The search for a man who was taken by a great white shark at a popular surfing spot off the coast in South Australia will be scaled back.

It's believed the 55-year-old was killed by a shark when he was surfing near a group off the coast of Granites Beach in Westall Way Loop near Streaky Bay about 10.20am yesterday.

Locals told 9News the avid surfer had only lived in the area for a short time and it wasn't his usual spot to catch waves.

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The attack was witnessed by people on shore who said the shark attacked the man, which left him floating before he was attacked again.

They believe the shark was up to 4.5 metres in length.

The area off the coast is marked as a great white shark breeding ground.

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"We are in the domain and every surfer knows when he goes for a surf that there's going to be a shark somewhere," a local told 9News.

A scaled-back search will begin in the morning and the attack has now become a case for the state's coroner.

As the cost of living crisis continues to pinch purses across the country, many Aussie families are buying in bulk and online to curb hip-pocket pain at the checkout.

So much so that bulk buy groceries have overtaken clothing and apparel as the number one category on shopping platform Catch.

Popular items include dishwashing tablets, muesli bars, chips and milk powder.

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The modern approach to grocery shopping is becoming increasingly popular for Aussie families looking to slash their shopping bills.

With three hungry children to feed, Alexandra and Zac Cain saw their weekly grocery bill surge from $300 to almost $500.

"A lot of fresh fruit and vegetables, but usually just the snacks, the school lunchboxes is a massive dent," Alexandra said.

"Everyday, making the lunchboxes, we need things on the go to grab out of the cupboard."

Convenience and fast delivery made it an easy decision for the busy family to make the switch to online bulk purchases.

"Just buying everything in bulk, I don't have to worry about dishwashing tablets for a couple of months," Alexandra said.

"I find it a lot easier to compare pricing online … it's harder to do in person," Zac said.

According to Catch managing director Brendan Sweeney, the couple is not alone in their pursuit to save. 

"What we're seeing is a really big swing to people trying to save money on everyday essential items," Sweeney said.

Pantry bargains like pet food, cat litter and coffee pods have seen a large increase in sales on the platform, proving more favourable than traditional top sellers like Birkenstocks and Asics.

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Retail expert Gary Mortimer said not everyone can afford the upfront costs of buying in bulk, but encouraged families to join forces to save at the checkout.

"One of the options around would be to form a co-op, you know, with family and friends, to buy in bulk then simply split the costs when you get home," Mortimer said.

With daily orders at The Catch warehouse expected to increase to 10,000 in the lead-up to the Christmas period, many families are choosing to kickstart their Christmas shopping early.

"That is one of the things we find helpful is to try and start earlier and spread that cost out across the year … it does help going into December," Zac said.

"Just to get ahead and to save money now, because I am going to need that money in December," Alexandra added.

A man has been charged with assault after the woman was found on the road.

The toddler suffered fatal blunt force injuries at the address.

The cost of living for Australian workers is climbing faster than inflation as households around the country fall off the fixed-rate mortgage cliff and battle surging petrol prices.

New data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today revealed living costs for workers across the country jumped by 2 per cent for the September quarter, and 9 per cent compared to the same time last year.

The quarterly number is higher than June's increase of 1.5 per cent, and almost double the jump in inflation of 1.2 per cent for the same time period, although the annual increase has softened from 9.6 per cent last quarter.

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While interest rates didn't increase at all during the September quarter, mortgage repayments were still responsible for a large proportion of the increase in living costs as homeowners rolled over from fixed to variable rates.

"Mortgage interest charges rose 9.3 per cent following a 9.8 per cent rise in the June 2023 quarter," ABS head of prices statistics Michelle Marquardt said.

"While the Reserve Bank of Australia has not increased the cash rate since July 2023, previous interest rate increases and the rollover of some expired fixed-rate to higher-rate variable mortgages resulted in another strong rise this quarter."

Also worsening the cost of living were rising petrol prices and higher insurance premiums.

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Major oil producers Russia and Saudia Arabia announced a significant cut to production in early September, leading to a jump in prices felt in Australia.

The declining value of the Australian dollar since June has also made for more expensive trips to the bowser.

It wasn't just employees hit hard by the rising cost of living, with all other household types (pensioners and beneficiaries, aged care pensioners, self-funded retirees and other government recipients) seeing quarterly increases of between 0.5 and 1.4 per cent.

Their annual jumps were far less than workers, ranging from 5.4 to 6 per cent.

Those increases were largely driven by the same factors of rising mortgage repayments and petrol prices, although housing costs – which includes rents, utilities, rates and maintenance – actually dropped for pensioners and government beneficiaries.

The view would be lovely – but it’s all eyes forward.

He allegedly stabbed the camper five times while trying to steal his car keys.

Queenslanders are meant to be able to access their digital driver's licences on their mobile phones from today, but the rollout has been marred by glitches and delays. 

The Queensland government has urged people to wait until the technical issues are resolved before downloading the new Digital Licence app. 

While 15,000 users have successfully accessed their licence, some have reported receiving error messages.

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The Department of Transport and Main Roads asked Queenslanders "to be patient during this initial busy launch period".

"We know it's very popular right now, almost as popular as tickets to a Taylor Swift concert, and that is causing some delays for customers," said Acting Director General Sally Stannard.

"But the difference between the Digital Licence app and a Taylor Swift concert is that you're not going to miss out on a digital licence.

"We're asking Queenslanders to be patient and take their time to download it, wait until tomorrow or try later in the week.

The app gives motorists access to a digital version of their driver's license, meaning they no longer need to carry around their physical licence.

The app has been in development since 2018 and was trialled in Townsville and on the Fraser Coast.

https://twitter.com/AngusGibbins/status/1719481936672854195

The Townsville trial was originally meant to roll out in late 2022.

However, it was pushed back to April 2023, partly due to increased demand for security testing following last year's Optus data breach and Medibank hack.

Queensland joins NSW, South Australia in offering digital licences while Victoria is set to roll out the technology in 2024.

9News.com.au has contacted the Department of Transport and Main Roads, and Minister Mark Bailey for comment.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Australia needs even higher interest rates to bring inflation back to target, although hasn't said how much the cash rate needs to be raised.

In its overview of the Australian economy, the leading global financial body largely painted a positive picture, pointing to strong resilience and high employment, but said inflation remains too high.

"Although inflation is gradually declining, it remains significantly above the RBA's target and output remains above potential," the IMF wrote.

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"Staff therefore recommend further monetary policy tightening to ensure that inflation comes back to the target range by 2025 and minimise the risk of de-anchoring inflation expectations."

That call comes just a week after higher-than-expected inflation data increased the likelihood of a rates rise in November.

New RBA governor Michele Bullock has repeatedly said the bank will increase rates for a 13th time if inflation doesn't ease quickly enough, but refused to be drawn on whether last week's figures were enough to warrant lifting the cash rate to 4.35 per cent next Tuesday.

The IMF added that the RBA shouldn't be lumped with the sole responsibility of reducing inflation, calling on governments to do their bit too.

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"Continued coordination between monetary and fiscal policy is key to securing more equitable burden sharing," it wrote.

"The Commonwealth government and state and territory governments should implement public investment projects at a more measured and coordinated pace, given supply constraints, to alleviate inflationary pressures and support the RBA's disinflation efforts.

"Otherwise, interest rates would have to be even higher, putting the burden of adjustment disproportionately on mortgage holders."

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The IMF also called for a boost to productivity, and improved education to bolster the workforce, and pointed to low housing supply as an issue facing the economy.

"The affordability challenge has not abated, as prices have started increasing again and mortgage payments as a share of disposable income have doubled due to higher interest rates," it said.

"Rents have also increased at a very fast pace."

The depth of that challenge was emphasised by data released later this morning by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showing new home approvals dropped 4.6 per cent in September, putting them well below long-term averages.

The last point on the IMF report called for Australia to do more to address climate change, even calling for the reintroduction of a carbon tax.

"An economy-wide carbon price would be the most effective way to achieve net zero," it said, adding that "efforts to ensure the integrity of carbon offsets will be key" to ensure the effectiveness of the federal government's safeguard mechanism to reduce emissions.

An Israeli strike targeting a Hamas commander in the densely populated Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza has left catastrophic damage and killed a large number of people, according to eyewitnesses and medics in the enclave.

"I was waiting in line to buy bread when suddenly and without any prior warning seven to eight missiles fell," an eyewitness, Mohammad Ibrahim, told CNN.

"There were seven to eight huge holes in the ground, full of killed people, body parts all over the place," he said.

"It felt like the end of the world."

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According to a statement by the Israel Defense Forces, the airstrike targeted and killed Ibrahim Biari, whom it described as one of the Hamas commanders responsible for the October 7 attack on Israel, which left more than 1,400 people dead and hundreds taken hostage.

The IDF also said "numerous other Hamas terrorists" were hit in the strike, and claimed the Central Jabalya Battalion had taken control of civilian buildings.

Hamas however has strongly denied the presence of one of its leaders in the refugee camp.

Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for the militant group, accused Israel of attempting to justify what he described as a "heinous crime against safe civilians, children, and women in Jabalya camp".

Eyewitness Mohammad Al Aswad described a "horrific scene" in the aftermath of the strike, telling CNN that he ran to the refugee camp to check on family after hearing the missiles land.

"Children were carrying other injured children and running, with grey dust filling the air. Bodies were hanging on the rubble, many of them unrecognised. Some were bleeding and others were burnt," Al Aswad told CNN by telephone.

People in the area were hysterical, he added.

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"I saw women screaming and confused. They didn't know whether to cry for losing their children or run and look for them, especially since many children were playing in the neighborhood."

Images from the scene showed a huge crater among rubble and damaged buildings.

Palestinians and rescue workers are seen attempting to find victims, some using their hands to scoop the detritus away.

Speaking to CNN's Wolf Blitzer, IDF spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht accused Hamas of "hiding, as they do, behind civilians".

Reminded that there are many innocent civilians in the camp, Hecht responded, "this is the tragedy of war" and urged civilians to move south.

Southern Gaza has also seen lethal airstrikes, and aid organisations have repeatedly warned that there is no safe place in the isolated enclave.

Israel's bombardment of Gaza has killed at least 8,485 people and injured more than 21,000, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, which draws on information from the Hamas-controlled enclave.

'A scene no one can imagine'

At the Indonesian hospital, the nearest major medical facility to Jabalya, videos showed a long line of bodies lying on the floor of the hospital as well as large numbers of wounded people, including children, as doctors rushed to treat their injuries.

Many of the injured could be seen receiving treatment on the floor because of the hospital's overcrowded conditions.

Hospital head Dr Atef al-Kalhout estimated that scores had been killed in the blast.

"What you see is a scene no one can imagine: injured martyrs, charred bodies in the hundreds," said another doctor, Mohammad al Rann.

"All we can do is keep taking them in. Most of the injuries are from explosives and head injuries and amputations."

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Mohammed Hawajreh, a nurse with Doctors Without Borders (MSF) at Al Shifa hospital in Gaza, said that some of the wounded also arrived at that hospital.

"Young children arrived at the hospital with deep wounds and severe burns. They came without their families. Many were screaming and asking for their parents. I stayed with them until we could find a place, as the hospital was full with patients," Hawajreh said in a statement.

According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Interior in Gaza, twenty homes were "completely destroyed" in the bombing.

The world reacts

Jabalya, like other refugee camps in the Strip, is crowded with homes, shops, and apartment buildings, where many roads between them are barely wide enough for a car to pass.

Many Palestinian refugees settled in the camp in the wake of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, after fleeing villages in what became the state of Israel, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

The camp is the largest refugee camp in Gaza, says UNRWA, is spread out across 1.4 square kilometres, and has long grappled with overcrowding.

It is also among the poorest areas in the enclave and home to busy open-air markets.

Shortly after the blast, Israeli human rights organisation B'tselem condemned Israel's weeks-long aerial bombardment of Gaza, saying "the scale of killing Israel has and continues to wreak on Gaza is horrifying", in a statement released on Tuesday.

"More than 8,000 people have been killed so far, more than half of them women and children. Entire buildings have collapsed with occupants still inside. Whole families have been wiped out in an instant. This criminal harm to civilians is intolerable and the obvious needs to be stated again and again – not everything is allowed in war, including war on Hamas," it said.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the strike as a "massacre", referencing "chilling documented scenes" of children and women.

"It has its bones, in a large-scale massacre carried out in full view of the world and under the pretext of self-defence," the statement added.

Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan and Egypt have also condemned the strike, with Egypt accusing Israel of breaking international law with what it said was the "inhuman" targeting of a residential area.

"Egypt considered this as a new flagrant violation by the Israeli forces against the provisions of international law and international humanitarian law," the ministry said.

When pressed multiple times throughout a White House briefing on the Jabalya strike and on whether Israel is doing enough to protect Palestinian civilians, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US has "indications they are trying".

"We're not going to react to every event in real time, but we've certainly recognised that civilians have been hurt," he said.

"Civilians have been killed to the tune of many thousands … We recognise that, we observe that, and we're not accepting of any single civilian death in Gaza."

He added that "it is not the goal of Israeli forces to go out and deliberately take innocent civilian life and they have tried to make efforts to minimise that".

Riyad Mansour, the head of the Palestinian Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations, told CNN on Tuesday that the Israeli strike on Jabalya refugee camp was a war crime and should be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"Those who are responsible for giving the orders for that crime should hear something from Mr (Karim A A) Khan from the ICC (International Criminal Court)," he said in reference to the ICC prosecutor.

"And if he has the courage, and I hope he does, we appreciate the fact that he came to Rafah crossing, and he made a statement there. But it would be also nice to issue a warrant of arrest for those who are responsible for such crimes."

Wounded Palestinians heading to Egypt

As hospitals in Gaza bear the brunt of airstrikes and shelling, according to aid groups and health workers, an Egyptian border official told CNN that 81 wounded Palestinians from Gaza will be allowed to travel for treatment in hospitals in Egypt.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the media, said the patients were "seriously injured" and the Rafah border crossing is set to open on Wednesday morning to allow them to pass.

The 81 patients are currently undergoing treatment in hospitals across Gaza, many of whom require surgical intervention in operating rooms that are not currently available in Gaza, the director of Al Shifa Hospital, Dr Mohammed Abu Silmiyeh, told CNN.

They will be discharged from the hospitals in Gaza and then complete their treatments in a field hospital in Egypt's Sheikh Zuweid city, he added.

The Director of the Egyptian Red Crescent in North Sinai, Khaled Zayed, also confirmed the location of the field hospital to CNN, saying Egypt is "ready to receive them".

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Major UN agencies are calling for a humanitarian ceasefire to allow deliveries of aid for more than two million civilians trapped with scarce supplies of food, water, and medical equipment, and for the safe release of 240 hostages that Israel believes are being held by Hamas, the militant group that controls the enclave.

A Hamas military wing spokesman claimed on Tuesday that in the coming days the group will free some foreign nationals they are holding hostage.

"Some countries have intervened through mediators to free some foreign nationals' detainees in Gaza," Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, said in a video clip without naming the countries.

"Therefore, we informed the mediators that we will release a number of foreigners in the coming days."

He did not elaborate further on the nationalities or number of hostages they planned on freeing.

Ground operation continues

The Israeli military claimed it killed "approximately 50 Hamas terrorists" during ground operations in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

It comes after Israel said over the weekend it had entered a "second stage" of its war against Hamas following weeks of strikes on Gaza.

In a statement on Tuesday evening, the IDF said that troops from its Givati Brigade also operated in western Jablaya and were targeting a Hamas commander in the area.

The area of operation included "firing positions, terror tunnels used by terror operatives as a passageway to the coast, and a large stock of weapons," the statement added.

The IDF said "soldiers killed a number of terrorists in the course of combat" in addition to targeted strikes by the Israeli Air Force.

In addition to seizing weapons and military equipment, the IDF claimed to have located intelligence documents as well.