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Australia's national carrier will be on the hunt for 8500 aviation industry workers in the next decade to keep up with post-pandemic travel demand after posting a record profit and reeling from a string of emergency landings.

Some 2000 of those jobs - for cabin crew, pilots, engineers and other operations roles - will be created in the next 18 months, Qantas said on Friday.

The airline currently has 23,500 employees and projects that number will grow to 32,000 by 2033 to support the expected delivery of 299 narrow-body and 12 wide-body planes across the same period.

"We order aircraft up to 10 years in advance, so we need to think similarly long-term about the people and skills we need to operate them," chief executive Alan Joyce said in a statement.

"Over the next 18 months, we expect to create more than 2000 new jobs plus replacing natural attrition, so if you've ever wanted to work in aviation or at the national carrier, now's a great time to join."

Last week, the national carrier posted a statutory net profit of $1 billion for the six months to December 31, compared to a $456 million net loss a year earlier.

At the height of the pandemic, Qantas laid off thousands of workers, creating a knock-on effect when travel resumed with delayed flights, lost baggage and a string of emergency landings.

It received a government COVID-19 bailout to the tune of $2 billion.

The airline has also announced it will set up a Qantas Group Engineering Academy in Australia to train up to 300 engineers a year.

Qantas will need about 200 new engineering recruits a year in the next 10 years.

Australian Workers' Union national secretary Daniel Walton said the announcement represented a "very welcome turning point".

"It takes a long time to train aviation engineers, so today's investment creates a long pipeline that will result in good quality Australian jobs for many years to come," he said.

The academy's location will be settled by the end of this year.

Overall, Qantas is seeking 4500 cabin crew, 1600 pilots, 800 engineers and 1600 other workers for operational roles in the next decade.

© AAP 2023

Melbourne hope to have Cameron Munster available for round two despite the superstar five-eighth likely to need surgery to fix a compound dislocation of the finger.

Munster fought his way through the Storm's 16-12 golden-point win over Parramatta in Thursday night's NRL season opener, after the bone in his right ring finger penetrated the skin.

The Australian Test five-eighth required two pain-killing injections as doctors put the bone back in place, before he recovered to set up a crucial try to level the scores late.

It's expected Munster will now need a clean out on the finger early in the week, but Melbourne believe it is still possible he could face Canterbury next Saturday at AAMI Park.

"We could be (without him) but, hopefully, he can have the operation early in the week," coach Craig Bellamy said.

"We have a bit of a longer turnaround.

"We got a message that at one stage he wasn't getting back out there ... He showed a lot of ticker to get back on."

AAP has since been told that if the surgery is contained to a minor clean out, it is possible that Munster could play next week.

Munster is one of many injury problems facing the Storm.

Winger Xavier Coates attempted to play on with a sternoclavicular joint injury between the collarbone and sternum, before he eventually succumbed.

It's now expected he too will spend some time on the sidelines.

The Storm had already entered the season with fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen out for at least six weeks, with Tui Kamikamica, Tariq Sims, George Jennings and Justin Olam among others injured.

"Xavier will probably miss a couple of weeks," Bellamy said.

"The SC is a new injury to me, but Xav played on for five minutes or so. It was a really gutsy performance by him."

Bellamy's men trailed 6-0 and 12-6 at different points in the game, before they fought back to remain undefeated in round-one matches since 2002.

The Storm's courage prompted Bellamy to claim they'd found the steel in their team again, after admitting it had gone missing last year as Melbourne were knocked out in the first week of the finals.

"It probably took me a little while to realise we'd lost that steel," Bellamy said.

"You just bobble along sticking to your system or routine. Then all of a sudden you think, we haven't played with that steel for a bit.

"When we get under pressure we're folding more than fighting. That's one thing we want to be better at this year.

"If they keep showing the fight they did tonight, I am sure we will be okay."

© AAP 2023

The man accused of murdering Toyah Cordingley at a far north Queensland beach in 2018 is set to face the Cairns Magistrates Court after being extradited from India.

Rajwinder Singh, 38, was put on a charter flight from Melbourne to Cairns in far north Queensland on Thursday after being flown from New Delhi on Wednesday.

In handcuffs and flanked by four detectives, Singh was led from the plane to a marked police vehicle before being taken to Cairns Police Station in a convoy.

Police charged Singh with a single count of murder on Thursday evening.

Ms Cordingley's body was found by her father partially buried in the white sand of Wangetti Beach in October 2018.

A four-year manhunt led investigators to Singh's eventual arrest with hundreds of police officers involved.

"What I think about this matter is that it is a demonstration that the Queensland Police Service will never give up," Detective Inspector Sonia Smith said.

"We'll continue to seek justice for victims' families and this is an example of our ability to seek justice and be relentless in our approach."

© AAP 2023