Rotorua Boys’ High head boy Jared Lasike’s thoughts on the huge response to his speech.

Several people have escaped injury after shots were fired into a home in Melbourne's south-east overnight.

Police said the incident occurred at a property on Dalray Street in Sandhurst just after 2am.

Neighbours told 9News they were woken by the sound of three or four gunshots.

READ MORE: Australia Post system error leads to 'embarrassing' mistake

Four people were inside the home at the time, but no one was injured.

"(She) heard 'bang, bang', shots being fired," one neighbour said.

"I was shocked. I didn't know what to think, nothing ever happens on this street."

He said the incident was incredibly concerning.

"I have got kids, it's so close to home," the neighbour said.

"I am a bit anxious. I am concerned they might come back. It's worrying."

READ MORE: Man in court on assault charges after death of Emma Bates

Police established a crime scene at the home today.

Detectives are working to establish the exact circumstances of the incident and investigations are ongoing.

Beyer, who died last year, was the world’s first openly transgender mayor.

‘The city needs to move forward and leave all that behind us.’

A 20-year-old university student who was wrongly identified as the Bondi stabbing attacker by the Seven Network has settled his legal dispute with the media giant for an undisclosed amount.

Benjamin Cohen was incorrectly identified by Seven on air and on the company's social media channels on Sunday, April 14 as the 40-year-old who carried out the horrific attack that killed six people and seriously injured 12 more.

Later that morning, police identified the mass murderer as 40-year-old Joel Cauchi, who had been shot dead at the scene.

READ MORE: 'Fight to clear name' at Daryl Maguire visa fraud trial

After lawyers acting for Cohen sent a defamation concerns notice to Seven last week, both parties today confirmed they had reached a settlement in the matter.

"As Seven stated earlier, it was a mistake to name Mr Benjamin Cohen as the Bondi Westfield attacker," a Seven spokesperson said.

"Seven has apologised to Mr Cohen. The parties have reached a settlement on confidential terms."

Under the settlement, Seven's apology is public, but its terms – including any sum that may have been paid to Cohen – are otherwise confidential.

READ MORE: Australia copped biggest tax rate increase in the world last year

"Seven accepts the identification was a grave mistake and that these assertions were entirely false and without basis," the apology from CEO and managing director Jeff Howard states.

"Seven withdraws the false allegations unreservedly and apologises to you for the harm you and your family have suffered as a result of Seven's statements about you."

Lawyers acting for Cohen said they had been instructed to "make representations to the commissioner of police concerning the conduct of certain persons on social media who originated, agitated or facilitated this dangerous and harmful false accusation".

"Users who abuse a platform to target individuals or communities should be held accountable for the consequences of their actions, and platforms should be more accountable for the content they host," Cohen said.

Australian workers were hit by the largest tax rate increase in the developed world last year, with low and middle-income earners bearing the brunt of the burden.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) latest Taxing Wages report, released this morning, the average personal tax rate increased by 7.6 per cent for the 2022-23 financial year.

That's a bigger jump than any of the organisation's 37 other countries recorded, and by some margin; Luxembourg had the second-biggest increase at 5 per cent, while New Zealand was next on the list with 4.5 per cent.

EXPLAINED: What you're going to get in this year's federal budget

The OECD identified the end of the low and middle income tax offset (LMITO, also sometimes referred to as the lamington) as the main contributor to Australians' increasing tax burden.

It provided workers earning under $126,000 with a tax cut of up to $1500, but finished at the end of the 2021-22 financial year – a decision made by both the current Albanese government and its predecessor led by Scott Morrison.

The end of the lamington was the main reason many Australians complained of a lower-than-expected tax return in 2023, and the OECD said it, alongside relatively flat wages, was the driver of the higher tax rate.

READ MORE: Australian tech rich-listers make shock career move

"This was due to the cessation of a tax credit (the low and middle-income tax offset [LMITO]) and the fact that nominal earnings increased while earnings thresholds in the tax schedule remained the same in nominal terms," the OECD wrote.

Last year's increase brought Australia's average tax rate up to 24.9 per cent of gross earnings – far higher than the OECD average of 15.4 per cent.

However, on the overall "tax wedge" – which is income tax plus employer and employee social security contributions (which Australia does not have) minus cash benefits – Australia is actually below the OECD average of 34.8 per cent, sitting at 29.2 per cent.

While many nations saw their tax rate decrease in 2023, including the United States (-2.2 per cent), Mexico (-10.5 per cent) and the Netherlands (-2.8), Australians will get to experience that from July 1, when the stage three tax cuts come into effect.

That will provide all taxpayers with a smaller tax rate, with much of the benefit being directed to those on lower and middle incomes.

A drug user has faced court accused of assaulting a woman in the days before she was found dead in northern Victoria.

John Torney, 39, was charged after police found Cobram woman Emma Bates dead at a property in the Murray River town about 2.15pm on Tuesday.

Victoria Police alleged the pair knew each other, and charged Torney with 13 offences including intentionally causing injury, several counts of assault and breaching a court order.

READ MORE: Australia Post system error leads to 'embarrassing' mistake

Police have accused Torney of assaulting Bates, 49, between Saturday and Tuesday, court documents stated.

9News understands that Bates had sought help from police regarding her personal safety, which was granted before she died.

Torney faced Shepparton Magistrates Court today, where prosecutor Charles Moffatt said police will allege the 39-year-old was responsible for a serious assault and causing injury.

Torney's lawyer Kyle McLaughlin said his client was Aboriginal, withdrawing from drugs and asked for his case to be dealt with in Cobram.

However, Magistrate Peter Dunn said it would be better handled at Shepparton, as that court had better custody facilities.

Dunn said Torney would have to sit in a police van to wait for his matters to be called if it stayed in Cobram, whereas in Shepparton he could walk through an internal passage into the courtroom.

READ MORE: Police arrest former Home and Away actor

Torney did not apply for bail and the magistrate remanded him in custody to next appear at the Shepparton court via video link on May 21.

Detectives said they were continuing to investigate the death.

A postmortem was conducted and the cause of death was unable to be determined.

Detectives said they will await the results of further testing.

Bates has been remembered as a much-loved member of her family who was always helping people and spent her life dealing with health issues, using a mobility scooter to get around.

"Despite all her health challenges she had the biggest heart of anyone we know," her family said in a statement published on social media.

"It's tragic that her big heart has led her to a friendship with a man who wished her harm. No one deserves that."

Torney was in 2016 acquitted of murdering a toddler, after the two-year-old girl's beaten body was discovered in the roof cavity of a Mildura house.

If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732. In an emergency, call 000.

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A federal judge on Thursday upheld the verdict and award in E. Jean Carroll's defamation case against former US President Donald Trump and denied Trump's motion for a new trial.

Judge Lewis Kaplan, in a written opinion, said Trump's legal arguments are without merit. The judge also found that the punitive damages the jury awarded to Carroll "passes constitutional muster."

Carroll's attorney Roberta Kaplan said in a statement that her legal team is "pleased with though not surprised by the Court's decision."

READ MORE: Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by New York appeals court

"As the Court explained, it was entirely reasonable for the jury to award E. Jean Carroll $83 million in damages given Donald Trump's continued defamation of Ms. Carroll during the trial itself, as well as his conduct in the courtroom where his 'hatred and disdain (were) on full display,'" Kaplan said.

Carroll, a former magazine columnist, alleged Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store in the mid-1990s and then defamed her when he denied her claim. In a separate case, a jury last year found Trump liable for the sexual assault.

The second case stems from remarks Trump had made denying Carroll's allegations in 2019. He was found liable for defamation last year, and a jury earlier this year ordered him to pay $83.3 million in punitive and compensatory damages.

Trump's legal team had argued that the damages awarded to Carroll in the defamation case were excessive. Kaplan dismissed that argument in his opinion released on Thursday.

"Mr. Trump's malicious and unceasing attacks on Ms. Carroll were disseminated to more than 100 million people," Kaplan wrote. "They included public threats and personal attacks, and they endangered Ms. Carroll's health and safety."

"The jury," Kaplan added, "was entitled to conclude that Mr. Trump derailed the career, reputation, and emotional well-being of one of America's most successful and prominent advice columnists and authors."

Trump has maintained that he did not sexually assault Carroll, and in 2019, said that Carroll was not his "type." Those denials formed the basis of the defamation lawsuit.

He sat in court for portions of the defamation trial, earning rebukes from the judge after he was heard making comments during Carroll's testimony.

As Carroll's lawyers delivered their closing arguments, Trump abruptly and dramatically stood up and left the courtroom.

Kaplan referenced that episode in his opinion: "Mere minutes after (Carroll's) counsel began her closing argument, Mr. Trump conspicuously stood and walked out of the courtroom for no apparent reason save to evidence his disapproval."

Aside from the eye-popping monetary amount, the judgment brought another point into stark clarity: A jury of regular citizens – not the politicians or their appointees that Trump constantly claims mistreat him – held him accountable.

The judgment comes as Trump sits in another courtroom – this time, a criminal one – awaiting another jury of regular New Yorkers to decide his fate on charges that he falsified business records to cover up an affair ahead of the 2016 election.

Australian technology powerhouse Atlassian announced today co-founder Scott Farquhar will step down as joint chief executive, leaving Mike Cannon-Brookes to head the company.

Farquhar, who has served in the role for 23 years, plans to spend more time with his family, focus on philanthropy, and help the global technology industry.

The announcement came as Atlassian released its third-quarter results.

READ MORE: Appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction

Farquhar will step down on August 31 and remain on the company's board and assume a special advisor role.

"Mike will continue to lead as CEO as Atlassian pursues its mission to unleash the potential of every team and capitalize on its strengths in the AI era," the company said in a statement.

Billionaires Farquhar and Cannon-Brookes are two of Australia's richest entrepreneurs.

The Atlassian founders met at the University of New South Wales and financed their company with a $10,000 credit card debt

It grew to become a $79 billion enterprise with more than 300,000 customers globally.

"The contribution Scott has made in founding and building Atlassian is impossible to quantify," said Cannon-Brookes.

Atlassian is now listed on the Nasdaq. 

Australia Post has been left red-faced after an "embarrassing" mistake led to some customers being sent out custom stamps missing an essential detail.

Victorian small business owner David, who asked for his surname to be withheld, is one customer who was sent out sheets of stamps without the dollar sign printed on them.

David ordered 2000 custom-made stamps from Australia Post's MyStamp service for his collectables business on April 4.

It was a day after Australia Post increased the prices for its regular stamps from $1.20 to $1.50.

READ MORE: Daily letter drop ends under Australia Post shake-up

"I was waiting eagerly for them to come up with the new pricing, and then I ordered them the next day," David said.

When the sheets of $1.50 stamps arrived in the mail, David said he didn't notice anything amiss and began using them.

However, on Wednesday he received an email from Australia Post alerting him to the fact that the stamps were "non-compliant" because they were missing the dollar sign.

David said he found the mistake "kind of hilarious".

"They had one job, to change the two to a five, and they messed it up," he said.  

"You would think that after so many years of having these stamps that there would be quality control and yet this slipped through for almost a month – it's kind of crazy.

"Everyone makes mistakes but it's a bit embarrassing for them." 

Australia Post told 9news.com.au the mistake was a result of a system error.

"A printing error resulted in a small number of personalised stamps being misprinted," an Australia Post spokesperson said in a statement.

"Australia Post apologises for this error and has contacted customers directly to advise them of the issue."

Affected customers were told the stamps without the dollar sign could not be used because they were non-compliant.

Replacement stamps were being sent and customers provided with a full refund, the spokesperson said.