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Jared Waerea-Hargreaves won't play for the Sydney Roosters until 2024 and his Test career for New Zealand is likely over after he was slugged with two suspensions totalling a whopping seven games.

On a dramatic Tuesday night at the NRL judiciary, Canberra firebrand Corey Horsburgh had a three-game suspension boosted to four matches after failing to have a shoulder-charge penalty dismissed.

Horsburgh, whose suspension starts with Canberra's crucial final-round clash with Cronulla on Sunday, could return for the Green Machine this season but only in the unlikely event Ricky Stuart's men reach the grand final.

The decision to contest a grade-two dangerous-contact charge is likely to prove far more costly for Roosters enforcer Waerea-Hargreaves though.

The 34-year-old had already accepted a three-game ban for headbutting Wests Tigers forward Stefano Utoikamanu in a melee on Saturday.

Waerea-Hargreaves was seeking to have a hit on Tigers hooker Api Koroisau reduced to a grade one, which would have cleared him to return in the preliminary final if the Roosters get there.

But NRL counsel Lachlan Giles made a convincing argument to the judiciary panel of Bob Lindner and former referee Sean Hampstead, claiming the hit was like a "metaphorical freight train".

Lindner and Hampstead agreed unanimously, condemning Waerea-Hargreaves to seven weeks on the sideline in total.

The moment of madness is likely to cost Waerea-Hargreaves a chance to represent the Roosters in Las Vegas and, given he turns 35 next year, likely puts an end to his Test career.

The NZRL will need to make it clear Waerea-Hargreaves would have been picked for this year's end-of-season Tests, otherwise the Roosters would be lumped with his whole seven-game suspension.

Waerea-Hargreaves declined to speak to the media after the verdict.

Roosters head coach Trent Robinson was not present on Tuesday.

Horsburgh received similarly bad news in the day's earlier hearing.

Supported by club chief executive Don Furner and Canberra drum-banging superfan Simon Tayoun at League Central, Horsburgh was risking further suspension by contesting his hit on Brisbane prop Corey Jensen.

Horsburgh's lawyer Nick Ghabar claimed the 25-year-old had shown a clear attempt to wrap his arm around Jensen when smashing into him late in Saturday's defeat.

But Lindner and Hampstead found against Horsburgh, beefing a three-game suspension out to four weeks.

"I'm very disappointed with the result, I think four weeks is a bit much but onwards and upwards," Horsburgh said.

Horsburgh's chances of featuring for the Green Machine in 2023 hinge on his teammates reaching the grand final.

That task has got even harder with prop Josh Papali'i ruled out for the rest of the year on Tuesday with a biceps injury.

"It's going to make it harder but someone else will get an opportunity," said Furner.

"We wouldn't have come up here if we didn't think we had a case."

© AAP 2023

Advocates of the 'yes' campaign say the referendum launch state of South Australia will be crucial to the national result.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will deliver a speech alongside SA Premier Peter Malinauskas on Wednesday in Adelaide, where he is tipped to set the referendum for October 14.

Voters will be asked to support or reject a new section of the constitution recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders by enshrining a voice to parliament and government.

SA and Tasmania are seen as swing states to achieve a four-state majority in the referendum, with NSW and Victoria expected to vote 'yes' and WA and Queensland to be in the 'no' camp.

Indigenous activist Noel Pearson said South Australia would be critical.

"It's really a linchpin, it's been between those eastern states that are very firmly 'yes' and those that are still pondering what they will do at this referendum," he said.

Labor senator Marielle Smith spoke of positive discussions with people on the campaign trail in her home state of SA.

"The more one-on-one conversations we can have on the ground, the better," she told AAP.

"I feel confident that Adelaide will warmly embrace it."

Yes23 says support on the ground is growing, with droves of volunteers who have never joined political campaigns signing up to doorknock.

Spokeswoman Rachel Perkins said campaigners were "standing on the shoulders of great people" in the state she called the "birthplace of the original referendum in 1967".

"This place has great potential to really lead the country in this moment and that's why we're here," she said.

Mr Albanese said the entire country was a crucial battleground with a majority of states and a majority of all Australians needed for the referendum to pass.

"People in Canberra making decisions has not led to a circumstance where the closing the gap targets are being met," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"If you keep doing the same thing you can expect the same outcomes ... and the way to do better is to involve people and ask them what their views are."

Former prime minister John Howard hit out at corporations joining the 'yes' campaign, saying it would ultimately backfire as Australians "do not like being bullied, they do not like receiving condescending advice".

Inner-city Adelaide is seen as the crux of the SA campaign, with the state's regions expected to return a high 'no' vote, which will need to be offset in more progressive metropolitan suburbs.

A recent poll put support in SA at 46 per cent, but it has been as high as 54 per cent.

The prime minister and Mr Pearson maintain the more conservative states of Western Australia and Queensland aren't write-offs.

Mr Albanese said he didn't expect the majority of Australians to focus on the referendum until the last couple of weeks.

WA independent MP Kate Chaney said people in her state were hopeful of a positive result.

"People aren't actually so easily duped by the fear-mongering and ... I think that common sense and goodwill will actually win the day," she told ABC Radio.

Mr Pearson said he felt the tide was turning in Queensland.

"The wind is getting behind us ... I have not given up," he said.

Those spearheading the 'no' campaign say the push to enshrine an Indigenous consultative body in the constitution is legally risky and divisive.

Since 1901, only eight out of 44 referendum changes have been agreed.

© AAP 2023

Victorian beekeepers are on alert after varroa mite was detected near the border with NSW.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries detected the bee parasite in hives near Balranald in the Riverina, with the 25km surveillance emergency zone entering northwest Victoria.

It is the second time an emergency zone has extended into the state, following a detection at Euston last week.

Victorian beekeepers within the zones are not allowed to move their hives into, within or out of those zones for the time being.

All other movements of bees, beehives, used beekeeping equipment and bee products into Victoria are being strictly regulated and will require a permit.

Chief plant health officer Rosa Crnov confirmed no varroa mite had been detected in Victoria.

"We understand that beekeepers are concerned about the situation and their hives," Dr Crnov said.

"I reassure everyone that we are working on a resolution."

The first Australian infestation of varroa mite was found in Newcastle, NSW, in June last year.

The mites infest hives, weakening then killing bees and eventually destroying their colonies.

© AAP 2023