Waikato election results by electorate.

How Te Pāti Māori performed.

The majority of polls across the country have closed as Australia votes on whether to establish an Indigenous Voice to parliament and recognise First Nations people in the Constitution.

With polling booths shutting at 6pm local time across the country, voting centres in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and the ACT have all closed and counting has begun.

Voters in the Northern Territory and Western Australia are the only ones left with any time left to cast their ballots before the booths are shut.

REFERENDUM: Follow our live results tracker here

More than five million people – including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and leading No campaigner Jacinta Nampijinpa Price – had already cast their ballots prior to today.

With the proportion of undecided voters, believed to be around the 10 to 15 per cent range but as high as a quarter in some surveys, the PM took to social media on Saturday to try and capture the last-minute vote of still-undecided Australians.

"The Voice will recognise Indigenous Australians in our Constitution and set up a committee to give advice," Albanese said.

"It's a straightforward idea to make a practical difference."

LIVE UPDATES: Voice to parliament referendum rolling coverage and results

If opinion polls are to be believed, the referendum appears unlikely to pass, with more than 50 per cent of Australians planning to vote No while support for the Yes campaign sits in the low-to-mid 40s.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about voting in the referendum

On Friday, Albanese urged Australians to embrace what he described as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians.

"This is not my campaign. This is a request from the First Australians made in 2017 at Uluru, after years of consultation with thousands of Indigenous Australians across hundreds of meetings, across many years," he said.

READ MORE: Where you can vote on the Voice and snag a democracy sausage

"And it's a gracious request, just asking fellow Australians to walk with them on the journey towards reconciliation… we can't continue to have a situation with an eight-year life expectancy gap, where an Indigenous young male is more likely to go to jail than to university.

"This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for recognition."

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, though, repeated his calls for Australians to vote No.

"I hope it's a No vote on the weekend because it hasn't been properly explained," he said.

"It's divisive. It's permanent once it goes into the Constitution and I just don't think, in their millions, Australians will support it."

Dutton has stayed out of the spotlight throughout Saturday.

For the referendum to succeed, more than 50 per cent of voters across Australia must vote Yes, and there must also be a majority of Yes voters in at least four of the six states.

READ MORE: Give us a seat at the table, not the crumbs: Dodson makes first appearance on Voice campaign

All votes cast today will be counted by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) tonight, along with the majority of pre-poll ballots, meaning there should be a clear indication of whether the motion has succeeded tonight.

But due to counting processes and postal votes taking far longer to be tallied, the AEC won't make an official declaration on the result for up to 14 days.

"The AEC never officially declares results of a federal election or referendum on the night," it says.

READ MORE: Yes and No campaigns make final pitches to voters

"The AEC has to count each ballot paper more than once via a process called 'fresh scrutiny' – this occurs in the days after referendum night.

"Each aspect of the double majority for the referendum has to be mathematically certain before an official AEC declaration or the return of the writ."

Of the 44 referendums in Australian history, only eight have succeeded.

Because of the fracture in her right leg, Karin Journo had talked herself out of going to the Tribe of Nova music festival and sold her ticket.

But a week before Hamas militants turned the party into a killing ground, she bought another.

The 24-year-old French-Israeli airport worker who loved to travel had learned that a bunch of her friends were going to celebrate the departure of one of them to the United States. She didn't want to miss out.

READ MORE: Who is El Deif, alleged mastermind of the Hamas' attack?

Before heading out to dance the night away, she snapped a photo of herself in her party gear — black shorts and black halter top for a joyous night of electronic music in a dusty field. She'd left her long dark hair untied and painted her nails bright red. She was clearly excited, giving a V-sign in her selfie.

And dance she did: Video shot that night showed her waving her arms to the thumping beats, though she was rooted to the spot by the gray protective boot that encased her right foot and calf all the way up to her knee.

READ MORE: Palestinians attempt to flee northern Gaza after Israel order

It made her easy to recognise in subsequent video footage filmed as Hamas started to launch its deadly attack.

Sheltering behind a car with a friend, her face was marked with worry. With explosions echoing in the background, she looked around anxiously in another. In a final video, she is seen sitting just outside the open door of an ambulance, wearing a brown hoodie borrowed from a friend. Two people were laid out inside the vehicle, not moving.

At 8:43 that Saturday morning she sent a final text to her loved ones, according to her father, Doron Journo: "To the whole family, I want to say that I love you a lot, because I am not coming home."

"Since that message, we have heard nothing. We don't know if she is dead, if she is in Gaza. We know nothing," the father says.

"My daughter didn't go to war," he says. "She just went to dance."

One influential military figure in Hamas was always resolutely opposed to any kind of peace with what Hamas insists on calling the "Zionist Entity."

Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, is known as El Deif (the Guest), because, for decades, he has stayed in different houses every night to avoid being tracked, and killed, by Israel. He's now in charge of Hamas' military wing, the Al Qassem Brigades.

Thought to have been born in the 1960s, El Deif is little known to ordinary Palestinians, according to Mkhaimar Abusada, professor of political science at Al Azah University in Gaza.

READ MORE: Trump says he stands with Netanyahu after a barrage of criticism

"He's very much like a ghost to the majority of the Palestinians," he said.

The Al Qassem Brigades were opposed to the peace process embraced by Yassir Arafat, then-leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and the 1993 Oslo Accords that were supposed to pave the way to a two-state solution of a new Palestine living in peace alongside Israel.

In 1996 El Deif, an accomplished bomb maker, was behind a wave of four suicide attacks that killed 65 people in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and other outrages intended to derail the peace process.

As Hamas captured Gaza from rivals Fatah in 2007 (after winning the Palestinian elections the year before) Israel and Egypt tightened a noose around the enclave, which houses around two million people.

Hamas is seen by many Palestinians as the best alternative to rule by the Palestinian Authority (PA), which is dominated by Fatah and the larger Palestine Liberation Organization.

The PA pays the wages for the public sector in Gaza, and this summer polls showed that support for the PA, which only rules on the West Bank, was nonetheless around 70 per cent in Gaza.

READ MORE: French school terror suspect held for questioning before attack

Support for Hamas in Gaza has rarely tipped much past 50 per cent. And on the ground, in private conversations, it's been difficult to find people who are genuinely behind Hamas military campaigning.

But few people are prepared to be openly critical and risk arrest.

Israel's policies over the West Bank, where Jewish settlements, which are illegal under international law, spread steadily across the occupied territories, over access to the al Aqsa Mosque complex in Jerusalem, and the moribund efforts to achieve a viable two-state solution, meant Hamas was able to weaponise grievance.

The movement has no shortage of volunteers in the crowded enclave everyone there calls the "biggest prison in the world."

The tighter the Israeli and Egyptian control over Gaza's borders – the more Hamas (and other groups) developed military means to fight back.

Chief among them is rockets. Primitive at first, the missiles have been improved and refined over years of help from Iran.

The Tehran theocracy, also dedicated to the eradication of the Jewish state, trained engineers, organized technology transfers and guided developments to create rockets capable of hitting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

READ MORE: 'Viral capability': TikTok becomes valuable scam awareness tool

Men like El Deif, the bomb makers and decision takers, were hunted by Israel.

In 2014, an air strike killed his wife and daughter. He lost part of an arm, a leg and his hearing. No doubt his hatred for Israel intensified then.

But his emotions were leavened with zealous cunning. And the first, and most important deception, was to transform the Israeli perception of Hamas.

In the last two years, Hamas, under El Deif's guidance, worked to convince Israel that its focus was on domestic issues, on rebuilding Gaza, on securing work permits for people to seek employment in Israel, on building up its infrastructure.

"The Israelis have felt that, in the long run, that Hamas is known for these policies more than that there's going to be a call for a military confrontation with Israel," says Abusada, the Gazan professor.

All the while, though, Hamas was plotting a massive assault that would end any perception in Israel, and beyond, that the Islamic Resistance had lost its strategic mojo.

Key to this change, too, was another major figure in Hamas' military wing, Yahya Sinwar. A former head of the Al Qassem brigades, he's now the head of Hamas in Gaza.

He focused efforts on building relationships with foreign powers — notably Egypt and Iran.

READ MORE: Australian on Tel Aviv flight forced to leave Israeli partner

Hamas' attack on Israel last weekend represents the worst Israeli military setback since 1973. Back then Syria and Egypt launched a surprise assault on Israel over the Yom Kippur holiday. Initially successful, the Arabs were soon pushed back as Israel rallied.

Now Israel is massing troops on the borders with Gaza and in the north where it faces Iran-backed Hezbollah across the fence with Lebanon.

What will Hamas ultimately gain from its bloody gamble? Karim von Hippel, director of the London-based Royal United Services Institute, says "they may have been planning this for years and thinking through what they can do, because everything else they have tried, hasn't worked."

"But certainly this is not going to work either. I think this will spell the end of Hamas."

That may be a zero-sum option that not even the shadowy El Deif had guessed at.

Two-thirds of Australians aged over 15 were exposed to a scam last financial year.

Of those people, 552,000 fell victim, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

It's led experts to search for ways to reduce the $3.1 billion residents lost in 2022 to scams but TikTok has emerged as a valuable source in the scam prevention fight.

READ MORE: AI voice cloning scams 'will come to Australia' – so how do you guard against it?

The Chinese-owned social media platform, built primarily to entertain, has 840.4 million views under its scam video hashtag and another 24.2 million under #scamawareness.

Sophos scam researcher Aaron Bugal said TikTok was becoming key to driving safety in Australia.

Bugal said the information on TikTok was a combination of different user experiences.

"You've got a lot of the users that would suggest to be on the lookout for certain types of scams and ways in which scammers obtain the ability to deceive people," he said.

LIVE UPDATES: Voice to parliament referendum rolling coverage and results

Bugal said the types of videos on TikTok were varied but often had similar themes like romance, cryptocurrency and impersonation scams.

He said it was beginning to "eclipse traditional awareness methods".

"Scamwatch here in Australia is a great resource and I strongly suggest that anybody who is unfortunately a victim of a scanner… to report it to Scamwatch.

"But that viral capability of these social media platforms like TikTok, it's a really good and quick way to get that scam quickly out to others."

There are also scams on TikTok itself, prompting a warning from Bugal to be mindful of what they are being asked to do as viewers.

"Take stock of what is being told to you and just take a moment to digest it," he said.

"If it's trying to be coercive, or if there's some sort of request for money or information, be super hesitant just to divulge that information."

Intelligence and security concerns surrounding the app also prompted some countries, including Australia, to ban TikTok from government devices six months ago.

There are concerns the app could be used by the Chinese government for surveillance.

TikTok has consistently denied these claims.

READ MORE: Do you feel like your phone is listening to you? You're not wrong

But, nevertheless, the videos on TikTok likely contribute to Generation Z being more scam-aware than older generations.

Eighteen to 24-year-olds have lost about $15 million to scams compared to those over 65 who have lost nearly $100 million from January to August this year, according to Scamwatch.

Bugal said having conversations with friends and family as well as educating yourself about scams was the most effective way to prevent falling victim.

"Especially for scams and scammers that originate from outside this country, there's very little to no recourse so we can take against them," he said.

"So until that change, like laws change and regulations change or even governance around using telecommunication systems for fraud in this sort of way (changes)… it's down to the individuals to be a little bit more aware about what's happening."

The royal family turned out in full uniform for Spain's national day.

Paris is in the grips of a bedbug infestation – but Australia was one of the first nations in the world to successfully stamp out major infestations.

Even an expected post-pandemic resurgence of the bugs after international travel resumed hasn't happened, experts say.

Bedbug expert Stephen Doggett, Director of Medical Entomology at Westmead Hospital for NSW Health Pathology said there are sometimes outbreaks.

LIVE UPDATES: Voice to parliament referendum rolling coverage and results

But because of an industry-wide code set up in 2005 by the Australian Environmental Pest Managers Association, which set guidelines on how to tackle pests, there have been no major outbreaks for years.

"We were the first country that saw a decline in bedbugs," he said.

Doggett blamed Paris's outbreak on a mix of issues including the combination of a lot of tourists travelling, high density living and low income housing where people perhaps can't afford to pay for pest control.

"I think that's one of the problem with France, with so many people travelling now, because how bedbugs get from A to B is largely on people's belongings," he said.

But said it's not a new situation for France, where authorities have called for calm.

"There was actually a survey done recently by some colleagues of mine that showed that one in ten houses had bedbugs in France. It's phenomenal," Doggett said.

Doggett said he hasn't seen what he called a "super bedbug infestation" in Australia for six or seven years.

READ MORE: Bedbug plague infests Paris ahead of Olympics

He's experienced such outbreaks in social housing, where people might not be aware of an infestation and might not be able to pay for extermination.

However, he admits Aussies could experience the unwelcome bedfellows when travelling – with airport hotels a particular hotspot because of the high turnover of guests.

But there are ways to check your room, he said.

"The first thing you do is put your bag in the middle of the room," he said.

"Don't put it on the bed.

"Pull the bed away from the wall, pull off all the sheets, the blankets, the bedding and look for signs of bedbugs, particularly along the seams on the bed closest to the wall.

"Bedbugs vary in size from about a mm to about a cm when they're full of blood.

"You look for the bed bugs and you look for their pooh spots.

"You can see groups of sort of little black dots.

"If you see lots of them round the bed and then you see the insects as well… you'll be getting another room."

Trains, buses and even cars can also become infested, though Paris authorities claim reports of them on the Metro are unfounded.

Bedbugs can also be found on planes and Doggett said he was once bitten on an aircraft.

"It's in the frequent flier seats it's always a problem, often business class, and crew quarters," he said.

Bites can look nasty and in some cases can cause health issues.

"We know of cases where people have developed anaemia," Doggett said.

"But people can react quite badly and they take a lot of blood, about ten times that of mosquito and they inject a lot of gunk into you."

He said there is 'mental trauma' associated with the "horrific" experience of being bitten.

Aussies should should see their doctor if they are worried.

Anybody who fears they have bedbugs should visit the AEPMA website and then call the experts rather than trying to use any pesticides themselves he said.

That can be more deadly than the creatures themselves, he said.

"We've seen people buy really toxic chemicals," he said.

"There's been many deaths, people buy it over the internet.

"I know one case a woman used so much chemicals she died," he said.

Meanwhile, David Gay, a pest controller for WR Gay Pest Control for 25 years in Melbourne, said he does a few hundred bedbug treatments a year.

They cost up to $400 and eradication could take more than one visit.

Hot steam and vacuuming are used to a kill bugs and eggs these days, he said.

"Application of a pesticide is the last resort," he said.

And in his experience it's not just cheaper hotels which have had infestations.

"We've seen them in the high end hotels, but to be fair not as common as in more budget accommodations," he said.

What is a bedbug?

A bedbug is a six legged insect. It has two antennae and is typically about 6mm. They feed on blood.

They spent much of the time hidden in crevices waiting to emerge at night in search of a host.

They can travel several metres, as well as on items like suitcases and bedding.

They are attracted by heat and carbon dioxide – such as sleeping humans.

A bed bug population can double in as little as 16 days.

Bedbugs can stay alive for a year without a meal.

Bedbug bites can become itchy and red and are often seen in a line.

A West Australian man has reportedly been charged after a bomb threat forced a passenger plane bound for Perth to return to Singapore under fighter jet escort.

The Scoot budget airline flight TR16 left Singapore's Changi Airport at 4.10pm local time (7.11pm AEDT) yesterday heading for the Western Australia capital.

About 40 minutes into the flight a bomb threat was allegedly made mid-air.

LIVE UPDATES: Iran issues chilling warning on Israel Hamas conflict 

Flight tracking data showed how the Dreamliner 787 plane circled several times off the Singapore coast before heading back.

Passengers were first told this was due to a "technical issue" before an announcement was made about the bomb threat when the military escort arrived outside their window.

"A call was received that a bomb is on board our aircraft," the captain told passengers, before adding: "Please do not be alarmed as we believe it is a hoax."

The incidents had passengers fearing the worst.

"I know there was no internet up there but I just kept typing and typing and typing," Sue Nair told 9News.

"I really panicked."

Singapore Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said in a Facebook post that two F-15SG fighter planes were scrambled to escort the Scoot flight back to Changi Airport.

The plane landed safely at about 6.30pm Singapore time (9.30pm AEDT) and the aircraft was boarded by security personnel.

One runway was closed and several incoming flights were delayed during the operation, local media reports.

READ MORE: Planned pro-Palestinian protest in Sydney changed to 'static rally'

The Australian man, aged 30, was escorted off the Scoot plane by police and reportedly charged.

Passengers described the man as being "a bit dazed" and said "he didn't speak at all" when confronted by crew and authorities.

A friend of the man said his mate had been struggling with his mental health.

"I spoke to his mum this morning, she's very distressed, very confused," the friend told 9News.

"I'm worried he's not getting the support he needs, he's got no one around him, he's an Aussie overseas."

Those on board flight TR16 finally arrived at Perth Airport around 4am, with the ordeal causing an eight-hour delay.

The airline issued an apology to passengers for the disruption to their journey, although most passengers were just happy to be home safe.

Police investigations are continuing.

9News.com.au has contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for comment.

Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 or MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78.

In an emergency, call triple zero (000).

Three men have been charged after allegedly performing a Nazi salute outside the Sydney Jewish Museum.

The men were arrested after police were called to the museum in Darlinghurst just after midday and taken to Kings Cross Police Station.

The men, aged 30, 31, and 40, have now each been charged with behaving in an offensive manner in a public place and knowingly displaying by public act a Nazi symbol without excuse.

READ MORE: Police seek special powers for pro-Palestine rally

All three were released on conditional bail to appear in Downing Centre Local Court on October 31.

A museum spokesperson said there was no ongoing danger to any of its staff.

"At no time was anyone at the Museum in danger, and the Museum is thankful for the ongoing support of its security contractors and the local police monitoring the site at all times," the spokesperson said.

"The Sydney Jewish Museum remains a safe place for all volunteers, Holocaust survivors and visitors."

Darlinghurst Road was closed for several hours following the alleged incident but has now reopened. 

The allegations come as tensions remain high among the Jewish and Palestinian communities after the Hamas assault on Israel.

Police have sought special powers ahead of a planned pro-Palestinian rally in Hyde Park on Sunday.

The Sydney Jewish Museum was founded in 1992 by a group of migrants who survived the Holocaust.

The museum is dedicated to the memory of the six million Jewish Holocaust victims.