Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh greets fans during a public appearance at the Pavilion KL Centre Court on April 18, 2023 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

A Mercedes driver who allegedly caused a "catastrophic" crash that killed five people near the Victoria-NSW border has been granted bail.

Christopher Dylan Joannides faced the Shepparton Magistrates Court this afternoon, shortly after being charged with five counts of dangerous driving causing death over the deadliest crash in Victoria since 2012.

Five people and a dog were killed instantly when the 29-year-old allegedly failed to give way on Murray Valley Highway yesterday afternoon and pushed a Nissan Navara into the path of a milk tanker.

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The Doncaster man had been fined for speeding about 18km/h over the limit less than an hour before the crash, police allege.

He and his 20-year-old female passenger suffered minor injuries in the collision and stayed at the scene.

He was charged this afternoon and taken into custody being granted bail before a court.

His lawyer argued he had no other prior offences, was not an unacceptable risk to the community, had a stable residence and family support.

Magistrate Simon Zebrowski granted him bail with strict conditions, including that he is banned from driving.

"Probably the worst thing you could do is … to drive a motor vehicle," the magistrate said.

"You're not to drive a motor vehicle under any circumstance."

Joannides must reside at his Doncaster address, surrender his passport and cannot leave Victoria or Australia.

Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir this afternoon told media all five people in the Nissan Navara involved in the crash were killed instantly.

Weir said the damage was so "catastrophic" police needed specialist help throughout the night to work out how many people had been killed.

"I've seen the vision from the truck. It's horrific," he said.

He said the crash was Victoria's deadliest since 2012.

The Mercedes driver was pulled over and fined when he was allegedly clocked doing 118km/h in a 100km/h zone less than 2km from the crash scene and less than an hour prior.

Weir said the truck driver did not do anything to cause the crash.

He was not injured.

The identities of those killed in the crash are still being confirmed, but it is believed the driver was a woman in her 60s who works in the local farming industry.

Her four passengers, a man and three women aged in their 20s, are believed to be from Asia and work for her.

"This is a really difficult and protracted investigation that will go on for a long time," Weir said.

He said far too many lives had been lost on roads already this year.

More than 90 people have been killed on Victorian roads this year, compared to 79 at this time last year.

Anyone who witnessed the collision or has dashcam footage is urged to contact police.

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SpaceX's new rocket, the biggest and most powerful ever built, has blasted off on its first test flight, thundering into the South Texas sky before blowing apart minutes later.

Elon Musk's company launched the nearly 120-metre Starship rocket from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border, on Thursday morning (Thursday night AEST).

Images showed several of the 33 main engines were not firing as the rocket climbed from the launch pad, reaching as high as 39 kilometres.

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There was no official word from SpaceX on how many engines failed to ignite or shut down prematurely but on the company's livestream quality systems engineering manager Kate Tice said it appeared three weren't firing.

The booster was supposed to peel away from the spacecraft minutes after liftoff, but that didn't happen.

The rocket began to tumble and then exploded four minutes into the flight in what the company called a "rapid unscheduled disassembly", plummeting into the gulf.

After separating, the spacecraft was supposed to attempt to circle the world, before crashing into the Pacific near Hawaii.

Musk, in a tweet, called it "an exciting test launch of Starship".

"[We] learned a lot for next test launch in a few months," he said.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1649050306943266819

In the weeks leading up to the flight, Musk gave 50-50 odds that the spacecraft would reach orbit.

"You never know exactly what's going to happen," said SpaceX livestream commentator and engineer John Insprucker.

"But as we promised, excitement is guaranteed and Starship gave us a rather spectacular end."

SpaceX employees on the telecast were at pains to stress the launch was a success.

"I do want to remind everyone that everything after clearing the tower was icing on the cake," Tice said.

No people or satellites were aboard for this debut launch.

Throngs of spectators watched from several kilometres away from the Boca Chica Beach launch site, which was off limits.

"Go, baby, go," someone screamed from the crowd as it took off.

The company plans to use Starship to send people and cargo to the moon and, eventually, Mars.

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NASA has reserved a Starship for its next moonwalking team, and rich tourists are already booking lunar flybys.

It was the second launch attempt. Monday's try was scrapped by a frozen booster valve.

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A newborn baby who was found abandoned on a suburban street in Sydney's west is safe in hospital.

The child was treated by paramedics and taken to Blacktown Hospital after emergency services were called to a home on Girra Road in Blacktown this afternoon.

A family in the street said they heard a noise and came outside to find a newborn girl abandoned and alone.

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The family said they had only lived in the home a week and believed the baby could have been left for up to two hours.

The baby is believed to have been left there between 12.30pm and 2.40pm.

CCTV shows a car pulling up and picking up a person from the corner but the identity for that person is unknown.

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Police are trying to find the newborn's mother as they have grave concerns for her.

Anyone with information is urged to contact police.

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