Opinion: Trevor Mallard is widely regarded as the worst Speaker of Parliament the country has ever had. He has always been a controversial and divisive figure, prone to temper tantrums and nasty attacks, but in his role as Speaker…

Retail giant Wesfarmers has recorded a drop in yearly profit but insists its brands are in prime position to capitalise on the cost of living crisis being felt across Australia.

The owner of Bunnings, Kmart and Target on Friday announced net profits after tax of $2.35 billion for the 2022 financial year, a drop of 2.9 per cent.

Wesfarmers managing director Rob Scott put the slump down to disruptions caused by COVID-19, but pointed out the group's profits increased in the second half of the financial year after lockdowns around the country ended.

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"The group's financial results for the year reflect the material impact of COVID-19 on trading conditions during the first half which included weeks where almost half of the group's retail stores were either subject to trading restrictions or closed," Scott said.

"In the second half of the year, Wesfarmers delivered strong net profit after tax growth of 13.1 per cent… with trading conditions improving as restrictions were eased."

The group says it is primed to take advantage of shoppers looking for value as Australians feel the pressure of rising cost of living.

"The group's retail businesses are well positioned as cost of living pressures impact household budgets and value once again becomes increasingly important to customers," it said in a statement.

"The retail businesses will maintain their focus on meeting the changing needs of customers and delivering even greater value, quality and convenience."

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Kmart group, which also includes Target and online retailer Catch, had its revenue drop 3.5 per cent to $9.13 billion and earnings fall by 39.7 per cent to $418 million in 2022.

There was better news for Bunnings, whose revenue rose to $17.75 billion – a jump of 5.2 per cent.

The hardware giant's earnings also rose, up 0.9 per cent to $2.2 billion.

Officeworks, which also operates under the Wesfarmers umbrella, saw its earnings drop by 14.6 per cent to $181 million despite increased revenue of $3.17 billion, which was 4.6 per cent higher than in 2021.

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Ryan Naumenko came up with a plan to turn gangland widow Roberta Williams' life into a reality television series called Mob Wives.

But before the first episode was even finished, he found himself a victim of a plot arranged by the former wife of underworld killer Carl Williams and her cronies.

Williams, 53, avoided a prison sentence on Friday over an incident that left Naumenko fearing for his life.

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She was instead ordered to be supervised for two years and complete any recommended mental health treatment or offender programs.

Naumenko approached Williams via Instagram to pitch a reality series about her life in May 2019.

Within a month he had set up a Go Fund Me page and was claiming there was investor interest from Netflix.

He found a producer who put up $10,000 and arrangements were made to rent a filming location in Melbourne's bayside suburbs.

In late June 2019 Williams wanted out, but she was convinced to stay on and a week later she spent a day filming for the show.

But over the coming days Williams and a man hired to film the program came to the conclusion they were being duped by Naumenko, Victoria's County Court heard.

Nothing he told them about money being raised turned out to be true.

On July 8 Williams, aggrieved by Naumenko's deception, came up with a plan to blackmail him for money she believed she and others were owed.

She arranged a friend to help her, and he offered to bring "the boys" – Hassan Al-Zwainy and Jake Sexton.

Naumenko was lured to a Collingwood business under the guise of viewing edited footage.

He was instead assaulted and threatened over three terrifying hours.

He was forced to transfer ownership of his mother's car, and to call his father and sister to get them to transfer $1000 to an account connected with the group.

Sexton threatened to break Naumenko's hands and said he had a friend who would burn him.

One of the men pulled out a gun, the court heard.

"You ought to have walked away when you first had the instinct to," Judge Fiona Todd told Williams.

While she wasn't involved in the assault on Naumenko, she was complicit through her presence and her recruitment of another.

Judge Todd decided not to order community work for Williams, who is the sole carer for her high level special needs son.

There was a need for mercy, she said.

Sexton, now 27, pleaded guilty to intentionally causing injury.

He was convicted and ordered to complete 150 hours of community work.

Al-Zwainy, 26, admitted recklessly causing injury.

He avoided conviction but was ordered to complete 60 hours of unpaid community work and pay an $800 fine.

Judge Todd found he had been uncomfortable with the unfolding assault but lacked the courage to do anything about it.

She noted he had taken responsibility for his role after another man was initially wrongly identified as a co-offender.

A US amusement park had to close a large slippery dip hours after opening because so many riders were being sent airborne.

Riders at Belle Isle Park in Detroit paid a dollar to get in a sack and go down their giant slide.

But video of the ride shows the users gaining too much speed off each dip, gaining substantial air before landing hard.

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After being closed during the pandemic, the giant slide reopened to much fanfare last Friday.

And four hours later, it was closed again.

A video posted on Twitter filmed at the bottom of the slide has since been viewed 11.4 million times this week.

"We are going to be making some adjustments to the speed that we have seen users coming down today," the park's Facebook page read on Saturday.

"Hopefully after our small adjustment we will be back up and running and the slide will be slower for more enjoyment."

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The ride remains closed because of rainy weather, but park officials have scrubbed down the surface to help control the speed.

A video posted on their Facebook page instructs riders on how to use the slide, which is apparently more complicated than just sitting down and going.

But the video has now drawn the same attention as a new song recorded by Detroit rapper Gmac Cash.

The song 'Giant Slide' has a heavy beat and a scathing assessment of the ride's safety.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/ChfSiTDFGRI/?hl=en

"It's like jumping off a roof (on the giant slide). Man, you can lose a tooth (on the giant slide)," Gmac Cash raps.

"Kids would get on my nerves so I sent them on the giant slide."

Jimmy Kimmel Live guest host Lamorne Morris declared the song "the jam of the summer".

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A record 1.8-tonne shipment of ice likely came to Australia from the Middle East, police have said.

In the first of two high-profile drug busts announced this morning, NSW Police and the ABF said they had uncovered a shipment of more than $150 million worth of cocaine and ice stashed inside a vintage Bentley car.

The car, a 1960 Bentley S2, arrived at Port Botany in a shipping container from Canada earlier this month.

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Two men, aged 20 and 23, were arrested in Rooty Hill in western Sydney yesterday as they were dismantling the car outside a home. and charged with drug offences.

Police found a large amount of meth hidden behind the headlights, and overall seized 161kg of meth and 30kg of cocaine concealed in the car.

A third man, aged 25, was also charged when he was pulled over in Ballina in northern NSW yesterday afternoon.

Commander Grant Taylor called it a "significant win" for law enforcement.

He estimated the Bentley would have been worth $60,000 – $160,000.

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Police allegedly seized 2.2kg of ice and more than $1.1 million in cash.

All three men were refused bail and will appear in court later today.

In a separate investigation that started earlier this year, investigators examined a number of sea cargo containers that had arrived in Port Botany, finding 748kg of methylamphetamine hidden in marble slabs.

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Three men, aged 24, 26, and 34, were arrested and remain before the courts.

Police today revealed they had also investigated extra containers that arrived in Port Botany last week, finding 1060kg of meth also hidden in marble slabs.

The overall 1800kg-plus ice shipment had an estimated street value of more than $1.6 billion.

NSW Police Detective Acting Chief Superintendent John Watson said the operation remained ongoing.

"These figures are staggering," he said.

Nobody has yet been charged in connection with the second shipment.

Watson said the AFP would likely now focus its investigation overseas, with consignment details pointing to origins in the Middle East.

Australia Post has announced a record-breaking $8.97 billion in revenue over the past year after the spike in Australians shopping online during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The organisation said this record revenue is 8.5 per cent higher than the 2021 financial year.

Parcels made up $7.2 billion in revenue which was an 11 per cent increase from the previous year which Australia Post attributes to the rise in online shopping as a result of lockdowns.

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"Following record first-half parcels revenue driven by lockdowns in NSW and Victoria, parcels growth moderated in the second half," Australia Post said.

However, money made from the delivery of parcels may have risen but the revenue from delivering letters has dropped.

Australia Post said letter volumes were down by 4 per cent showing Aussies are sending fewer letters and moving to digital communications.

"The typical household today receives only one letter every two days, with 97 per cent of letters sent by business or government agencies," Australia Post said.

"The increasing adoption of digital communications will continue to reduce volumes."

It comes as Australia Post has proposed to increase the basic postage rate from $1.10 to $1.20 from January next year due to soaring inflation.

The total letter revenue was $1.8 billion while the total losses increased to $255.7 million which was an increase of 24.3 per cent compared to 2021.

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CEO and Managing Director Paul Graham said he is pleased the company could meet the demand for delivering parcels but predicts in the next year the online shopping surge will "moderate".

"I'm pleased we were able to deliver a record number of parcels and expand our range of services, connecting all Australians during this difficult time," he said.

"While it's clear more Australians are buying goods online following the pandemic, we don't expect to see the same level of eCommerce growth.

"This has been demonstrated in our second-half results and, going forward, we anticipate growth to be moderate."

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Over the next year, the company predicts the online shopping and eCommerce surge will slow and the number of letters being sent will continue to decline.

The group had a total profit, before tax, of $55.3 million which was down 45.1 per cent from $100.7 million the previous year.

Australia Post returned $36.3 million in dividends to the federal government and paid $661 million in taxes and other government charges.

A Queensland traveller whose bag came out of an airport carousel looking like it 'had been fed to a bunch of pitbulls [and] hyenas' has finally received compensation from Qantas.

Andrew Glykidis was flying home from Sydney on August 1 when he "saw a bag of [his] belongings sitting on the carousel", only it wasn't his original bag.

Instead, his belongings had been repacked into plastic bags and wrapped up with Qantas branded orange tape.

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He said at the time it "was a little embarrassing".

The 31-year-old architectural draftsman told Today, he contacted Qantas "like crazy" following the incident, trying to get reimbursed for the damaged and lost items, estimated at a value of $2000.

"I have sent about 654 emails with no response," he joked. 

"It's been a nightmare, going around in circles with the same call centre."

However, Glykidis' luck changed yesterday after 9news.com.au published the story.

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"When the article went live, Qantas said they will reimburse me for the contents, bags and a $500 voucher," he said.

Glykidis admitted he is relieved the saga is over, but wished the process wasn't so frustrating. 

"I would have appreciated [it] if someone said something.

"Just come out and tell me rather than me having to deal with the aftermath."

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The Bureau of Meteorology is warning eastern Australia should expect a soggy and rainy spring.

The bureau's official outlook for September to November 2022 shows an east-west split in weather conditions for Australia.

There is a strong, more than 80 per cent chance, of above-average rainfall for the majority of the east of the country during the three months of spring, which begins on September 1.

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It will be grim news flood-affected communities in northern New South Wales and parts of Queensland as they cover from devastating flooding earlier this year.

In those areas, rivers continue to be at maximum levels, soils are damp and rivers remain high.

In contrast, spring weather conditions for large parts of Western Australia are forecast to be relatively dry. Regions south of Perth can expect only a 25 per cent chance of exceeding median rainfall.

Unusually dry conditions are forecast for Western Tasmania.

The bureau says there is a 70 per cent chance of a La Niña weather system – which drive wet conditions – for spring.

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There is also another weather system in the Indian Ocean driving wetter conditions, particularly for Victoria.

The bureau says a negative Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) event has started, which will bring more rain over southern and eastern Australia.

It is being driven by warmer ocean temperatures around Australia.

The extra moisture in the air helps bring cold winds and heavy rain to NSW and Victoria.

Large parts of NSW, Victoria and the ACT are also showing below normal fire risks after a largely damp winter.

A Queensland family has been left distressed by a police encounter after a traffic infringement resulted in a confrontation outside their home.

Police vision obtained by 9News shows officers outside the Gold Coast property speaking to a man about a driving offence before tasers are drawn in front of the man's screaming wife and child.

Police are seen approaching the man at the gate to his property, where the homeowner asks for evidence he had driven unlicensed before backing away.

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The man's wife, who is standing nearby, is heard yelling as police enter the property, seconds before pulling out a taser.

"Stay here you're under arrest," the officer is heard saying.

"Do not shape up to us! This is a taser get on the ground. Get on the ground."

The distraught woman pleads with the officer to put the taser away, telling him "I just forgot to do his license, please, it was my birthday yesterday".

"It was a ticket, it was a ticket and I forgot to pay it."

The pair's daughter is also seen running from the home screaming, fearful of the police officers who are pointing a taser at her dad.

A female officer tries to calm the situation.

"This is just an infringement notice you guys need to relax," she said.

A second officer draws a taser before the man is cuffed and pulled onto the street.

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The man was arrested and charged with obstructing police and driving unlicensed.

"Mate you're lucky it's not assault police for clenching your fists like that," the officer said.

Both charges were thrown out in court after police failed to provide their brief of evidence.

The family's lawyer said police went too far.

"My client thinks that police acted totally inappropriately," he said.

"Pulling a taser on a young family is just not justified in the circumstance."

The victim of an alleged vicious assault in inner Sydney says he has been left traumatised by the attack.

The 33-year-old was brutally bashed after leaving the Universal nightclub on Oxford Street in the early hours of June 26.

The victim, Aaron, told 9News that he believes that he was targeted because of his sexuality as he left the gay nightclub.

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"They wanted to kill me, literally, they stomped my head, punched me in the face, kicking me on the ground, I'm unconscious and they are still going," Aaron said.

"The main guy that was talking to me, calling me f—-t, I knew he wanted to fight.

"I tried to cross the road, they chased me and I don't know, the rest I don't really remember, woke up in hospital, covered in blood, sort of panicked, screaming, not knowing where I was."

As a result of the attack, Aaron suffered multiple injuries and has undergone one surgery on his nose and will have a second next month.

He also requires dental work on his damaged teeth and gums.

"I'm grateful to be alive but no one should have to go through this," he said.

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NSW Police has released images of a group of men they want to speak to in relation to the attack.

"What happened to our victim is sickening," Detective Inspector Joel Best said.

"Everyone should be free to go out with their friends and not fear being assaulted or beaten up."

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Aaron said he has received an outpouring of love and support from the community since the attack but is finding it difficult to feel safe knowing those responsible are still at large.

"Violence is never the answer and these guys need to know there are consequences to being violent," he said.

The police investigation is continuing.