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Australian news: federal and state politics, the economy, courts, weather and the stories that matter across the country.
2069 articles · page 14 of 44
About 500 of Victoria's most prominent chefs, restaurateurs, and hospitality figures gathered on Monday evening at The Timber Yard in Port Melbourne for the 46th Age Good Food Guide awards, an invite-only event where no tickets are sold and no venue can pay for inclusion.
· 3 sourcesOn day five of the first Test in Durban, South African opener Aiden Markram registered a defiant half-century off 130 deliveries, the second-slowest half-century of his Test career, as the Proteas fought to avoid defeat. Australia, needing six wickets to claim victory, remain in control but Markram's resistance has provided a rearguard dig.
· 11 sourcesQueensland's acting corrections commissioner, Jon Peach, has refused to say whether he or his predecessor asked for a provision in a new government bill that would effectively bypass human rights protections for all prisoners, citing cabinet confidentiality during a parliamentary committee hearing on Monday.
· 4 sourcesAlice Springs is bracing for another severe thunderstorm on Tuesday afternoon while about 4,000 homes remain without power after the storm that lashed the town on Monday, described by a senior power company manager as the worst in 40 years. Electricity has been restored to 5,000 of the roughly 9,000 properties that lost supply, but the Bureau of Meteorology warns of heavy rain, damaging winds and large hail to come.
· 3 sourcesA new report by the NT Council of Social Service (NTCOSS) has found 'unacceptable' levels of poverty across the Northern Territory, with nearly half of the population experiencing food insecurity in 2025 and an increase in involuntary electricity disconnections among households on prepaid plans.
· 2 sourcesThe National Anti-Corruption Commission has dropped its investigation into Bruce Lehrmann over allegations he used classified French submarine secrets for personal gain, ending Operation Ivanhoe. Mr Lehrmann responded by calling for the NACC to be abolished.
Carlton will conduct an internal investigation into the circumstances that saw players Lachie Cowan and Will Hayward admitted to hospital on Sunday morning, and will pass the results to the AFL for any action it sees fit, according to two competition sources familiar with the situation.
· 3 sourcesThe Surf Hotel in Torquay has been awarded a score of 14.5 out of 20 and named a Critics' Pick in the Good Food Guide, with reviews published in Brisbane Times, Sydney Morning Herald, and WA Today. The review highlights a 60-seat dining room described as an intimate, homely space, and features the steak frites with sauce Bordelaise.
· 3 sourcesDanny's Kopitiam, a Malaysian-style eatery in Glen Waverley, has been awarded 14 out of 20 and named a Critics' Pick in the Good Food Guide review, with dishes including beef rendang with roasted coconut.
· 3 sourcesThe man once charged over the 2005 murder of German backpacker Simone Strobel has filed civil proceedings against NSW Police, alleging he was maliciously prosecuted. Tobias Moran filed the claim in the NSW District Court after spending 10 days in custody and 10 months on bail, before prosecutors withdrew the charge in 2022.
· 4 sourcesWestern Australia's chief justice has urged caution over the state government's plan to ban character references in criminal sentencing, saying the proposal needs careful consideration while noting that judges already exercise discretion over how such references are treated.
Wallabies fullback Tom Wright told reporters on Monday that the squad had gathered to 'face the music' following their 50-19 defeat to the All Blacks at Eden Park on Saturday, a result that extended Australia's Bledisloe Cup drought to a 24th consecutive year and marked their 12th straight loss to New Zealand.
· 4 sourcesThe national average price of regular unleaded petrol has climbed above $2.40 a litre for the first time in over six months, as escalating conflict in the Middle East deepens fears of a global oil shortage. According to new figures from the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the average rose by 3 cents over the past week to nearly $2.41 a litre.
· 3 sourcesA man in his 60s is lucky to be alive after being trapped in a grain silo at GrainCorp's Dunolly facility in central Victoria, according to rescuers who freed him in a multi-agency operation lasting more than three hours.
One Nation's Victorian deputy leader, Colleen Harkin, has defended an AI-generated campaign video that depicts a machete-wielding man of African appearance and a suicide bomber of Middle Eastern appearance, rejecting suggestions it is racist. In an interview with 774 ABC Melbourne, she said the video addressed “big issues” including crime and social cohesion.
Thursday night's Rugby League World Cup opener between New Zealand and Australia is set to draw the biggest Test crowd in Sydney in more than 50 years, with officials confirming nearly 40,000 tickets have been sold. The Kiwis, armed with a formidable forward pack, will aim to silence the home crowd and start their campaign with a boilover.
· 5 sourcesNearly 80,000 older Australians are expected to abandon their private health cover by the end of the decade under the federal government's proposed changes to the over-65s rebate, newly released departmental analysis shows. The figure is almost double the 44,000 estimate the government has repeatedly cited in defence of the policy.
Australian engineer Robert Pether is in transit to Ireland to reunite with his wife and children, after the Iraqi government allowed him to leave the country more than five years after his arrest in Baghdad. Foreign Minister Penny Wong confirmed the departure on Monday, saying she had spoken to Pether shortly before he left.
· 8 sourcesNorthern Territory Police have arrested a 26-year-old man after a 16-year-old girl died from injuries sustained in an alleged domestic assault in the remote community of Alpurrurulam, near the Queensland border. The girl suffered a cardiac arrest at the local clinic early Monday morning and could not be revived.
· 2 sourcesJosh Frydenberg has openly criticised Liberal leader Angus Taylor's leadership, warning the party faces an “existential threat” and declaring “things have to change”. In a 60 Minutes interview to promote his memoir “A Grateful Son”, the former treasurer denied the book was a direct pitch for the prime ministership but refused to close the door on a return to politics, saying a decision will come next year. The intervention has drawn a swift response from Taylor, who rejected Frydenberg’s GST proposal, and exposed deep tensions within the Coalition.
· 6 sourcesIzzi Batt-Doyle is Australia's new women's marathon record holder. Running at the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, she clocked 2:20:38 to break Jess Stenson's national record of 2:21:24, on the same day Eliud Kipchoge set a Melbourne Marathon record.
· 3 sourcesAdelaide's Izzi Batt-Doyle has smashed the Australian marathon record at the Chicago Marathon, running 2:20:38 to take 46 seconds off the mark set by fellow South Australian Jess Stenson in Valencia. The 31-year-old finished sixth in the women's race at the year's penultimate major, which was won by defending champion Hawi Feysa of Ethiopia in 2:13:33.
The Western Australian government has formally launched its 'Back to Basics' trial, aiming to restrict unnecessary screen time for the state's youngest public school students. Announced on the first day of Term 4, the six-month pilot will involve 10 volunteer schools and begin in Term 1, 2027, targeting students from kindergarten to Year 2.
· 6 sourcesBrodie Kostecki has won the Bathurst 1000 in a thrilling finish, according to reports from the Sydney Morning Herald, WA Today and Brisbane Times, though no further details of the race were available.
· 3 sourcesA 13-year-old boy has been arrested following a rampage at a bottle shop, according to reports from multiple Australian news outlets. No further details about the incident or location have been released at this time.
· 3 sourcesThe imam of a Melbourne mosque linked by United Arab Emirates authorities to the accused flydubai hijacker has broken his silence, vowing to "fast from talking" and declaring that critics are too fixated for words to alter their views, while stopping short of directly addressing the allegations against his centre.
· 7 sourcesMillions of Queensland residents are bracing for severe weather, according to reports from Sydney Morning Herald, WA Today, and Brisbane Times. The warning, issued on October 11, 2026, covers a broad area and has prompted authorities to urge preparedness as storms are expected to impact the region.
· 3 sourcesLabor frontbencher Murray Watt has described the Pentagon's planned livestream of a US military execution as "absolutely disgusting", as the government faces calls to prevent Australians from watching the December 3 broadcast. Watt confirmed the eSafety Commissioner does not have the power to proactively block the stream and stopped short of committing to any legislative change.
· 7 sourcesPowderfinger have revealed the full schedule for their reunion tour: an 18-show run across six Australian cities that begins in their hometown of Brisbane in September 2027 and runs through late October. The dates, posted on a new band website on Monday, come days after the group first confirmed they would play together again.
· 6 sourcesOne of Australia's most iconic outback roads, the Birdsville Track, has been closed for 400 days out of the past two years because of rain damage, and remote businesses along its length say trade has collapsed.
· 2 sourcesA teenage boy has been charged with ten offences after allegedly hitting a 57-year-old woman with a stolen car near the Melbourne Marathon route on Sunday morning, as runners also complained of being struck by pacing vehicles during the event.
· 6 sourcesWith fewer than 50 days until Victorians cast their votes, the state election is shaping up as a proxy war with national consequences, as One Nation's rising influence collides with the Liberal Party's identity crisis and Labor's fight to convince voters it offers change.
Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson's plan to fund 25,000 additional elective surgeries by winding up state-owned investment company Breakthrough Victoria has left an $880 million hole in Coalition costings, according to a Parliamentary Budget Office analysis, as a letter to The Age draws comparisons to the privatisation era of former premier Jeff Kennett.
· 2 sourcesDomestic violence victim-survivor advocates are warning that federal government and opposition proposals to crack down on visa overstayers will embolden abusers who weaponise Australia's migration system, including through threats of deportation, visa cancellation and detention.
The Minns government has announced a significant shake-up of NSW lobbying laws, extending disclosure rules to local councils for the first time and formally making the NSW Electoral Commission the regulator for lobbyists with new investigative powers, but the reforms have already been criticised as a watered-down response to the Operation Rosny corruption inquiry.
· 2 sourcesSara Qalandari has been her family’s carer since she was 10, and at 25 she says the role is forcing her to choose between caring for her brother and her dream of becoming a doctor. She is one of an estimated 40,000 young carers in Western Australia, and her advocacy for a university pathway for carers has so far brought little response from politicians.
· 4 sourcesCourt documents have revealed that The Australian's Shadow of Doubt podcast delayed by 10 months the Victorian sex offence trial of William "Rob" Gilfillan, a former physical education teacher already serving a 48-year jail term for abusing his daughter.
· 2 sourcesPauline Hanson's One Nation has promised to push Australia's net overseas migration below zero for three years, a policy economists say the country has never attempted by design. The party says its plan would cut rents, but the economists behind the research it relies on warn of significant costs to exports and government revenue.
· 3 sourcesThe Greens will demand a private right for Australians to sue big tech companies over online harm as one of three tests for backing the government's Digital Duty of Care laws, which are due to be introduced to federal parliament this week. Labor is simultaneously preparing to drop a ministerial power to designate new categories of harm, which critics said gave Communications Minister Anika Wells too much authority.
· 11 sourcesA photo review of Pizza Elettrica, a pizza parlour styled with kitschy 1980s suburban touches, was published on October 11 across the Brisbane Times, WA Today and Sydney Morning Herald. The 15-photo gallery, shot by Bonnie Savage, includes the 'Jupiter' pizza with tomato, mozzarella, 'nduja, stracciatella, basil, hot honey and pecorino.
· 3 sourcesSydney Morning Herald's Column 8 returns with reader anecdotes spanning a Vegemite delivery to a grateful Australian Navy warship in San Diego, a reflection on the Chelsea restaurant's clientele in the 1970s, and a complaint about the word 'versing' during rugby league coverage.
· 3 sourcesTwo suspected gunmen are on the run after firing at least two shots at a home in Adelaide's inner northwest in the early hours of Sunday, with an 18-year-old resident later charged over allegedly breaching a weapons prohibition order.
ABC News has reported the weekend's AFLW results, noting the Kangaroos got past the Dockers while the Blues and Hawks tasted victory.
Day four of the first Test in Durban began with Australia firmly in control, resuming at 0/33 with a lead of 139 runs after a dominant bowling display on day three. Recalled opener Nic Maddinson (17 not out) and Travis Head (10 not out) were at the crease, with Maddinson looking to make amends for a disappointing first innings.
· 4 sourcesThe latest federal opinion polls show the governing Labor Party and the Greens making marginal gains, while support for One Nation has declined from its mid-year peak. However, the surveys also reveal that 46% of voters hold the federal government primarily responsible for rising cost-of-living pressures, a six-point increase since March.
· 4 sourcesPremier Roger Cook has defended his government's cost-of-living measures after a new report found poverty in Western Australia has risen sharply since 2021, drawing a sharp rebuke from opposition leader Basil Zempilas who said 'what they're doing isn't working.'
· 3 sourcesThe family of Melbourne hiker Jordan Yap has confirmed the 30-year-old has been found dead in Peru, weeks after he failed to return from a solo hike in the remote Huayhuash mountain range. His body was located in the Mitucocha Lagoon area, a high-altitude lake north of Lima.
· 6 sourcesThe Conservative Political Action Conference in Brisbane brought together Australia's conservative right for a spectacle of Trump impersonators, opera singers and Barnaby Joyce holding up Roman coins, but beneath the pageantry lay a serious debate about how to unify a splintered opposition to defeat Labor at the next election.
· 2 sources