Two skydivers became snagged on a plane and dangled frantically mid-air before falling to their deaths, with critical safety checks overlooked before the "catastrophic" jump, a court has been told.

Experienced instructor Stephen Hoare, 37, and his tandem passenger Alex Welling, 32, died while skydiving at Goulburn airport, in southern NSW, on June 27, 2021.

SafeWork NSW has charged Goulburn Flight Training Centre and its sole director Attilio Giovanni Ferrara, also known as John Ferrara, with two counts each of breaching workplace safety duties.

READ MORE: Police believe accused cop killer is being 'harboured' by member of the public

Ferrara is facing a 10-day judge-alone hearing in the NSW District Court in Sydney.

A short GoPro video taken by a skydiver who was with the pair showed Welling smiling excitedly as he moved towards the open door of the plane, strapped to Hoare.

The men were captured sitting on the edge of the open door for a few seconds before they attempted to launch.

READ MORE: Australia issues travel warning for popular tourist destination amid unrest

The vision showed a black strap getting caught on the exterior of the plane, leaving the men dangling upside-down mid-air.

One of the men can be heard swearing before the camera follows the course of the skydiver who went on to land safely.

The workplace watchdog's barrister Darien Nagle said a metal step had recently been added to the Cessna aircraft, owned by Ferrara's son's company, to assist with tandem skydives.

The trial would hear evidence the risks of snagging on the step had been identified in the flight training centre's own documents, Nagle said.

He said there was no "buddy check" carried out on the men's equipment before the jump, which could have identified the loose webbing that became snagged.

"It was always known and obvious that these types of steps, along with webbing that hadn't been buddy-checked, could lead to catastrophic results," Nagle told the court in his opening address.

READ MORE: The Reject Shop set to vanish

The addition of steps on Cessna skydiving planes was common practice across the industry to help launch parachuters clear of the aircraft.

Similar metal steps were removed from other planes after the men's deaths.

"It is, of course, an absolute tragedy these types of safety measures have to be taken after an incident like this," Nagle said.

The men's families left the courtroom while footage of the snagging incident was played.

Barrister Maurice Baroni, representing Ferrara and his company, indicated there would be parts of the evidence in dispute, including whether the flight centre was correctly identified as the corporate defendant.

Under cross-examination, SafeWork NSW inspector Narelle O'Brien acknowledged several of the company's employees referred to it as Adrenaline Skydive rather than Goulburn Flight Training Centre.

But she nominated the centre as the corporate defendant, based partly on documents that identified it as the entity that paid various skydiving instructors.

The trial continues before Judge Andrew Scotting.

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

She dismissed a series of signs before starting treatment as “normal”.

Rain and clouds might obscure the view on the South Island’s west coast.

Australian households would have an extra $4000 in the bank every year – as well as higher wages – under a substantial overhaul of the tax system put forward by one of the nation's most respected economists.

Chris Murphy, who has modelled tax policy for the federal government and Productivity Commission, today released a research paper proposing changes to land, corporate and household taxes.

Combined, the reforms would provide $43 billion in "consumer welfare", effectively providing each household an extra $4000 a year.

READ MORE: Police believe accused cop killer is being 'harboured' by member of the public

The changes would be budget-neutral – that is, not increase or decrease the amount of tax revenue collected by the government – and the boost to households would come from collecting $91 billion in ways that do less harm to the economy.

Murphy also modelled that it would lead to an increase in real wages, while at the same time improving real GDP by 6 per cent.

"At the (productivity) roundtable, the federal treasurer committed to 'a better tax system'," he wrote. 

"In that spirit, this paper models reform packages for Australian property, corporate and household taxes to increase consumer welfare by shifting towards more efficient taxes."

The first package includes removing stamp duty and land taxes on investment properties, and replacing them by effectively expanding council rates into a broad-based land tax.

READ MORE: Taxpayers 'losing up to $550 million' in tax breaks for short-term property owners

Murphy said that change alone accounts for $27 billion of the $43 billion benefit households would enjoy.

He also proposed reducing corporate tax for most companies, while at the same time increasing the tax bill for ultra-profitable entities in uncompetitive, oligopolistic sectors like banking and supermarkets, as well as reducing the concessions related to franking credits.

And on taxes that more directly affect households, Murphy said the government would do well to expand the GST to remove the current exemptions provided to goods and services like fresh food and private education.

He also called for the payroll tax threshold to be lowered, effectively increasing it for most small businesses.

Together, those two hikes would allow the government to cut income taxes by 11 per cent – or about $43 billion a year.

Murphy's proposal comes weeks after Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government would work on potential changes to the tax system following the productivity roundtable.

READ MORE: New major entry rule for Aussies heading to Bali

He indicated a road user charge for electric vehicle drivers, which would replace the revenue lost from declining fuel excise, is on the verge of being confirmed.

However, more substantial changes to the tax system – which economists say Australia desperately needs – are not likely to be handed down until far later this parliamentary term, if not taken to the 2028 federal election.

But Murphy said it was critical for the government to make a decision soon.

"Comprehensive tax reform stands out as a way of delivering large benefits compared to other areas of economic reform," he wrote.

"Achieving those large benefits requires a willingness to collect $91 billion in tax revenue in a different way that is less harmful for consumer welfare. 

"As Theodore Roosevelt said: 'In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing'."

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

The minister is set to meet with the EPA’s board chairman to discuss his concerns.

An earthquake has destroyed numerous villages in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 610 people and injuring more than 1300, a spokesman for the Taliban government says.

The 6.0 magnitude quake late on Sunday (Monday AEST) hit a series of towns in the province of Kunar, near the city of Jalalabad in neighbouring Nangahar province, causing extensive damage.

Footage from Nangarhar showed people frantically digging through rubble with their hands, searching for loved ones in the dead of night.

READ MORE: Police believe accused cop killer is being 'harboured' by member of the public

The injured were stretchered out of collapsed buildings and into helicopters. Villagers in Kunar gave interviews outside their wrecked homes.

The quake at 11.47pm (5.17am on Monday AEST) was centred 27 kilometres east-north-east of the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province, the US Geological Survey said.

It was just eight kilometres deep. Shallower quakes tend to cause more damage. Several aftershocks followed.

Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Matin Qani told The Associated Press that 610 people had been killed and 1300 injured in Kunar and a dozen people died and hundreds were injured in Nangarhar. Many houses were destroyed.

Buildings in Afghanistan tend to be low-rise constructions, mostly of concrete and brick, with homes in rural and outlying areas made of mud bricks and wood. Many are of poor construction.

One resident in Nurgal district, one of the worst-affected areas in Kunar, said almost the entire village had collapsed.

READ MORE: Australia issues travel warning for popular tourist destination amid unrest

"Children are under the rubble. The elderly are under the rubble. Young people are under the rubble," said the villager, who did not give his name

"We need help here," he pleaded.

"We need people to come here and join us. Let us pull out the people who are buried. There is no one who can come and remove dead bodies from under the rubble."

Eastern Afghanistan is mountainous, with remote areas. The quake has worsened communications.

Rescue operations were under way and medical teams from Kunar, Nangarhar and the capital Kabul had arrived in the area, said Sharafat Zaman, a health ministry spokesman.

Zaman said many areas had not been able to report casualty figures and that "the numbers were expected to change" as deaths and injuries are reported.

The Taliban government's chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said "all available resources will be utilised to save lives".

Nearby Jalalabad is a bustling trade city due to its proximity with neighbouring Pakistan and a key border crossing between the countries.

Although it has a population of about 300,000 according to the municipality, it's metropolitan area is thought to be far larger.

Jalalabad also has considerable agriculture and farming, including citrus fruit and rice, with the Kabul River flowing through the city.

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Afghanistan on October 7, 2023, followed by strong aftershocks. The Taliban government estimated at least 4000 people perished in that quake.

The UN gave a far lower death toll of about 1500. It was the deadliest natural disaster to strike Afghanistan in recent memory.

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

South Australia Police are investigating after a sign depicting accused Victorian Police killer Dezi Freeman was displayed at Adelaide's March for Australia rally.

The sign, held up by an unknown protester, showed an image of Freeman with the caption "FREE MAN" underneath, with the words separated by a stylised Southern Cross.

Freeman has been identified as being associated with the sovereign citizen movement, and is currently on the run and suspected of killing two police officers in an ambush at his regional Victorian home in Porepunkah.

READ MORE: Accused cop killer sign appears at anti-immigration rally

Police slammed the sign as offensive – but not illegal – and one of the protest's organisers said it was "ridiculous" and "unacceptable".

Acting commissioner Linda Williams said officers became aware of the man with the sign through the city's CCTV network.

"Police were deployed into the crowd, but by the time police arrived on that area, we couldn't see him and the sign had disappeared," Williams said.

"But our inquiries are well advised, so I would urge him before we find him if he wants to hand himself into a police station so we can have a chat with them about that sign ."

SA Premier Peter Malinauskas urged the sign holder to speak with police.

"This is not who we are as a state," Malinauskas said.

Many rallies saw clashes between left- and right-wing activists and Melbourne witnessed the most arrests as violence erupted in the streets.

Emotions were heightened as March for Australia protesters turned out in force in almost every capital city calling for limits to migration.

Self-declared neo-Nazis took to the stage at some point at several of the protests, prompting discomfort from some of the crowd and condemnation from organisers.

Counter-protesters also made their voices heard.

"[It's] trying to be disguised as something patriotic when they're actually something quite hateful," one said.

Premier's message to protesters

Following the protests, Malinauskas said the protesters were naive about the state and nation's history.

"2.4 per cent of the South Australian population is Indigenous, that means that 97.6 per cent of South Australians have an immigrant heritage," he said.

"I'm proud of mine and I think most South Australians are proud of theirs.

"Let me make this perfectly clear, the overwhelming majority of South Australians don't just tolerate diversity and multiculturalism, we celebrate it.

"It is part of who we are, it is not just something that is part of our social fabric, it is the very essence of our social fabric."

Malinauskas also praised the many people who have migrated to Australia for their "magnificent" contributions.

"My message to multicultural communities around the state is you are very much a critical piece of our social infrastructure, you add to our state and most South Australians are exceptionally grateful for it," he said.

"But the people who are protesting today would do well to familiarise themselves with our own history, instead they seek to diminish and deny it in a way that is unbecoming to them."

Arrests and pepper spray in Melbourne

Twelve people were arrested after rival protest groups clashed in the heart of Melbourne as outnumbered police tried desperately to keep them apart and away from passersby.

Pepper spray wasn't enough to separate thousands of protesters as a chaotic game of cat and mouse occupied the streets for more than seven hours.

Footage shows the two sides clashing and shouting at each other.

They gathered in their thousands at Flinders Street draped in Australian flags.

One of those flags was burnt and both anti-immigration marchers and counter-protesters threw bottles, spitting at and slapping each other as they evaded a thin blue line that was already stretched by the manhunt in Victoria's high country.

READ MORE: The global 'chaos' pushing two economic titans closer

One protester pushing for an end to "mass immigration" claimed it wasn't about race.

"If you come here you respect the country. You respect the culture. You adapt and be one of us. We're all brothers," another said.

But behind genuine displays of pride, known neo-Nazis were taking control.

Thomas Sewell, a self-proclaimed white nationalist was given the prime speaking spot from the steps of parliament.

"Today our men stood at the front of the march and when the Palestinians and the communists came charging at the Aussie flags it was our men that fought back," he said.

He was flanked by dozens of members of his Neo-Nazi National Socialist Network who led a crowd of thousands down Bourke Street turning some of the city's most famous landmarks into props for their hateful ideology.

Before the march they turned on each other, attacking right-wing podcaster Avi Yemini and his security entourage.

"They're there to promote hate in the community, to blame people for their gripes and their complaints and their whinges, and they're just unhinged grubs," Police Minister Anthony Carbines said.

As the violence escalated from both sides, Nine's own cameraman was knocked to the ground as a protester tried – and failed – to steal his equipment.

Six arrests were made and two police officers were injured after being hit by bottles thrown at them.

Arrests hours after protests in Sydney

While only one person was arrested during the protests in Sydney, two people police believed were involved in the earlier rally were charged after allegedly assaulting an officer during a brawl in the CBD.

Police were called to the Broadway bar about 5.15pm in response to reports a group of people at the bar were yelling offensively at passersby and a brawl kicked off.

They said the officer suffered minor injuries in an assault as police tried to break it up and two men, aged 29 and 48, were arrested.

They were this morning charged with affray, assaulting police and resisting police in the execution of duty, to appear in court this morning.

Police allege the 49-year-old assaulted a male constable, who the younger man also assaulted when police tried to arrest the older man.

Footage shows officers using pepper spray then making the arrests, and a shirtless man is filmed struggling with police before seeming to get away.

Mobile phone vision has also emerged of a protester with an Australian flag clashing with a passenger on a train at Redfern station, seemingly another hangover of a highly charged day.

The earlier arrest, in Hyde Park, involved a woman allegedly breaching the peace. She was taken to Day Street police Station.

Organisers of the rallies had called for there to be no violence and denied any links to neo-Nazis.

NSW Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Scott Tanner said it was an "amazing effort" from police.

"There's no further investigations into any matters that occurred today," he said.

Thousands of people gathered at Belmore Park in the city for the rally.

"We are not a racist country, we just want a good calibre of people here in here," one woman said.

They are calling for limits or an end to migration.

There was a huge police presence with several hundred funnelling the march down Broadway.

There were fears that the march could be hijacked by neo-Nazi hate groups and they were there front and centre leading the march.

Members of a White Australia group were there with their leader Jack Eltis.

"But we are here because anti-immigration is our key political issue," he told 9News.  

When asked if the group was racist he replied: "Yeah we are racist. We are proud of who we are as white men, we built this nation."

He also confirmed the group's members were "neo-Nazis".

The front of the march might have presented one picture but the bulk of those marching behind appeared to be anything but extremist

At the end, at an open mic session the White Australia group seized control.

It was a hate speech and wasn't winning over the majority of the crowd.

When the speaker was finished, police ushered the group away.

A few blocks away a march by the Refugee Action Coalition was a counter-protest condemning the White Australia group.

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Grit has been put on the spill and temporary speed limit signs are in place.

Māori, Samoan and Fijian communities gathered in Ōhinemutu ahead of this weekend’s match.

The jury watched CCTV showing the accused before the fire started.