The Country looks back at some of the biggest and best stories of the past 12 months.

‘You betcha they didn’t expect to see us,’ swimmer says of boaties caught with ‘200 fish’.

The deadly arsenal includes military-style semi-automatic assault rifles.

Hidden fees on concert tickets will be outlawed and gyms and streaming services will have to make it easier for customers to cancel, under a national crackdown on dodgy trading practices.

The federal government is seizing on customer anger as the cost-of-living crisis bites, but the opposition is questioning whether it's more talk and no action.

As people sign up for subscriptions to lose weight, read more or learn a language to kick off their New Year's resolutions, experts are warning to beware before you sign up.

READ MORE: Melbourne locals raise thousands to fund private security

There are increasing subscription traps in particular, with customers stuck in gym memberships, food delivery runs and even streaming services, finding themselves being charged automatically after a free trial.

"The reality is that that's often buried in the fine print, and most of us don't look at the fine print," Angus Kidman, editor at large of Finder told 9News.

Three quarters of Australians have had a negative experience trying to cancel a subscription and close to a third felt pressured into keeping a service they wanted to get out of.

"It should be easy to cancel," Kidman said.

"You shouldn't have to go through 20 options on the phone. You shouldn't have to find a tiny hidden link that's buried in the bottom of the email."

READ MORE: These five savings tips could save you thousands in the New Year

Gina Cass-Gottlieb, chairperson of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), agrees and says the problem is "that the actual practice itself is not prohibited".

"These changes in terms of unfair trading practices are long overdue," Cass-Gottlieb told 9News.

The federal government is drafting new laws to crack down on these traps, as well as so called "drip pricing", which is when you buy a concert ticket or airfare online, and suddenly extra fees and charges are added at the checkout.

"It's deceptive, it's misleading, it's dishonest – it's not yet unlawful but it will be," Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said.

At the moment a business can only be prosecuted if a customer has been misled on a subscription.

The new laws would put the onus back on companies to make sure that lock-in contracts are clear up front.

But the federal government hasn't committed to introducing the legislation before the election, prompting ire from the opposition.

"Right now, what we're seeing is a government that is talking the talk and it needs to start walking the walk," shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said.

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

South-east Queensland has just lived through one of the wettest years in more than a century.

New figures have revealed that 2024 delivered Brisbane its highest number of rainy days in 134 years.

And the weather is following Queensland into the new year, as parts of the state are being warned to brace for more intense falls this weekend.

READ MORE: Boy, 13, saves two teenage girls from dangerous rip

In north Queensland heavy falls overnight led to flooding as heaving humidity gave way to a deluge, partially submerging a wakeboard park in Mackay.

The clean-up started early this morning but it's become an all too familiar routine for the business.

"Only two weeks ago it went under as well," Ben Mihan told 9News.

"They've just finished doing all the clean up and there again this morning to another clean up."

The Mackay resident described the downpour as "really heavy and relentless" and said he was concerned about the safety of cars.

"It was really loud on the roof and I kept checking outside to make sure that the cars in the carpark weren't going under," Mihan told 9News.

Pieter Claassen from the Bureau of Meteorology said the stats back up Mihan's description.

"About 80 millimetres recorded in an hour over southern Mackay and we also saw rainfall up to 118 millimetres in the 24 hours to 9am this morning around Mackay," he told 9News.

Parts of central and north Queensland are feeling the full effects of a coastal trough – and it's not over yet.

More rain is expected between Yeppoon and Cooktown tonight and over the weekend.

"The main risk with these cells would be heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding," Claassen warned.

Flood warnings remain in place for the Bernard River.

About 25,000 megalitres of water has been released from Wivenhoe Dam, with the gates now closed.

New figures reveal Brisbane had 160 days of rain last year – the most since 1890.

And the weather has carried over into the new year but not for long with a reprieve on the way for the south-east of the state.

Showers and storms are expected to clear over the weekend, making way for more blue skies.

The silver lining to the recent weather has been temperatures of one or two degrees below average across south-eastern parts of the state but these will slowly creep up again over the next few days.

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

A teenage girl and her friend have been rescued by a 13-year-old boy after they were caught in a dangerous rip at Venus Bay in Victoria.

Charlotte Baker, 15, says she's thankful to be alive after being rescued from rough water on the South Gippsland coast.

"I just didn't think I was going to make it really," Charlotte told 9News.

READ MORE: Melbourne locals raise thousands to fund private security

"That was as scared as I've ever been in my whole life."

The teenager was swimming with her best friend when things took a dangerous turn.

Caught in unrelenting waves at Venus Bay, they struggled to swim back.

"I just gave up and I was just floating, just screaming, like me and my friend were screaming for our life."

Luckily, 13-year-old Tom Walsh was also in the water and spotted the pair in trouble.

The young volunteer lifesaver raced back to shore to get to a new public rescue equipment station, allowing him to alert triple zero and grab a floatable tube to help the girls.

"They looked like they've swallowed a lot of water, so I swam over to them, gave them the tube, and we kind of just made the wave push us in," Tom told 9News.

Charlotte labelled him a hero for his efforts.

"That was so brave of him," she said.

"Putting himself in harm's way to save me and my friends, that is so incredible, and I thank him for it so much."

Five public rescue equipment stations were installed along Venus Bay beach just two weeks ago, aimed at improving safety on Victoria's volatile coastline.

Designed for bystanders in an emergency, the station is fitted with a button to call triple zero, a flotation tube and language support.

"Keeping someone afloat is, you know, saving minutes – and that could be the difference between life and death," Life Saving Victoria's Danny Busija told 9News.

Seven people have drowned across the state this summer, and there could have been six more if not for the rescue stations. While it's only a trial, Life Saving Victoria is hoping more can be rolled out at the most dangerous beaches.

"Well, it's a three-year trial [but] I'm hoping we don't have to wait three years to see them being rolled out elsewhere," Paul Hoffman from Life Saving Victoria told 9News.

"I think we've seen in a week what can happen. There are plenty of places that they should be."

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

A woman has died and two people have been injured in a crash at a beach in Western Australia.

Police were called to a beach about 3 kilometres north of Wedge Island, a natural attraction about 160 kilometres north of Perth, about 6.50pm yesterday.

The car, with five people inside, is understood to have rolled. The driver, a 34-year-old woman, was declared dead at the scene.

READ MORE: Murder suspects in 23-year-old woman's death 'hiding in NSW bush'

A 31-year-old man who was in the car is in a stable condition after undergoing treatment at Royal Perth Hospital, while a 16-year-old girl was taken to Joondalup Hospital and has since been discharged.

A 35-year woman and a 41-year-old man who were also in the car were not injured.

Residents of Wedge Island have been left devastated by the incident, telling 9News some of those involved were locals.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

With nearly 650,000 followers online, Matilda Baxter never expected trouble to follow her inside her own South Australian home. 

The 21-year-old influencer and model's home in Port Noarlunga South home was broken into on Christmas Eve.

The thieves were caught on her home CCTV making off with almost $800,000 of designer clothes, handbags, perfume and more.

READ MORE: What we still don't know about COVID-19, five years on

"(It's) definitely going to affect me mentally, and my safety," Baxter told 9News.

"If I was home, something else could have happened."

Baxter had been staying at her parents' home when the thieves broke in through a side kitchen window.

She said they even tampered with her security systems.

"My house was destroyed, all my upstairs, all my underwear was went through, all my bags, my shoe collection, my whole house was trashed," Baxter said.

"They used a wifi blocker to block my system that I already have installed, because I have an installation in the back and throughout the house, and they hid the internet cable which is out the front, which is definitely targeted."   

READ MORE: Man arrested interstate over 1997 cold case murder

She also believes those responsible spent time following her online, plotting the heist. 

"I feel really unsafe because I've lived there for a while and it's a really nice community," Baxter said. 

"I definitely feel like it's someone who follows me or has stalked me, and I've never had a scare like this ever in my life."

Police are now appealing for anyone who recognises the stolen goods being sold either online or in stores, to contact them.

"No one deserves this at all," Baxter said. 

"And to do it on Christmas Eve, and like I'm so young and it's just so upsetting because I've worked so hard."

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Victorians are being urged to stay cool this weekend ahead of heatwave conditions hammering the state.

Temperatures on Saturday and Sunday are set to nudge 40 degrees in Melbourne, and rising even higher in some regional areas.

The capital will reach 30 degrees today, before a sharp peak tomorrow.

READ MORE: Child dies in caravan fire in regional Victoria

Saturday is forecast to top out at 38 degrees, followed by 37 degrees on Sunday.

Despite the fire threat in the Gippsland and Grampians areas being downgraded, fire authorities will also be watchful for any strong winds or changing conditions.

A cool change on Monday will also bring plenty of rain.

Further north in New South Wales, Sydney will enjoy a balmy Saturday, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting a top of 29.

READ MORE: House reduced to rubble in Perth bushfires while homeowners are overseas

But that will spike into the mid-30s on Sunday and Monday, before a cool change drops temperatures to the mid-20s for the rest of next week.

Brisbane will see consistent weekend temperatures of around 30 degrees at most, with the chance of rain on Saturday.

Adelaide will be a warm 36 on Saturday with plenty of cloud cover, cooling slightly to 33 on Sunday.

The weekend will be sunny in Perth, with a top of 32 degrees on Sunday, while Darwin will be stormy, with tops of 33 degrees both days.

READ MORE: Taxi passengers warned about scam ahead of Australian Open

A mild 28 degrees in Hobart on Saturday will call to 22 degrees on Sunday, with a chance of rain.

Canberra meanwhile faces a hot one, with a top of 34 degrees on Saturday and 35 on Sunday, followed by a possible Monday storm.

Stay up to date with forecasts and warnings at the BoM website.

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

A man wanted by police over an alleged cold case murder in Queensland has been arrested in Sydney after a national manhunt.

Keith Lees, 72, was taken into custody at a property on Kenthurst Road in Dural yesterday morning over an arrest warrant issued in July 2023 in relation to the alleged murder of Meaghan Louise Rose on the Sunshine Coast in 1997.

The 25-year-old's body was found at the base of Point Cartwright cliffs in Mooloolaba on the morning of July 18, 1997.

READ MORE: Teen charged over alleged armed robbery in Wagga Wagga

Her white Suzuki Cino hatchback was found in the carpark along with a wine cask and glass nearby.

Investigators initially declared there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death but police later re-opened the case in 2009.

Queensland Police then announced a $500,000 reward in June 2023 for information that led to her killer's arrest and conviction.

READ MORE: Lost WWII medals reunited with rightful owners in Queensland

Police confirmed in 2023 they were approaching all original witnesses.

Queensland detectives had travelled to Victoria to speak to Lees in late June that year but were unable to find him.

His car was found the following day and on June 27, he was seen at a Waurn Ponds shopping centre and then leaving a Shepparton train station.

After his arrest yesterday Lees was taken to Hornsby Police Station yesterday where he was charged with the warrant, assaulting a police officer in execution of duty without aggravated bodily harm, dealing with identity information to commit an indictable offence and possessing identity information to commit an indictable offence.

Police will also allege Lees tried to bite an officer while he was in custody.

He was refused bail to appear at Parramatta Local Court today.

NSW Police said it was understood the Queensland Police Service will apply for his extradition.

Rose had left her tight-knit family behind in Victoria to move to Queensland for a romance with then-44-year-old Lees.

Rose's sister Fiona Ratcliffe previously appealed to the public for information into her sister's death.

"My sister Meaghan was a fun-loving, bright, young woman," Ratcliffe said.

"Meaghan and I shared many memories over the years, including her teaching myself to drive."

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.