Record lows chilled Australian cities over the weekend - as a welcome deluge of rain hit parts of NSW, ahead of a mild week to come.

In welcome relief for drought-hit farmers, parts of north-west NSW had their largest rainfall for eight years, including in Gunnedah, which had the heaviest rain in years.

But the chill - as low as minus 8C in the mountains - was welcome in Thredbo and Perisher, where rain soon turned to snow.

With the early snowfall, a bumper ski season could be on the way.  

Australian cities also saw record low temperatures for March over the weekend.

On Saturday night, News South Wales, Victoria and the usually balmy south-east Queensland had their coldest March night for decades.

The mercury dipped to the lowest in March for in 32 years at Hobart Airport, where it was just 3.4C.

By Sunday night it had recovered to 7.6C.

Melbourne was half a degree off recording their coldest March day in 41 years.

It was also the coldest March night for at least 20 years in other areas - with Sydney and Brisbane feeling the bite.

Saturday night was the coldest March night for 14 years in Sydney city where it dropped to 12.5C,.

Brisbane at 15.3C saw it’s coldest March night for around about 11 years, while this morning, Canberra hit a low of just 3.2C.

Today, it will be clear across Queensland, while showers could hit Sydney and Melbourne.

Adelaide will warm up after a chilly start, while Perth can expect storms. Darwin will be a warm 35C.

A 34-year-old woman died on an international Qantas flight between the US and Australia.

The woman, a resident of the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine West, was on board Qantas flight QF 95 from Los Angeles to Melbourne.

It’s understood two medics tried to help, but she couldn’t be saved.

Qantas confirmed the death on the overnight flight, which landed on Sunday morning.

Victorian Police told 9News.com.au they’re awaiting the results of a post mortem.

“The exact cause of the woman’s death is yet to be determined at this stage,” a spokeswoman said.

A man has stumbled to a Melbourne McDonald’s for help following a frenzied stabbing attack early this morning.

The victim was repeatedly slashed in the upper body following an “altercation” outside a home on Blake Street in Blackburn North around 5.45am.

The offenders fled on foot and remain on the run.

Blood-soaked clothing was seen at the entrance of the fast food restaurant.

Police have sealed off several streets in the area, with a large contingent of detectives, SES crews and forensic officers on scene.

The victim remains in a serious condition after being rushed to hospital.

The circumstances surrounding the attack remain unclear – with officers yet to reveal whether it was targeted or a random ambush.

“Roads have been blocked between Springfield Road and Middleborough Road as well as Springfield Road and Blake Street,” Victoria Police said in a statement.

“Drivers are urged to avoid to the area for the rest of the morning.”

Meanwhile, in a second stabbing incident, a man was stabbed twice in a brawl involving up to 15 men near a train station in Noble Park last night.

It is believed two groups clashed outside a takeaway shop on Douglas Street just after 9pm.

The fight then spilled into the train station car park, where the man in his 20s was stabbed twice.

The offenders fled the scene.

Police believe the victim was driven to a nearby ambulance station where he received medical treatment, before being transported to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

More to come...

A Magistrate has criticised "affluent Sydney’s" rubbish problem after acquitting a garbage truck driver who ran over and killed a sleeping homeless in Redfern.

Magistrate Giles cleared City of Sydney Council driver Ian Juurik of negligent driving, saying "these miserable circumstances are utterly unique."

Juurik  hung his head and wiped away tears as the Magistrate delivered her decision at Downing Centre Local Court today.

"I'm just glad this is all over," he told 9News outside court.

"It's been life changing, very tough."

Juurik knew immediately he had run over something. In a Triple Zero call recording, he is heard saying he thought he had run over a pile of blankets.

"It's a tight lane and I had nowhere to go, it looked like a blanket but I didn't know there was someone under there and now he's, I don't know I think he might be dead," he told the operator.

The victim, Mathew Hayne, was wrapped in a thin foam mattress on the 50 centimetre wide footpath.

It was conceded by the Crown no part of the 31-year-old was visible to Juurik, as he was a very small man, at 1.58 metres tall, weighing just 53 kilograms and described by an ambulance officer as "very, very emaciated."

Earlier, dashcam footage from another truck collecting recycling material in Bourke Lane, shows different garbage collectors waking Mr Hayne, but he fell back asleep in the same spot.

During proceedings, Magistrate Giles was also critical of the dumping of household waste.

"We heard a lot of evidence of the circumstances that confront Sydney's garbage collectors everyday with the disgraceful waste problem of affluent Sydney on the streets. It is placed out on the street everyday with no thought for commuters or pedestrians or traffic," he said.

"Mattresses are a particular problem because council has had to contract out their collection to an unreliable intermittent private contractor.

"Mattresses stay on the street for weeks on end. All the garbage truck drivers I heard from told me they had driven over mattresses."

The court also heard about the obstacles facing Juurik on the morning of Mr Hayne's death.

The driver had to avoid parked cars and back garden walls while trying not to damage his truck, even taking one wheel of his truck to the curb, while travelling slower than walking speed.

"He has clearly always tried to be a wise, cautious responsible driver to date," the magistrate said.

After today's decision, City of Sydney Council's director of city services David Riordan said: "Safety of course is paramount for us and we are forever reviewing our processes and procedures."

Juurik remains employed with City of Sydney Council as a garbage truck driver.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the government will not help Islamic State sympathisers return to Australia, as two families plead for help to come home.

Three surviving children of notorious terrorist Khaled Sharrouf are reportedly being held at a Syrian refugee camp after leaving the group's last stronghold in Baghouz before it was overrun by Kurdish fighters.

Sydney tradesman Mohammed Noor Masri, who travelled to Syria to join the terrorist group, is also being held by Kurdish forces.

"I'm not going to put one Australian life at risk to try and extract people from these dangerous situations," Mr Morrison said today.

"I think Australians would certainly support that.

"I think it's appalling that Australians have gone and fought against our values and our way of life and peace-loving countries of the world in joining the Daesh fight, I think it's even more despicable that they put their children in the middle of it."

Mr Morrison said his government was working to create laws allowing authorities to monitor who have returned from conflict zones.

"We currently have legislation we have been seeking to pass on temporary exclusion orders which would enable us to manage effectively, like a parole scheme, if people were to come back into the country," he said.

The ABC has reported Sharrouf's daughters Zaynab, 17, Hoda, 16, and eight-year-old son Hamza are being held in the Kurdish-controlled Al-Hawl camp alongside eight other Australian women and their children.

Two of those children are believed to be Zaynab's daughters, aged three and two.

Two other of Sharrouf's sons, Abdullah and Zarqawi, are believed to have been killed alongside him in an airstrike on their car in Raqqa in 2017.

The children's mother Tara Nettleton is also believed to have died from a medical condition in 2015, one year after the family left Sydney.

Her mother Karen Nettleton has called on the federal government to help her surviving grandchildren return to Australia.

"They're with other Australian and foreign fighters (in the camps) and they shouldn't be in amongst all of that," she told the ABC.

Air conditioning serviceman Masri, 26, told The Age and Sydney Morning Herald he wanted to return home with his wife and three children.

His wife Shayma Assaad is pregnant and the couple are parents to three boys aged one, two and three.

"(I feel) remorseful, regretful. I mean, people make mistakes. And you have to pay the price for your mistake," he said.

"I would prefer to be prosecuted in Australia or under international law because you have things such as human rights and ... justice, so that would be the preferred option."

Masri claims he didn't fight for IS and instead worked in a hospital where he maintained refrigerators and air conditioning units.

He said he travelled to Syria as a misguided follower of Islam rather than a terrorist recruit and insisted he was not aware of the brutality and murder carried out by Islamic State.

"I was born here. I was a hardworking man and I became religious and then I wanted to do what I thought was right which ended up being the wrong thing," Masri said.

With AAP.

The killing of Sydney meditation coach and bride to be Justine Ruszczyk could make history in the United States. 

And it’s all about to play out in a Minneapolis courtroom at the criminal trial of police officer Mohamed Noor.

Justine’s death sparked massive protests and scrutiny of police policies in Minnesota - as many on-duty killings already have in the US. But this one was different. 

The victim was an Aussie.

The victim wasn’t a suspect or a person of interest, she was calling 911 for help.

And the officer who shot and killed her was the first Somali-American officer at the Minneapolis Police Department’s 5th precinct, prompting suggestions that he won’t get a fair trial based on his race.

For a myriad of reasons, these factors will make the criminal trial of officer Mohamed Noor the one to watch of all killer cop trials in the United States. 

There are roughly 1000 shooting deaths at the hands of police officers while on duty in the US each year.

In the last 14 years, only 35 police officers have been convicted of cop killings in the US. 

In the American state of Minnesota specifically, Noor is only the second policeman to stand trial for killing a civilian while on duty. 

The only other was Jeronimo Yanez who - only a month before Justine was shot- was acquitted of manslaughter after shooting dead Philando Castile during a traffic stop.

So, if this jury finds Mohamed Noor guilty, he’ll be the first police officer in Minnesota to be convicted of an on-duty killing. That’s why America will be watching this so closely. 

WHAT HAPPENED?

Justine Ruszczyk was home alone in the friendly Minneapolis neighbourhood of Washburn Avenue. Her fiancé Don Damond - who she would soon marry in Hawaii - was away on a business trip. 

It was late, almost 11.30pm, and Justine heard noises coming from the back alley behind their home. She could hear screams - like someone was being sexually assaulted - so she rang 911.

That was at 11.27pm on July 15, 2017.

Justine rang 911 a second time because police hadn’t arrived and she was worried they had the wrong address. 

At 11.37pm, Noor and his offsider Officer Harrity arrived at the alley and drove down the back of Justine’s house. In those moments, Justine was talking to Don on the phone. That phone call ended at 11.39pm. 

Justine’s last words to her soon-to-be husband were “OK, the police are here.”

Justine left her home in her pyjamas, we presume, to go and talk to Officer Noor and Harrity.

Justine - we believe - approached the officers’ patrol car from behind and that is when Noor shot her through the open driver’s side window. 

Minutes after speaking to her loved one about concerns she had for someone else, Justine Ruszczyk was dead. In an alley far, far away from her family - whose lives would change forever with a phone call in a few hours.

WHAT’S MOHAMED NOOR BEEN CHARGED WITH?

Noor - who’s currently appealing a dismissal from the police force - is facing the following charges:

- Second degree murder

- Third degree murder

- Second degree manslaughter 

Noor has pleaded not guilty to all three counts. 

The most serious of these charges is second degree murder because it alleges Noor had intent to kill Justine. Third degree murder is without intent. 

Second degree manslaughter alleges Noor ‘created an unreasonable risk and consciously took the chance of causing death or great bodily harm to another person.’ 

If convicted, Noor could face up to 25 years in jail. 

Noor’s fate ultimately rests on the jury’s perception of deadly force and what they deem reasonable in the situation he found himself in. 

Police officers  - obviously - are authorised to use force. In this case, for Noor to be convicted, the jury must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that he wasn’t justified in using deadly force.

When it comes to answering this key question, the jurors are instructed to look at all the facts known to Noor in that precise moment he pulled he trigger instead of making an assessment based on hindsight. And they must make their judgement based on that of an objective, reasonable officer in the same situation. 

What would have been invaluable to the jurors is body camera footage. But neither Noor nor Harrity turned their cameras on before the fatal shot. They took 14 odd seconds to turn their cameras on. Those 14 seconds are the critical missing gap in that night’s sequence of events.

WHO WILL WE HEAR EVIDENCE FROM DURING THE TRIAL?

The courtroom has been reserved for four weeks for Noor’s trial - starting Monday, April 1 (local time) - although it may wrap up earlier.

Before we start hearing evidence, there will be a jury selection process whereby 12 jurors will be selected to reach a verdict.

The criminal trial will be held before Judge Kathryn Quaintance. She’s already indicated there’ll be tight control on what evidence is made public. Quaintance reportedly won’t release any ‘graphic’ evidence to the media and therein the public.

The State of Minnesota - prosecutors in the case - intends to call 29 expert witnesses. These include police personnel, a medical examiner, several doctors, special agents and 12 forensic scientists. 

Don Damond- the victim’s fiancé - is also giving evidence. What an awfully hard thing to fathom while grieving your future life partner. 

Officer Harrity - who was driving the patrol that night - will be testifying at some point in the trial. We don’t know when. His evidence will be crucial because he is the only witness to the shooting. 

Noor - he’s the big unknown. His lawyer - Thomas Plunkett - hasn’t indicated either way whether he will give evidence in his own trial. He never co-operated with investigators or did an interview and it is his constitutional right not to testify. 

If you were a juror tasked with deciding whether deadly force was justified in those split seconds, Noor is the one you need to hear from. He’s the only person who can paint an accurate picture of the known facts, in that environment, in the moment that he pulled the trigger. 

We will have to wait and see.

The Angel of Belanglo. The Little Girl in a Suitcase. Found five years and a thousand kilometres apart.

Two cases that perplexed police across three states. Until a Crime Stoppers call unlocked the mystery that revealed they were both linked in a most egregious way.

I remember hearing about the remains discovered in the Belanglo State Forest in New South Wales in 2010. The mystery that surrounded the bones and who they belonged to. Scattered across the dense bushland, they were stumbled upon by dirt bike riders who had veered off their usual track as they rode through the forest.

They found the skull first. Then more bones. A sock, earring and a decomposed t-shirt with the word ‘Angelic’ written on it. The bones had been gnawed by wildlife and were so badly damaged, police assessed they had been laying in the forest for up to 12 years.

That ruled out backpacker serial killer Ivan Milat - who had made Belanglo notorious for his horrific crimes there - because he’d been apprehended in 1994 and was serving seven life sentences.

Police were stumped. They had no way of identifying who the remains belonged to. Using the motif on her T-shirt, they called this young woman ‘The Angel of Belanglo’ and hoped someone would come forward. But no one did. The bones remained in a Sydney morgue – another unsolved crime.

It would be five years before police could finally put a name to the remains. That breakthrough came after another heartbreaking discovery.

Pulled over on the side of the Karoonda Highway in the remote South Australian town of Wynarka, a motorist noticed a well-worn black suitcase. It was dumped as though it was a piece of rubbish. But inside, he made a horrific discovery – the complete skeleton of a young child. Even seasoned police officers were shocked at the find.

But again they had no leads, and with very little to help identify the toddler, they appealed to the public, displaying the items found in the suitcase with her remains. Some clothing, including a jacket, dresses, and a hand-made quilt.

The images were beamed across the country. And in the Northern Territory, Tanya Webber was one of the many who saw the news reports. She stared at the little girl’s pink dress, examining it at length. She’d seen it before. She had to delve deep into her memory before she realised why the garment was familiar. She’d seen her best friend’s granddaughter, Khandalyce Pearce, running around her Alice Springs lounge room wearing the very dress, seven years earlier.

But Tanya didn’t want to believe the dress belonged to Khandalyce, she didn’t want to believe that Khandalyce – who she called Khandles – was the little girl in the suitcase. But she couldn’t shake the image from her mind, and in a vain attempt to allay her fears, she called Crime Stoppers.

Tanya was caller 1267 and after months with no answers, detectives finally had their breakthrough.

What followed was a meticulous police crusade to confirm the young child’s identity. They trawled through medical records, cancelling out dozens of other children before finally confirming the little girl as Khandalyce. But the investigation didn’t end there.

This child had to have a mother, as Inspector Greg Hutchins from SA’s Task Force Mallee said at the time, “Somebody would have loved this little girl, someone gave birth to this little girl.”

Detectives had a hunch. As no one had come forward, they began to question whether Khandalyce’s mother too, was killed.

It was a painstaking process which led them to the ‘Angel of Belanglo’. Using Khandalyce’s neo-natal heel prick results, they tested the bones from Belanglo and found a DNA match.

Suddenly, finally, they had two names: Karlie Pearce-Stevenson and Khandalyce Pearce. A 20-year-old mother and her two-year-old daughter.

Once they’d identified them, police were then able to identify their killer – Daniel Holdom. And the true nature of his sadistic crimes would come to light.

In late 2008, Karlie introduced the strange new man in her life, Daniel Holdom, to her mother. Karlie and Khandalyce were traveling to Adelaide with him. She’d stay in touch, she promised, as she said goodbye.

But, within weeks of leaving Alice Springs, Holdom had murdered the young mother and daughter. He took Karlie to Belanglo where he sexually assaulted and killed her, before taking photos of her lifeless body. He didn’t even try to cover her up.

A few days later, he took Khandalyce to a motel in Narrandera, New South Wales, where he killed her and stuffed her tiny body in a suitcase.

Karlie’s remains were discovered in 2010, two years after she’d been killed.

In 2015, the bones of little Khandalyce were discovered in the suitcase dumped on the side of a South Australian highway.

Seven years after Karlie and Khandalyce were last seen alive, family and friends learned of the evil that had taken them.

Speaking publicly for the first time, Karlie’s cousin Samantha, and aunt Sharon, are clearly still traumatised by what happened to their loved ones.

We met them in Alice Springs, where they spoke of the fond memories they had growing up, and their heartbreak when they learned Karlie and Khandalyce’s lives were so cruelly taken.

They will never forgive the man who duped the entire family into believing Karlie and Khandalyce were still alive, pretending to be Karlie while texting her family for months, stealing more than $70,000 of Karlie’s money.

For seven years, while his victims’ remains lay unidentified, Holdom got away with murder.

In 2015 though, police finally had their man, and he was easy to find. Holdom was already in jail, serving time for sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl.

In November 2018, he was convicted for the depraved murders of Karlie and Khandalyce, his heinous actions capping off a lifetime of crime.

To this day, he’s never shown any remorse.

To watch ‘Evil in the Outback’ in full, and for more on 60 Minutes, visit the official website: https://www.9now.com.au/60-minutes

A lot has changed in Emerald, Central Queensland, since I was born there in 1963.

Back then the population was around 3000. Now it’s 10,600.

It did hit 16,000, but the mines shut down and about a third of the town’s people were gone in months.

RURAL TOWN LOBBIES FOR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

EMERALD CELEBRATES HEADSPACE FUNDING WIN

My first journey was a short one.

Mum carried me out of the hospital, then across the road to home, a pale blue weatherboard with a massive yard and lots of freedom.

I went to a primary school where we stood on parade in 110-degree heat (Fahrenheit back then) and when I saw a kid faint for the first time, I thought he’d carked it.

Hard to believe now, but our phone number was 260. The Brodies’ number was 249.

Number 1? That was Locke’s Garage.

You picked up the handset, turned a handle and the switch operator, Margie Boland, would physically plug your line into the one you wanted.

People with phones were called subscribers and there were fewer than 300 “subscribers” in Emerald, the gateway to the West.

Margie called herself the town’s “call girl” (it was funny to adults) and she was fond of recounting 4QD announcer Russ Tyson’s belief that: “General practitioners know a little about a lot. Specialists know a lot about a little. But the telephonist knows everything.”

For little blond me, life was very good. Barefoot and free range.

But even as a very young boy I knew drought was bad. It was a killer.

In drought, plants died, animals died, and some men died too, at their own hand.

But there was a solution to drought and my dad helped build it.

Fairbairn Dam. At capacity it holds five times more water than Sydney Harbour.

Irrigation changed Emerald and it became a cotton and citrus bowl as well as a service town for the coal mines and gem fields.

So it was with a lot of sadness I discovered that a half century later my hometown is described as the suicide capital of the Sunshine State.

In 12 months, 18 people have chosen the permanent solution.

Farmers have laid off labour. Small businesses stay open longer for less.

There’s no one to have knock-off drinks with anymore. No money. No rain … and only one way out.

Then there’s the ugly seducer called ice.

It’s cheap. Big, big highs to take a youngster out of smallsville for a day or two.

The despair and mental health issues rush at them later.

Word around town is that a recent cluster of young deaths was a sort of suicide pact.

Emerald Hospital offers mental health services, but some locals feel judged, especially if they are repeat clients.

The old bush attitude of “you can’t help someone if they don’t help themselves” still runs strong.

That’s why the arrival of Headspace would be a godsend.

This tight little community needs fresh faces and modern approaches to mental health treatment. Now.

Fairbairn Dam looks terrible. The water level is at record lows.

Stand on its banks and you don’t need Stephen King’s imagination to feel creeped-out by long submerged land and trees now shimmering in the heat.

It feels like the End of Days. Water is hope out there.

But as it has shown in other areas, Headspace can hydrate dry souls and irrigate barren futures.

It’s a tap the Queensland government could turn on with a flick of someone’s wrist.

*If you or anyone you know needs help, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800, SANE Helpline 1800 18 72 63 or beyondblue 1300 22 4636.

A remote community in the eastern Top End is in the midst of a baby boom.

Gove District Hospital is experiencing its busiest year in 18 years, with 50 babies born already this year.

This time last year, the hospital had only delivered 31.

"Sometimes it's very stressful," says obstetrician Tim Linton.

"We have women coming into labour sequentially or together, and so we only have two labour rooms and sometimes we have three or four labouring women." 

He says it's essential the remote maternity ward receives new equipment.

"If we had a better way of resuscitating babies, that'd be good, so things like oxygen saturations, we haven't got good equipment for at the moment, so when a babies born we like to know if their lungs are working well and if their oxygen levels are good."

Nurses aren’t exactly sure what prompted the boost in births, but say they are seeing more expectant mothers from Groote Eylandt delivering in Gove as opposed to Darwin.

Some have other suspicions, blaming the baby bonanza on cyclones during last year's wet season.

A Melbourne man who was shot in the face while driving home from church claims he experiences ‘daily flashbacks’ of the ordeal.

The victim, who wishes to only be known only as Michael, was placed in an induced coma for four days after being shot at in Melton about 12.30am on November 30.

Michael, aged in his 40s, remains traumatised by the unprovoked attack after he was convinced he would die in hospital from his wounds.

He was just three days away from going on holidays when he was attacked. He now struggles to work and is no longer involved in church activities.

"In the hospital, possibly because of the drugs, what I saw was images of guns and people pouring petrol. It was the worst time of my life," he told reporters today.

"I lost teeth and my mouth doesn't line up anymore - I've just got numbness there in my face.

"I have no idea why (this happened). I'm just an ordinary guy who has a passion to help people and has a love for people.”

Armed Crime Squad Detective Inspector Dean Thomas said Michael is lucky to be alive.

“The difference between investigating a homicide or a non-fatal shooting has only been millimetres,” Detective Inspector Thomas said in a statement.

Photos of a bloodstained Michael stumbling into a service station after the incident were released by police, who launched a fresh appeal for witnesses today.

Investigators also released video footage of a car they are searching for, believed to be connected to the shooting.

Michael was on his way to drop off a friend at home when he swerved around a vehicle, parked in the middle of the street.

A man standing next to the stationary vehicle hit Michael's car with a baseball bat several times.

A number of shots were then fired from the car, which police believe could be a white HSV Clubsport, into Michael's red sedan.

He was pursued to Centenary Avenue and Coburns road, where he was shot at again, with one bullet striking him in the face.

Michael's female passenger was not injured and called Triple-Zero.

One of the suspects is described as Caucasian, dressed in black and carrying a baseball bat and long-arm firearm.

“We’re very keen to speak to anyone who might have witnessed the incident or the offender’s vehicle on the night, or who may know the identity of the offender/s,” Detective Inspector Thomas said.

Anyone with information is urged to contact CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 000

Police investigating the disappearance of mother-of-two Roxlyn Bowie have uncovered pieces of evidence through a series of digs in the country town where she vanished, A Current Affair Crime Editor Simon Bouda has revealed.

Roxlyn Bowie disappeared from her home in Walgett in northern New South Wales in 1982, leaving behind her ambulance officer husband, John, and their two children, then aged two and six.

John Bowie told police at the time that Roxlyn had walked out on him after an argument, and he has constantly denied any involvement in her disappearance.

Nobody has ever been charged.

In the past few weeks, strike force investigators have been excavating a number of sites in and around Walgett.

Among the items they have unearthed is a sterling silver ring with the initial "R".

It is thought to be a ring which was produced by Avon - a company for which Roxlyn's now-deceased mother is believed to have worked as a sales representative.

In the same location, forensic police also unearthed the packaging from a surgical scalpel blade made by British company Swann Morton.

Detectives have been told the brand was used by ambulance officers in the 1980s.

Police also dug up surgical masks.

Bouda said he had been told all the items were found about a metre beneath the surface, in a paddock at the back of a house in the same street where the Bowies live.

All the items have been sent for forensic and DNA testing, and police are continuing to excavate key sites in the Walgett area.

A blatant boast about the gift of a half-a-million-dollar Lamborghini for his wife has come back to haunt a wealthy Sydney property developer.

Toplace Construction owner Jean Nassif posted a video on social media of his wife Nissy receiving the bright yellow supercar a few weeks ago.

But online haters hit out at the couple, posting comical memes online such as filming bright yellow objects like a boogie board, rubbish bins and a match box car while mimicking Jean and Nissy Nassif’s Lebanese accent.

But not everyone’s laughing.

Owners who recently purchased apartments in one of Mr Nassif’s Toplace development have slammed the quality of finishes and the number of outstanding defects at the new Castle Hill Atmosphere complex in Sydney’s north-west.

Bruce and Candal Pattern paid almost a million dollars for a two-bedroom unit in the complex and told A Current Affair that the place falls well short of expectations.

"If he (Nassif) delivered luxurious apartments and he delivered what we paid for then I have no problems in him spending the money how he wants," Candal told reporter Steve Marshall.

"But when he gave us inferior apartments and she's driving around in a banana Lamborghini, yeah I feel like I've been mistreated, totally mistreated."

Mr Nassif agreed to do an interview with A Current Affair but cancelled when he was advised of the topics to be discussed.

Seeking answers on behalf of disgruntled Atmosphere apartment owners, A Current Affair approached Mr Nassif on the street near the Toplace headquarters.

Mr Nassif told reporter Steve Marshall that he "loved him" and said the Atmosphere complex would win an award.

However, three apartment owners have told A Current Affair they’ve made official complaints to NSW Fair Trading.

Mr Nassif has denied the allegations.

Josh Frydenberg will announce half a billion dollars to upgrade one of the worst bottlenecks in South East Queensland in tomorrow night’s Federal Budget.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed the $500 million commitment, which will need to be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Queensland Government.

It would , he said, help alleviate congestion on the M1 between Daisy Hill and the Logan Motorway.

And, it’s on top of funding already announced to ease the traffic squeeze.

Mr Morrison said it’ll help mums and dads get home safely, and faster, and free-up tradies and transport companies stuck in congestion.

But the Queensland Government says while it will be forced to match the Canberra component, New South Wales only has to pay 20 percent of joint projects.

The Budget will also contain up to a billion dollars for regional road upgrades in Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria.

The Prime Minister hit out at Queensland, accusing William Street of not playing its role, while he’s been able to work with other Labor states.

A ute has been filmed driving the wrong way down a Melbourne highway this afternoon.

The exclusive vision shows the vehicle travelling against traffic on the South Gippsland Highway at Cranbourne around 2pm.

Moments later, the ute collided with another vehicle.

Witnesses told 9News three people inside the ute - two men and a woman- tried to flee the scene, but were tackled to the ground by police and arrested.

The trio are suspected of being behind a two-hour crime spree across the city’s south-east suburbs, which involved a carjacking and vehicle thefts.

Investigators believe the spate of offences started about 12.30pm.

Charges are yet to be laid.

The highway has been re-opened between Thompson and Camms roads after earlier closures as a result of the police investigation.

“It may take some time for delays to ease in the area,” VicRoads said in a statement.

More to come...

Anyone with information is urged to contact CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 000

Women's fashion retailer Noni B group is being accused of unacceptable working conditions including staff not being able to take toilet breaks, but the company says the wellbeing of staff is paramount.

Staff who work for Noni B group, which includes Noni B, Rockmans, Millers and Rivers, have complained to their union about conditions including not being able to go to the toilet because of under-staffing with some workers, who wish to remain anonymous, saying it's led to urinary tract infections.

One employee even reported having to use the store mop bucket as a toilet.

The allegations come as the company reportedly confirmed to the Sun Herald that it would be making “a number of roles” redundant.

The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA) also says understaffing has led to new stock piling up causing health and safety issues, while cuts to part time hours and unrealistic sales targets are adding to the pressure.

In a statement, Noni B Group says the wellbeing and safety of all staff is paramount. 

It says the union is making unsubstantiated claims that are part of a campaign against a proposed Enterprise Bargaining Agreement.

The group has recently faced criticism over unethical sourcing of garments.

The Facebook page has received a barrage of comments with the hashtag #whatshemakes, from consumers concerned about the pay and conditions of workers employed in factories where the group sources its garments.

An Australian man is in a coma in Bali after a motorbike accident, according to his family.

Erran Braddick has had brain surgery and has also suffered serious internal injuries, his sister Daniele Braddick, from Gladstone, Queensland, has revealed as part of an online fundraiser.

She wrote that he is in BIMC hospital in the resort town of Kuta.

The family needs to raise up to $130,000 to bring him home to Australia, she said.

“My brother Erran has been in a horrific motorcycle accident last night in Bali and has had major surgery due to bleeding of the brain and serious internal injuries,” she wrote.

“Our goal is to get him back onto Australian soil as costs of him to remain at a hospital in Kuta are astronomical.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said: “The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance, in accordance with the Consular Services Charter, to an Australian man hospitalised in Bali and his family.”

Nine.com.au has contacted Mr Braddick’s family.

Last month a Victorian man,  Frankie Avalon Fonohema, 27, died in a scooter accident in the Bali resort of Canggu after moving to the island.

His friends raised money to return his body to Australia.

He was not wearing a helmet and didn’t have a licence. He died from his injuries on Sunday, March 3 at Mangusada Regional Hospital.

The parents of a murdered Central Coast teenager are campaigning to have the suppression order on the identity of their daughter’s killer lifted now he is over 18 years old.

Tania Burgess, 15, was killed in a frenzied murder which saw her stabbed 48 times as she walked home from school in 2005.

Tania’s parents, Mandy and Chris, ran to help their daughter who died in their arms a short time later.

Known only as “DL” for legal reasons, the killer was sentenced to a maximum sentence of 22 years, with a non-parole period of 17 years for the murder – it was later reduced on appeal in 2008 to a maximum of 18-years, with a non-parole period of 13-years.

Despite now being aged 29, the killer’s identity still can never be revealed to the public as he was a juvenile when he committed the murder.

DL had his parole refused by the NSW State Parole Authority earlier this year although his sentence will expire on 18 July, 2023.

The victim’s family is now calling for the suppression order surrounding his idnentity to be lifted.

“I feel Tania deserves more justice than this, her life was cut short and we are so deeply saddened by the loss of our daughter and knowing that the man that killed her could potentially be released without a name or face for the community to watch out for,” her parents Mandy and Chris wrote in change.org petition which now has more 118,000 signatures.

“Support us as we give our daughter Tania the justice she deserves by keeping DL in jail and push for our government to amend the identification law of serious offenders when they turn 18 so that they can be identified to the public.

“Regardless of what boundaries or areas are set for parole conditions no one will know who he is.”

Criminal Barrister Peter Lavac told 2GB he endorsed and supported the changes wholeheartedly, saying the public has the right to know “that a killer once again walks among them”.

“The authorities have a duty of care to continue to protect the public and members of the community and the best way to ensure that protection is to release his identity,” he said. “The rights of the public must take precedence over the rights of a killer.”

A teenage boy is tonight thankful he's alive after an iPhone battery exploded on his chest.

The 15-year-old escaped with superficial burns, when flames erupted from the device at his Dakabin home, north of Brisbane, last night.

"They said that if the explosion happened in my eyes or acid dripped on my eyes, I most likely would've been blinded," Jay Watson told 9News.

"It was an initial yellow explosion and then flames came from that."

Jay was playing with the iPhone 6S battery in his bathroom.

He admits he bent the battery which sparked and quickly exploded onto his chest.

"I was just curious what was inside," he said.

His mum Kari Lashbrook heard screams and immediately called triple zero.

"There were some sections where the battery had like spurted some form of acid or something, you could see they were really quite deep," she said.

"I was so worried."

The acid from the battery seared several layers of skin from Jay's chest.

He was rushed to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital in a stable condition. Doctors were shocked he suffered only superficial burns.

Authorities and manufacturers warn against playing with any kind of phone battery due to the volatility of the materials inside.

But Jay isn't the only one to carry out his own science experiment at home.

Hundreds of people have posted their experiences online after stabbing and hitting smart phone batteries.

Jay however, says he's learned his lesson, admitting it was a painful one.

"Would've been smarter to Google, I thought about that in the ambulance ride after," he said.

As for his mum, she claims he's had a talking to.

"I think he's had his punishment. I think the consequence of the injury is his punishment."

Another baby formula scandal has erupted after footage surfaced group of people allegedly abusing the ‘two can’ baby formula rule at Coles in Hurstville.

The footage, captured and released to 2GB by a woman known Alex, shows a group of approximately ten people repeatedly returning to the store to buy cans of baby formula.

A “two can” rule was originally introduced to stop shoppers from stockpiling the formula to sell to China.

Australian baby formula products are extremely popular with Chinese buyers following a spate of poisoning scares there.

This has seen China putting a high value on tins bought from Australian supermarkets and chemists, with snapping up tins of the baby formula becoming a lucrative business for professional buyers known as Daigous – some buyers are understood to make more than $100,000 per year.

Alex said customers were gaming the two can rule at Hurstville Coles by exiting the store and return to purchase more baby formula.

“They had no shame, the staff knew and just kept telling them they had to be three metres away from the store,” she told 2GB.

“There was two registers full of these people having these products in their hands and no one pulling them up.”

Coles has since issued a statement and encouraged customers to speak with their local store manager.

“Coles is committed to ensuring our customers have access to infant formula and as a result we are limiting sales quantities to two units per customer,” it said in a statement.

“We are working with our suppliers on solutions to improve availability for customers. Where formula is unavailable, we encourage customers to speak with their local store manager.”

Last month, new baby formula stock caused chaotic scenes in a supermarket in Melbourne, with employees having to remove the product to avoid escalation.

Shoppers at Box Hill Woolworths can be seen pushing and shoving each other out of the way as they try to grab the valuable tins in a video surfacing on social media.

The footage shows a large group congregating around a single aisle focusing their efforts on one particular brand of formula. 

The tradie who died when scaffolding collapsed at a building site in Sydney has been identified as an 18-year-old apprentice.

Christopher Cassaniti fell from the almost eight-storey structure and became trapped under the debris in Macquarie Park.

A 39-year-old co-worker remains in a critical condition at Royal North Shore hospital.

The two men were working on a 17-metre structure to the rear of the building when it collapsed at around 12.30pm.

The teenage victim’s visibly distressed parents visited the scene of the accident at the Lachlan's Line apartment project on Epping Road.

Due to the amount of debris, emergency crews had difficulty reaching Mr Cassaniti, who only celebrated his birthday last week.

“The first resources that arrived on scene found an absolutely chaotic and emotionally charged scene that took some time to ascertain what had happened,” NSW Ambulance spokesman Steve Vaughan told 9News.

"The injuries were significant."

When paramedics finally reached Mr Cassaniti, almost two hours after the collapse, he was confirmed dead at the scene.

“I heard people in there screaming ‘help us, help us, help us’ and screaming obviously in pain with all the metal that had fallen on them," witness Albert Muscat told 9News.

"We started cutting with the grinders and hammers until about 20 minutes later we couldn’t hear screaming anymore, that’s when the supervisors told us to move out.”

As many as nine ambulance units, a Careflight helicopter and multiple Fire and Rescue NSW crews were deployed to the site to assist with the operation.

Police had two eastbound lanes on Epping Road closed while they were at the scene, causing traffic delays in the area.

While all lanes have since reopened, motorists should expect delays and are advised to take an alternative route if possible.

SafeWork NSW officials are also investigating and a report will be prepared by the coroner.