Cost-benefit modelling says avoided crashes created $93 million worth of benefits.

War crime investigators will not see evidence from Ben Roberts-Smith's defamation trial that could lead to the contamination of their probe, a judge has been told.

On Wednesday, the Federal Court let the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI) view a wide range of transcripts and evidence from the lengthy and hotly contested defamation proceedings.

However, the OSI, which is examining potential war crimes in Afghanistan, will not be allowed to see certain material from the case, including from when Roberts-Smith and others were compelled to give evidence.

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Representing the war veteran, barrister Arthur Moses SC said the sensitive material would have been unlawfully obtained by the OSI and could have potentially "contaminated" any criminal probe.

"Had they had access to what they wanted to access, there could have been the corruption of yet another investigation," he told Justice Robert Bromwich.

The Federal Court ruled in June that reports by Nine and The Canberra Times alleging Roberts-Smith's involvement in four murders while deployed in Afghanistan were substantially true.

He has not been criminally charged and is appealing the judgment of Justice Anthony Besanko.

After the decision, the Commonwealth sought all sensitive court documents used in the trial but later reversed course and limited its request after being grilled by Bromwich at a hearing earlier this month.

At that time, the court heard the OSI and Australian Federal Police were jointly investigating 33 alleged offences by defence force members in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.

READ MORE: After KFC store went cashless, what are the other fast food giants planning?

The OSI was established after an inquiry by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force into soldiers' conduct in Afghanistan.

Redactions will now be made of closed-court transcripts, outlines of evidence, material on a secure laptop and certificates issued by the court protecting individuals who gave evidence against self-incrimination.

These redactions will be made by lawyers at the Australian Government Solicitor and then reviewed by a separate team of special counsel before being passed onto the OSI.

The Commonwealth has been ordered to pay Roberts-Smith's legal costs regarding access to the material after the ex-soldier raised concerns about the potentially contaminating documents in June.

Moses argued the federal government had "capitulated" to his client's concerns, ultimately limiting the material it could gain access to.

After Besanko dismissed the defamation case in June, the newspapers sought court orders that Roberts-Smith and his financial backers at Seven and billionaire Kerry Stokes' private company Australian Capital Equity pay their legal costs.

In that dispute, Seven, ACE and Roberts-Smith have appealed a decision ordering them to produce tens of thousands of documents to the publications, which hope to prove that the ex-soldier's supporters were heavily involved in the defamation trial.

If you are a current or former ADF member, or a relative, and need counselling or support, you can contact the Defence All-Hours Support Line on 1800 628 036 or Open Arms on 1800 011 046.

Northland Te Whatu Ora staffer to appear on new dating show Down for Love.

A man has been charged with murder after allegedly fatally injuring another man in South Australia.

Police found a 65-year-old man with serious injuries at an apartment complex in Bond Street, Mount Gambier, five hours southeast of Adelaide, after reports of a "disturbance" at 3pm yesterday.

He was taken to hospital and died a short time later. 

READ MORE: Former Qantas boss Alan Joyce to skip Senate aviation inquiry

A 65-year-old man was arrested at the scene.

Police believe the two men were known to each other.

The man, who has no fixed address, was charged with murder and will appear in Gambier Magistrates Court today.

Police are not searching for other suspects in relation to the alleged crime. 

KFC are the first and only major fast food chain to go cashless in Australia, as other franchises told 9News they will not be moving to card-only payments.

Franchise partners of the fried chicken brand have moved to a cashless payment system in a small number of stores across New South Wales, including a Morisset store.

We asked competitors Macca's, Hungry Jack's, Domino's and Red Rooster if they would be moving in a similar direction.

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A spokesperson from McDonald's told 9News that the global burger brand had "no plans to go cashless at this stage".

Competing chicken brand Red Rooster said they had "no intention of going cashless in the near future," despite the move by KFC.

Domino's told 9News that going cashless was "not currently something we are looking at doing".

Home of the Whopper, Hungry Jack's confirmed that all stories currently accept both cash and card, but did not comment on whether the brand would move towards a cashless payment system in the near future.

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While switching to a card-only payment option may be inconvenient for some, it's not illegal.

Stores hold the right to refuse cash as long as they state so clearly to customers, according to the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission.

Signage must indicate the customer's payment options.

KFC previously told 9News that the choice to go cashless was "at the discretion of our franchise partners and is in line with legal requirements".

If you've got one of these lying around, you could be about to strike it rich.

COVID-19 has become the first infectious disease to crack the top five causes of death in Australia since 1970.

This virus was the third leading cause of death in 2022 in a holistic overview, accounting for more than one in 20 deaths over the year or 9859 out of 190,939 deaths, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

It was also among the top ten leading causes of death in a state and territory breakdown, coming in third in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory and ninth in the Northern Territory.

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The virus was the sixth leading cause of death in Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania.

"This marks the first time an infectious disease has appeared in the top five leading causes since 1970, when influenza and pneumonia was ranked fifth," Lauren Moran, ABS head of morality statistics, said.

READ MORE: What is HMPV, the little-known virus with cases spreading through NSW?

"Broken down by sex, we saw that COVID-19 was the third-ranked cause of death for males (5484) and the fourth-ranked cause of death for females (4375).

"Those who died from COVID-19 had a high median age at death of 85.8 years."

Dementia – including Alzheimer's – was the leading cause of death for females and the second leading cause for males.

"The top five causes of death in 2022 were ischaemic heart disease, dementia (including Alzheimer's disease), COVID-19, cerebrovascular diseases (strokes) and lung cancer, which when combined, accounted for more than a third of all deaths," Moran said.

There were 20,000 more deaths in 2022 than in 2021.

READ MORE: Charles' debut on Aussie money coming soon

Ischaemic heart disease, diabetes, chronic lung diseases, lung cancer and suicide were the top five causes of death among Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander peoples in 2022, with COVID-19 the ninth leading cause of death.

In 2022, 3249 people died by suicide, at a rate of 12.5 per 100,000 people.

Men accounted for three-quarters of these deaths.

Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyond blue on 1300 22 4636.

The distinctively-shaped property sits in the exclusive eastern suburbs.

It is not yet officially summer, but Australia's days are going to keep getting longer for the rest of the year after overtaking nights on the weekend.

Saturday saw the sun positioned directly over the equator, marking the spring equinox for the southern hemisphere.

That means from now until March next year, days in Australia will be longer than the nights, peaking at the summer solstice in late December.

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The solstice is the day that has the most – or fewest, for the winter solstice – daylight hours in the year.

After the summer solstice, days will grow shorter again, before the balance flips to longer nights in March 2024 after the autumn equinox.

The winter solstice takes place in June.

OPINION

Daniel Andrews changed Victoria enormously in his time as premier. It is to be hoped it changes back now he is leaving.

Victoria has become a state where ideology outweighs logic, where retribution is a political weapon, and where accountability and transparency may as well be badly named racehorses.

At times, our departing premier has seemed more trouble magnet than a steady and considered leader.

READ MORE: Andrews to step down in hours as leadership uncertainty looms

https://omny.fm/shows/mornings-with-neil-mitchell/insult-to-victorians-neil-mitchells-view-on-the-le/embed?style=cover

There were always questions and suspicions.

Police failed to meet critical standards in the investigation of a 2013 car crash when he said his wife was driving his government car. He explained, and many did not believe him.

A few years later he fell down stairs when on holiday, and had to take three months off. His explanation was one of a simple accident. Many did not believe him.

Such was the climate of spin and lack of transparency through his government that when the premier said something happened many looked for the real story.

Even as he resigned yesterday, some asked what dirt was about to hit which fan. Some disbelieved his public reasoning.

He was Chairman Dan, and Teflon Dan.

During the appalling "red shirts rort" public money was misused to help an election campaign.

Junior staff were arrested and questioned by police. The ministers in charge of them were not, and refused to co-operate when asked.That in itself was an outrage.

Almost half the Cabinet refused to cooperate with a police inquiry into misuse of public money. Teflon won.

He cancelled the building of the East West Link, which he said would not cost any money in compensation. It cost over $1 billion not to build the road. Nothing stuck.

Various integrity officers in various ways questioned his methods, including contracts for union mates. Nobody seemed to care.

Through it all Telfon Dan blustered, threatened, sniped and spun. And nothing stuck.

READ MORE: Long list awaits Daniel Andrews' replacement

But the truly disturbing sight for anybody who believes in democracy was Chairman Dan at work during the dark days of the pandemic.

World record lockdowns were ugly power overreach, but the worst was the deaths of 801 people, lost to COVID because of appalling government bungling of hotel quarantine.

That must sit painfully on the conscience of Dan Andrews and anybody involved. Hotel quarantine worked across the rest of the country and was far better managed. Most of those people need not have died.

The COVID crisis showed a government dominated by spin and verbal trickery. Kids were banned from playgrounds. Police were blamed for requesting policies they did not request.

Andrews mocked NSW for having softer COVID restrictions, but in the end more Victorians died from the pandemic than NSW, which has a larger population.

Even today some Victorians see him as the hero of the pandemic. He wasn't, he was power-hungry and autocratic. Democratic government ceased and the Cabinet was ostracised. And he has dodged accountability, aided by his mate the PM, ever since.

Through the years enemies were ostracised, as I can personally illustrate.

For six years I was in "Dan's freezer". He refused to talk to me or more importantly my audience. Then my ABC counterpart was sent to sit in the cold with me, and even Melbourne's Lord Mayor councillor Sally Capp was ostracised for some perceived "offence".

READ MORE: 'The body language was there': Reactions to Daniel Andrews' exit

For six years I was in "Dan's freezer". He refused to talk to me or more importantly my audience.

His daily style has been to intimidate the media, seduce them, or ban them. He has campaigned powerfully through social media, presenting slogans instead of policy detail. That after all, meant fewer difficult questions.

He has belittled opponents and threatened critics. He created a culture of fear amongst many of the so-called leading citizens that they became afraid to cross him.

He kowtowed to the Chinese government and woe betide anybody who asked why.

He ran down hospitals and denied the blood-splattered reality.

He shed dodgy ministers and factional enemies at an alarming rate.

But he won three elections. That qualifies him as a clever politician. It does not make him a great leader. Yes, he did some worthwhile things. Nobody could question his work ethic.

He created a climate where sensible euthanasia laws could be introduced. He eradicated dangerous level crossings, albeit by bullying residents into accepting "sky rail", elevated train lines going past bedroom windows, and he identified the need for significant infrastructure works.

READ MORE: Daniel Andrews' journey to bronze-statue Victorian premier

Tunnels were dug or half-dug. Roads were built. The work was needed but the management was appalling. Cost blowouts and delays have been obscene. As the projects staggered on basic roads became riddled by potholes, as the maintenance budget was cut.

Debt levels have become frightening. Andrews leaves Victoria with debt predicted to pass $200 billion, more than NSW, Queensland and Tasmania combined. He also leaves with several corruption probes pending, one on politicization of the public service.

Now, whoever replaces Daniel Andrews may well find themselves herding cats. Typically, when a dictatorial and dominant leader steps down the underlings struggle to reassert themselves.

The power vacuum can be destructive. The new premier is likely to be Jacinta Allen, his deputy. She is a different style of leader, and once was more balanced and accountable.

She must not follow the Andrews template. Victoria needs to return to an era of decent government. A government where integrity is expected not dodged.

A government where transparency is the expectation, not an irritation. Where questions are answered and critics debated not decapitated.

We've had enough of the bullying, the spin and the intimidation.

What Victoria needs is honesty, openness and accountability. What Victoria needs is a re-set, new start, a symbolic rejuvenation.

First Labor will wallow in glowing and inaccurate tributes.

Then they must forget Andrews and his style, dump some of his bloody-minded madness, and govern with decency, common sense and fairness.

Do that, and Victoria has new hope. After nine years of Andrews it is the least the people deserve.

Neil Mitchell broadcasts from 8.30am weekdays on 3AW.