Live breaking news: Covid vaccine rollout behind schedule, new Melissa Caddick death theory, Liberal Party minister accused of rape - NEWS.com.au

According to the latest CoreLogic data, values surged 2.1 per cent higher in February, the largest month-on-month change since August 2003.

Follow our live coverage of today’s breaking news below, including details of the staggering house price boom.

Live Updates

House prices rose at the fastest rate in seventeen years last month as Australia's real estate sector booms.

According to the latest CoreLogic data, values surged 2.1 per cent higher in February, the largest month-on-month change since August 2003.

Experts say the jump has been caused by a mix of record low mortgage rates, improving economic conditions, government incentives and low advertised supply levels.

The trend was seen in every capital city and across state regions.

Sydney and Melbourne were among the strongest performing markets, recording a 2.5 per cent and 2.1 per cent lift in home values over the month respectively.

Aussie house prices are booming.

There have been no new local coronavirus cases in our two biggest states for another day.

This morning NSW Health confirmed five new overseas cases but no local infections.

The state also hit a milestone of five million COVID-19 tests completed yesterday.

Meanwhile, there have also been no new locally-transmitted cases in Victoria for the second day.

The welcome news comes after the state eased restrictions on midnight Friday.

Yesterday there were no new cases reported. 6,972 test results were received. Got symptoms? Get tested – #EveryTestHelps.
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco #COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/PEHa4QOA6h
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) February 28, 2021

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Ousted US president Donald Trump is making his first public address after being booted from the White House on January 20.

The 74-year-old is currently speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida.

He kicked off his speech by asking those in attendance: "Do you miss me?" to rapturous applause.

A straw poll of attendees prefered Republican candidates for the 2024 election revealed Mr Trump was the clear favourite, scoring 55 per cent of the vote.

“I stand before you today to declare that the incredible journey we began together – we went through a journey like nobody else. There’s never been a journey like it. There’s never been a journey so successful.We began it together four years ago, and it is far from being over," Mr Trump said.

Donald Trump is back.

Police are investigating following the third ram raid of a luxury Melbourne store in just one month.

In the latest attack, a white 4WD drove into the front door of the Dior store in Collins St in the Melbourne CBD at around 3.20am this morning.

Two men then left the vehicle with a crow bar and wheelie bins, which the filled with luxury goods including handbags before fleeing.

Just last week another high-end store in Collins Street – Bottega Veneta – was ram raided.

And on February 2, the Berluti store, also on Collins Street, was also targeted.

The Dior store was ram raided early on Monday morning.

Former US president Donald Trump is set to make his first formal public appearance since leaving office on January 20 at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Ahead of his speech, CPAC announced the result of its annual straw poll regarding who should represent the Republican Party as its next presidential nominee in 2024.

Mr Trump won in a landslide with 55 per cent of the vote, followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis with 21 per cent and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem with 4 per cent.

And Mike Pence – the man who spent four years setting himself up to be Donald Trump’s successor – earned a pitiful level of support , with just 1 per cent.

The straw poll also measured the various candidates’ support without Mr Trump in the field – and again, Mr Pence was stuck on 1 per cent.

Donald Trump is the clear favourite.

A Sydney mother has shared horrifying footage of the moment she spotted an aggressive snake in her daughter’s bedroom.

The woman, identified only as Meg, shared the video with 2GB today.

It shows the metre-long snake poised in a defensive position with its neck arched up before it strikes violently at an object away from the camera.

She told host Ben Fordham she found the creature while tidying up.

“I thought it was a shoelace … I was actually going to pick it up and then I thought ‘oh I’d just turn the light on and see what it is'," she said on-air.

The snake was found slithering near children's toys.

A man shot dead outside a Melbourne pool hall may have been the victim of mistaken identity.

Police are now investigating that theory after Ikenasio “Sio” Tuivasa, 33, died in hospital on Sunday morning.

He had been shot multiple times while standing outside the All Stars Lounge pool hall in Ravenhall about midnight.

Another man – a 24-year-old from Williams Landing – was also seriously injured in the drive-by shooting outside the Westwood Drive venue.

On Sunday afternoon, police said they were still trying determine a motive for the horror attack, but there was nothing in Mr Tuivasa’s background to suggest he would be shot dead.

The man may not have been the intended target.

A house has been damaged and a brick fence destroyed after being hit by a car at West Ryde in Sydney this morning.

A Toyota Yaris was being driven south along Darvall Road at around 2:45am when the driver lost control and continued across the intersection with Victoria Road before hitting a brick fence and house.

The force of the impact destroyed the fence and caused significant damage to the front wall of the property.

Emergency services were called to the scene, but officers from Ryde Police Area Command were told the driver had allegedly walked away.

However, he was later arrested and taken to Ryde Hospital for a suspected shoulder injury and mandatory testing.

North Queensland is set to be battered by a cyclone on Tuesday, with the weather event forming off the coast.

A tropical low is currently sitting more than 250km off the coast of Cairns and is moving southwest at a speed of about 15 km/h.

Forecast tracking predicts the cyclone could reach Category 2 by Wednesday.

Abnormally high tides are causing heavy rainfall that has already begun in some areas.

“Although a direct coastal impact is not expected, gales are possible about exposed coastal and island areas as the system reaches cyclone strength. Heavy rainfall is also likely,” a Bureau of Mete forecast said.

Prince Charles likely visited his ill father's hospital bedside at Prince Philip's "request" in order to discuss the royal family's future.

That's according to the Queen's ex-press secretary and royal expert Dickie Arbiter, who told True Royalty TV's The Royal Beat he believed the visit would have covered an emotional topic.

The 99-year-old has spent 13 days in hospital due to an infection, and Prince Charles' arrival at the hospital last weekend sparked a flurry of renewed concern over his father's condition, after the heir to the throne appeared to be emotional as he departed.

But Mr Arbiter said the visit was probably "at the request of the Duke" and that it had been arranged "to lay the ground".

"Look the man is 99, he is in with an infection. My guess is that he will come out, he will walk out and he will go back to Windsor. But eventually he is going to die and he was just saying to Charles, ''one day you are going to be the leading man of the family'," he said.