Australia Post has launched a collection of limited edition $1 coins featuring iconic 'Big Things' located across the country, including the Big Banana and the Big Pineapple.

Two snakes have been filmed wrestling at a Queensland home as breeding season ramps up in the state.

The 2.5-metre coastal carpet pythons were in combat for almost an hour at the Coalfalls property in the city of Ipswich, when the alarmed homeowners called Bryce Lockett from Snake Catchers Brisbane & Gold Coast on Sunday night.

"We just had a python fall through this little downlight and it turns out there was a second one," the snake catcher said in the video.

READ MORE: Two teens dead, two children critical after horror crash

"These two here are two combatting males.

"As you can see they've got bite marks so these guys are quite equally matched.

"The objective of the game here is the biggest one will push the weaker one down and give up the breeding rights for the female that will be very close in the area.

READ MORE: One dead as floods trap thousands at Burning Man festival

"They don't generally bite each other in combat unless they are quite equally matched in length.

Lockett said the Coalfalls call-out was one of three jobs related to breeding season yesterday.

"It is a very common sight this time of year. Just give them their space," he told 9News.com.au.

"They're not interested in us, they only get one shot a year to get to the female."

Hundreds of Australians diagnosed with cancer are fighting in court to prove their disease stemmed from a component of a widely used herbicide.

The landmark class action, launched by Maurice Blackburn Lawyers on behalf of more than 800 complainants with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, alleges a component in the popular Roundup weed killer called glyphosate caused their disease.

Many of the people who have joined the class action used Roundup as part of their work, Maurice Blackburn national head of class actions Andrew Watson said.

READ MORE: Two teens dead, two children critical after horror crash

The lead applicant in the Federal Court of Australia case, Kelvin McNickle, used the herbicide to spray weeds as part of his work for two decades, Watson said.

Others in the case were exposed to the weed killer through domestic use.

"We cover a gamut of ordinary Australians who have developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma through their exposure to Roundup," Watson told reporters.

Federal Court proceedings that started today are intended to determine whether Roundup contains a carcinogen.

The first part of the case is slated to run for nine weeks, before further issues are dealt with.

The civil action has been launched against Monsanto, which produced the weed killer. Bayer acquired Monsanto in 2018.

READ MORE: One dead as floods trap thousands at Burning Man festival

"The upshot is, we are confident that Monsanto did everything it could to avoid confronting the reality that this chemical was a carcinogen and did everything it could to obscure the science and hide the science," Watson said.

Bayer says glyphosate-based herbicides have been rigorously tested in hundreds of studies, and the weight of that extensive body of science confirms that glyphosate is safe when used as directed and is not carcinogenic.

"Monsanto's defence of the claim demonstrates Bayer's ongoing commitment to supporting Australian farmers by ensuring innovative products such as Roundup continue to be available, advancing sustainable agriculture and protecting food security," it said in a statement.

Lawyers on Monday morning said McNickle was unable to attend the hearing because he was undergoing treatment.

Getting on the property ladder has never been tougher, according to a new report which is sobering reading for thousands of would-be first-home buyers.

New figures from PropTrack show surging home prices through the pandemic and rapidly rising interest rates over the past year have brought housing affordability to its lowest level in at least three decades.

Highlighting an "alarming state of housing affordability", the report showed a household earning the median income can now afford just 13 per cent of homes sold across the country.

READ MORE: Fears avalanche of Aussie layoffs coming

This is the lowest share since PropTrack records began in 1995, and the company described it as "a substantial change" compared to the past few years.

Even high-income households, earning $200,000 a year, which is more than 80 per cent of Australians, are facing strained affordability, the report said.

These richer households can afford loan repayments on only about half of homes that were sold over the past year, based on current market conditions.

Are you affected? Are you a despairing would-be homeowner? Email Aussies are suffering from mortgage stress, with around 1.5 million mortgage holders now deemed "at risk".

The Reserve Bank is scheduled to make another rates decision tomorrow, the last for outgoing governor Philip Lowe.

Water levels at Lake Titicaca – the highest navigable lake in the world and South America's largest – are dropping precipitously after an unprecedented winter heat wave. The shocking decline is affecting tourism, fishing and agriculture, which locals rely on to make a living.

"We don't know what we will do from now until December because the water will keep getting lower," said 63-year-old Nazario Charca, who lives on the lake and makes a living ferrying tourists around its waters.

Visitors have long been attracted to the blue waters and open skies of South America's largest lake, which straddles more than 8,300 square kilometres across the border of Peru and Bolivia.

READ MORE: One in four NSW businesses think they'll cut jobs

Sometimes described as an "inland sea," it is home to Aymara, Quechua and Uros indigenous communities and sits at an altitude of around 3,800 metres in the central Andes mountain range, making it the highest navigable lake in the world. The extreme altitude also exposes the lake to high levels of solar radiation, which enhances evaporation and constitutes most of its water losses.

More than three million people live around the lake, relying on its waters to fish, farm and attract tourists who boost the economy of an otherwise marginalised region.

Now the lake is at risk of losing some of that magic.

While water levels are known to fluctuate each year, these changes have become more extreme due to the climate crisis. A record-breaking winter heat wave has led to increased evaporation and decreasing lake levels, according to CNN meteorologist Taylor Ward, worsening water deficits brought on by drought.

Sixto Flores, director in Puno for Peru's national meteorology and hydrology service (Senamhi), told CNN that precipitation there was 49 percent lower than average from August 2022 until March 2023, a period that includes the rainy season during which water levels usually recover.

Flores told CNN that by December water levels will be heading toward the lowest recorded since 1996 if the lake evaporates at the same rate as it normally does in the next few months, which he described as "very serious."

READ MORE: Business owner swamped by 80 AI job applications in one hour

This is part of a "gradual decline" in water levels at the lake in recent years, said Flores, and a recent study which examined satellite images from 1992-2020 showed that Lake Titicaca is losing around 120 million metric tons of water per year, which the authors say is primarily due to changes in precipitation and run off.

Communities that rely on fishing are struggling as low water levels adds to mounting problems: declining fish stocks due to pollution and overfishing.

Agriculture has also been impacted by drought, with regional authorities reporting that crops have suffered badly in the last harvest season. The vast majority of quinoa and potato crops, both local staples, have been affected, as have oats used to feed livestock.

The tourist economy also took a hit after boats used to ferry visitors around the lake were stranded as waters receded.

"We are extremely worried most of all because the water level is falling a lot at the moment," said Jullian Huattamarca, 36, who sells locally made textiles to visitors to the island of Taquile.

"We want the tourists to come back, particularly foreign tourists," he said.

The Puno region, which envelops the entirety of the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca, has long been known as an underdeveloped and marginalised region of the country.

More recently, the economy has been battered by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and a wave of social unrest. Puno became the epicentre of demonstrations calling for the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, which built on outrage that has developed due to decades of inequality, allegations of corruption, and stagnating living standards.

Huattamarca told CNN that visitors didn't travel to the region during the protests. "They were a bit scared of going," he said.

Huattamarca said that many people have left the area in recent years, particularly during the pandemic.

"They had to, they didn't have enough money for basic necessities like food," he said.

And recent history suggests that the ongoing drought could push more people to leave their homes, as a previous drought in 1991 caused waves of migration as the subsistence economy collapsed due to a lack of food.

For others, such as Charca, the drought is disrupting a way of life. Charca is part of the Uros indigenous group, who live on islands made of dried totora reeds that float on the lake. For centuries, the Uros have woven the reeds into islands, as well as using them to make buildings and boats, but Charca is concerned that lower water levels mean there are fewer reeds available.

"It's going to keep affecting us, there won't be any more totora, the islands are deteriorating, that's what worries us," Charca told CNN.

Looking toward the future, it's hard to see respite.

El Nino, a natural phenomenon marked by warmer-than-normal temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean that can vastly alter the weather over South America, is currently underway.

Grinia Avalos, deputy director for climatology with Senamhi, told CNN that these warmer temperatures are expected to continue until at least February 2024.

"These conditions will contribute to the fact that there will be lower levels of rain in the Andean region," she said.

For Connor Baker, analyst at International Crisis Group, the situation requires long-term action to protect those that depend on the lake.

"While the lake's fluctuations have been linked to climate variability and natural oscillations, the exacerbating influence of climate change heightens the need for sustained management strategies," he told CNN.

"Local communities reliant on the lake for livelihoods are particularly vulnerable, underscoring the urgency of addressing the challenges posed by more intense fluctuations in the water level."

As thousands of people remain unable to leave the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert after heavy rains inundated their campsites with ankle-deep mud on Saturday, authorities say they are investigating a death at the event.

Attendees were told to shelter in place in the Black Rock Desert and conserve food, water and fuel after a rainstorm swamped the area, forcing officials to halt any entering or leaving of the festival.

The remote area in northwest Nevada was hit with two to three months worth of rain – up to two centimetres – in just 24 hours between Friday and Saturday mornings.

READ MORE: Police hunt for man after five cars set on fire across suburban Queensland street

The heavy rainfall fell on dry desert grounds, whipping up thick, clay-like mud that festivalgoers say is too difficult to walk or bike through.

"More rain is expected over the next few days and conditions are not expected to improve enough to allow vehicles to enter the playa," the Bureau of Land Management said in a statement obtained by the Reno Gazette Journal.

The Pershing County Sheriff's Office said it's investigating "a death which occurred during this rain event."

Authorities did not publicly name the person or provide details on the circumstances of the death.

"The family has been notified and the death is under investigation," the sheriff's office said in a late Saturday news release (Sunday AEST).

READ MORE: 'We lived in the lounge': Dad's dilemma as cost of living pressures increase

Authorities have not provided information on when roads could reopen, but the sunshine is expected to return Monday after more showers Sunday.

"We do not currently have an estimated time for the roads to be dry enough for RVs or vehicles to navigate safely," Burning Man organisers said in a Saturday evening statement.

"Monday late in the day would be possible if weather conditions are in our favour. It could be sooner."

Organisers did note that the rain falling on an already saturated playa across the remainder of the weekend "will affect the amount of time it takes for the playa to dry".

For now, the gate and airport into Black Rock City remain closed and no driving is allowed into or out of the city except for emergency vehicles, the organisers said on social media.

Black Rock City is a temporary metropolis that is erected annually for the festival and comes complete with emergency, safety and sanitary infrastructure.

The rain "made it virtually impossible for motorised vehicles to traverse the playa," the Pershing County Sheriff's Office said, noting that people were advised to shelter in place until the ground has dried enough to drive on safely.

Vehicles trying to drive out will get stuck in the mud, Burning Man organisers warned on Saturday.

"It will hamper Exodus if we have cars stuck on roads in our camping areas, or on the Gate Road out of the city," the organisers added.

"If you are in BRC, please shelter in place & stay safe," organisers said.

READ MORE: Perth teen stabbed twice at 'out-of-control' house party

Difficult conditions, but some stay positive

Some festival-goers hiked kilometres on foot in the thick mud to reach main roads while others stayed at their camps, hoping for conditions to improve.

Hannah Burhorn, a first-time attendee at the US festival, told CNN in a phone interview Saturday the desert sand has turned into thick clay and puddles and mud are everywhere.

People are wrapping trash bags and Ziploc bags around their shoes to avoid getting stuck, while others are walking around barefoot.

"It's unavoidable at this point," she said.

"It's in the bed of the truck, inside the truck. People who have tried to bike through it and have gotten stuck because it's about ankle deep."

It's unclear exactly how many people are stranded at the festival, but typically more than 70,000 people attend the weeklong event. It's being held from August 28 to September 4 this year.

There weren't any reports of injuries as of Saturday afternoon, Sean Burke, the director of emergency management for Pershing County, told CNN.

Amar Singh Duggal and his friends managed to leave the festival after hiking about 2 kilometres in the mud, he told CNN.

He estimated it took them about 2 hours to get to a main road where they arranged to be picked up and taken to Reno, about a 193-kilometre drive from the event grounds.

READ MORE: Player allegedly assaulted in 'unprovoked' attack by spectator at Melbourne football match

"We made it, but it was pure hell (walking) through the mud," Duggal said. "Each step felt like we were walking with two big cinderblocks on our feet."

Meanwhile, attendees who typically dedicate their time to making art and building community are now also focused on rationing supplies and dealing with connectivity issues.

"There is super limited bandwidth and a lot of people at the camp (are) trying to cancel flights and arrange for extended time here" due to the weather, Burhorn told CNN via text message from a Wi-Fi camp.

Still, the poor conditions have not stopped the creativity, said Burhorn, who had travelled from San Francisco.

"People are building mud sculptures," she said.

Andrew Hyde, another attendee stuck at the Burning Man, said that despite the muddy conditions making it difficult to walk, the weather has taken the meaning of the event back to its roots.

"You come out here to be in a harsh climate, and you prepare for that," Hyde told CNN's Paula Newton. "So in many ways, everybody here just kind of made friends with their neighbours and it's a community event."

Morale at the event is OK and there's generally no panic among the attendees, Hyde said, describing music returning overnight.

There are worries about the additional rain causing delays, however, and the unknowns of worsening conditions.

"I think the concern is if we have another rain," he said. "People need to go back to their jobs, back to the responsibilities they have back home."

Assistance brought in

Organisers announced Saturday night they'll be putting mobile phone trailers in different positions, configuring the organisation's Wi-Fi system for public access and deploying buses to nearby Gerlach to take people who might walk off the playa to Reno.

"This is not likely a 24-hour operation at this time," the festival said in a statement on its website.

Organisers are also resourcing four-wheel drive vehicles and all-terrain tires to help ferry medical and other urgent situations to the blacktop.

There have been people who managed to walk to a main road and were waiting for transport from the festival organisers on Saturday night, the Pershing County Sheriff's Office said.

Resources have been brought in from around northern Nevada to help people with medical needs on the event grounds, the sheriff's office said.

"Burning Man is a community of people who are prepared to support one another," Burning Man said on its website. "We have come here knowing this is a place where we bring everything we need to survive. It is because of this that we are all well-prepared for a weather event like this."

"We have done table-top drills for events like this," organisers added. "We are engaged full-time on all aspects of safety and looking ahead to our exodus as our next priority."

Burning Man participants dedicate their time to making art and building community.

They can learn how to spin fire, or to pole dance, to make shrink art jewellery or build a giant sculpture of two people embracing and burn it down.

Some on-site preparations for this year's Burning Man were impacted by tropical storm Hilary in August, with high winds, rainfall and even flooding reported in the desert, CNN reported.

Lack of reception leaves attendees unsure about upcoming conditions

Amber Kramer, a resident of Kings Beach, California, told CNN she's staying in an RV with her group and "feels fine as long as we have food and water".

"My camp and I are on the roof (of the RV) trying to make the best of it," Kramer said.

She said she's concerned for those staying in tents because the area is forecast to see more rain.

"People with RVs have been asked by camp leaders if they have room for people with tents because they are expecting another storm," she said.

READ MORE: 'It was chaos': Adelaide family left shaken after shed erupted into a fireball

Kramer said she's seen many people trudging around the camp with garbage bags strapped to their feet with duct tape in order to maneuver through the mud.

Burhorn, who travelled from San Francisco, California, said the mud is so thick that it "sticks to your shoes and makes it almost like a boot around your boot," making it even more difficult to move around, she added.

She added she and her friends were not expecting any rain – only extreme heat.

Burhorn said people trapped in the desert have limited reception, making it almost impossible to get news on weather conditions or receive updates from festival organisers.

"It's all been completely word of mouth," she said. "I just talked to my boyfriend on the phone who gave me a weather update. I was like, 'can you tell me what's going on in the news? We have no clue.'"

The silver lining, Burhorn said, is people are walking from camp to camp to check on others and make sure they have enough food and water.

"People are still really looking out for each other, which is like a bubble of love."

Australian music legend John Farnham is giving his hit song You're the Voice to an advertising campaign for the Yes vote in the Voice to parliament referendum.

The aptly named track is being used by the Uluru Dialogue campaign, the architects of the Uluru Statement, to gain support for a successful referendum.

Uluru Dialogue leaders publicly thanked Farnham for granting them permission to use the anthem at the ad launch in Melbourne today.

READ MORE: What is the Indigenous Voice to parliament and what would a referendum entail?

It is the first time the hit classic has ever been used commercially.

"This moment of the Voice to parliament and the referendum is what this song has been waiting for," Uluru Dialogue co-chair Professor Megan Davis told the crowd.

"We are incredibly grateful to John Farnham … he doesn't use this song lightly."

The advertisement starts in the 1980s, when the song was released, and follows a family through the years as they witness several key moments in Australia's history.

These moments include the 1967 referendum, allowing the government to make laws for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and include them in the census; the 1992 Mabo land rights decision; Australia's America's Cup win in 1983; and the Uluru handback in 1985.

It also shows Cathy Freeman's gold medal win at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, gun reform in 1996, the 2008 apology to the Stolen Generations and the 2016 marriage equality plebiscite.

Farnham has called the track life-changing and hopes it can do the same for others.

"I can only hope that now it might help, in some small way, to change the lives of our First Nations Peoples for the better," Farnham said.

READ MORE: Official Voice pamphlets go out to millions of households

Tim Wheatley, Farnham's close friend and son of his late manager Glenn Wheatley, said the iconic song is not aligned with politics but with humanity.

"You're the Voice is not aligned with any political party," Wheatley said.

"It's a song for all Australians.

"Always has been, always will be."

He added: "Both John and my father have fiercely protected this song's use for decades, I think, for this very moment."

Davis, a Cobble Cobble woman, said You're the Voice is the nation's unofficial anthem.

"It is an empowering message," Davis said in a statement.

"History isn't just something we witness and observe, but something we ourselves can influence.

"And now we all have a voice in what happens at this critical moment, and we must use it."

She said they were proud to announce the partnership between John Farnham and the Uluru Dialogue's History Is Calling campaign.

"The number one question Aussies have asked me for six years is 'Have you thought of Johnny Farnham and You're the Voice?'," Davis said.

"We hope You're the Voice will show Australians that we all have a role to play in making this referendum a success, and that it will inspire people to walk with us on this movement for a better future."

The ad will premiere tonight ahead of the referendum, which will be held on October 14.

Tofimua Matagi died after an alleged attack at Richardson Bar and Restaurant on Thursday.

Flight Centre has launched an advertising campaign in a bid to overturn the Federal Government's decision to block Qatar Airways adding more flights into the country.

The federal government earlier this week confirmed they had blocked Qatar's application for an additional 21 flights to "protect the national interest".

Chief Executive Graham Turner said the industry urgently needs more competition in time for Christmas, to bring down prices for travellers.

READ MORE: Player allegedly assaulted in 'unprovoked' attack by spectator at Melbourne football match

"It's pretty obvious, we just don't have the capacity into Australia at the moment," he told Weekend Today.

"We think the capacity is at about 75 per cent internationally and obviously the demand is enormous and airfares are too expensive.

READ MORE: Teen charged after shooting on Sydney street that landed him in hospital

"A lot of people can't afford the sort of airfare prices. There are some good specials around but on average they are about 40 or 50 per cent more expensive than pre-COVID and this is important to Australia."

Flight Centre is now rolling out advertisements in newspapers across the country.

"This decision just doesn't stack up, there's no logic to it," Graham said.

Transport Minister Catherine King said there was nothing extraordinary about the decision to veto Qatar's expansion plans.

Industry groups hope the federal government will change its mind quickly, in time for families booking Christmas flights.

"Clearly this decision rests with the Australian Government," Acting Queensland Premier Steven Miles said.

"It is their decision to make but we do share the sentiment of Flight Centre, we would like to see as many flights into Queensland as we possibly can."

Police are investigating after multiple cars and bins were set on fire overnight in Queensland.

Fire crews were called to Grove Road at Edens Landing in Logan about 3.40am after reports of an attempted break-in.

A bin was located on the street on fire, along with five vehicles along the adjoining street, Holliday Drive, also alight.

READ MORE: Player allegedly assaulted in 'unprovoked' attack by spectator at Melbourne football match

Shantell Calcutt woke to the sound of explosions and car alarms.

She rushed to alert residents on the street of the danger on their doorstep.

"I run down and I was just smashing on their door like 'hello, hello wakeup, come out your car's on fire'," Calcutt told 9News.

"There was like explosions."

READ MORE: John Farnham gives song to Yes campaign

Calcutt's bin was also set alight, along with her neighbours on nearby Grove Road, who woke to find a man trying to break-in through their back door.

The man fled the scene.

Fire investigators and police have spent the day trying to piece together any links between the arson attacks that have left a trail of destruction behind.

Witnesses or anyone with relevant information or vision is urged to contact police.

Investigations are continuing.