A father and son have been found dead with gunshot wounds after what police are describing as a murder- suicide in New South Wales.

Wayne Smith, 58 and his son Noah, 15, were found dead at a home in Yamba in the state's Northern Rivers region about 1.10pm yesterday.

Superintendent Shane Cribb from NSW Police said the father was licensed to have the firearm that was found at the scene.

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Cribb said a close relative made the phone call to police from a different location.

He said police had no reason to believe either of the family members were in danger before the incident.

"I have worked in a number of country locations all throughout NSW and I always find in the smaller communities it has more effect because everyone knows everyone," Cribb said.

"We have been actively involved with the family right from the start," he said.

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He said officers were supporting the family as much as they could.

"The main thing is to wrap as much support around the community as we can."

He said many NSW Police officers working in the region knew the family.

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Police are not searching for anyone else at this time.

Detectives are investigating the family's history as they attempt to understand how the "tragic incident" occurred.

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Former Test cricketer Stuart MacGill has claimed a win in court after intimidation charges against him were dismissed.

MacGill, 52, was accused of stalking and verbally intimidating his friend Steven Kerlin's former fiancee Samantha Ford on a Sydney street and at a nearby pub on February 1, 2022.

Magistrate Christine Haskett told Downing Centre Local Court on Friday she did not accept Ford's evidence that MacGill shouted and pointed at her in a threatening manner. 

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MacGill was emotional as the verdict was read out, appearing via video link in a black shirt.

Ford appeared in the courtroom wearing all black as the judgment was read out.

The former leg-spinner, who took 208 wickets in 44 Tests for Australia, told the court in January he had been worried Kerlin was suicidal following the breakdown of his relationship with Ford some months earlier.

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After being unable to contact him, MacGill went to Kerlin's Barangaroo apartment where he drank "six or seven" bourbon and cokes.

As the pair were walking to the Captain Cook Hotel, Kerlin spotted Ford and began yelling towards her.

After a brief verbal altercation, Ford told the court she went to the pub to tell staff not to serve the pair more alcohol.

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The judge said Ford's claims did not accord with witness evidence or CCTV footage.

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The rate of Aussie teen smokers has increased for the first time in two decades, concerning new data has revealed.

According to Cancer Council's Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer (CBRC), Aussie teenagers are taking up smoking at alarming rates, particularly when it comes to vaping.

The data shows a huge spike in tobacco smoking rates in those aged 14 to 17-years-old in just four years, up from from 2.1 per cent in 2018 to 6.7 per cent in 2022.

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Preliminary data from the first quarter of 2023 shows a whopping 12.8 per cent of 14 to 17-year-olds surveyed reported smoking.

For context, the national rate of daily Australian smokers is about 12 per cent. 

Data on E-cigarette use revealed that fewer than one per cent of 14 to 17-year-olds reported vaping in 2018.

In 2022, that figure sat at 11.8 per cent and 14.5 per cent in early 2023.

The statistics come just days after Heath Minister Mark Butler announced a raft of sweeping changes to the country's tobacco laws, aimed at targeting skyrocketing rates of youth smoking and daily smokers.

Warnings on individual cigarettes, health inserts inside packs and the banning of flavours in vapes and other items are among the new "world-leading" changes proposed by the federal government.

Butler said he hopes the proposed legislation – some 300 pages long – will be introduced to parliament later this year and written into law by April 2024.

He said said the changes are primarily aimed at driving down soaring vaping rates among the nation's youth, while tackling the 12 per cent of Australians who still smoke daily.

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"Here in Australia, still, tobacco, or smoking, is the leading cause of preventable death and disability in this country," he said.

"About 12 per cent of Australians are daily smokers, although that's come down dramatically over the last decade, but it still accounts to over two million Aussies smoking on a daily basis."

Another recent study published in the British Medical Journal "indicated that Australia is currently not on track to meet the targets that were agreed by all governments in the National Tobacco Strategy.

"As a result, the health minister announced that Labor intend to implement following:

• Standardise package sizing and products
• Standardise the look and the size of filters (to deal with vogue-style cigarettes in particular)
• Prohibit flavours and additives
• Limit and prohibit use of names that are designed to mislead users
• Update the warnings and the graphic images that are on cigarette packs
• Include health warnings on each individual cigarette inside a pack
• Require the tobacco industry to include public health inserts in all of their packs 

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Far North Mayor Moko Tepania, who lives nearby, describes incident as “incredibly tragic”.

A firearm was presented during the confrontation but it was not discharged.