Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia cancel flights in Melbourne, McDonald's teams up with Cadbury icon: Australia news live

A South Australian man has been walking around for more than a week with a $4.8-million winning ticket in his pocket none the wiser.

“It’s funny, I normally check my ticket every day, but I’ve been so busy, I hadn’t got around to it until today," the Gawler man told lottery officials.

The man's ticket has won the Set for Life draw on November 18, which guarantees him $20,000 a month for 20 years.

The NSW government has announced it will withdraw all remaining Covid-19 penalty notices.

In 2022, around 36,000 fines were withdrawn after it was unclear for the recipient what the nature of the offence was, an apparent breach of the Fines Act 1996.

And now more than 23,000 fines will be removed after it was initially deemed they offered a clearer explanation. However the latest legal advice to the government is that it is "appropriate" to withdraw the remaining Covid-19 fines.

"Around $5.5 million in total will be refunded to individuals who have made full or partial payment of a Covid-19 fine," the Department of Customer Service said in a statement.

"The Covid-19 public health orders were issued in a complex and rapidly changing environment and necessarily underwent frequent revisions to manage the evolving public health situation.

"Ultimately, the Commissioner of Fines Administration considers the Covid-19 related penalty notices contained insufficient details which may render them technically deficient and place their validity in doubt.

"This decision does not impact matters which are in the process of being considered by, or have already been finalised, by the courts."

Tradies are being urged to ditch the energy drinks as the heat ramps up in NSW. Sydney is copping a prolonged period of heat this week and Safework NSW has warned about the threat posed to employees outside in the sun for long periods.

And while plenty of workers love an iced coffee or two throughout the day, they're being urged to stick to water with Wednesday's temperatures set to reach 40C.

“Workers are reminded to listen to their body when the temperature rises and to drink plenty of water. It is vital you do not replace water with soft drinks, energy drinks or coffee as these can dehydrate you further," Head of SafeWork Trent Curtin said.

He also urged employers to think about safe practices for workers, ensuring tasks outside are rotated and for workers to not be overworked.

Details have emerged about the circumstances surrounding the death of a two-year-old girl who was found unresponsive inside a car in North Queensland.

Emergency services were called to the Cassowary Coast Regional Council chambers carpark in Innisfail at 1pm on Monday.

Paramedics attempted to resuscitate the child and she was rushed to Innisfail Hospital where staff attempted CPR, but she could not be revived.

Police are now investigating how the young girl was left inside the car on a 30C day.

Superintendent Mick Searle spoke to media and said it appeared the child had been in the vehicle for a “significant period of time”.

“It appears the child had been in the vehicle by herself for quite some time and the parents were away from the car at the time the child was found,” he said.

“We’re now conducting a very complex and detailed investigation in relation to this matter.

Read more here from NCA NewsWire.

OK, things are heating up in Sydney. Plenty of suburbs have surpassed the 30C mark, with a high of 37.4C recorded in the northwest of the city in Richmond.

And things are expected to get even hotter on Wednesday as 40C could be reached. It's prompted a warning about the electricity grid with fears air con use will put it under a lot of pressure.

It's a scenario that often photographed around Schoolies time and authorities are once again urging revellers to avoid balcony hopping.

“It’s a recipe for disaster,” Superintendent Peter Miles told the Gold Coast Bulletin in response to the photo.

“If you’ve got alcohol on-board or drugs, you really are playing with fire and that will end tragically,” he said. “Not too many people fall from a seven, eight or nine-storey building and survive.”

Now this is a heartwarming update from lottery officials. An Adelaide dad with four kids can now afford his own home after landing $1 million in Monday night's Weekday Windfall draw.

"We don’t own a home and have been renting for quite some time, so this will finally let us buy a place to call our own," he told The Lott on Tuesday.

I’ve got a busy day at work today, but it will be hard to concentrate! This is the best phone call I’ve ever received.”

There are mounting calls to tighten e-scooter rules after hospitals in Queensland reported a spike in serious injuries involving riders.

New data collected from five major hospitals where patient interviews were conducted shows 35 per cent of private e-scooter owners admitted to travelling over 25km/h.

“It’s clear many riders on privately owned e-scooters are speeding, and sustaining more severe injuries, but riders on hired devices are still getting seriously injured,” RACQ’s Head of Public Policy Dr Michael Kane.

“What’s worrying is 65 per cent of all riders said they were wearing a helmet which suggests standard helmets are not always protecting against facial injuries,” Dr Kane said.

“We’re seeing terrible results when people on standing scooters crash forwards and injure their face on roads or other hard surfaces like cars.”

RACQ is calling for riders to wear full-faced helmets and for a transition to 'sit-down' scooters where the centre of gravity is lower.

Now this isn't your average theft.

Victoria Police are appealing for information after a shipping container was allegedly stolen earlier this month. Yes, you read that right, a shipping container with $25,000 worth of mining equipment inside was allegedly taken by a prime mover in Beechworth on November 16 in the middle of the night.

Investigators have released vision of the vehicle as part of their investigation.

A young driver has been slapped with a handful of fines this morning after police spotted him driving around regional NSW without a door.

"About 7:20am Dubbo HWP officers stopped this utility on the Newell Highway after sighting it had no door. After it stopped police could see the rust was the only thing holding it together," Highway Patrol said.

Police say the man was allegedly displaying false licence plates nor did he have a licence.

The 22-year-old man was also allegedly found to be in the possession of cannabis seeds.

He is due to front court over the alleged licence offence and alleged drug possession.

More than $250,000 has been raised as the families of Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, the two Australian women who have died in the Laos methanol poisoning tragedy, look to raise awareness of the "silent but deadly risk" that took their lives.

The two 19-year-olds from Melbourne were on a dream trip across Southeast Asia when they fell ill in the tourist town of Vang Vieng after a night of drinking. They are among six tourists to have died from the suspected methanol poisoning incident.

"We want to honour the memory of Bianca, Holly, and others impacted by methanol poisoning by turning this tragedy into a mission for change," a GoFundMe page set up by the families says.

They plan on using raised funds to assist the two families for the costs they've endured bringing the two women back to Australia, while also supporting existing initiatives raising awareness of methanol poisoning as a well as funding awareness campaigns.

It's going to a sweltering day in Sydney today and the airport has already recorded temperatures above 25C before we even hit 9am.

A heatwave is sweeping NSW, and Sydney's west is expected to near 40C today with a severe heatwave warning in place for Batemans Bay, Bowral, Camden, Campbelltown, Hornsby, Liverpool, Nowra, Penrith, Parramatta, Richmond and Scone.

We'll keep you up to date with the latest weather developments.

An investigation is underway after a woman in her 40s died after she was found with burns in the stairwell of a Sydney apartment block.

Emergency services were called to the Campsie unit block on Monday afternoon and the woman, 44, was rushed to Concord Hospital. She died later in the evening.

No one else was found injured in the incident, police say, and are calling for witnesses or anyone with information to come forward.

Well this is a bit special. The iconic Cherry Ripe has been reimagined and will be rolled out as a McDonald's McFlurry from tomorrow.

Described as a 'world-first collaboration', the release is part of Macca's summer menu that includes a Pineapple Sundae and the Hawaiian McSpicy.

"Australia’s most iconic chocolate bar combined with Macca’s creamy soft serve, featuring Cadbury dark chocolate flakes and drizzled with a delicious Cherry Ripe inspired sauce," Macca's says.

It's a bad start to the day for plenty of travellers this morning with thick fog resulting in dozens of cancelled flights in and out of Melbourne.

There has been 29 flights cancelled so far, including 13 from Virgin Australia, nine from Jetstar and seven Qantas flights.

Melbourne Airport shared a photo of the conditions this morning, showing significantly reduced vision on the runway.

Delays could extend into the afternoon. "Passengers should check with their airline for flight updates," the airport warned.