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Kirstie Alley, who won an Emmy for her role on the classic sitcom Cheers and starred in films including Look Who's Talking, has died. She was 71.

Alley died of cancer that was only recently discovered, her children True and Lillie Parker said in a post on Twitter. Her manager Donovan Daughtry confirmed the death in an email to The Associated Press.

"As iconic as she was on screen, she was an even more amazing mother and grandmother," Alley's children's statement on Monday said.

She starred opposite Ted Danson as Rebecca Howe on Cheers, the beloved NBC sitcom about a Boston bar, from 1987 to 1993. She joined the show at the height of its popularity after the departure of original star Shelley Long.

Alley would win an Emmy for best lead actress in a comedy series for the role in 1991.

"I only thank God I didn't have to wait as long as Ted," Alley said in her acceptance, gently ribbing co-star Danson, who had finally won an Emmy for his role as Sam Malone in his eighth nomination the previous year.

She would take a second Emmy for best lead actress in a miniseries or television movie in 1993 for playing the title role in the CBS TV movie David's Mother.

She had her own sitcom on the network, Veronica's Closet, from 1997 to 2000.

In the 1989 comedy Look Who's Talking, which gave her a major career boost, she played the mother of a baby whose inner thoughts were voiced by Bruce Willis. She would also appear in a 1990 sequel Look Who's Talking Too, and another in 1993, Look Who's Talking Now.

John Travolta, her co-star in the trilogy, paid tribute in an Instagram post.

"Kirstie was one of the most special relationships I've ever had," Travolta said, along with a photo of Alley.

"I love you Kirstie. I know we will see each other again."

She would play a fictionalised version of herself in the 2005 Showtime series Fat Actress, a show that drew comedy from her public and media treatment over her weight gain and loss.

She dealt with the same subject matter in the 2010 A&E reality series Kirstie Alley's Big Life, which chronicled her attempt to lose weight and launch a weight-loss program while working as a single mother in an unconventional household that included pet lemurs.

Alley said she agreed to do the show in part because of the misinformation about her that had become a tabloid staple.

"Anything bad you can say about me, they say," Alley told the AP at the time.

"I've never collapsed, fainted, passed out. Basically, anything they've said, I never. The only true thing is I got fat."

In recent years she appeared on several other reality shows, including a second-place finish on Dancing With the Stars in 2011. She appeared on the competition series The Masked Singer wearing a baby mammoth costume earlier this year.

She appeared in the Ryan Murphy black comedy series Scream Queens on Fox in 2015 and 2016.

One of her co-stars on the show, Jamie Lee Curtis, said on Instagram Monday that Alley was "a great comic foil" on the show and "a beautiful mama bear in her very real life".

Alley's Cheers co-star Kelsey Grammer said in a statement that "I always believed grief for a public figure is a private matter, but I will say I loved her."

A native of Wichita, Kansas, Alley attended Kansas State University before dropping out and moving to Los Angeles.

Her first television appearances were as a game show contestant, on The Match Game in 1979 and Password in 1980.

She made her film debut in 1982's Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan.

Alley was married to her high school sweetheart from 1970 to 1977, and to actor Parker Stevenson from 1983 until 1997.

She told the AP in 2010 if she married again, "I'd leave the guy within 24 hours because I'm sure he'd tell me not to do something."

© AP 2022

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People in NSW are being warned to be alert to the symptoms of meningococcal disease after the death of a third person in the state this year.

NSW Health says there have been 29 cases reported this year, the majority due to meningococcal B strain of the infection.

A woman in her late teens died recently from the disease and NSW Health is warning it can be fatal within hours if left untreated.

Meningococcal disease is now uncommon due to vaccination but there has been a slight increase in cases in recent weeks, compared with the same period over the previous five years.

The disease can occur in people even if they have been vaccinated and children under five and 15 to 25-year-olds are at the greatest risk of contracting the infection.

NSW Health's Jeremy McAnulty says early intervention can be lifesaving.

"Meningococcal disease symptoms can appear suddenly and become very serious very quickly.

"I urge everyone not to discount symptoms when they appear or assume it may be just a mild infection. If you suspect meningococcal disease, don't wait for the rash - see a doctor immediately," Dr McAnulty said in a statement.

The symptoms include: severe, unexplained limb pain, difficulty waking up, high pitched crying in babies, severe headache, aversion to bright lights, stiff neck and a red-purple rash which doesn't disappear when pressed with a glass.

The rash does not always occur, or may present late in the illness.

"If symptoms rapidly worsen, or if your child is very unwell, call triple zero or go straight to your nearest emergency department," Dr McAnulty said.

© AAP 2022

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Renters would have had thousands extra to spend on the holiday season if rents had been frozen in place for the past 12 months.

The Greens have been calling for a nationwide two-year rent freeze to protect renters from surging housing costs.

New Parliamentary Library analysis of the policy found the average renter was paying $4896 more for their home than last year, revealing the toll of rising rents on household budgets.

In Sydney, where rents have accelerated the fastest, the average renter would be $7450 better off if rents had stayed the same since December last year.

With rental affordability plummeting across the country, the Greens called on the federal government to put a nationwide rental freeze on the agenda at Wednesday's national cabinet meeting.

The party also wants an end to no-grounds evictions and minimum standards for rental properties discussed at the meeting of federal and state political leaders

Greens spokesperson for Housing Max Chandler-Mather said Australians needed protection from the worst rental crisis in recent history.

"Over the last 12 months, renters paid an extra $10 billion in rent, while property investors pocketed $8.5 billion in federal tax concessions, which is desperately unfair and a reminder that right now politics really only works for the rich," he said.

© AAP 2022

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The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to inflict more pain on mortgage holders with another interest rate rise ... but a pause has not been ruled out.

The RBA has been lifting interest rates since May to tackle rising inflation, with another 25 basis point rise to take the cash rate to 3.1 per cent.

Economists from all four of the big banks expect another cash rate rise when the board meets on Tuesday.

While the central bank is widely tipped to hike the cash rate, Governor Philip Lowe has left his options open ahead of its December board meeting.

St George economist Besa Deda said a rate hike was not a done deal, with senior RBA officials repeatedly pointing to how long it takes interest rate hikes to ripple through the economy.

Ms Deda said a pause was possible on Tuesday, with early signs of a spending slowdown and easing inflation in recent data drops.

On the flip side the unemployment rate remains at record low levels, and the central bank misses a chance to shift rates next month as it does not meet in January.

But if the bank does deliver another 25 basis point rise, mortgage holders with variable rate loans will endure another uplift in their monthly repayments.

Numbers crunched by RateCity show repayments increasing by $1,251 since May for the average $750,000 loan with 25 years remaining.

RateCity research director Sally Tindall said people should prepare for rates to rise further next year.

"If you can't afford these higher repayments, put your budget under the microscope to see where you can make cutbacks," she said.

© AAP 2022