Communities around Australia are rebelling against the Golden Arches.

It is often a classic David vs Goliath battle when civic-minded residents decide to challenge the deep-pocketed fast food giant as it attempts to move into a new suburb or town.

In many cases, councils are left with little choice other than to approve the Macca's.

But sometimes, the "little guy" actually wins.

EXCLUSIVE: Anna had no idea her identity had been stolen. Then the letters arrived

There are currently 18 petitions in NSW, Victoria, WA and Queensland on Change.org – known colloquially as the 'I'm not Lovin' It movement – which are attempting to block or amend development applications from McDonald's Australia.

Thousands of people from Cowes on Victoria's Philip Island to Boonah in Queensland have joined this movement.

Last year, when Crows Nest resident Jamie Vachon caught wind of a proposed 24/7 McDonald's near his home on Sydney's North Shore, he quickly mobilised a group of community advocates to try and stop it.

McDonald's had launched an application to open at an old Westpac branch office on Willoughby Road.

Vachon, who has lived in the area for 17 years, said he understood why McDonald's had eyed that site for a new restaurant.

Still, he felt "protective" over his community.

"Crows Nest is a developing area… the Metro is here now, we can't stop it from growing, but we already had a Subway, Oporto, Ogalo, an El Jannah nearby," Vachon told Nine.com.au.

"My biggest problem was the location – we didn't need it there.

"I thought it would have been better suited at the Metro."

EXCLUSIVE: Residents of seaside Victorian town braced for Macca's battle

Vachon began a small-scale petition opposing the round-the-clock restaurant, which was signed by nearly 700 people.

He warned the Macca's would bring "crime, vandalism, litter, and random delivery drivers on footpaths and streets at all hours".

"This is nothing but a money grab by McDonald's with no care for the community," Vachon said.

Around 70 residents also lodged formal objections with North Sydney Council.

Following the community backlash, the council recommended that McDonald's reduce its trading hours and amended plans were submitted for a 5am-12am restaurant.

Soon after, McDonald's abandoned the $2.65 million proposal altogether.

Vachon said it was a huge "relief" to hear McDonald's had backed down.

Nearly 12 months on, he is proud of how his small but mighty community rallied for a common cause.

READ MORE: 'She didn't abandon her family': $1m reward in baffling case of missing teacher

Council knocks back Macca's in Ipswich

Alyson Lewis also joined a fight against a proposed Macca's development in Raceview, Ipswich in 2014.

She began a petition urging the council to reject an application to build a restaurant at a site which was only zoned for residential use.

Other residents protested outside council, citing the proposed site's proximity to two primary schools as a major concern.

Lewis told Nine.com.au that the Ipswich City Council rejected the drive-through restaurant before her petition gathered enough steam.

"We had multiple McDonald's nearby already, we just didn't need it," Lewis said.

"I doorknocked around the area at the time, I spoke to mums near the school, the community just didn't want it."

In August 2014, Ipswich City Council rejected the development application and the site remained a residential area.

Over the past 12 years, Lewis said Raceview has remained happily Macca's-free.

And if locals want a tasty fast-food meal from the Golden Arches, the closest outlet is just a 10-minute drive away in Booval.

In a statement shared with Nine.com.au, a spokesperson for McDonald's Australia acknowledged community concerns around development applications.

The spokesperson said the fast food giant is continuing to invest in Australia by recruiting franchisees.

"As we continue to grow, we're delivering more new restaurants, creating tens of thousands of new jobs, recruiting new franchisees, increasing our spend with our Aussie supply chain, and investing in more innovative ways to deliver great value, convenience, and a great customer experience," the spokesperson said.

"We are committed to engaging with councils and communities to ensure we're listening to feedback and submitting development applications for restaurants that are thoughtfully designed for the community.

"This includes limiting the impact of common concerns such as traffic, noise, and waste, and promoting our potential to contribute as a local employer and a business committed to giving back to the neighbourhood."

READ MORE: Neil wants pokies machines to play 'losing sounds'. Here's why

Communities losing fight against Golden Arches

The story doesn't always end happily for community advocates.

In Northcote, an inner-city suburb of Melbourne, residents opposing a 24/7 McDonald's on High Street were left disappointed when the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) reversed a decision by Darebin City Council to block the restaurant.

A similar narrative is unfolding in Newtown in Sydney's inner-west.

Despite furious backlash from locals, McDonald's has re-lodged an application to open a restaurant on busy King Street. The renewed application, with shorter opening hours, is under council review.

Locals on the Mornington Peninsula also lost their six-year fight against a Macca's which is set to be built metres from the foreshore.

Nine.com.au has contacted McDonald's Australia for comment.

NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.

• Download the 9NEWS App here via Apple and Google Play
• Make 9News your preferred source on Google by ticking this box here
• Sign up to our breaking newsletter here

ANALYSIS: All eyes are on the regional NSW seat of Farrer today as Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party faces its first federal litmus test since the last election.

The fringe party has enjoyed a surge in support in recent opinion polls, with the latest Resolve Political Monitor for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age showing its primary vote at 22 per cent, just one per cent behind the Coalition and 10 per cent behind Labor.

It rode a wave of support in the South Australian election and won seven new state MPs.

READ MORE: Americans asked if they could beat Donald Trump in a fight

But it remains to be seen whether their sudden rise in popularity will translate to significant support at the federal level.

That's where Farrer comes in.

One Nation is threatening to snatch the federal seat from the Coalition, which has held onto it for decades.

And all the conditions are favourable for Hanson: Labor has not put up a candidate for the seat, the Coalition has managed to lose voters even after its historic loss at last year's election, and the nature of a byelection allows her to focus all her efforts on the local issues and candidate.

Monash University head of politics Zareh Ghazarian said a potential One Nation win at the byelection would be a "very important moment in Australian politics".

"It will indicate that the party can win seats in the lower house, and that's something that many other minor parties have really failed to do throughout Australia's history," he said.

"It's also a very unique time where the Coalition is defeated."

READ MORE: Aussie on board hantavirus cruise ship has returned home

The 12-candidate ballot is looming as a four-horse race between One Nation's David Farley, independent Michelle Milthorpe, Liberal Raissa Butkowski, and National Brad Robertson.

Jim Reed, founder of polling company Resolve, said Farley and Milthorpe were the two most likely contenders.

"It's a sign of the times for the Coalition that they stand to lose a treasured seat to either an independent or One Nation," he said.

One Nation's rise comes as voters increasingly shift away from the major parties, while independents and minor parties win more seats in parliament.

Reed said this has been a long-term trend that is gaining speed.

"Many voters are fed up of the major parties and are looking for change, any change," he said.

Ghazarian believes this rising shift will eventually split Australia's two-party system and rupture mainstream politics down the track.

"There is something going on in Australian politics that is leading people to support non-major parties more so than in the past," he said.

READ MORE: Radio giant claims unwanted piece of Aussie history

While the byelection is significant and could mark a disastrous defeat for the Coalition, experts warn that it does not capture the full picture.

Reed said byelections are often far removed from the context of future federal elections and are an opportunity for parties to heavily focus on a local battle rather than a national one.

He said voters also typically use byelections to "protest against the status quo" more than they do federal elections.

Ghazarian added that a One Nation win in Farrer does not guarantee a win at the next federal election.

"If One Nation can't win now, they're going to have real difficulty winning at a general election," Ghazarian said.

Nevertheless, victory today would pave the way for more One Nation successes at the 2028 federal election.

NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.

• Download the 9NEWS App here via Apple and Google Play
• Make 9News your preferred source on Google by ticking this box here
• Sign up to our breaking newsletter here

Iran's attempts to exact a hefty toll on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz has given other countries an idea.

Senior politicians in both Malaysia and Indonesia have floated the idea of exacting a toll on one of the most important waterways on Earth – the Strait of Malacca.

"We sit on a strategic global trade and energy route, yet ships pass through the Malacca Strait without being charged – I'm not sure whether that's right or wrong," Indonesia's Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said last month.

READ MORE: US Defence Secretary 'won't confirm or deny' use of 'kamikaze dolphins'

Malaysian Foreign Minister Sugiono responded by saying Indonesia could not impose a toll on ships without them.

"Whatever is to be done in the Strait of Malacca must involve the cooperation of all four countries," he said.

"That is our understanding – it cannot be done unilaterally."

The four countries Sugiono is speaking of are Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

An immense number of ships pass through the narrow waters between those four countries.

If a million-dollar per ship toll were exacted, it would be a $100 billion annual windfall for the countries involved.

"It's the only reasonable route from East Asia to Europe or the East Coast US," University of Sydney's Professor of Ports and Maritime Logistics Michael Bell said.

"The only other alternative is going all the way around Australia."

READ MORE: A billion in taxpayer money set aside for Trump's ballroom project

While there are countless gaps between islands in Indonesia, they are too shallow and difficult to traverse for major vessels.

At its narrowest, the Strait of Malacca was just 2.8km across.

"There's definitely a bottleneck that you could charge ships for going through," Bell said.

Passing through the Strait is nearly half of all seaborne oil in the world, including much that winds up in Australian cars.

A quarter of cars and nearly a quarter of dry bulk cargo also goes through the Strait.

But a toll on the Strait of Malacca isn't likely, according to Adjunct Fellow in Naval Studies at University of NSW Jennifer Parker.

"It will not happen," she said.

READ MORE: Trump pushes to take $115m rape case payout to the Supreme Court

"If Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia agreed that they would apply some sort of toll on the Malacca Strait, which is an international strait, then that would be undermining the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea."

But trying to enforce a toll on the strait would put them in an awkward position with China.

"These countries value their relationships with the international system a lot more than Iran seems to do," Parker said.

"They also value their economic relationships with China."

Much of China's global trade is dependent on access to the strait, and the superpower in the region retains a lot of clout.

READ MORE: Court strikes down Donald Trump's 10 per cent tariffs on everyone

NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.

• Download the 9NEWS App here via Apple and Google Play

• Make 9News your preferred source on Google by ticking this box here

• Sign up to our breaking newsletter here

Two local ABC reporters have been escorted out of a One Nation event on the eve of the crucial Farrer byelection.

In vision captured by 9News, a One Nation volunteer can be seen telling two local ABC journalists to leave, shortly before the event was set to kick off.

One of the ABC workers can be heard asking whether One Nation candidate David Farley had ordered their removal, to which the staffer replied, "That doesn't matter, come on… sweetheart, please," leading the pair towards the exit.

READ MORE: Why this weekend's byelection could upend Australian politics

One of the ABC reporters can be heard saying, "we are a tax-funded organisation".

One Nation chief of staff James Ashby was also seen directing the reporters out of the event, saying "bye-bye to the ABC" before following the pair towards the exit.

Ashby then said he was the one who ordered the removal of the reporters, telling them to ask their chief of staff in Canberra for the reason.

They replied by saying they are based in Wodonga, which neighbours with Albury in the Farrer electorate.

READ MORE: Sydney 'ISIS bride' facing terror charges has bail bid rejected

"We serve the local community," one reporter said.

After the ABC reporters left, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson questioned Ashby about their removal.

"Why, if they're local ABC? Rural and regional? she asked.

"Because they're reporting back to ABC Canberra," Ashby replied.

"They were told."

READ MORE: Gunmen found guilty of executing gangland figure in hit

Hanson appeared to say "they shouldn't have gone", before walking off.

The Farrer byelection will be held tomorrow, and One Nation is considered the frontrunner to take the regional NSW seat from the Coalition following the resignation of former opposition leader Sussan Ley, who had held the electorate from 2001.

Both the Liberals and Nationals are fielding candidates, while independent Michelle Milthorpe is also a major challenger, having significantly cut into Ley's margin at the last federal election.

NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.

• Download the 9NEWS App here via Apple and Google Play
• Make 9News your preferred source on Google by ticking this box here
• Sign up to our breaking newsletter here