The Liberal Party will oppose the federal government's proposed model for a national Indigenous Voice to parliament in this year's referendum.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton formally announced the position following a two-hour party room meeting in Canberra, saying his party's stance will improve outcomes for Indigenous communities.

"The Liberal Party resolved today to say yes to constitutional recognition for Indigenous Australians, yes to a local and regional body so we can get practical outcomes for Indigenous people on the ground," he said.

"But there was a resounding no to the prime minister's Canberra Voice."

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

While Dutton confirmed his party will support constitutional recognition at the same time as opposing the Voice, he said the Liberals will not ask the government to split the two proposals into separate questions in the referendum, meaning Australians will only be given the option of voting on the Voice question.

Dutton also confirmed he will actively campaign for the no vote, saying he doesn't think the Voice "is in our country's best interests".

Rather than supporting the government's proposed model of a constitutionally enshrined Voice, the Liberals will instead argue for a legislated approach for local and regional bodies.

Deputy Liberal leader Susan Ley and Dutton both claimed the government was being divisive with its approach to the referendum.

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"The onus is on the government to demonstrate how Anthony Albanese's Voice proposal can improve the lives of Indigenous Australians, without dividing Australians," Ley said.

The Voice was not first proposed by Prime Minister Albanese – it was called for six years ago in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, a petition from Indigenous leaders that argued for the body's establishment to give First Nations peoples better representation.

The statement explicitly calls for the body to be "enshrined in the Constitution", rather than legislated.

In line with its policy, the Liberal position is not binding on backbenchers, who will be able to take their own stance.

However, it differs from the party's approach to both the 1999 referendum and 2016 plebiscite on same-sex marriage, when frontbenchers were also allowed to take their own position.

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Dutton said the Liberals will support the legislation for the referendum before the parliament, but criticised Albanese for changing the wording of the question to be asked of Australians, claiming the prime minister had gone against the advice of the attorney-general and solicitor-general.

Albanese had previously called on Dutton and the opposition to support the yes vote for the referendum, which is likely to be held between October and December.

The Nationals, the Liberals' junior Coalition partner, announced last year they will be opposing the Voice.

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Only eight of Australia's 44 referendums have passed, and none have been successful without bipartisan support.

The last one was held in 1999, when the nation voted against becoming a republic.

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Thousands of tradies have gathered in Australia's biggest cities to demand wage increases amid Australia's cost-of-living crisis.

Protesters walked off the job in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide, Perth, Cairns and Brisbane, calling for salaries to increase in line with inflation.

The mass demonstration outside the Trades Hall on Victoria Street in Melbourne this morning came just five days after the collapse of construction giant Porter Davis Homes, but was reportedly organised before the company's downfall.

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Union boss John Setka was met with cheers today by members of CFMEU.

"Everything we have fought for is for you to enjoy the 36-hour week," he said.

"We will fight all the way to the end."

The protesting tradies, many of which are wearing trade union CFMEU shirts and carrying CFMEU flags, demanded the Fair Work ombudsman be strengthened and replaced to avoid companies collapsing as Porter Davis has while they march to the Fair Work Commission on Exhibition Street.

"The Fair Work Ombudsman has been a dismal failure on wage theft, sham contracting and corporate insolvencies – three of the biggest issues in the construction industry," CFMEU National Secretary Zach Smith said in a statement about the protest.

"We are in the midst of the most serious cost-of-living crisis in decades while corporate greed pours petrol on an inflationary bonfire."

The action follows a rise in vandalism at construction sites by suspected out-of-pocket tradies after the collapse of Porter Davis.

A family's Porter Davis home was set on fire in Melbourne's south-east on Monday in what has been alleged as an act of vandalism by a disgruntled tradie.

Police attended the protest but there have been no reported issues with the crowd's behaviour.

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A Melbourne family is in "absolute agony" after their Porter Davis home was destroyed by a suspicious fire on Monday.

The heartbroken owners, who don't wish to be identified, have told 9News they have been left with nothing but a smouldering mess.

"We are in absolute agony. We don't have a house," they said.

READ MORE: 'A resounding no': Liberals to oppose Voice to parliament

Police and fire crews were alerted to the blaze, which detectives suspect was deliberately lit, at 4.30pm on Monday in Clyde North.

The fire came days after the construction giant announced it had appointed liquidators following its collapse.

The couple says they are in financial pain and are unsure if insurance will cover the fire damage.

They have a $400,000 loan they still have to pay and had paid a $94,000 lock-up fee just a day before the company folded.

"We are struggling and we are stuck," the couple said.

"We are thinking about our kids and how we will survive from this situation, we don't know."

The house was 80 per cent finished before it was destroyed.

The couple had hoped to move into the house in two months' time.

"We are in tears since we left this place yesterday," the couple said.

"We didn't sleep last night."

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Wiremu Gray drove off after he hit Lionel ‘Doeboy’ Allan with his truck.

Her victim suffered brain bleeds after being kicked and punched on the ground.

Will it be shopping, the miniature railway, or the football?

The crash is near the intersection of Peary Road.

A lawsuit by five Australian women allegedly forced into invasive strip searches at Doha's Hamad Airport are examining whether they can bring new claims of assault, battery and false imprisonment.

The women, who cannot be legally named, have already filed Federal Court proceedings against the government-owned Qatar Civil Aviation Authority and Qatar Airways.

They were among hundreds of women forcibly removed from aircraft at Doha on October 2, 2020 as officials searched for the mother of a newborn baby in a bathroom at the terminal.

READ MORE: Liberals to oppose Voice to parliament

Taken out of the plane by armed guards, many say they were forced to conduct non-consensual gynaecological or intimate physical examinations.

One passenger was forced to undergo a strip search holding her five-month old son, the lawsuit claims.

Another, who is elderly and legally blind, was directed out of the aircraft but was not subject to a search.

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On Friday, the five women launched another Federal Court lawsuit asking for material from the Qatar Company for Airports Operation and Management (MATAR) to see if they have a case against this Qatar Airways entity.

MATAR may have been responsible for the operation of Hamad Airport while the strip searches were conducted, said Damian Sturzaker, partner at Marque Lawyers, the law firm behind the case.

"I became aware that MATAR may have been responsible for the operation and management of the Hamad Airport at the time of the incident," he wrote in an affidavit filed with the court.

"(The women) may have a claim for negligence, assault, battery and/or false imprisonment against MATAR in addition to their claims against Qatar Airways and the QCAA."

However, he said Marque Lawyers has not been able to determine the full extent of the firm's responsibilities and contractual obligations.

The material sought includes findings and reports from investigations into the incident as well as contracts between MATAR and the QCAA, and aims to fill these knowledge gaps.

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In the first lawsuit, filed in October last year, Qatar Airways also faces possible damages for negligence under the Montreal Convention which states an airline is liable for death or bodily injury that occurs while embarking or disembarking.

The QCAA has argued it has immunity as an entity of a foreign state while Qatar Airways is seeking to shut the lawsuit through an application for summary judgment.

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Whale watchers were treated to a battle of epic proportions off Bremer Bay in Western Australia when a pod of orcas attempted to make a meal out of a blue whale, the largest animal on Earth.

Recorded encounters between these two species are extremely rare.

But as the pod closed in on the blue whale earlier this week, Gemma Sharp, owner of Whale Watch Western Australia, made sure it was documented.

READ MORE: Liberals to oppose Voice to parliament

Sharp said the blue whale managed to escape after "hurtling" towards the boat at "over 30kph".

"The escape of the blue whale and witnessing two of the most remarkable species living on our planet surging side by side in battle is a memory we will treasure forever," she told 9news.com.au

"Our family operate whale watch experiences all year and are onboard every tour together and are blessed to have had the opportunity to witness many extraordinary encounters.

"(But) it was a fantastic feeling to see the blue whale succeed and escape the orca attack at he continued to sprint to the west as the orca fell further behind."

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While the pod were not successful, Sharp said there will be more hunts to come.

"It will be the first of many more opportunities as we approach baleen whale migration season during winter-spring," she said.

"More blue whales, humpback whales and minke whales will need to navigate past these treacherous orca hunting grounds."

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In January 2022, researchers published the first records of killer whales hunting and killing adult blue whales.

The discovery was made in late March 2019 during the annual whale and dolphin research surveys led by Cetacean Research Centre (CETREC) in WA.

While orcas are considered the apex predator of the ocean, there's no record of one ever killing a human in the wild.

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PM Chris Hipkins has indicated RNZ would be getting a funding boost of up to $12m.