Police are urging locals to check their dashcam footage for "suspicious" individuals as police investigate a house fire that killed a woman and two boys in Queensland yesterday.

The fire broke out at about 5.56am yesterday at a home on Whiting Street, Toolooa, Gladstone.

Residents said they heard bangs and explosions, as well as a woman screaming for help.

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The bodies of two boys and a woman were found after firefighters extinguished the blaze.

9News understands they were Jordana Johnson, Jordan Norris and Chazz Mather.

Police have confirmed a fourth person inside managed to escape the fire and was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Detective Acting Superintendent Luke Peachey said that person had not been taken into custody and had since left hospital.

Speaking to the media today, Peachey said the three deaths were being treated as "unexplained", but that homicide detectives had been called in.

The bodies remain in the destroyed house, with a major operation to respectfully and safely remove them proceeding this afternoon.

They will then be formally identified.

"There's probably more questions than answers at the moment," Peachey said.

He confirmed a second crime scene at another house had been established and was undergoing forensic examination.

But police have established no person of interest.

Tightknit community in mourning

The Gladstone community is struggling to come to terms with the tragic loss.

"It is really heartbreaking, it's a tragedy," local mum Annie-May Platt told 9News.

"We're really close around here, all the kids know eachother."

Her young son Benjamin was close mates with both of the boys killed in the blaze.

"They were my best friends," he said.

Another local Jeff remembered Chazz as having "the cheekiest grin".

Police plea for help

Peachey urged anybody who may have been in the Whiting Street area between 5am and 6.30am yesterday to come forward if they had seen anybody behaving suspiciously in the area.

A burnt-out car next to the house, which police believe was set afire before the home, is also part of the investigation.

Gladstone mayor Matt Burnett confirmed to Today this morning that the boys had been on a sleepover.

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"There's two sisters on one side, one family, that's 21 and 17 years old, a 17-year-old who's lost her home, lost her brother, lost her mother," he said.

"You know, it's just heartbreaking."

He said the family were well-connected in the community, with the loss rippling out across the town.

Police put another home under guard in the same suburb yesterday, and confirmed that it was in connection to the fire.

The blaze is under investigation.

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A solider who died after a "routine training activity" at a Townsville military base in northern Queenslandhas been remembered as "a leader for young soldiers".

Two other soldiers were also injured in the training incident on Hervey Range Road about 6.42pm yesterday.

Speaking to media this afternoon, Brigadier Ben McLennan said that the cause of the soldier's death was still under investigation.

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"We were conducting a crew commanders course in the training area. It is a routine training activity for the third battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, our armoured infantry battalion, and that is when the incident occurred," McLennan said.

"It is too early to tell what caused it."

The soldier served for seven-and-a-half years.

"He was a leader, a leader of young soldiers, he mentored young soldiers and mentored them routinely, he had a distinguished service," McLennan said.

"He served in support of our nation during the COVID crisis, in contributing to our partnership with Papua New Guinea and in training the Ukrainian armed forces for their conflict in Eastern Europe."

He said the vehicle involved in the crash was an M113 armoured personnel carrier.

"It is a very reliable vehicle that we use up in the third brigade, the third battalion, on a daily basis," McLennane said.

Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles this morning confirmed the soldier's death.

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https://x.com/RichardMarlesMP/status/1978626812394836188

Multiple paramedic units, including a rescue helicopter, attended the crash.

"This is a tragic loss and the sacrifice of our service personnel weighs heavily on us all," Marles said.

"Our service men and women wear our nation's uniform with pride and we recognise the risks they take each and every day in the defence of our nation."

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Two other soldiers, including a man in his 30s and a man in his 20s, were taken to hospital in a stable condition.

"Two other soldiers were also injured in the same incident but they have been released from medical care," said McLennan.

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A tradie has taken down a man who allegedly attempted to rob a service station on the Gold Coast.

A 24-year-old man allegedly demanded cash and cigarettes from the store attendant at Hope Energy service station on Brisbane Road in Biggera Waters about 5.15am today, gesturing that he had a weapon.

The tradie was standing behind the man in line and initially put his hands up.

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The tradie then tackled the man to the ground and attempted to restrain him.

Several customers were inside the store at the time.

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Another customer assisted the tradie and helped keep him on the ground before police arrived.

Officers arrived at the petrol station within 15 minutes and took a 24-year-old into custody.

He has since been charged with one count of attempted armed robbery.

He is scheduled to appear at the Southport Magistrates Court this afternoon.

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The unemployment rate has reached its highest level in almost four years following a surprise jump in the number of people looking for work last month, increasing the chance of a pre-Christmas interest rate cut.

According to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics this morning, the jobless rate hit 4.5 per cent in September, up from a revised 4.3 per cent the month prior (the ABS had originally said the August figure was 4.2 per cent).

The result is worse than economists had forecast, with the market expecting a rise to 4.3 per cent today.

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"This is the highest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate recorded since November 2021," ABS head of labour statistics Sean Crick said.

"There were 34,000 more unemployed people in September. The number of employed people also grew, up 15,000 in the same period."

The fresh data comes three weeks out from the Reserve Bank's next interest rates decision, to be handed down on Melbourne Cup day, November 4.

Harry Murphy from Oxford Economics Australia said the surprise rise in unemployment has put the central bank in a difficult position, but that a rate cut next month is now justified.

"The RBA is increasingly caught between a rock and a hard place," he said.

"Its dual mandate – price stability and full employment – is now pulling in opposite directions.

"Inflation looks set to come in hotter than the bank's latest forecasts, while the labour market is weaker than expected. Each development warrants different policy responses.

"We maintain that the recent inflation uptick is temporary and expect underlying pressures to keep easing…

"With unemployment moving in the other direction, we maintain our view that a rate cut is warranted in November, with a final cut this cycle in quarter one next year."

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While expectations for a pre-Christmas cut have dwindled on the back of higher-than-expected inflation data in recent months, RBA Governor Michele Bullock hinted that there was still room for the cash rate to drop in comments made in the United States overnight.

"We don't think (monetary) policy is restrictive, but we don't think it's accommodative," she said.

"We think it is marginally tight.

"It's probably a little on the tight side but not much."

The ABS will publish crucial quarterly inflation data in two weeks, which is set to have a crucial influence on the RBA's November and December decisions.

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A new memoir by Virginia Giuffre alleges Prince Andrew felt entitled to have sex with her, according to an extract published in The Guardian.

Giuffre signed off on a 400-page memoir before her death in April about her alleged association with the Duke of York and Jeffrey Epstein.

In the upcoming book Nobody's Girl, Giuffre has claimed when she met Prince Andrew at a London townhouse, the prince felt entitled and that sleeping with her was his birthright as a royal.

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"Back at the house, Maxwell and Epstein said goodnight and headed upstairs, signalling it was time that I take care of the prince," Giuffre said in the excerpt.

"In the years since, I've thought a lot about how he behaved.

"He was friendly enough, but still entitled, as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright."

She said one of the games played was Epstein and Prince Andrew had to guess her age.

"When Prince Andrew arrived at the house that evening, (Ghislaine) Maxwell was more coquettish than usual. 'Guess Jenna's age,' she urged the prince, after she introduced me," she said in the excerpt.

"The Duke of York, who was then 41, guessed correctly: 17. "My daughters are just a little younger than you," he told me, explaining his accuracy.

"As usual, Maxwell was quick with a joke: "I guess we will have to trade her in soon.""

Prince Andrew has always denied the allegations against him.

The book will be published in two weeks, which Giuffre's family has signed off on.

It is the first time the world has heard from Giuffre since she made a financial settlement several years ago.

The Duke of York's office has been contacted for comment.

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