Auckland landlords have been ordered to pay their tenant $NZ3000 ($2835) for "emotional harm" after they entered the tenant's home without permission, but the tenant wanted more.

The tenant told the Tenancy Tribunal that he was made to look after the landlords' pets while they were on holiday, under threat of being evicted.

"Every time I feed the animals, I feel like one of my landlords' free servants, working in exchange for free accommodation, even though I already paid the rent," the tenant said.

READ MORE: Six dead, including two police officers, in shooting at Queensland property

The landlords, both of whose names are Huixin Sun, confirmed they had 10 cockatoos, 20-30 goldfish and one dog.

They told the tribunal looking after them was "not that difficult" and there was no threat of eviction.

The tenant claimed $NZ6016.23 ($5686) in wages for his services to the landlords' menagerie, but adjudicator Robert Kee did not allow the claim because it had been filed too late in the proceedings.

"Next-door neighbours or friends quite commonly feed pets while someone is away," Kee said in his decision.

"It is permissible for a landlord to ask their tenant who lives on the same property to feed their pets while they are away.

"While there is not just one dog or cat in this case, but also fish and birds, the effort required to feed the animals was not that onerous in my view."

Unwelcome guests

The tenants also alleged the landlords entered the property without permission.

One morning the tenant left out their key for the landlord to enter with a plumber, but he left for work in the afternoon he took his key.

The landlords' son was caught on a hidden camera entering the home with the plumber later in the day.

He told the tribunal he didn't think the tenant would mind.

But the tenant was "very upset" and, after confronting the landlord about it, made a police report.

"I felt completely insecure, and I had to sleep with a knife under my pillow because I did not know who would enter while I'm asleep," he told the tribunal.

Soon after, the tenant went to the doctor to get medication for anxiety and insomnia.

"The doctor's diagnosis was that I had a strong nervous breakdown and mania, mainly because of the high stress and lack of rest after you entered my house illegally," the tenant told the landlord.

READ MORE: Victorian mum 'haunted' by high-speed truck crash that forced her into early labour

Kee accepted the tenant's evidence that they had suffered emotional harm and awarded them $NZ3000.

"He suffered worry, stress, frustration, anxiety, and insecurity, albeit the full extent of those feelings cannot be attributed solely to the unlawful entries," he said.

The landlords were also ordered to pay $NZ500 for failing to lodge bond, $1500 for failing to replace a smoke alarm, $NZ500 for entering without permission, and $NZ50 for flooding caused by a broken pipe.

The tenant had to pay $NZ3.90 for a rubbish tag, $NZ50 for wall damage, $NZ167 for carpet damage and $NZ172 for a remote.

This story originally appeared on Stuff and has been reproduced with permission.

Exclusive: The billion-dollar backpackers are back Down Under.

That's the view of Melbourne-based Matt Heyes who, by virtue of running one of the largest online job boards for backpackers, finds himself right at the coalface.

After almost three very slow years, Heyes said there has been a seriously big uptick in job postings on his website Backpacker Job Board since spring bloomed.

"We're at that kind of hockey stick moment where the numbers are jumping, which is telling me that this summer is going to be big," he said.

According to Tourism Australia data, working holidaymakers spend on average $658 a week or $26,800 per stay. Most, on average, will stick around for nine months.

Pre-pandemic, it was estimated about 300,000 working holidaymakers arrived each year, generating about $3.2 billion for the economy.

Their absence has left a big hole in many businesses and communities, but now "things are looking rosy," Heyes said.

His optimism appears to tally with government figures showing that foreign workers and international students are roaring back, and visa approvals are at pre-pandemic levels.

This surge of approvals is music to the ears of many businesses and farmers who have struggled to fill all manner of vacancies during the coronavirus pandemic.

A big chunk of the job ads being listed on the site were in the sales, marketing, childcare, agriculture and hospitality sectors, Heyes said.

"The recovery is on," he predicted.

Employers had consistently posted ads on the website during the pandemic, Heyes said, "but we've not had the volume of job seekers, until very recently."

"It's been a long, slow recovery."

Latest figures from the ABS, released today, show overseas arrivals are creeping back to pre-pandemic levels.

Short-term arrivals in October hit 430,470, up from 371,850 in September.

Most working holiday visa holders arrive from the UK and France, but people from 44 countries have the opportunity to work and travel in Australia.

In April 2020, as Australia's international borders clanged shut, then-prime minister Scott Morrison told scores of backpackers scattered around the country that it was time for them to go home.

Heyes said job hunting activity on his website plummeted after that crossroad moment.

That decline continued and hit an all-time low in December 2021, when traffic was just 20 per cent compared to the same month in 2019.

Site traffic is now back to 85 per cent what it was in November 2019, Heyes said, and should hit pre-COVID levels by early next year.

Many people have recently had working holiday visas approved and are expected to arrive over the coming year, a Reserve Bank report last week noted.

Heyes reckoned his site was even lagging behind the reality on the ground.

"The backpackers generally come into the country, they'll hit it hard, they'll party.

"They usually land in Sydney and they settle in, and then they start looking for work."

While international tourism is recovering slowly, domestic tourism spending has rebounded strongly, and is now above pre-pandemic levels.

But many tourism businesses have found it difficult to quickly scale up to meet demand.

"Supply constraints have limited tourism activity and led to higher prices," the bank's report said.

"The return of working holiday and student visa holders will increase demand for tourism services, and will likely alleviate labour shortages as they take jobs in the sector."

There were 28,690 international student arrivals in October, a gigantic increase of 28,520 students compared to this time last year, according to the ABS.

Despite the jump, the number of students touching down this month is 43 per cent lower than pre-COVID levels in October 2019.

One downside of the backpacker and wider migration bounce-back will be an increase in supply-demand pressure on the already stretched rental market.

Rents have soared this year in capital cities, while the number of available properties for tenants has steadily dwindled.

Ukraine has stepped up its requests for the West to supply advanced Patriot missile batteries, warning Russian attacks on electricity infrastructure could trigger a new wave of refugees fleeing the war-torn nation.

Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told French broadcaster LCI that in addition to making Ukrainians suffer, Russia wants to swamp Europe with refugees by striking power stations and other infrastructure.

He repeated Ukrainian calls for US-designed Patriot surface-to-air missiles, a highly sophisticated system.

READ MORE: Six dead, including two police officers, in shooting at Queensland property

During the interview, he also asked for more German and French air-defence systems, resupplies of artillery shells and modern battle tanks.

Providing Patriot missiles to Ukraine would advance the kinds of defence systems the West is sending to help the country repel Russian aerial attacks, and would likely mark an escalation.

A US official told reporters the Pentagon has no current plans to send Patriot missiles to Ukraine, but that discussions continue.

The key issue is that the complex, high-tech system requires significant maintenance and training, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pressed Western leaders again to provide more advanced weapons to help his country in its war with Russia, and he repeated his calls for Russian forces to withdraw from occupied areas of Ukraine, suggesting Christmas as a date to retreat.

READ MORE: US says Russia, Iran moving toward full defence 'partnership'

During a video conference, Zelenskky told host Germany and other leaders of the Group of Seven industrial powers: "It would be right to begin the withdrawal of Russian troops from the internationally recognised territory of Ukraine this Christmas. If Russia withdraws its troops from Ukraine, then a reliable cessation of hostilities will be ensured."

He added: "The answer from Moscow will show what they really want there: either a further confrontation with the world or finally an end to aggression."

The G-7 leaders supported Zelenskyy's appeal, saying in a statement after their meeting that "Russia can end this war immediately by ceasing its attacks against Ukraine and completely and unconditionally withdrawing its forces from the territory of Ukraine".

READ MORE: Victorian mum 'haunted' by high-speed truck crash that forced her into early labour

The Kremlin has rejected all previous appeals to reverse its land grabs in Ukraine.

It didn't immediately respond to this latest one.

The two countries haven't engaged in any recent peace talks and there is no end in sight for the war, which is in its 10th month and has killed and wounded tens of thousands of people and left dozens of Ukrainian cities and towns in ruins.

A spike in syphilis cases, especially among young Australian women, has health experts very worried over the infection's potential impact on pregnancies.

Also concerning, according to a new report from UNSW's Kirby Institute, is that most sexually transmissible infections (STI) remain undiagnosed and untreated across the country, which researchers say highlights the urgent need to increase testing.

In 2021, according to data, there were 86,916 diagnoses of chlamydia, 26,577 gonorrhoea cases and 5570 recorded infections of syphilis.

READ MORE: The return of the billion-dollar backpackers

Chlamydia and gonorrhoea diagnoses were down nationally – but the number of Australians tested also dipped, 14 per cent down from pre-pandemic levels.

Researchers said the COVID-19 pandemic, where lockdowns influenced the way we socialised and interacted with sexual partners, shaped the latest figures.

"Prior to the pandemic we were seeing increases in chlamydia and gonorrhoea, but in 2021 we recorded a small decline," Dr Skye McGregor, one of the report's authors, said.

"We believe this reduction is a consequence of both reduced testing and reduced sexual activity with new or casual partners.

On the other hand, McGregor said, syphilis was steadily increasing among women of reproductive age, gay and bisexual men and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

"This reflects sustained and ongoing transmission across Australia, which is extremely concerning."

According to the report's modelling, most STIs circulating Australia remain undiagnosed.

More than one in 25 young people aged between 15-29 had chlamydia last year but less than a third of those young people were diagnosed.

Syphilis diagnoses have been increasing since 2011, initially with outbreaks among gay and bisexual men in cities and among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in regional and remote areas of central, northern, and western Australia.

The report revealed a dramatic increase in syphilis among women of reproductive age.

There was an eight-fold rise in non-Indigenous women, while Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women recorded a four-fold escalation over the ten-year reporting period.

"While the numbers among women in cities are still relatively small, the upward trend in this group over the last 10 years has been substantial," McGregor said.

She was "particularly concerned" about syphilis in women aged 15-44 years because of pregnancy outcome risks.

READ MORE: How two Aussie women with genital herpes deal with stigma of STI

Congenital syphilis occurs when syphilis is transmitted during pregnancy to an unborn child.

Between 2012 and 2019, diagnoses were low, ranging from zero-eight each year.

In 2020 and 2021 there were 17 and 15 congenital syphilis diagnoses, respectively, representing a considerable increase.

In 2021, 60 per cent of congenital syphilis diagnoses were among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies, who make up only approximately five per cent of newborns.

"This is particularly worrying," McGregor said, "as pregnant women should be tested regularly for STIs as part of pre and antenatal health screening."

COVID-19 had put additional strains on health service access, she said.

People with chlamydia and gonorrhoea, the most common notifiable STIs, often don't have any symptoms.

Both STIs can cause serious long-term health concerns, including pelvic inflammatory disease in women and infertility in men and women.

"This is why regularly testing, and treatment is crucial for STI control," McGregor said.

If you need information or help, find and contact a sexual health clinic in Victoria, NSW, Queensland, SA, WA, NT, and the ACT.

There is also help at Lifeline (13 11 14) and Beyond Blue (1300 224 636).

The two police officers killed in an ambush shooting at a Queensland property have been identified as Constable Matthew Arnold, 26, and Constable Rachel McCrow, 29.

Their colleagues who survived the "unimaginable" attack just after 4.30pm yesterday and are injured and recovering in hospital, have been revealed as Constable Keely Brough and Constable Randall Kirk, both 28.

Speaking at Chinchilla Police Station this morning, Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll expressed her condolences for Arnold and McCrow's loved ones.

READ MORE: What we know about Wieambilla shooting so far

"Matthew and Rachel were highly respected and much-loved members of the Queensland Police Service," she said.

"They were both committed and courageous young people who had a passion for policing and for serving their community.

"Both under 30 years of age. Both had wonderful careers and lives ahead of them.

"Yesterday, as they did every day, they put their lives on the line to serve their community. In this awful incident, they made the ultimate sacrifice."

The constables were both stationed at Tara and had both only recently begun their policing careers.

Arnold was sworn in as a police officer in March 2020, while McCrow was sworn in last year in June.

Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said the officers killed would be remembered on the police memorial wall in the Botanic Gardens in Brisbane.

"They will never be forgotten. We will remember the courage and their diligence and the sense of community they displayed, and that they put their lives on the line," he said.

"Matthew and Rachel paid the ultimate sacrifice by simply doing their job.

"They were both amazing people who were well respected by their colleagues and those who were close to them."

Carroll also paid tribute to the two constables who survived the shooting.

Constable Randall Kirk suffered a bullet graze and was taken to hospital, and Constable Keely Brough, who joined the police force only nine weeks ago, managed to escape.

"They bravely did what they could to save their colleagues in the most horrendous circumstances," Carroll said.

"Their bravery was beyond belief."

Carroll went on to acknowledge the 16 officers retrieved the bodies of their fallen colleagues after the shooting.

"I think about what they did and how they did it, because I've been briefed on that as well, (it) was extraordinarily brave and I take my hat off to them," she said.

Tributes have been flowing for the fallen police officers online.

The swift thunderstorm that hammered Sydney yesterday is "just the start" of more extreme weather to come across Australia this summer, authorities have warned.

The storm in Sydney saw the SES hit with more than 500 calls for help, including about 200 fallen trees.

Queensland is next in the firing line with the storms, with giant hailstones and destructive winds expected from the Gold Coast up to Rockhampton today.

READ MORE: Two police officers among six shot dead at Queensland property

"This is just the start of thunderstorm season," Nine weather presenter Garry Youngberry has explained on Today.

"Temperatures for the rest of the week will be well above average. We have a very unstable atmosphere. The humidity has arrived for summer.

"Put all these ingredients together it not only spells thunderstorms but severe thunderstorms, and it will be a very active thunderstorm season I'm forecasting across south-east Queensland."

Meanwhile, an extreme heatwave is occurring across northern WA, the NT, bringing record high temperatures.

READ MORE: What will the weather on Christmas Day be like?

Mandora in WA soared to 48.5C on Sunday, marking the area's highest temperature on record, according to Weatherzone.

The last time it came close to this record was on December 22, 1981 when it reeached 48.4C.

The temperature fell just 1.5C off the highest December temperature ever recorded in WA, which was when Eucla reached 49.8C on December 19, 2019.

READ MORE: A guide to train and road delays in Melbourne over summer

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex has said she was "fed to the wolves," and Prince Harry discusses "institutional gaslighting" in a new trailer for part two of their highly-anticipated Netflix docuseries, which airs on Thursday.

In the clip, released overnight, the Duke of Sussex discusses stepping back from royal duties and ponders what might have happened to the couple "had we not got out when we did."

"Our security was being pulled. Everyone in the world knew where we were," Meghan says.

READ MORE: Meghan's unknown niece speaks in Sussex documentary

In what appears to be a video shot on board the Sussexes' flight to the US, Harry smiles and says: "We are on the freedom flight."

After the trailer shows Harry describing "institutional gaslighting," the footage cuts to Meghan saying: "I wasn't being thrown to the wolves, I was being fed to the wolves."

"They were happy to lie to protect my brother (Prince William), they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us," adds Harry.

However, he stops short of identifying who "they" refers to in the short teaser.

READ MORE: Thirteen things we learned from Harry and Meghan's Netflix series

Similar to the format of the first three episodes, the trailer provides an intimate glimpse into the couple's lives, with personal footage and pictures interspersed with media coverage.

Tyler Perry, the filmmaker who offered his California house to the couple after they left their lives in the UK, also makes an appearance in the trailer.

"They wanted to be free to love and be happy," he says. "I applauded that."

READ MORE: How the British press reacted to Harry and Meghan's Netflix series

In the first three episodes of the docuseries, the couple shared intimate details of their courtship, took aim at the "unconscious bias" inside the royal family, and criticized the media attention they'd been subjected to – particularly from Britain's tabloid press.

Buckingham Palace said it would not be commenting on the docuseries when the first part released last Thursday.

The second part of the docuseries, directed by Liz Garbus, premieres on Thursday.

Nine Entertainment Co (the publisher of this website) owns and operates the streaming service Stan.

Exclusive: Demi Bree Hudd had always dreamed of becoming a mum.

Then a terrifying, high-speed encounter with a truck almost ended two lives and that dream in an instant.

She and her unborn son managed to survive the crash, but the stress of the near-death experience sent her body into labour when she was only 35 weeks pregnant.

Her injuries meant she could not endure labour, leaving doctors having to perform an emergency caesarean.

READ MORE: Telstra explains how internal data breach exposed customers' details

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Mark MacLean was viciously attacked on Friday night on the driveway of his home

Queensland Police have declared a an emergency situation with reports of a shooting and multiple officers potentially unaccounted for in the Western Downs.

An emergency declaration at Wieambilla, about 300km west of Brisbane, was made just after 6pm AEST.

9News reporter Jordan Fabris says there are early details of three officers being unaccounted for.

https://twitter.com/QldPolice/status/1602216146601930752

"Several police crews are in attendance at the property," Queensland Police said.

"Wains Road is closed, and the declaration zone encompasses the area between Chinchilla Tara Rd, Wieambilla Rd, Bennetts School Rd, and Mary Street.

"Residents within the declared areas must remain indoors until further notice, and motorists and pedestrians are advised to avoid the area.

"There is no further information at this time."

More to come