involved investing in product development and marketing.

The company had reported a net loss of $8.8 million for the same period last year. Revenue for the six months to December 31 jumped 39 per cent to $19.5 million.

By 1300 AEDT, Bubs shares were trading 0.69 per cent lower at 72 cents in a weak market.

BUBS HALF YEAR LOSS NARROWS

* Net loss $7.5 mln vs $8.8 million loss

* Revenue up 39pct to $$19.5 mln

* No dividend declared.

Trainer Rex Lipp is keen to run Gem Of Scotland in the $300,000 The Jewel at the Gold Coast on March 14.

Lipp will then decide whether to head to Sydney or keep Gem Of Scotland for the Brisbane winter.

He had been tossing up whether to run her in one of the Preludes at Toowoomba or Doomben this week and Gem Of Scotland will instead go into the big race without a first-up run.

"There is nothing wrong with her and I will probably trial her on Tuesday," Lipp said.

Gem Of Scotland has won six of her nine starts and is generally considered the best three-year-old filly Queensland.

She has not run since winning at Eagle Farm in October but easily won a Toowoomba trial two weeks ago.

The Doomben Prelude has attracted a smart field even without Gem Of Scotland as it will see the clash of top three-year-olds The Odyssey, Exondabeach and Jagged Edge.

Burns played a sparkling boundary-laden knock of 89 not out to lead Queensland to 1-134 at stumps on day three in pursuit of an unlikely 355 to win.

A win for second-placed Queensland on Thursday would move them closer to a spot in next month's final, while defeat for Victoria would almost certainly end the defending Shield champions title defence.

Victoria had the better of the opening two days and that form continued on day three as Travis Dean helped the visitors move from a shaky 3-73 to 8-208 declared.

The opener fell four runs short of a century when a rearing Cameron Gannon delivery ended his 196-ball knock.

In concert with Matt Short (43), Dean helped add 97 for the fourth wicket as the game moved away from the home side.

Gannon finished with 4-40 to be the pick of a Queensland attack missing regular frontline bowlers Mark Steketee and Michael Neser on Australia A duty.

Burns was in good touch from the outset and found the boundary 18 times in his 131-ball innings.

Burns and Bryce Steet put on 124 for the opening wicket before the inexperienced opener was caught hooking for 31 off the bowling off Scott Boland.

Burns and Lachlan Pfeffer (3) negotiated four more overs before bad light brought a premature end to the day's play.

Only six wickets fell on day three in contrast to 22 on the opening two days.

Ominously storms are predicted for Brisbane on the fourth and final day.

After a top order debacle, the Warriors finished day three at 6-161 in their second innings with an overall lead of 142.

They lost their top three for ducks in the space of five overs after Webster earlier produced a career-high knock to drag the Tigers back into the match.

He whacked 27 fours and three sixes in a rearguard action that included 104 of his side's last 123 runs.

Webster resumed Wednesday on 34 and with the Tigers at a precarious 5-188 in reply to WA's 371.

But he took the long handle to the Warriors' attack from the opening over, eventually pushing the innings to 390.

Webster made the most of a life on 97 when Simon Mackin dropped a simple catch at fine leg off the bowling of Joel Paris.

Paris, who was WA's best with 5-90, got his man when Webster edged to wicketkeeper Josh Philippe.

The Warriors fell to 3-6 with Jake Carder, Cameron Bancroft and Shaun Marsh all out for zero in a new-ball blitz from Gabe Bell and Nathan Ellis.

Debutant Ellis, who starred with his death bowling in this season's Big Bash, was impressive with 3-50 to take his match haul to six.

Coming off a career-high 158 in the first dig, talented youngster Cameron Green mounted a recovery mission with Philippe (55).

But that ended when the No.5 was given out caught behind for 45.

Paris (26) and Aaron Hardie (18) put on a valuable unbeaten 52-run stand to get WA to stumps.

The third-placed Warriors are only five competition points behind Queensland, while last-placed Tasmania are chasing their second victory of the season.

Westpac senior economist Andrew Hanlan said it was a sharper fall than expected after consensus for a one per cent drop.

"It was a weak end to what was a weak year for the construction sector," he said on Wednesday.

Total building work on homes declined by 4.6 per cent on the previous three months on a seasonally adjusted basis as work on non-residential buildings decreased by 3.4 per cent, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.

Mr Hanlan said the construction sector has been in a cyclical downturn since mid-2018, with falls in five of the past six quarters.

Disruptions from the bushfires may have added to the weakness in the quarter - although it is notable that sizeable falls were evident in all states, he said.

"As to implications for broader economic growth, with the construction sector representing around 13 per cent of the economy, the 3 per cent drop in work in the December quarter will have a material direct impact."

BIS Oxford Economics said non-residential building construction activity surprised on the downside, likely due to patchy quarterly activity because there is a strong pipeline of office, hotel and hospital projects.

The ABS said bushfire rebuilding and recovery activity will have some impact on future construction activity estimates but is not present in the December estimates.

The hosts scored with ease to reach 2-236 before declaring during the final session with a lead of 402.

SA openers Jake Weatherald and Henry Hunt looked set to survive the 17 overs before stumps, only for the latter to fall off the bowling of Liam Hatcher in the dying stages for 15.

Weatherald ended the day unbeaten on 19 with SA at 1-40. A win for NSW would all but lock up their spot in next month's final with two rounds to be played.

Hughes followed his first innings 103 with a confident knock of 136 from just 170 deliveries, including 22 boundaries, surpassing 3000 first class runs along the way.

Hughes' seventh first class century came off 141 balls and he had just surpassed his previous best of 134 when caught on the boundary off the bowling of Chadd Sayers.

Along with Nick Larkin (32), Hughes helped add 94 for the first wicket.

Rookie Daniel Solway continued his impressive debut season with an unbeaten 53 off 69 balls on his club home ground.

Batting wasn't so easy for South Australia's tail-enders during the morning session with Trent Copeland leading the Blues' attack.

Copeland added two more scalps to his overnight haul to end with 5-63, surpassing the 300-wicket mark for NSW in the process.

South Australia resumed at their overnight 6-135 but were eventually dismissed for 207, leaving a deficit of 166 on the first innings.

Defeat for fourth-placed SA would mean they need to rely on other results to keep their Shield campaign alive.

Centre Alliance's Stirling Griff will move a motion on Wednesday calling for the urgent ban as he ramps up criticism of the classification board for rating controversial anime.

The South Australian senator used a speech to parliament to highlight anime and manga depicting child exploitation.

"There is, unfortunately, a dark side and a disgusting side to anime and manga, with a significant proportion of the two media featuring child abuse material," he told the Senate.

"They contain depictions of wide-eyed children, usually in school uniforms, engaged in explicit sexual activities and poses, and often being sexually abused."

Japanese law exempts manga and anime from exploitation laws because the images do not depict real children.

In Australia, the production, possession and distribution of abuse material depicting a representation of a person who appears to be under 18 is illegal.

Experts have warned explicit anime and manga can be used by paedophiles as tools to groom children and act as a gateway to the abuse of real children.

Senator Griff said despite local laws, there were a number of anime series that had received M and MA15+ ratings from the classification board.

"The classification board appears to be making decisions in isolation to criminal law. This must stop," he said.

He said the worst series was Eromanga Sensei, which is about a 12-year-old girl who draws pornographic manga while her 15-year-old brother writes the stories.

"The series also heavily features incest themes and many scenes are so disturbing I just won't, I just can't, describe them," Senator Griff said.

The South Australian senator has written to Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher about the issue.

Senator Griff wants an immediate review of all Japanese anime movies currently accessible in Australia.

Nature Strip was allocated top weight of 58kg for the Group One Newmarket (1200m) on March 7 when weights were released on Tuesday.

Trainer Chris Waller says Nature Strip came through his first-up fourth in the Lightning Stakes in excellent condition and galloped well at Flemington on Tuesday but connections had decided not to run him in the Newmarket and instead take him back to Sydney.

"The ownership group and I have been weighing up our options as to where he should have his next run," Waller said on Wednesday.

"There is obviously the option to run in the Group One Newmarket Handicap, where he would carry 58kg, which will make things very tough for him, giving a lot of weight to some top-class horses, or alternatively he could go to the Group Two Challenge Stakes, which is run over 1000 metres at Randwick on March 7.

"It has not been an easy decision but we have now made a final call to bring him back to Sydney and prepare him for the Challenge Stakes.

"He has some big targets over the next four months which will, all going well, include a run in the TJ Smith during The Championships and also fulfil a lifetime goal of the owners to have a runner at Royal Ascot."

With Nature Strip bypassing the Newmarket, it means weights will have to be raised at least 1kg at acceptance time because under the conditions of the race there must be a minimum top weight of 57kg.

Lightning Stakes winner Gytrash is next in the Newmarket weights with 56kg.

The Wests Tigers player had pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm related to an alleged domestic violence incident involving his former partner, Arabella Del Busso, in Caringbah South last year.

NSW Police had accused Reynolds of causing bruising to Ms Del Busso's right arm and left leg on September 12. She reported the incident to police on December 11.

A NSW Police spokesman told AAP on Wednesday that an application will be made to withdraw charges against Reynolds when he is due before Sydney's Downing Centre on April 29.

His lawyer Dan McGirr said police made the decision after conducting a "thorough investigation" into the matter.

"They saw they had no merit," he told AAP on Wednesday.

"He's very relieved as you can imagine."

In a statement issued through his lawyer, Reynolds described the weeks since he was charged as one of the most "tumultuous and difficult" periods of his life.

"During this time my personal life was aired to the public and most importantly my character and principles were questioned," he said in the statement.

The 30-year-old thanked his mother, manager and lawyer for standing by him through some of his "darkest moments".

"I would also like to thank the fans that never doubted my true character," he said.

Reynolds was earlier in the month given the green light by the NRL to continue playing despite the allegation.

Wests Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe said it was a great outcome.

"This news comes as a great relief to Josh as well as our club," Mr Pascoe said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Josh has carried himself extremely well throughout what has no doubt been a very stressful time for him and his family, and we look forward to him continuing to play a key role for this club on and off the field in the years to come."

Lawyers for Ms Del Busso say they have received no formal communication from NSW Police regarding the decision to drop the charge.

Roberts Gray Lawyers managing director Rhys Roberts added that the matter is one of "domestic violence and ongoing defamation by the media".

"We are shocked at the treatment to date of Arabella by the NSW Police and the media," Mr Roberts told AAP in a statement.

"The information we have received to date from Arabella is more than sufficient to seriously consider legal action against Reynolds and the media."

Mr Roberts said the firm is having further discussions with Ms Del Busso and will be seeking a "full and frank" explanation from NSW Police.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

Lifeline 13 11 14

Former Sydney Roosters junior Frei, 22, was likely to make his first-grade debut next month, but the club confirmed the serious knee injury suffered early in last Saturday's trial against Melbourne ended all hopes.

It follows a similar season-ending injury to seasoned prop Bunty Afoa and the departure of five-season front-rower Sam Lisone, who has been granted a release with a year to run on his contract to join the Gold Coast.

It means Kearney must dig deep to find interchange backup for starting pair Aganatius Paasi and Leeson Ah Mau.

The only two contenders coming off the bench in this Sunday's trial against the Wests Tigers in Rotorua are Jamayne Taunoa-Brown and Adam Tuimavave-Gerrard, who impressed against the Storm.

Both have no first grade experience.

Taunoa-Brown is on trial contract in Auckland but did his chances of a full-time deal no harm with a solid outing for the Indigenous team in last week's All Stars match.

Captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck wants the pair to go for broke against the Tigers.

"We have enough ball players in our team so I'm looking for a bit of grunt in there," Tuivasa-Sheck said.

"Just go after it and be aggressive. Whoever puts their hand up to do that and does the hard yards, they'll get the shot."

Prime Minister Scott Morrison put the case directly to Mr Rivlin when they met in Canberra on Wednesday in what was described as a very warm encounter.

The pair discussed Australia's strong commitment to seeing justice in the case of Malka Leifer, a former Melbourne school principal who is facing 74 charges of rape and child abuse here.

Liberal MP Dave Sharma and Labor's Josh Burns also discussed the case with Mr Rivlin, just over a fortnight after they raised it in parliament.

Mr Burns said he was keen to highlight the matter on behalf of his constituents Dassi Erlich, Nicole Meyer and Elly Sapper, referring to alleged victims of Leifer.

"I was pleased that President Rivlin advised me that if hearings scheduled this week do not see this matter progress towards Malka Leifer being extradited to Australia, he will personally meet with the chief justice of Israel to discuss how this matter can be expedited," Mr Burns told AAP in a statement.

"This matter has dragged on far too long. These victims deserve justice and I will continue to fight until Malka Leifer is back in Australia facing trial."

Mr Sharma said Mr Rivlin had committed to emphasising to all arms of the Israeli state the priority Australia has placed on the extradition.

It's understood the Leifer case has been raised by almost every person the president has met during his three-day visit to Australia.

Mr Rivlin and Mr Morrison also talked about their nations' responses to the coronavirus outbreak, in particular the effective measures Australia has put in place to stem its spread.

To date, Israel has only recorded two cases of the virus but there are fears about an outbreak in nearby Iran.

The leaders also touched on defence and security cooperation, deepening science and technology links, and the long friendship and enduring people-to-people ties between Australia and Israel.

Spectroscope will attempt to end a run of outs that has stretched nearly three years in the Listed Tattersall's Members Cup (1600m) on Saturday.

McCall has had 22 winners and 22 minor placings this season from 85 runners giving her a 26 percent win strike rate and 52 percent for placings.

Four of her past five runners have won, including promising three-year-old The Sinner at Eagle Farm last Saturday.

But Spectroscope has been a special work for McCall since he joined her stables from Godolphin a year ago.

Spectroscope did his early racing in France, where he won twice before being transferred to Australia.

He won the 2017 Doncaster Prelude, which was his last victory but he has raced well almost exclusively in top company since.

Spectroscope was sold to clients of McCall and has continued in that form without winning.

The gelding has had seven starts for McCall and never been disgraced.

At his last start he was a nose second to New Universe in a 1600m race at Eagle Farm.

McCall she is confident Spectroscope is close to another win.

"He gets back in his races and his high rating means he gets big weights, which is no help to a small horse," McCall said.

"But he never runs a bad race and his time is coming."

"We were originally looking for a Rockhampton Cup-type horse when we went to the dispersal sale but came away with him. His rating is too high for the provincials but he is paying his way here."

McCall said Spectroscope would press on to an 1800m race at the Gold Coast on March 14.

"Then we can give him a break for the winter and the Listed races as there are plenty to suit him," she said.

McCall is reaping the benefits of planning put into action a few years ago.

"Basically we only have room for 22 horses and we have to make certain they are the right kind of horse," she said.

"We move them on quickly if they can't show us much."

McCall comes from one of Queensland's best-known racing families. She is the daughter of trainer Ray McCall who had top gallopers such as multiple stakes winner Messiaen and current sire Top Echelon.

Natalie McCall is the only woman to train a Group One Stradbroke Handicap winner in River Lad in 2014.

Most candidates on the stage on Tuesday in Charleston, South Carolina, shared a common goal: stalling Senator Bernie Sanders' march toward the nomination.

As they battled to emerge as the alternative to Sanders, the rivals appeared to have a collective sense that, for at least some of them, time was running out.

Here's a look at how the seven candidates on stage fared:

BERNIE SANDERS

Sanders was the object of much of the evening's hand-wringing. Michael Bloomberg, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar tried to sound the alarm, arguing that with the self-avowed democratic socialist Sanders as the nominee, the party had little hope of unseating President Donald Trump in November.

Sanders also seemed to acknowledge that parts of his record are potential liabilities. He called his past support for legislation protecting gun manufacturers from lawsuits "a bad vote" but pushed back on accusations that he would be sympathetic to authoritarian regimes in places such as China and Iran.

JOE BIDEN

The free-wheeling debate format, in which candidates routinely exceeded their time and talked out of turn, sometimes kept Biden on the sidelines for long periods of time, leaving him increasingly exasperated.

Even so, Biden likely accomplished the goal of trying to assure South Carolina voters he remains a leading option.

ELIZABETH WARREN

She again aimed most of her fire at Bloomberg, to the point where at times it seemed she was more intent on making sure the billionaire New Yorker and former Republican does not end up the nominee than making the case for herself.

"The core of the Democratic Party will never trust him," said Warren, herself a former Republican.

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG

At one point, under attack from Warren for his past support of Republicans, Bloomberg finally seemed to give up trying to assert his liberal bona fides. Instead, he turned pragmatic.

"I'm the one choice that makes some sense," he said.

"I have the experience. I have the resources. And I have the record."

PETE BUTTIGIEG

African Americans make up two-thirds of the Democratic electorate in South Carolina, and with his low support from those voters leaving little hope of scoring high in the state, Buttigieg must hope his steady debate performance translates into an infusion of quick cash to keep his campaign afloat past Super Tuesday.

AMY KLOBUCHAR and TOM STEYER

Klobuchar, a senator from Minnesota, and Steyer, a California billionaire, largely appeared to be afterthoughts for most of the evening.

Almost 30 minutes passed at the start of the debate before Klobuchar spoke. Steyer often had to battle to grab the moderators' attention.

Both tried to present themselves as reasonable alternatives to Sanders.

Like Buttigieg, Klobuchar draws little support from black voters, and she is already looking past South Carolina to Super Tuesday with the hopes that winning her home state will keep her alive.

Steyer is looking for a top-three finish in South Carolina, though he said after the debate he had the resources to stay in the race longer.

Kepu and ex-Test centre Samu Kerevi filed affidavits in November supporting Folau's legal case against RA, which was settled out of court in December.

Folau was sacked after posting on Instagram that hell awaits homosexuals and other sinners.

News Corp obtained the documents that show 110-Test forward Kepu was "disappointed" in how the governing body managed the situation.

The veteran says he boycotted a pre-World Cup Wallabies camp because he thought his support of Folau would cause division in the lead-up to the tournament - at which Australia crashed out at the quarter-final stage.

"I did not attend the camp. This was because I was so upset about the way in which management had handled Israel's situation that I didn't think it would be a good thing for me to attend," Kepu wrote.

He said as a fundamentalist Christian he felt marginalised by both RA and NSW Waratahs and was pulled from a Super Rugby media opportunity due to fears he might speak in Folau's favour.

Castle said players weren't gagged from speaking out in support of Folau.

"We're very comfortable with the way that we dealt with things," she said.

"We gave all players an opportunity to step up and express their views.

"I felt we engaged as widely as possible on what was a very difficult issue and they were given opportunities to speak both privately and publicly."

Among the allegations tabled, Kepu said that prayer groups had stopped since Folau's axing.

Castle denied RA's involvement in stopping such gatherings.

"I'm so insulted that people think that would be acceptable behaviour for Rugby Australia," Castle told reporters at a Business of Rugby breakfast in Sydney on Wednesday.

"I'm on public record saying I'm proud of the fact that Israel was a strongly Christian man and was proud of his faith and expressed it as such.

"But he made a comment that was insulting."

Castle said players could have their own beliefs as long as they acted within code of conduct expectations.

"As long as what you're doing to express your own views inside those environments, that's what being a player inside the Wallaby program is all about," Castle said.

His uncle Nick said that from an Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander's perspective, the family was now in "sorry business" and pulling together to overcome the loss.

"He was a three-year-old boy, deeply connected to his siblings, peers and older children and played a big part in a very close knitted family," Nick said on Wednesday, refraining from naming the boy for cultural reasons.

"As you can imagine the sudden loss of our little boy has been distressing for the family.

"It's left many of us with the difficult task of trying to come to terms with his loss."

Uncle Nick read the statement to media flanked by three other family members and thanked Queensland police for their support and guidance.

"For us as a family it's an unprecedented incident and consequently it has affected the larger community and that's been demonstrated by the support our families have received," he said.

The boy died after being left on a minibus for some six hours on February 18 before he was discovered by centre manager and bus driver Michael Glen Lewis.

Lewis and another childcare worker, Dionne Beatrice Grills, have been charged with manslaughter over the death and both have been bailed on the condition neither contact co-workers, each other or the victim's family.

Lewis was ordered to surrender his passport and not come within 100m of an international point of departure.

Their charges will again be mentioned in the Cairns Magistrates Court on March 18.

During the bail hearing on Tuesday the court heard that Lewis told authorities "my whole life is over" after finding the body of a toddler in the back of the kindy bus he had been driving.

He made the comment during a call to triple-zero immediately after discovering the boy on the Goodstart Early Learning Centre bus at about 3.15pm, media reported.

According to the transcript of the call read out to the court, Lewis told the emergency operator: "Oh my God, this kid is dead. The child was left on the bus all day. So sorry, buddy."

"I'm going to jail. Oh my God, my whole life is over."

Police allege the boy was left on the bus when it was parked for the day outside Hambledon State School, about 1.7km from Goodstart's Edmonton centre.

Lewis, 45, was driving the minibus that collected the child from his home about 9am that morning.

Grills, 34, was also on the bus on the morning of the boy's death. She was a casual employee who had been working at the centre for less than a month, the court was told.

On Tuesday, Acting Detective Inspector Jason Smith spoke to reporters outside the court, saying the charges should provide answers for the boy's devastated family.

"The manslaughter charge refers to an act or a mission which is negligent and has brought about the death of another person," he said.

Labor and government senators passed the motion on Tuesday condemning Ms Arndt's comments about the murders of Queensland mum Hannah Clarke and her three children.

In an email to supporters after it became clear the government would support the motion, Ms Arndt asked her followers to "maintain the rage" and "write to your local senators expressing your astonishment at this capitulation to mob rule", Sky News reported on Wednesday.

"It is a very sorry day for this country that this key branch of our government is engaging in virtue signalling at the expense of supporting free speech and proper discussion of key social issues," she wrote.

Ms Arndt came under heavy fire last week for congratulating Queensland police for keeping an open mind on the possibility that Ms Clarke's estranged husband Rowan Baxter might have been driven too far.

She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in January for "significant service to the community as a social commentator, and to gender equity through advocacy for men".

Ms Arndt said it was "totally inappropriate" for politicians to interfere in decisions that are made by the Council for the Order of Australia and authorised by Governor-General David Hurley.

She called on her followers to also write to Mr Hurley to argue the Senate's action "sets a very dangerous precedent".

"It is important the honours council issues an urgent statement saying they will not be influenced by political pressure," she wrote.

Mr Hurley's office earlier confirmed it had referred complaints about Ms Arndt's award to the council, as per standard processes.

The men's rights activist wrote on her website on Monday that she was experiencing a "vicious media pile-on" but that it had led to her being "absolutely swamped" by new supporters.

Terri Butler, who is Ms Clarke's federal representative, said the country had seen so many deaths as a result of family violence.

"There risk is we become habitualised and then fail to be shocked," Ms Butler told politicians at Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday.

"I know that we all want to do better."

People sung "Amazing Grace" as they lit candles for Ms Clarke and her children - Laianah, Aaliyah, and Trey - who were murdered by her former partner Rowan Baxter.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was important to remember their victims and who they were.

"All of that was taken from them in a murderous act of violence which none of us here can comprehend," he said.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese hoped the brutal murder marked a turning point.

"We have all failed, particularly men have failed, the women and children of this country," he said.

Greens co-deputy leader Larissa Waters said words were not enough and parliament needed to take action.

"We here collectively can fix the system and make sure that it doesn't fail anybody else," Ms Waters said.

The vigil comes as some MPs stress the need for domestic violence to be on the agenda constantly, not just in the aftermath of major tragedies.

Earlier on Wednesday, Labor MP Anne Aly, said it was crucial the issue continues being tackled long after Ms Clarke's death.

"I want to make sure that this stays on the agenda - that we don't just talk about this at that critical point where we are mourning lives lost," Dr Aly told reporters on Wednesday.

She said there are a lot of women who will be wondering if they're "going to be beaten black and blue tonight".

"I say to those women, we see you. And we know you," she said.

On Tuesday, Dr Aly spoke publicly for the first time about her experience of domestic violence at the hands of her former partner.

Fellow Labor MP Linda Burney, who led Wednesday's ceremony, said what women needed when they were escaping a domestic violence situation was certainty and practical outcomes.

"They need a place that is safe to go to. They need to be financially secure. They need to understand that there is support out there," she said earlier on Wednesday.

Star flanker Savea has stirred up a storm in New Zealand by revealing his desire to exit the national sport and switch to the 13-man code next year, driven by the challenge of the NRL and to represent Samoa internationally.

Kiwis great and Warriors captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck jumped on the Savea bandwagon on Wednesday, declaring the 26-year-old a near-certainty to make a successful transition if he follows through.

He believes Savea hasn't changed from the focused athlete who was a teammate in the 2011 New Zealand secondary schools rugby union team.

"He's just a champion athlete. He'll kill it if he made his way across here, I truly believe that," Tuivasa-Sheck said.

"He's just someone that challenges himself each time and he's always looking forward to a new challenge.

"If he does, I wish him all the best and hopefully he comes here (Warriors)."

The latter desire appears unlikely after Savea told a podcast audience he'd prefer to play for a powerhouse Australian club such as Melbourne or Sydney Roosters.

Hurricanes winger Ben Lam, Savea's Super Rugby teammate, revealed the players often spoke openly about the possibility of playing in the NRL but few do because of uncertainty over how they would fare.

Top Kiwi players who leave Super Rugby inevitably take up a lucrative northern hemisphere rugby union club contract.

Prolific try-scorer Lam will do that this year, when he joins French club Bordeaux.

However, he believes Savea has the skill-set to succeed in the NRL.

"(Savea) is a special player. I think any sport he did do, he'd do very well," Lam said.

If he plays in the NRL, Savea will be the first All Blacks player to do so since Sonny Bill Williams interrupted his burgeoning rugby union career to join the Roosters for a triumphant stint in 2013-14.

Brad Thorn made the switch when returning to Brisbane in 2005-07.

All Blacks outside backs Matthew Ridge, Craig Innes, John Timu, John Kirwan and Marc Ellis all played in the equivalent of the NRL in the early 1990s, before rugby union turned professional.

The mother, a 47-year-old former nurse, denies using urine to endanger the life of her then nine-year-old daughter in Sydney's Westmead children's hospital in March 2015.

Her judge-alone trial in Newcastle District Court on Wednesday heard the girl, who suffered from a genetic condition and associated immunodeficiency, arrived at Westmead on March 4 with acute renal failure.

She was on the way to recovery when doctors noticed an unusual spike in certain "bugs" in the girl's blood on March 12.

A blood test taken from the central venous line showed microorganisms that hadn't appeared in a test on March 11 and that were consistent with an earlier test of the girl's urine.

Paediatric allergist and immunologist Melanie Wong said the bugs were high in number and likely to have come from outside.

"Usually, when there is only a small number, it can take a significant amount of time before (the blood cultures) come back," she told the court on Wednesday.

"In this case, we found bugs growing only hours literally, six hours or so, after they were incubated."

More blood tests showed unusual levels of the waste products urea and creatinine.

"(It) was not typical and may have been consistent with the introduction of the urine into the body ... via the line," she said.

Dr Wong said she was able to rule out several other possible reasons for the microorganisms in the girl's blood, including a heart condition.

First admitted to hospital aged two, the girl had initially presented with symptoms typical of her condition, where some people can have episodes of unstable immunity.

But Dr Wong said the illnesses then escalated with many "atypical" for her condition, sometimes occurring monthly.

"(Early illnesses) were explainable and for the most part I was expecting her to get better," Dr Wong said.

"The immune deficiency is unlikely to explain the latter increase in infections she encountered."

That differed from the history Dr Wong had of the girl's father and older sister, who share the condition but effectively outgrew the immunodeficiency.

The Crown alleges a search of the mother's bag on March 17 revealed a liquid-filled syringe, five used syringes, two urine sample containers, laxatives, a stool sample container and other medical equipment.

The mother, whose identity is suppressed to protect her daughter, said she had gathered the medical supplies when her child was transferred to Westmead from another hospital.

She told police she missed being a nurse and liked being involved in her daughter's care, the Crown said.

The woman - also accused of tampering with stool samples and twice illegally using laxatives on her daughter in 2014 - shook her head at times during Dr Wong's evidence.

The doctor told the court the girl, now 14, was placed into foster care soon after the alleged urine incident and has since improved "dramatically".

That included having normal stools, eating lactose and being weaned off many medications.

Under cross-examination, Dr Wong said she wasn't aware of an offer from the girl's family to be placed under surveillance to better understand the constant illnesses.

She conceded maintaining the sterilisation of the central line could be a problem but the hospital had processes to reduce the risk for the closed system.

Nurses had documented having to tell the mother to stop touching and altering the pumps connected to the girl's line, Dr Wong said.

The trial continues.