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A man who ignored his positive COVID-19 test result and continued to party at an Adelaide nightclub, putting 150 people into isolation over Christmas, has been handed a $600 fine.

Ralph McIntosh also avoided a conviction when he pleaded guilty to comply with emergency management rules before Adelaide Magistrates' Court this morning.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of a $20,000 fine or up to two years in jail.

READ MORE: 'Long shopping list': How cruise ships are gearing up for Aussie return

McIntosh received a text message from SA Health at 10pm on December 17 announcing he had COVID-19 positive and needed to isolate.

He was at Loverboy nightclub at the time.

The court heard he did not "access" the text until the next morning, when he was at a coffee shop.

His lawyer told the court McIntosh had been able to find employment due to the publicity since he was charged on December 28.

https://twitter.com/G_Westgarth/status/1513314577546575874

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When the first international cruise ship sets sail from Australia next month, it'll be the first time in more than two years the mammoth vessels have been allowed to depart from the nation's waters due to COVID-19.

The return of cruise ships will bring a much-needed cash injection back into the $5 billion industry including supporting 18,000 Aussie jobs.

Plus they'll allow cruise addicts to indulge in the holidays they love – a total of 1.35 million Aussies took a cruise in 2018.

READ MORE: Cruises allowed in Australia from next month after two-year ban

But getting that first ship – P&O Australia's Pacific Explorer – ready, and the ones that follow, is a mammoth feat involving thousands of people from Australia and around the globe.

Rehiring staff

Now cruise ships are returning, Graeme Blackman from Sydney ship chandler, Inter-Marine is rehiring some of the people he had to lay off during the ban.

He also needs to get his tools which have lay idle for two years, checked over and working again.

His firm helps maintain the vessels when they come into port.

The business lost 90 per cent of its $7 million turnover in the shut-down.

"JobKeeper couldn't keep our technical staff on," he said.

"It'll be a slow, progressive start but we're so glad we could last this long."

Steven Biviano, from Sydney Select Fresh Providores, is responsible for restocking the ships with the indulgent food they're famous for.

He was delivering up to 40 semi-trailers a week of fruit and veg to cruise ships before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived.

His team of 30 was cut to three and he lost millions of dollars – with the ban also impacting produce growers. But they're now gearing up to return to work.

"(I'll be) getting a team re-established, speaking to growers, agents," he said.

And Jeremy Goodman, admits he has "a very long shopping list".

As Supply Chain Director for P&O Cruises Australia he oversees buying all that's needed and gets it to the ship.

READ MORE: Everything to know about XE variant of COVID-19 virus

For the first cruise alone that includes 4,500 dozen eggs, 15 tonnes of fresh vegetables and 6.5 tonnes of poultry.

"When Pacific Explorer resumes cruising on May 31, more than 300 pallets of products of various kinds will be delivered," he said.

"Each pallet weighs around 500k kilograms so that is around 50 tonnes of fresh produce."

He said "emotions will be high" when the vessel honks its horn to leave Sydney Harbour.

Cooking up new dishes

Meanwhile it'll be up to P&O Cruises Australia Corporate Executive Chef Uwe Stiefel to create tasty dishes with all that food.

And while there have been no passengers for the past couple of years, he's been busy taking care of crew who remained on the ships, plus planning for the restart.

That includes testing out new recipes and dishes in his Sydney home kitchen.

He said he's interested to see how food demands have changed on board, with people so used to lockdown takeaways.

READ MORE: Australian cruise industry set to pass two years of shutdown

Limbering up to entertain

Entertainment, from theatre shows to pool aerobics, is always a highlight for cruisers.

P&O Cruises Australia's Head of Entertainment Brett Annable and Corporate Entertainment Director, Zoltina-J Medwik Daley will keep guests happy again when ships return.

Ms Medwik Daley said she was devastated as her ship left Sydney back in 2020, as the pandemic hit and ships were banned.

"The day we were told to leave, the crew were crying, I was crying and even Sydney was crying as it was a gloomy rainy day," he said.

This time, she said she'll cry happy tears – once she's finished her busy role.

"Whilst everything on board has been kept warm and running, without guests, the onboard entertainment venues have been 'asleep' for two years so we are getting them ready," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Annable is busy recruiting entertainers.

"We are also about to welcome our first production show cast into rehearsals for their debut at the end of May and we are putting the finishing touches to our brand-new production show, 'Musicology', which is launching later this year on Pacific Encounter and Pacific Adventure," he said.

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Marguerite Fitzgerald, President of Carnival Cruise Line Australia and P&O Cruises Australia, said the suppliers' job-filling plans confirmed the importance of the cruising ecosystem in supporting many businesses and jobs in Australia.

"We have seen and felt the pain of our suppliers as they have negotiated two difficult years with the suspension of cruising," Ms Fitzgerald said.

"Their determination to emerge on the other side was an inspiration to us all and, even at the hardest of times, they were planning for the future."

And while cruise line Royal Caribbean isn't due to return to Australia until October, staff and crew are also gearing up.

The firm will bring ships, which have already resumed cruising across the globe to Aussie waters, via special Trans-Pacific sailings.

Sheldon Thompson, International Port Operations Manager, Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific at the company said while there's always a team on board a ship, even when there are no passengers.

But getting the thousands of crew back on board ready for passengers is a feat.

"The biggest challenge in getting a ship ready for sailing after a lay-up period will be getting the crew on safely and preparing the ship, bearing in mind that there can be over 65 different nationalities on one ship," he said.

"Depending on the size of the ship, it can take up to 60 to 90 days to bring a ship out of layup."

Cruising COVID-19 rules

No specific cruising rules have been released yet.

But it's likely all guests and crew must be vaccinated, unless exempt, and must provide a negative COVID-19 test.

Social distancing, extra sanitation and monitoring such as temperature checks will also be rolled out, according to cruise firms.

Which cruise lines are sailing where

P&O Cruises Australia Pacific Explorer will be the first cruise ship to sail in Australian waters since March 2020, when it sets off from Sydney on May 31 to make the first call at the new Brisbane International Cruise Terminal on June 2. The ship will return to Sydney on April 18, ready for the first cruise.

Princess Cruises' Coral Princess will begin her maiden Australian deployment in Brisbane, setting sail on June 16 with a three-night cruise.

Carnival Cruise Line will sail Carnival Splendor to Moreton Island, Queensland from Sydney on October 5.

Celebrity Cruises will return to Australia from October 22, with a 12-night jaunt to New Zealand.

Royal Caribbean's first Sydney cruise will sail from Sydney to New Zealand on October 21, followed by Brisbane on November 9.

Upmarket cruise line Seabourn will star calling at Sydney again in December.

Cunard's lavish ships will return to Australian waters on November 7, sailing from Fremantle, WA, to Sydney.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CbnYqI5qP3Y/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp

Virgin Voyages, the new cruise line by tycoon Richard Branson, which boasts A-lister Jennifer Lopez as its 'chief entertainment and lifestyle officer', has also hinted it's bringing its adults-only ships Down Under next year.

Holland America will also bring flagship vessel, Noordam back to Sydney in November.

Contact journalist Sarah Swain: Ss****@******om.au

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese says he's confident in his public profile after Prime Minister Scott Morrison lambasted him as an unknown.

Both leaders spoke with Today this morning, the day after Mr Morrison called the federal election for May 21 and kicked off the official election campaign.

Amid a barrage of electioneering, they both faced some tough questions.

LIVE UPDATES: Election 'partly about PM's character', Labor insists

"We had the Prime Minister on the show a little while ago. He reckon you can't manage money and no-one knows you or your team," host Ally Langdon said to Mr Albanese.

The Labor leader denied both claims, saying he was confident Today viewers were familiar with him.

"I have been in public life a long time, they know my back story as well," he said.

"I am the son of a single mum who grew up in public housing. No-one gave me a leg up in life, but my mother wanted a better life for me than she endured, as an invalid pensioner."

READ MORE: How to vote in this year's election

Mr Albanese also said he wasn't surprised Mr Morrison had pulled ahead as preferred prime minister in a recent poll, despite a rash of recent attacks on Mr Morrison's character from within his own party.

"He is the Prime Minister, Ally, that is what happens," Mr Albanese said.

READ MORE: Redistribution – The brutal game of musical chairs for parliamentary MPs

Mr Morrison had earlier on the show addressed the topic of the debate around his personality and conduct.

"If this election is based on character – which is are a pretty easy task for Labor – you lose, don't you?" host Karl Stefanovic said, clarifying later that he referred to Mr Morrison as an individual.

"My character, I'm happy to stand by every single day. Every single day because it's the strength that we've needed to get through this pandemic," Mr Morrison said.

"Not everybody agrees with everything I've done and not everybody will necessarily like me but what they will know is that when we face this crisis we ploughed through with the right plan to keep our economy strong, to save lives, to stand up to the threats in our region."

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Mr Morrison' also confirmed that under-fire former Education Minister Alan Tudge remained a member of his Cabinet despite standing aside from his ministerial role.

Mr Tudge stepped down as Education Minister in December after he was accused of physical and emotional abuse by a former staffer.

He has denied the allegations and remains on the backbench.

READ MORE: The key seats that will determine the outcome of the federal election

"He stood aside and we had that inquiry and it was found there was nothing there which would prevent him continuing on as a minister," Mr Morrison said.

"He's decided to stay aside for health and family reasons until the next election and if he wishes to rejoin the Cabinet he will be welcome. He's technically still part of the Cabinet."

Mr Morrison also confirmed he would name a replacement for outgoing Health Minister Greg Hunt this weekend.

Spain's Civil Guard says it is investigating a businessman in the eastern Valencia region who owned a private taxidermy collection with more than 1000 stuffed animals, including just over 400 from protected species and at least one specimen of a North African oryx, already extinct.

The collection would fetch €29 million ($42.32 million) on the black market, the Civil Guard said Sunday in a statement, adding that its owner could be charged with trafficking and other crimes against the environment.

READ MORE: Oligarch's $120 million superyacht seized in Spain

It said the finding was the largest of protected stuffed specimens in Spain.

Investigating agents found the stuffed animals in two warehouses extending over 50,000 square metres on the outskirts of Bétera, a small town north of the eastern coastal city of Valencia.

Of the 1090 stuffed animals found, 405 belonged to specimens protected by the CITES convention on wildlife protection.

IN PICTURES: Remarkable elephant image among acclaimed shots

They included the scimitar oryx, also known as the Sahara oryx, which the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, declared extinct in the wild in 2000, and at least two more species nearly extinct: the addax, or white antelope, originally from the Sahara desert and the Bengal tiger.

The agents also recorded stuffed specimens of cheetah, leopard, lion, lynx, polar bear, snow panther and white rhinoceros, among others, as well as 198 large ivory tusks from elephants.

The Civil Guard said it would investigate whether any documents exist justifying the ownership of the collection.

A couple have been pulled from the wreckage of their car just seconds before the vehicle exploded.

Two Western Australia Police officers rushed towards the crashed car and caravan after the driver lost control at a bend along the South Western Highway near Harvey, in the state's south-west, last month.

The drama that unfolded was captured on bodycam.

READ MORE: Prime Minister Scott Morrison calls federal election for May 21

Ripping off the windscreen, the officers managed to reach the elderly female passenger first.

"Undo your seatbelts, undo your seatbelts," one officers, Constable Reece Josemans, can be heard saying.

"Go, go, go, go!"

Constable Josemans, from Harvey Police, said the heat was intense as they worked to get the pair out.

"I remember the feeling of the fire, it was the most unbearable and you're just feeling it and you know you've got to get them out," he said.

The woman's partner was also pulled from the wreckage, just before the whole vehicle exploded into flames.

"It always goes through your head the fact that the car exploded after, so it makes you think we only had a minute left to go," Constable Josemans said.

The couple, aged in their 80s, were grateful.

"She goes, 'oh you saved my life'," Constable Josemans said.

"That, to me, is everything. Job done, best feeling in the world."

The car had 125 litres of petrol in it and there were two gas bottles in the caravan, Sergeant Wayne Byram from Yarloop Police said.

"The fuel tank did go up and it just shook the ground, it was so loud," he said.

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