He was known to frequently walk along beaches near Mellons Bay, police said.

A coroner has found the Queensland man who died from a suspected snake bite after he helped remove the reptile from a friend's leg had no venom in his system.

Don "Donny" Morrison died after centenary celebrations at Koumala State School, south of Mackay, took a tragic turn on Saturday afternoon.

The 69-year-old had helped remove a snake – believed to be a brown snake – that was wrapped around the leg of his friend.

READ MORE: Knife-wielding man taken down by nearby bloke's big tackle

Paramedics worked on Morrison for more than 30 minutes after he was reportedly bitten on the arm but he died at the scene after a cardiac arrest.

Morrison's family released a statement on Thursday after receiving the preliminary findings from the coroner that there was no snake venom in Morrison's system.

"This therefore rules out snakebite as a contributing factor or cause of death," the statement said.

"While the exact cause of his passing is still under investigation, it is believed that Donny may have had an underlying medical condition that he was unaware of."

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His family thanked emergency services and community members for their help on the tragic evening.

"These past few days have been exceptionally distressing for the family, and we kindly ask for privacy during this time to grieve our loss and bid farewell to Donny," the statement added.

WA Health is warning locals about the risk of measles after a traveller infected with the disease returned from Bali and visited multiple locations around the state.

The full range of the person's movements are not known, but officials confirmed that they visited a Perth Bunnings, a grocery store, and an outback pub over two weeks.

Now, WA Health is warning the people of Western Australia to be "vigilant for symptoms of measles" as they shared the times and dates of the measles patient's movements.

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Two dates in particular were flagged by WA Health:

On Sunday September 3, the infected person visited the Royal Mail Hotel in Meekatharra in the state's mid-west.

They reportedly stayed there for over two hours from 5:45 pm to 8 pm.

The following Sunday on September 11, between 12pm and 2pm the person visited Spud Shed Kelmscott, and Bunnings Armadale, two shopping outlets in Perth's south.

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Anyone who attended the exposure sites during the times released by WA health could have been exposed to measles and should monitor for symptoms.

People who contract measles typically develop symptoms around 10 days after being exposed to the virus, but this can vary from seven to 18 days.

Early warning signs of infection include fever, cough, runny nose and sore eyes, followed by a red non-itchy rash three or four days later.

https://twitter.com/WAHealth/status/1701874302315008269?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Most people are vaccinated for measles at an early age, but children under 12 months who may not have been fully immunised are most vulnerable.

Immunocompromised people, young children and pregnant women remain are most at risk of severe ilness if infected.

Babies as young as 6 months are elligble for their measles vaccines.

AFL legend and Indigenous activist Michael Long has called on Australians to act with love, not rage, as he spoke after completing a 650km walk from Melbourne to Canberra in support of the Voice to parliament.

Long, who in 2004 set out on the original Long Walk for the Stolen Generations, was greeted in Canberra by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney.

Long read out an open letter from himself, Nova Peris, Peter Maher, Declan O'Toole and Merryn Apma Daley to Albanese.

READ MORE: Knife-wielding man taken down by nearby bloke's big tackle

In it, he called for Albanese and the Yes campaign to keep heart as support for the Voice appeared to slip.

In the 19 years since he had set out on a similar walk to obtain a meeting with then-prime minister John Howard, Long said, the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians had not closed.

"A Yes vote in the referendum will give Indigenous people the self-determination that we asked for 19 years ago," he said.

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"We have 65,000 years of history and culture to share with this nation.

"That is the promise of the Voice."

Long said the 1788 lie of terra nullius proclaimed Indigenous people did not exist, allowing British colonists a legal fiction on which to base their claim to Australia.

And in 1901, he said, the Constitution did not recognise Indigenous Australians as the firstborn children of the country.

"When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish," he said.

"They will walk in two worlds. Their culture will be a gift to this country."

Long said there had been a lot of negativity around the Voice, including from Howard, who had previously urged No supporters to "maintain the rage" until voting day.

"But this isn't about rage. This is about love," he said.

"This is our opportunity as Australians. We must take it."

Albanese called Long, who won two AFL premierships during his career and was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2021, a "great Australian" who cared about his people and his country.

After more than half a year stuck in the Senate without enough support to become law, the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) has finally passed parliament after Labor struck a deal with the Greens.

While it's been touted by the government as the biggest-ever investment into affordable housing in Australian history, the policy is a little complicated, as it isn't a direct injection of funding into housing.

This is how it will work.

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What is the Housing Australia Future Fund and how will it work?

The Housing Australia Future Fund is a $10 billion investment fund the government will create, with the returns each year used to create social and affordable housing.

Because it's an investment fund rather than a one-off cash injection, the theory behind the policy is that it will provide a long-running supply of housing funding for years to come.

How much will be invested under the HAFF?

You've probably seen the Housing Australia Future Fund touted as a $10 billion policy – but that's not how much will go directly into building new homes.

Rather, the $10 billion will go into an investment fund.

Each year, the returns from that fund – i.e. how much it earns on the stock market – will be used to fund the construction of new housing.

However, as the Greens argued during their negotiations with the government, if the fund loses money one year, that would mean there's no funding available for housing that year.

As a result, the policy was amended to guarantee a minimum housing spend of $500 million each year, regardless of the fund's performance.

EXPLAINED: Voice to parliament referendum: When, how and where do I vote?

In addition to paying for the construction of new homes, the government also says the fund's returns will provide:

• $200 million to repair, maintain and improve remote Indigenous community housing
• $100 million for crisis and transitional housing for women and children impacted by family and domestic violence, as well as older women at risk of homelessness
• $30 million to build housing for veterans who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness

Also as a result of negotiations between the Greens and Labor, the government announced $3 billion in direct spending on public and community housing, although these funds are separate from the HAFF.

How many new homes will be built?

The government says 30,000 new social and affordable rental homes will be built over the fund's first five years.

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Who are the new homes for?

While not all of the 30,000 homes will be targeted at certain groups, some will be.

The government is promising 4000 of those homes will be for women and children impacted by domestic violence or older women at risk of homelessness.

It has also pinpointed veterans, key workers and "those most in need" as recipients of the new housing without going into more detail.

Where will the new homes be built?

We don't know exactly where all 30,000 homes will be built, but we do know every state and territory will receive at least 1200 each.

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Will the HAFF fix Australia's housing crisis?

That's the million-dollar (or should that be $10 billion?) question, but really, we won't know for a few years yet.

The government obviously thinks it will make a significant dent in the crucial issue, and the policy has also been welcomed by a number of bodies, including Master Builders Australia, the Property Council, and the Community Housing Industry Association.

The Greens, despite supporting the bill in the Senate, actually say the fund won't fix the crisis and have continued to call for rental safeguards like caps or freezes.

However, they've welcomed the $3 billion in direct spending this year, and housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather said the HAFF will provide "effectively rent-capped" properties for thousands or tens of thousands of Australians.

The opposition has consistently opposed the policy because it claims the fund doesn't do enough to support first-home buyers.

Two housing experts 9news.com.au spoke to earlier this year argued there were much better alternatives than the "contrived and convoluted" fund – although one said its passage through parliament wouldn't be a bad thing.

They instead advocated for rental caps and better regulation of short-term rentals like Airbnbs.

You can read more of their ideas here.

Insurance provider AAMI has revealed the most dangerous roads in each capital city.

Attempts by a fishing vessel to pull free a luxury cruise ship carrying 206 people — including about 90 Australians — in a remote region of Greenland have failed.

The fishing trawler owned by Greenland's government used a high tide to try to release the Bahamas-flagged Ocean Explorer that ran aground in the world's northernmost national park, on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).

The Danish military's Joint Arctic Command (JAC) confirmed after an inspection of the stranded vessel attempts to free it were successful.

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"The crew and passengers are in a difficult situation, but after the circumstances, the atmosphere on the ship is good and everyone on board is fine," the JAC said in a statement.

The priority now was getting the Danish navy's Knud Rasmussen inspection vessel to the site.

The JAC said it was expected to arrive by Friday afternoon local time.

The cruise ship ran aground above the Arctic Circle on Monday in Alpefjord, which is in the Northeast Greenland National Park.

Australian cruise operator Aurora Expeditions told 9news.com.au about 90 Australians were on board the Ocean Explorer.

Liz, from Wodonga in Victoria, was one of them and told Today this morning about the lead-up to the cruise ship running aground.

"We were standing on our balcony because we had just taken off from the glacier and we realised very quickly that we were about to get stuck in the mud," she said.

"So having been a bit of a boatie myself, you could feel the pull of the boat as we pulled up and realised we were in trouble straight away."

The Northeast Greenland National Park covers 972,000 square kilometres, almost as much land as France and Spain combined, and approximately 80 per cent is permanently covered by an ice sheet, according to the Visit Greenland tourism board.

Alpefjord sits in a remote corner of Greenland, some 240 kilometres away from the closest settlement, Ittoqqortoormiit, which itself is nearly 1,400 kilometres from the country's capital, Nuuk.

The Ocean Explorer's crew made two failed attempts to get the ship to float free on its own during high tide.

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Aurora Expeditions said on Wednesday the passengers and crew members were safe and well and that there was "no immediate danger to themselves, the vessel, or the surrounding environment".

"We are actively engaged in efforts to free the MV Ocean Explorer from its grounding. Our foremost commitment is to ensure the vessel's recovery without compromising safety," the statement said.

Aurora Expeditions has been contacted about reported cases of COVID-19 aboard the ship.

Sydney couple Steven Fraser — who has come down with COVID-19 — and Gina Hill said the expedition crew was occupying passengers with talks and the restaurant was still operating.

"Everyone's in good spirits," Fraser told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"It's a little bit frustrating, but we are in a beautiful part of the world. 

"We're sitting right near the glacier when we open our window."

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Dozens of cruise ships sail along Greenland's coast every year so passengers can admire the picturesque mountainous landscape with fjords, musk oxen, and the waterways packed with icebergs of different sizes and glaciers jutting out into the sea.

The JAC said the passengers on the Ocean Explorer were "a mix" of tourists from Australia, New Zealand, Britain, the United States and South Korea. 

The Ocean Explorer was built in 2021 and is owned by Copenhagen SunStone Ships, which is part of Denmark's SunStone Group. It has an inverted bow, shaped like the one on a submarine. It has 77 cabins, 151 passenger beds and 99 beds for crew, and several restaurants, according to the Sunstone Group website.

The JAC said there were other ships in the vicinity of the stranded cruise liner and "if the need arises, personnel from the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol can be at the accident site within an hour and a half".

On Tuesday, members of the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, a Danish naval unit that conducts long-range reconnaissance and enforces Danish sovereignty in the Arctic wilderness, visited the passengers and explained the situation, "which calmed them down as some were anxious", Madsen, who was the on-duty officer for the Joint Arctic Command, said.

The command, which was coordinating the operation to free the cruise ship, said the nearest Danish navy ship was more than 2,000 kilometres away. It was heading to the site and could be expected to reach the grounded ship as soon as Friday.

The primary mission of the Joint Arctic Command is to ensure Danish sovereignty by monitoring the area around the Faeroe Islands and Greenland, including the Arctic Ocean in the north.

Sydney single woman Sarah* was looking for love and thought she might have met "the one" on the dating platform Tinder.

But, within the space of two weeks, the 44-year-old bank worker had fallen head-over-heels, not only for a man who wasn't real, but a scam that swindled her out of $157,000 – her entire life savings and then some.

Sarah, who works for one of Australia's biggest banks, said the fallout from the scam had been emotionally and financially devastating.

"It's been humiliation, heaped upon humiliation," she said.

"I realise how idiotic I am now. I'm still trying to reconcile that I've actually done this to myself."

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The type of scam Sarah fell victim to is known for its remorselessness and goes by the aptly brutal term "pig butchering". 

Pig butchering is a cross between a romance and cryptocurrency scam and alludes to the idea of victims being "fattened up for the slaughter" with the belief they are falling in love. 

Global law enforcement and cybersecurity experts warn it's now a crime that's on the rise in Western countries, after originating in China.

'It was so good'

The nightmare all started for Sarah last month when she was matched with a man called John* on Tinder.

The man had a "verified" Tinder profile and appeared to live just 16 kilometres away from Sarah in Sydney's inner west.

According to Tinder, users are required to submit a "video selfie" which is compared to their profile photo using facial recognition technology in order to gain verification.

On its website, Tinder states that "while the blue check mark can be a signal that someone is who they claim based on the photos they have provided to Tinder, it is not a guarantee of authenticity".

A spokesperson for Tinder told 9news.com.au the platform started using video selfies to verify accounts in April in order to strengthen its processes.

Tinder declined to say whether the user who approached Sarah used a video selfie to authenticate their account.

John's photos on Tinder showed a man, pictured with a pet husky.

Do you have a story? Contact reporter Emily McPherson at has also issued recent warnings about pig butchering scams.

Australian cybercrime expert Simon Smith, from the Online Crime Action Centre, told 9news.com.au in December he had worked with many local victims of pig butchering scams, with some losing up to $850,000.

"They are very elaborate and relentless, the scammers keep going until they have taken their victim's last cent, and then some," Smith said.

What do I do now?

After learning she had been scammed, Sarah contacted ReportCyber, run by the government's Australian Cyber Security Centre and lodged a report.

In response to her report, NSW ReportCyber told Sarah in an email that the scam appeared to have been orchestrated by a person overseas – outside the jurisdiction of NSW Police.

Further investigation was also "unlikely to result in a successful prosecution of the party responsible" because of the unregulated nature of cryptocurrency, NSW ReportCyber said.

Unhappy with the response, Sarah said she made a statement at her local police station, but police were yet to follow up the matter.

"It's quite clear that they've got no bloody idea what to do," Sarah said.

"If someone broke into my house and stole everything that would be a different story." 

"I have no idea where to go now," she said.

Sarah said her priority was to apply for an increased loan on her mortgage, in order to repay her friend.

"I'm just terrified now. I was in a really good financial position, for my age, and now I'm not," she said.

"I didn't lose everything as I still have my property and I still have my super. But, with $157,000 gone, I won't come back from this for years. 

"It's been bad on all fronts. I feel like I lost him, I lost my money, and I lost myself a bit. 

"I'm the kind of person who's never done anything wrong in their life. I'm a rule follower and I've done this one thing and it's ruined everything."

* Names have been changed.

A father and son teamed up to take down an allegedly knife-wielding man in a New South Wales shopping centre with an NRL-quality tackle.

Blake and his father Darryl were grabbing a bite to eat at Dubbo Centro earlier this week when a man started shouting that he had a knife and threatened to stab somebody, Darryl told 2GB's Ben Fordham.

Darryl picked up a high chair and approached the man, trying to speak with him and calm him down.

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https://omny.fm/shows/ben-fordham-full-show/the-big-fella-hit-him-dad-and-son-detail-tackle-on/embed

"And then, bingo, the big fella hit him," he said.

Blake told 2GB he was worried about the potential danger to his dad.

"A couple years of practice certainly paid off, that's for sure," he said.

The North Queensland Cowboys fan said while he used to play footy on the NSW South Coast, he hadn't pulled on a boot for a couple of years now.

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He credited his dad with teaching him his tackling skills.

"I was just amazed with the commitment he showed to bring that lad down," Darryl said.

Blake said he had stood up with his dad but then circled away to try to find a spot to run in.

"I thought of the quickest way possible to resolve the situation, so that's when I came in with the left shoulder," he said.

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"As soon as he had his back to me, that's when I just lined him up from from the side and came in and tackled him to the ground."

Blake said he had been worried for the man in case his head had been injured, but "thankfully, that didn't happen".

"I said to dad, that's actually my left shoulder. I hit better with my right," he said.

Fordham congratulated the pair and pledged to line up tickets to the NRL finals for them.

Former Australian Defence Force personnel who carry out unauthorised military training to foreign troops will face up to 20 years in prison under new laws.

The legislation comes amid concerns Australian pilots are being recruited to train China's air force. It will be introduced into federal parliament today by the government, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Defence Minister Richard Marles wants to strengthen existing legislation to protect national security.

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Former servicemen and women as well as ex-public servants will be required to gain the approval of the defence minister if they want to work for a foreign military or government.

The work they performed in Australia and information they had access to will be considered by the minister before he gives the go-ahead.

But Australians seeking work with Australia's partners in the Five Eyes intelligence grouping – New Zealand, the US, Canada and the UK – would be exempted from the new laws.

The overhaul aims to reassure Australia's partners in the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines agreement – the US and Britain – about the sharing of classified military technology.

Australia citizen Daniel Duggan, a former American military pilot, has been in custody since last October over US allegations he trained Chinese aviators.

He is fighting the US extradition efforts and insists the training was for civilian pilots.