Police said there were no suspicious circumstances in the rider’s death.

Melbourne's new metro station has been declared completely safe ahead of Sunday's opening, but the firefighters union wants it held off, claiming there's a dangerous radio fault.

Premier Jacinta Allan says that claim is a scare campaign about a pay battle rather than any actual risk.

She was at Parkville Station today to declare "the countdown is absolutely on".

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The $13.5 billion project is days away from taking passengers, and it's looking doubtful the full retail fitout will be ready in time.

There's a much bigger worry according to the union for firefighters, which is sounding a dire warning about comms in the tunnel.

Peter Marshall from the United Firefighters Union said: "These radios don't work. The Fire Rescue Victoria radios do not work. They need to be reprogrammed."

That's something he says would take months.

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"If there is an incident down in the tunnel, you will not be rescued," he said.

That's nonsense according to the premier.

"The claims that have been made by the union today are wrong and they've also been clearly rejected by the rail safety regulator, who is the expert on this matter," Allan said.

Metro Trains chief executive Raymond O'Flaherty said they have "state of the art" fire systems.

"Fire Rescue Victoria have carried out a lot of tests of the systems," he said.

"Everything is safe and we're absolutely ready to go."

It's not enough to silence the union.

"What we're seeing here is political expediency over public safety," Marshall said.

The premier hit back, suggesting a pay fight is being put ahead of public confidence.

"These claims are being made perhaps more for industrial purposes than anything else," Allen said.

Passengers can try out the new trains from Sunday.

A 17-year-old school boy has been stabbed to death near a school in Sydney's north-west.

9news.com.au understands the boy was attacked by two others just after 5pm outside Ironbark Ridge Public School at Rouse Hill.

It is believed he was stabbed in the leg, and despite paramedics and a rescue helicopter rushing to the scene, the boy could not be saved.

It's understood the victim and the attackers were not students at the school, and two teenage boys were seen running from the scene after the incident.

The attackers, one of which is believed to have been wearing a school uniform, have not been found.

Police have shut down the area and are doorknocking on nearby houses to see if anyone witnessed the incident.

Member for Greenway Michelle Rowland said she was "deeply saddened" by the killing, and expressed her condolences for the boy's family.

"Deeply saddened to learn of the tragic loss of a young life in Rouse Hill this afternoon," she said in a statement on social media.

"My thoughts and deepest condolences are with the young boy's family during this extremely difficult time.

"There is no place in our community for these acts of senseless violence, and I know this news will be particularly distressing for local families."

More to come.

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A staggering nine out of 10 retail employers in Victoria fear for the safety of their staff.

A new survey from the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has revealed one-in-two businesses have experienced crime every week with theft, customer abuse and vandalism on the rise. 

The crimes come at a cost for businesses, with 38 per cent saying they are out of pocket $10,000 a year to cover security expenses and the cost of stolen goods.

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The survey of about 1400 businesses found an increasing number of staff were taking mental health leave as a result of stress and anxiety.

Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Sally Curtain said retail crime was a widespread issue across the state.

"Right across every sector and every region, from regional Victoria, metropolitan Melbourne and of course the CBD," Curtain said.

READ MORE: Teen charged after allegedly slashing man, 80, with knife at train station

Master Grocers Association director Lincoln Wymer said retail staff faced abuse on a daily basis.

"Our team members are being abused on a daily basis and it's not just my 20 odd stores," Wymer said.

"Everyday we hear a story of somebody being assaulted."

In a bid to combat retail crime Victoria Police has reportedly signed a landmark deal which will see detectives given instant access to a retailer's CCTV footage.

Big businesses such as Woolworths, Coles and Bunnings already upload CCTV and other crime information to the platform Auror.

Under the new deal, Victoria Police will have direct access to that on request, which will save them hours of work.

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Her whānau say the public announcement came before they could inform relatives.

Rakai Thompson is on trial for the alleged murder of his friend, Te Omeka Akariri-Buckley.

Pauline Hanson has appeared in the Senate wearing a burqa, repeating a stunt she pulled in the chamber in 2017.

The One Nation leader wore the head covering minutes after she was denied leave by the government to table a bill to have burqas and full face coverings banned in Australia.

Hanson has campaigned for the policy for decades.

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The stunt prompted uproar in the chamber, with condemnation coming from Labor's Senate leader Penny Wong, Coalition Senate leader Anne Rushton and other members of the crossbench.

The Senate session was then temporarily suspended.

Hanson's stunt was slammed by Australia's Islamophobia envoy Aftab Malik, who told the Sydney Morning Herald the move could worsen harassment, threats of rape and violence against Muslim women in Australia.

"It is frustrating to see Australian Muslim women's choice of clothing continually tied to national security concerns," Malik said.

"Islamophobia is at record levels in Australia, described as 'unprecedented' by the Islamophobia Register Australia. Muslim women, in particular, face the brunt.

"Senator Pauline Hanson, eight years after her last call to ban the burqa, is again proposing it.

"This will deepen existing safety risks for Australian Muslim women who choose to wear the headscarf, the hijab, or the full face and body covering, the burqa."

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Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi told the newspaper One Nation "has nothing to offer Australians apart from tired culture wars and hollow publicity stunts".

"Nearly 10 years on from Hanson's pathetic burqa stunt in the Senate, One Nation has flipped through its racist, Islamophobic policy generator and landed on the burqa ban once more," Faruqi said.

"The idea that the government should be regulating what a woman can and cannot wear should never be up for debate. Parliament should outright reject this."

Independent WA senator Fatima Payman said Hanson was "disrespecting a faith, disrespecting Muslim Australians".

"This needs to be dealt with immediately before we proceed, it's disgraceful," Payman said in the Senate.

Wong said Hanson's conduct was "not worthy" of the parliament and senators should not be "disrespectful of the Senate".

Ruston called for respect for others and said, "This is not the way you should be addressing this chamber."

Greens leader Larissa Waters called the burqa stunt an "insult".

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Nationals Senator Matt Canavan said Hanson's stunt "weakens her case", "cheapens our parliament" and would prompt most Australians to "look away in disgust".

"Pauline Hanson needs some new material because, as you said, she has recycled this from eight years ago," Canavan told the ABC.

"While this might attract the interest of a small fringe in our society, I just don't think middle Australia like to see our parliament debased like this.

"I think this is disrespectful to Muslim Australians as well, I don't support you ridiculing people who have certain multicultural dress standards, it is not appropriate."

Hanson first wore a burqa in the Senate chamber in 2017.

"Today, the Senate stopped the introduction of my bill to ban the burqa and other full face coverings in public places," Hanson said on social media this afternoon.

"Despite the ban in 24 countries across the world (including Islamic countries), the hypocrites in our parliament have rejected my bill.

"So if the parliament won't ban it, I will display this oppressive, radical, non-religious head garb that risk our national security and the ill treatment of women on the floor of our parliament so that every Australian knows what's at stake.

"If they don't want me wearing it – ban the burqa."

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Police are searching for a man who may have been involved in the theft of two pugs from a home in Sydney's southern suburbs.

It is alleged the two dogs were taken from the front of a house Alexander Street in Alexandria in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The owner, who has not publicly been identified, has claimed to offer a $5000 reward if they are found and safely returned, according to missing posters seen by 9news.com.au.

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They are both black pugs, with Olive being six years old and Monty being 11 years old.

"My two pugs were stolen at 3.30am on Sunday 23rd November," the poster begins

"$5,000 reward if they are found and safely returned to their loving home."

READ MORE: Search for intruders after man shot in the leg during Sydney home invasion

Police are investigating the incident, and are looking to speak to a man seen in the area at the time of the alleged theft.

He is described as being of Caucasian appearance, of large build and was last seen wearing a grey t-shirt with a white branding logo the front and a black and white stripe pattern in the centre of the back, dark coloured shorts, a black baseball cap with tan work boots.

The man was also carrying a blue, tan and white coloured shopping bag.

Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact South Sydney Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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An email reportedly from Parliamentary Service says the MP came in under budget.

A Givealittle page for mother Chelsey Field has reached nearly $400,000.