Harrowing footage has been released of the moment an unknown gunman allegedly opened fire on four men outside a Sydney gym, hitting one in the leg and leaving bullet holes in a children's creche.

Police were called to World Gym in Prospect about 11.35am on November 29 to investigate what 9News understands is being treated as a targeted attack.

Criminal Groups Squad detectives have released CCTV from outside the gym and inside, where children were playing.

READ MORE: Every NSW COVID-19 restriction that just changed

The footage captures the moment four men casually entering the gym — one even apparently about to take a selfie — run for cover as shots are fired.

Debris from the shots can be seen flying from the steps while at the same time an interior camera appears to show workers and children playing happily inside reacting in terror to the noise of the shots.

The victim suffered "minor" gunshot injuries to the leg and was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics, police said.

READ MORE: Queensland on tenterhooks after flight sent into isolation

Police are desperate to find a grey Mazda sedan shown in the footage. They were told that's where the shots were fired from before the driver fled the carpark and the car was found set alight shortly after.

READ MORE: 'Exceptionally hot air' will cause temperatures to soar

Police alleged the car was stolen from the Hunters Hill area on October 5 and want to speak with anyone who saw something suspicious on that date.

Criminal Groups Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Grant Taylor, said investigators wanted dashcam from the area surrounding the shooting.

"The location of the shooting is within an industrial area and we're hopeful truck drivers, courier workers, and other motorists may have dash cam which would be helpful to our investigations – even if it precedes the day of the shooting," Superintendent Taylor said. 

"Any dash cam owners who were in the vicinity of the Stoddard Road industrial area, as well as Flushcombe Road, Reservoir Road and Great Western Highway between 10.30am and 12.30pm that day is urged to come forward.

"We're also confident the Mazda wagon – which was a dark, metallic colour and had distinctive black roof-racks – was travelling with other vehicles around the time of the shooting."

Detectives are trying to find close contacts of those who were in the vehicles at the time.

"These public place shootings endanger the lives of innocent members of the public, and in this instance, left bullet holes in a children's play area where young toddlers were being cared for at the time," Superintendent Taylor said.

"The investigation of acts of violence which put our community in danger is the highest of priority for police, and all offenders – as well as those who facilitate or assist them – will be prosecuted."

Welcome to Bellevue Hill, the exclusive eastern Sydney suburb where buyers need to be multi-millionaires or better to afford a middle-priced home.

New data from property research firm CoreLogic has revealed that Bellevue Hill boasts the highest median house value of any suburb in Australia at more than $8.7 million.

The harbourside suburb is just a stone's throw away from perennial title holder Point Piper, who in 2021 took the record for the highest median unit price at an eye-watering $3.2 million.

READ MORE: Every NSW COVID-19 restriction that just changed

On a slightly above average yearly salary of $80,000, it would take someone more than a century to pay off the median Bellevue Hill home and more than 40 years to pay off a median Point Piper unit – that's if they didn't spend a single cent of their wage on living expenses.

While Sydney's glamour suburbs attracted the top headlines of CoreLogic's annual Best of the Best Report, the data paints a picture in which all real estate boomed during 2021.

In November 2020 the estimated total value of Australia's residential real estate was $7.2 trillion.

Fast forward 12 months – and multiple COVID-19 lockdowns and close international borders – and Australia's combined real estate value now sits at an astonishing $9.4 trillion.

READ MORE: Queensland on tenterhooks after flight sent into isolation

Detached houses were the biggest winners after growing 24.6 per cent in the past year, while units rose by 14.2 per cent.

"Strong housing market performance over the year was driven by multiple factors, including low interest rates, fiscal and institutional support for households, high household savings and relatively low levels of advertised stock," CoreLogic's Head of Research Eliza Owen said.

"Rates of housing turnover had also been relatively low for some years before these factors boosted housing demand, which may also explain the elevated volume of sales in the past 12 months, which at November was 32.6 per cent above the decade annual average."

Unsurprisingly, the boom in remote work helped supercharge values in picturesque regional locations.

"The popularity of regional Australia is reflected in many aspects of the Best of the Best report for 2021," she said.

"The quiet coastal suburb of Yamba, in the Coffs Harbour-Grafton region of NSW, achieved the highest annual growth in units of suburbs across Australia, at 56.6 per cent.

"Regional suburbs were represented in many of the top value growth tables, including Ocean Grove units in Geelong (up 41.7 per cent in the year), Fraser Island units in Wide Bay (up 48.2 per cent), and Campbell Town houses in Tasmania (up 50.5 per cent)."

READ MORE: 'Exceptionally hot air' will cause temperatures to soar

The biggest sale price of the year went to the penthouse at 163 Castlereagh Street which sold for $60 million while the total value of the top 10 sales hit a wallet-busting $407 million.

While 2021 will be long remembered as a boom year for property, Ms Owen said there are signs that the rate of growth will cool in the coming 12 months.

"The constraints of slightly tighter credit conditions, the erosion of housing affordability and a higher level of listings being added to the market are expected to see softer growth rates across property values in 2022," Ms Owen said.

"These forces are an accumulation of headwinds for property market performance. Softer growth rates are likely to coincide with fewer purchases, where sales and listings activity eventually move with momentum in price."

Best of the Best 2021:

Highest median house value: Bellevue Hill (NSW) – $8,736,643

Lowest median house value: Kambalda East (WA) – $90,155

Highest 12-month change in median house value: St Andrews Beach (VICTORIA) – 58.6 per cent

Highest median unit value: Point Piper (NSW) – $3,216,796

Lowest median unit value: Woree (QUEENSLAND) – $158,846

Highest 12-month change in median unit value: Yamba (NSW) – 56.6 per cent

Top sale price: 43/163 Castlereagh Street, Sydney (NSW) – $60 million

By RNZ Heavy rain is causing slips and flooding around the country, affecting motorists across the regions.Metservice has put heavy rain warnings in place for the Coromandel, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne regions.Meanwhile, in…

A state funeral was held today for the self-titled "happiest man on earth" and Holocaust survivor, Eddie Jaku.

Guests celebrated the life of Mr Jaku, the Sydney Jewish Museum founder, at Sydney Town Hall today.

"A man who came face to face with the worst of humanity but departed by the loving faces of families and friends," NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said.

READ MORE: Every NSW COVID-19 restriction that just changed

Mr Jaku passed away in October this year, aged 101.

Family and friends spoke today of Mr Jaku's long and incredible life.

"And just like those many from all over the world that were touched by him, we miss him," Michael Jaku, Mr Jaku's son, said.

READ MORE: 'Exceptionally hot air' will cause temperatures to soar

The state memorial service heard how Mr Jaku dedicated himself to spreading goodwill and understanding despite his experiences.

"His best revenge for the trauma of his past was to enjoy life to the fullest," Danielle Jaku-Greenfield said.

Police officers are warning of “major repercussions” when the vaccine mandate is enforced next month, as potentially hundreds of front-line cops prepare to be stood down.All police constabulary staff, authorised officers and recruits…

A truck driver who caused a crash that killed a Victorian mum and her young son because he was distracted by his phone has been jailed.

Michael Knowler, 60, has been sentenced to 31 months' jail before the County Court, having pleaded guilty to two charges including dangerous driving causing death.

Knowler was driving a prime mover truck just after midday on December 29, 2019 when he did not stop at a give way sign and slammed into a car carrying a family of four at the intersection of Allandale-Kingston Road and Churcher Parade in Kingston.

READ MORE: Unvaccinated people allowed into Victorian retail stores but mask mandate to remain

The court heard that as Knowler was approaching the intersection he had seen a sign announcing the crossroad, so he had looked at his phone on the dashboard to check the GPS to see which direction he should take.

His inattention meant he failed to stop at the intersection.

The crash caused the family's car to roll several times before it stopped on the roof.

Jess West and her son Deighton, 5, were killed.

Her other son, Oakley, 9, was seriously injured and airlifted to hospital, while father Anthony West suffered minor injuries.

In a statement read to the court, Mr West told the court the sound of his wife screaming before the collision still haunts him.

"The sound of my wife screaming moments before impact is the last thing I heard her say," he said.

"That scream lives with me everyday … My beautiful family of four was tragically cut in half."

Knowler was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol and told police his view of the unfamiliar road was obstructed by a row of trees.

The court heard Knowler wrote a letter of apology to the West family and lost his own son in a car crash at just eight and a half months old.

Judge George Georgiou accepted Knowler was genuinely remorseful and that he was of otherwise good character.

The Judge also accepted the intersection's poor design and an inefficiency in the truck's braking system likely contributed to the crash, but told Knowler, "the single most important factor was the fact that you became distracted by looking at your phone".

He said Knowler's offending had caused a "tragic, profound and lasting impact".

"You were an experienced driver, and thus should have understood the risks associated with taking your eyes off the road," he said.

Knowler was handed a non-parole period of 14 months.

He has already served 316 days of the sentence.

A woman whose hands were hacked off with an axe by her husband is one of four domestic violence survivors who are set to collectively receive over $593,00 in compensation from Russia.

Handing down a ruling for a case between Russia and the four women — Margarita Gracheva, Natalya Tunikova, Yelena Gershman and Irina Petrakova — the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said Russian authorities did not do enough to stop domestic violence and needed to compensate the women.

Ms Gracheva was kidnapped by her then-husband in 2017 after she told him she was going to divorce him. She was taken to a forest where her husband proceeded to cut her hands off with an axe.

READ MORE: Family calls for change after young mother allegedly murdered in DV attack

She was awarded the most compensation of the four, €370,660 ($586,717) for medical expenses, loss of income and non-pecuniary damage.

€20,000 ($31,658) was awarded to each of Ms Tunikova, Ms Gershman and Ms Petrakova. All four women were awarded an additional €5000 ($7914) for costs and expenses.

Ms Gracheva had told police about her husband's violent behaviour before the attack, but officers had allegedly ignored her claims.

READ MORE: 'Exceptionally hot air' will cause temperatures to soar

Her mutilated left hand was found in the forest and sewn back on.

But the same did not happen for her right hand, which is now fitted with a prosthetic provided through a crowdfunding campaign.

Ms Gracheva's now ex-husband was eventually convicted and sentenced to 14 years in jail.

Russia was ruled to have breached two articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, with the court arguing there are high rates of domestic violence incidents against women in the country.

The ECHR expressed the case highlighted that legislation in Russia enabled authorities to be blind to domestic abuse until it got to a grievous level.

READ MORE: Every NSW COVID-19 restriction that just changed

In the past, Russia has opposed the compensation claims, with Deputy Justice Minister Mikhail Galperin saying the country shouldn't be held accountable for acts of domestic violence committed by individuals.

In 2017, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that weakened penalties for domestic violence.

It included that if a victim wasn't hospitalised from a first domestic violence offence, then it was not considered a criminal offence and punishments were softened.

The court is urging Russia to adopt a legal definition of domestic violence and to ensure that all perpetrators are criminalised.

To stop such attacks from happening in the future, the court told Russia it needed to make drastic changes.

In a Facebook post, Mari Davtyan, one of the lawyers representing the women, said "Each of these women was seriously injured as a result of the state's inaction in the situation of domestic violence".

Readers seeking help can call the National Domestic Violence Service: 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732). If you are in immediate danger call triple zero (000).

An Auckland suburban street has been shut down this afternoon with officers carrying riot shields and tasers seen on the road alongside six police cars.Police responded to a family harm incident at a property on Richmond Rd, Ponsonby…

Queensland beach-goers were given a scare this morning, as three sharks closed down a Gold Coast beach.

The sharks were each over a metre long, spotted between swimmers at Burleigh beach.

"We were sitting on the beach and we heard the sirens go off, the jet skis the helicopter and then everyone getting out of the water pretty quick," one beach-goer said.

READ MORE: Every NSW COVID-19 restriction that just changed

Lifeguards ushered everyone out of the water.

"It was sort of out in the back break, about 100 metres in deep water and they swam out to sea," lifeguard Chris Maynard said.

Swimmers said they were glad to be far from the water when the sharks were seen.

"I'm glad we were on the sand, we were about to go into the water," a young girl said.

READ MORE: Queensland on tenterhooks after flight sent into isolation

Shark expert Daryl McPhee said while shark attacks are incredibly rare, shark sightings do increase in Summer.

"More rain typically means more active bull sharks particularly in surf zones around the river mouths," Mr McPhee said.

He said bull sharks were the most common species of shark spotted on east coast beaches.

Coastal residents are advised not to panic if they see a shark on the beach, and to exit the water calmly.

Sharks sighted in swimming spots should be reported to life guards.

READ MORE: 'Exceptionally hot air' will cause temperatures to soar

Police have found $7 million worth of methylamphetamines in a pot plant, after intercepting a truck crossing the New South Wales border into Queensland.

Police footage showed the find, which included 10kg of methylamphetamine and two cash-counting machines located on a truck filled with hay.

READ MORE: Every NSW COVID-19 restriction that just changed

Police had been notified of the truck travelling into Queensland and yesterday at 4pm stopped the vehicle in Yatala, on the Gold Coast, conducting a search.

Upon examining the pot plants, a bag containing the methylamphetamine was found in the soil.

READ MORE: Queensland on tenterhooks after flight sent into isolation

"The seizure and arrest was the result of an investigation by multi-agency Taskforce Sentry, involving officers from the Drug and Serious Crime Group, Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force and Department of Home Affairs," Queensland Police said.

The driver of the vehicle, a 23-year-old Gold Coast man, was arrested and charged with multiple alleged offences, inlcuding for possessing dangerous drugs.

He is in custody and is expected to front Southport Magistrates Court today.

READ MORE: 'Exceptionally hot air' will cause temperatures to soar