South Queensland has continued to be battered by wild weather with flash flooding, with hailstones and fallen trees smashing the state, as thousands of homes are still without power.

Storm warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology remain across much of the state except for parts of the far North Coast and southeast.

The warnings come after severe storms rolled through the state yesterday with torrential rain reaching around 90 millimetres in some areas.

Parts of the state's inner west also received around 60 millimetres of rain in a short amount of time.

The strong winds and falling trees have resulted in hundreds of SES calls, and around 1500 homes are currently without power.

That's just the beginning with storms expected to continue over the weekend.

A band of severe thunderstorms swept across south-east Queensland last night, and the Bureau of Meteorology warned it was just the beginning.

Friday's storms first struck the Darling Downs, west of Brisbane, in the afternoon and slowly tracked towards the Gold Coast.

READ MORE: Boy left seriously injured after 'disgusting' e-bike theft

"We've really copped it down here on the Gold Coast," 9News Queensland weather expert Luke Bradnam said at 6pm (7pm AEDT).

"Right now it is the city and the northern suburbs seeing the fiercest part of this storm."

The storms were tracking north-east towards the Sunshine Coast.

Some of the biggest rainfall was at Mitchelton, in Brisbane's north, where 48 millimetres fell in just 30 minutes to 6.20pm, and at Wallumbilla, more than 400 kilometres west of Brisbane, where 41 millimetres fell at almost the same time.

The BoM said Clontarf, in Moreton Bay, copped hail up to 4 centimetres just after 6pm.

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Wind gusts of 91km/h were recorded at Nambour on the Sunshine Coast at 8.31pm.

The storms were tracking towards the ocean but still threatened big downpours and damaging conditions, the BoM said.

"Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding and damaging winds in the warning area over the next several hours," it said.

And the outlook for the weekend does not get much better.

The bureau has warned of scattered showers and thunderstorms across the state today, with the potential for severe thunderstorms with heavy rainfall, damaging wind gusts, and large hail in south-east Queensland.

Exclusive: For many Australians, Menulog shutting down will make it harder to order a kebab on a Friday night.

But for Menulog drivers like Alexi Edwards, 29, the closure will slash her annual income and make it harder just to get by.

She's been doing gig work on and off for almost a decade and is one of thousands of food delivery drivers who could be financially crippled by Menulog's closure.

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"It's already quite hard to afford rent on delivery driver income," she told 9news.com.au.

"The idea of home ownership is out of the question [and] it's only going to get worse."

Menulog announced plans to end business in Australia on Wednesday.

About 120 jobs will be impacted, according to reports, but that figure doesn't include the thousands of couriers Menulog relies on.

That's because Menulog couriers don't count as employees.

Unlike the 120 employees who will be "fully supported with generous redundancy packages above legal requirements", eligible couriers will only receive a four-week voluntary payment when Menulog stops taking orders on November 26.

Edwards, who learned about Menulog's plans to shut up shop just hours before it was headline news, is one of the lucky ones eligible for a severance package.

But she doubts it will get her far.

"The cost of living crisis has already affected the delivery of economy more than most," she said.

"With drivers having to shift platforms, and with the increasingly lower and lower fares we've been getting, it's absolutely going to make the cost of living crisis worse."

Especially considering the roll-on effect Menulog's closure is expected have on her other food delivery gigs.

Like many gig workers, Edwards can't get by on wages from one platform alone.

She also drives for DoorDash and Uber Eats.

READ MORE: 'Dangerous' ingredient lurking in food on Aussie supermarket shelves

Those platforms are set to become a lot more competitive when Menulog calls last orders and thousands of drivers move across to its rivals.

"They are now going to move over, meaning less orders, a more competitive race to the bottom, and more desperate people taking lower paid orders," Edwards said.

Melbourne gig worker Andrew Collyer, 36, doesn't drive for Menulog but fears the mass exodus will affect his job security and income.

He worries former Menulog drivers desperate to make up for lost income will flood rival platforms and accept much lower wages just to make ends meet.

"We're very likely to see a drop in pay and conditions because they'll come on the platform and take anything [in terms of pay]," Collyer told 9news.

"Because they'll be too scared to reject orders for fear of getting deactivated by an algorithm."

Food delivery is Collyer's main source of income and he can't afford to accept lower wages.

But he also can't afford to leave platforms like DoorDash and Uber Eats.

Partly because they're his main source of income, and partly because wages and conditions with smaller competitors can be even worse.

"What's now happening is that we've effectively got a duopoly," he said.

"And [DoorDash and Uber Eats] are no doubt going to use that newfound duopoly, to squeeze out small competitors, drive down wages, drive down conditions, jack up the prices for restaurants and just generally make things harder."

Drivers already have to deal with pressure to deliver orders quickly, algorithms that can work against them, and some customers, restaurant owners and members of the public who treat them like "second class citizens".

Menulog's closure at the end of the month is likely only going to make things worse.

The Transport Workers' Union (TWU) national secretary Michael Kaine told 9news the impact of Menulog's closure on Australian gig workers will be massive.

"These are workers who have been intentionally cut out of our workplace protections by gig platforms, with not even basic rights like a minimum wage," he said.

"These are workers who have been treated like robots while gig behemoths make huge profits."

READ MORE: Kind gesture cost Aussie $5000, then turned deadly

But there's only so much the TWU can do for the thousands of food delivery drivers like Edwards and Collyer who will be impacted by Menulog's closure.

The union has called for new standards to create a food delivery industry that "works for both customers and workers" before things get worse.

"This happening furthers the point the union has been making for a very long time," Edwards said.

"The transport reforms have come too late, the minimum standards order is happening too late, and we lost the only platform that was Australian-made and doing the right thing."

Collyer is also worried for some of his customers.

He regularly delivers meals and groceries to the elderly, aged care facilities, people living with disabilities, and other Aussies who rely on delivery to get fed.

He fears Menulog's exit will make it harder for them to access food delivery and could see rival platforms hike prices, making the service they rely on less affordable.

Have you got a story? Contact reporter Maddison Leach at Google Play.

After surviving a divorce and moving house, Queensland cattle farmer Kate Cosh had good reason to be tired.

As a newly single mum to two teenage boys, Cosh was trying to build a viable farm, all while her livestock succumbed to drought and paralysis tick.

"The drought hit… then paralysis tick came in, killed all the calves, killed the horse, killed the bull, the chooks, a dog, a cat," Cosh told 9news.com.au.

READ MORE: Australia now has a new leading cause of death

"All you're doing is just functioning.

"I had a friend come out to see me, and she goes, 'You're not good, are you?'. I said, 'No, I'm not. Something's just not right.'"

That friend suggested they call Farm Angels and before long, there was a volunteer on Cosh's porch, sharing a pot of tea.

Farm Angels provided Cosh with gift vouchers that allowed her to buy tick prevention tags, as well as groceries and powdered milk for her surviving calves.

"I don't know to to explain it, it took the pressure off just to survive," Cosh said.

"I was able to keep my head above water."

But the workload didn't let up and neither did the fatigue.

"I'm a single mum with two boys and if something needs doing, it's on me," Cosh said.

"There's no one else to step in. If the fences need fixing, I fix them.

"If the cattle need attending to, I do it."

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It wasn't until she suddenly lost her eyesight after a day of intense work that Cosh suspected she may be seriously ill.

She drove the hour into Kingaroy to see an optometrist and was delivered a bombshell.

"She said, 'Have you heard of MS? I don't want to stress you out, but we have to act now, I'm going to ring a specialist'," Cosh recalled.

Before she had even got home, Cosh received a call to say a specialist would see her in Brisbane the next morning.

Rattled and fearful, she accepted the appointment, but with her eyesight deteriorating, she had no idea how she would get there or who would care for her kids or her farm while she was away.

"I was in so much pain, I was so tired, I was so over the world, I was so frightened and I had these two little boys with me.

"I'm not an emotional person, really I'm not, but I tell you what, I broke down this day."

By the next morning, Cosh had rallied her village and was on her way to Brisbane with a friend from Dalby, while her mum travelled the seven hours from Charleville to be there for her kids when they got home from school.

A neurologist at the Mater Hospital confirmed a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, a chronic, progressive autoimmune disease that attacks the central nervous system.

Cosh was hospitalised for five days to undergo intense steroid treatment, which restored her sight before she was able to return to her farm.

Not long after she arrived home, she received another call from Farm Angels, who weren't even aware of her diagnosis.

"I was coming out of hospital, they didn't even know I had MS, they were just following up.

"It was at my worst stage, and they were ringing me up just to see how I was."

Cosh has had one other major relapse since diagnosis, during which she temporarily lost the use of her legs, and she regularly battles with neuropathy and fatigue, but she says she's in a good place now, thanks to the support of her friends, family and, crucially, Farm Angels.

"I was going to fail," she said.

"I was on that tipping edge.

"If (Farm Angels) hadn't done what they did, I don't think I'd be here.

"Since they've helped me, I've literally doubled my capacity in my cattle.

"And they still ring."

Farm Angels founder Tash Johnston said farmers are under significant cost-of-living pressure.

"There are no incremental pay rises in farming, only rising bills," Johnston said.

"That economic pressure is taking a huge toll on the mental health of farmers."

READ MORE: 'Blob' of ocean could build to tropical cyclone as early as next week

Farmers also face a lack of health care services, she said.

"Farmers are facing extensive waitlists, long travel distances and limited options for care.

"The delay can have an impact on not only farmers' mental health, but also their willingness to reach out.

"Too often, farmers are expected to just 'keep going'.

"We need to break down those barriers so that asking for help is seen as a strength.

"We need to remind farmers that there is support available; they are not alone."

The Farm Angels Christmas Appeal begins on November 17.

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US President Donald Trump has said he will ask Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's ties to many other high-profile figures, in an extraordinary step that comes just days after Democrats released emails from the late Epstein that mention him.

Trump announced the directive in a Truth Social post that accused Democrats of trying to revive attention to his past ties with Epstein, contending they are "using the Epstein Hoax, involving Democrats, not Republicans, to try and deflect from their disastrous SHUTDOWN, and all of their other failures."

"I will be asking A.G. Pam Bondi, and the Department of Justice, together with our great patriots at the FBI, to investigate Jeffrey Epstein's involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him," Trump wrote.

READ MORE: Who else has been name-checked in the Epstein email trove?

Bondi later on Friday confirmed she would launch the investigation on Trump's orders, assigning Jay Clayton, the top prosecutor in New York's southern district, to lead the federal probe.

"Thank you, Mr. President," she wrote in a post on X that included a screenshot of Trump's request.

The move represents the president's most significant effort yet to discredit the push by Democrats and some Republicans to release all of the Epstein case files. And it serves as the latest example of Trump's belief that he can defuse the issue through sheer force of will, despite deepening fears among allies that his actions are only further amplifying it while damaging his own credibility.

"Why doesn't he just release these? Just release them!" conservative podcast host Megyn Kelly said of the Epstein files during her show on Wednesday. "Now he's in a position of being, like, singled out as the only one, allegedly, as opposed to one of a slew of names."

Trump earlier this week tried and failed to convince Republicans to block a discharge petition in the US House forcing a vote on the release of the Justice Department's Epstein files, with the White House even holding a Situation Room meeting with one key GOP politician who had signed on ahead of it receiving its decisive 218th signature.

READ MORE: Epstein claimed Trump knew about his conduct, emails say

Officials during that meeting argued that the administration was not hiding anything, according to a senior White House official, including showing GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert unreleased documents obtained by the House Oversight Committee but they could not change her mind.

The White House's approach to the Epstein case and its subsequent fallout has perplexed even some administration officials and Trump allies, some of whom have been telling him and his advisers to change strategy for months.

In recent days, at least one ally on Capitol Hill directly told Trump that he was getting bad advice on his approach to the Epstein case by continuing to delay and downplay it, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

"These people have no idea what advice the president is getting," another senior White House official said.

The first senior White House official pushed back on the idea that the White House had been caught flat footed, noting that the administration, while aware of the emails, intentionally did not want to insert Epstein back into the news cycle. Asked about the message to the president from that congressional ally, a White House spokesperson reiterated that the emails released earlier this week "prove literally nothing" and pivoted to attacking Democrats for trying to use the Epstein "hoax" to distract from the shutdown.

Multiple other sources told CNN that Trump himself has dictated the administration's response to Epstein-related developments, specifically opposing any actions that risk pushing the storyline forward.

"Trump doesn't want his people to get ahead of it. Everybody has been instructed to wait until information comes out and then respond that it is a hoax or doesn't prove anything," one of the sources said.

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In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson now plans to schedule a vote on releasing the Epstein files next week, in a strategic shift spurred by the realisation that it could not be stopped. The vote is expected to attract significant support from rank-and-file GOP politicians.

The president has declined to take questions from the press since the House Oversight Committee's release on Wednesday of emails Epstein wrote that mentioned Trump by name. Trump did not receive or send any of the messages, which largely predate his time as president, and he has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.

But on Friday, Trump again vented his frustration over the state of affairs in a series of Truth Social posts, blasting Republicans backing the Epstein files release as "soft and foolish" and repeatedly branding the issue a "Hoax."

"This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats," Trump wrote in one post.

He announced his demand for a Justice Department investigation into "many other people and institutions" in a subsequent Truth Social post.

In thousands of emails reviewed by CNN, Epstein corresponded with a wide group of powerful and influential people, including prominent Democrats.

Among his most frequent communications were with former Obama White House chief counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, who represented Epstein as his attorney, and Summers, the former Clinton Treasury secretary and Obama National Economic Council director. (Corresponding with Epstein would not be a crime, and there's no evidence in the emails that any of them participated in Epstein's wrongdoing.)

CNN has reached out to Clinton, Summers and Hoffman.

In a statement, JPMorgan Chase spokesperson Patricia Wexler said the bank "ended our relationship with him years before his arrest on sex trafficking charges."

JPMorgan paid $438,450,000 in 2023 to settle a class action lawsuit filed by Epstein's survivors that alleged it turned a blind eye to unusual cash transactions that they claimed enabled Epstein's sex trafficking. JPMorgan also paid $112,500,000 to settle with the US Virgin Islands. The bank did not admit or deny any wrongdoing in either settlement.

"The government had damning information about his crimes and failed to share it with us or other banks," Wexler said. "We regret any association we had with the man, but did not help him commit his heinous acts."

READ MORE: White House pressuring Republicans not to vote on releasing Epstein files

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The federal government is facing yet another call to overhaul the GST, with new research outlining the tremendous amount of unfairness baked into the current system.

The GST is the federal budget's third-largest source of income, behind income and company tax. 

For 2022-23, the ATO collected $81.7 billion of it; the last federal budget forecast that figure will rise to $94.1 billion this financial year, and again to close to $100 billion in 2026-27.

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While ostensibly a flat 10 per cent rate on all goods and services sold, the number of exemptions on certain products means some Australians are paying almost 50 per cent more GST than others, even though they have similar spending habits.

The findings were published in a new report from the e61-UNSW Policy Research Partnership earlier this week, which outlined the levels of inequity in the current arrangements.

"Only around half of items attract GST," study co-author Dr Matt Nolan said. 

"Our research finds these exemptions are causing a significant inequity where households which spend or earn similar amounts overall end up paying hugely different amounts of tax."

According to the report, the amount of GST paid by low-spending households, who spend an average of $15,222 a year, ranges from $729 to $1354 – a difference of 46 per cent.

EXPLAINED: Politicians don't want to talk about it, economists want to overhaul it. So why are there calls to raise the GST?

For an average household with about $37,500 in yearly expenses, there's a 37 per cent difference between the lowest and highest GST bills.

That figure eases again to 33 per cent for the highest-spending households, although in dollar terms that represents a difference of more than $2500 a year.

This is a clear example of "horizontal inequity", Nolan and fellow co-author Josh Clyne wrote, which brought about two clear issues in the tax system.

"As a fairness principle, horizontal inequity is bad as it involves making households contribute different amounts of tax when they have the same means to pay," the authors wrote. 

"In terms of efficiency, taxing different consumption choices differently encourages people to change their decisions about what to consume solely due to taxation – leading households and firms to organise themselves in inefficient ways to avoid the tax (i.e. supermarkets no longer offering warm cooked chickens to focus on the untaxed cold cooked chicken substitute)."

READ MORE: GST proposal would increase tax rate but include a $3300-a-year sweetener

A wide range of goods and services are currently exempt from GST, including fresh food, private health insurance, childcare, sunscreen, and charitable donations.

Nolan said a select few are the main culprits driving the inequity.

"For households with low spending or income, the main cause of the divergence is the type of food they buy," he said.

"While for high-spending and high-income households, exemptions for education and child care play a larger role."

The GST has frequently come under fire this year from economists who argue it needs to be broadened, given both sides of politics want to reduce income taxes despite the federal budget being in structural deficit.

Consumption taxes are seen to do relatively little economic damage, and compared to other nations', the GST is relatively low, at 10 per cent compared to the OECD average of 19.4.

UNSW economist Richard Holden and teal independent MP Kate Chaney put forward a proposal in August to increase the GST to 15 per cent and remove all exemptions from it.

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Under the proposal, every adult would receive a $3300 "basics rebate", effectively providing a $22,000 GST-free threshold to ensure low-income households weren't left worse off.

Similarly, Nolan and Clyne called for all exemptions to be removed and to provide an annual rebate of around $900 to all adults, while keeping the rate set at 10 per cent.

They said the measure would be budget-neutral and remove the unfairness of the current system.

"In this scenario, people who earn and spend less are made better off, while those who are higher earners and spenders end up contributing additional tax," Clyne said.

"This is just one example of how GST could be redesigned so it no longer depends on what people buy. 

"The exact form of compensation is up for debate, but it's clear we can reduce these horizontal inequities without punishing the most vulnerable."

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A Gold Coast woman is facing an $834 fine due to her family's "immaculate" lawn.

Amanda Blair uses a high quality synthetic turf at her home which is low maintenance and helps her partner's son's allergies.

"When my partner was mowing at the previous home, the smell and the grass clippings and things like that just set him off," Blair said.

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The synthetic grass covers the front and back yards but it is the footpath patch that has made her local council see red.

In a letter, Gold Coast City Council advised her to rip it up or face further action.

"Get rid of it and put real grass down and then they will come in and inspect it," Blair said.

While fake grass on private property is widely allowed, council laws vary on footpath rules.

Ipswich City Council, just like the Gold Coast, doesn't allow it. Brisbane, Logan, the City of Moreton Bay and Redland councils require residents to apply for permission.

Pedestrian safety is a big consideration when councils weigh up artificial turf.

Other factors can include the impact on neighbours and whether water can drain freely through it.

READ MORE: Australia now has a new leading cause of death

Gold Coast City Council fears turf could become a trip hazard and attract significant heat.

If residents don't comply they'll be fined $834 and council will remove the turf at the residents' expense.

Blair's local councillor Nick Marshall is sympathetic.

"This is a really good example of where the resident has a really good reason for why they're doing what they're doing," Marshall said.

"They keep it really well maintained so I hope we can get a good outcome."

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Eminem is taking a former NRL executive and his partner to court over their beach brand Swim Shady.

Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers and who is also known as Slim Shady, has filed a lawsuit against the name Swim Shady, arguing it has an unmistakable link to his rap pseudonym, which he trademarked.

Entrepreneurs from Sydney's Northern Beaches, Jeremy Scott and his partner Elizabeth launched their beachwear brand last year.

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"Just a mate trying to start a nice business family business, trying to help out with their beach needs, the big fella is not liking it," former NRL player and model for the brand David Williams said.

"They've done everything the right way, they've gone down the right systems to secure their business and their name."

Eminem is renowned for protecting his brand after being embroiled in multiple lawsuits over the use of his likeness and music catalogue.

READ MORE: Brett Button, driver in Hunter Valley bus crash that killed 10, loses appeal to reduce jail sentence

The US rapper with a net worth of over $400 million has previously demanded more than $100 million from Meta after claiming the parent company of Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp used 243 of his songs without his permission.

In 2017, he also aimed at a New Zealand political party after they used a version of his track Lose Yourself. He won that case with a $600,000 payout.

The couple plans to fight the lawsuit.

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A young girl has been taken to hospital after being hit by a motorbike whose rider allegedly fled the scene without stopping.

Police say the child was walking along Popondetta Road in Dharruk, in western Sydney, at 1.30pm today when the motorcycle hit and injured the girl.

Officers allege a young person on the trail bike continued riding without stopping.

READ MORE: Boy left seriously injured after 'disgusting' e-bike theft

The four-year-old girl was treated at the scene for a cut to her head before she was taken to Westmead Children's Hospital for further treatment.

The child's injuries are not considered life-threatening.

The motorcycle was later found abandoned at a reserve at the rear of Woodstock Avenue and the young person was arrested at a nearby home.

He is currently at Mt Druitt Police Station assisting police with enquiries.

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Police are hunting for two males who allegedly assaulted a 13-year-old boy and left another seriously injured at the scene of a crash as they stole two e-bikes in Melbourne's east.

Investigators have been told two 13-year-old boys were riding their e-bikes along Koonung Creek Trail in Doncaster East around 5pm on Monday when two masked males approached them.

The offenders first assaulted one of the boys and stole his e-bike, police said.

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The boy was able to run from the scene with minor injuries, which did not require medical treatment.

The second victim fled on his bike in fear and was chased by the offenders, police said.

He crashed into a wall near the Blackburn Road underpass and suffered serious injuries.

The offenders then caught up with the injured boy, stole his bike and rode off without assisting him.

READ MORE: Brett Button, driver in Hunter Valley bus crash that killed 10, loses appeal to reduce jail sentence

The 13-year-old was taken to hospital with critical injuries including skull fractures, a severely broken leg and a broken nose.

"He's still in quite a serious condition, so much so that we haven't been able to speak to him personally to see what he remembers," Senior Constable Liam Webb said.

"It's quite deplorable seeing another human being laying down, in the bush, in pain, to just take his bike and ride off without rendering any help, it's quite disgusting."

Both offenders are described as Caucasian, around 15 years old, 165cm tall, and were wearing black ski masks and black clothing.

One offender had black hair and was wearing a multi-coloured BAPE hoodie.

Police have released an image of the stolen bikes in the hope anyone who was in the area at the time recognises them and can come forward with information.

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A man accused of manslaughter over the deaths of two young children has been found dead less than six weeks after his release on bail.

Matthew McAuliffe, 24, was due to face Melbourne Magistrates Court this morning.

He was charged in September with two counts of negligent manslaughter and one count of negligently causing serious injury for leaving three children aged under five home alone before a house fire occurred.

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However, a magistrate struck out all charges against McAuliffe today.

"I confirm that the prosecution of Matthew McAuliffe was discontinued this morning as a result of his death," an Office of Public Prosecutions spokeswoman told AAP.

Two young girls, aged one and five, died in the September 2024 blaze in Sydenham, in Melbourne's northwest, and a third child suffered serious injuries.

McAuliffe was not the biological father of any of the children, but had been in a relationship with their mother, Shania Lee, and was living with them at the home, the court was told previously.

He was granted bail on October 8.

His barrister, Sai Ranjit, called McAuliffe's mother, Melissa, to give evidence about him residing with her in regional Victoria while he was on bail.

She had hoped to provide a stable home for her son, who had "been through a lot".

Rajnit said McAuliffe would abide by bail conditions, including that he not consume drugs or alcohol, and engage in treatment programs.

He argued there was no clear cause for the fire and pointed to weaknesses in the prosecution's case.

Prosecutors had opposed McAuliffe's release as he was a risk of offending while on bail, failing to appear in court, interfering with witnesses and obstructing the course of justice.

Lee, who is on bail for the same charges, allegedly heard her children scream on security video via her phone after leaving the home with McAuliffe.

She is yet to enter a plea and will next face court on January 15 for a committal mention.

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