News without the noise
Australian news: federal and state politics, the economy, courts, weather and the stories that matter across the country.
2061 articles · page 17 of 43
A forum in Hobart has brought together police, GPs, social workers and family violence experts to improve the recognition and response to non-fatal strangulation, which experts call a 'red flag' for potentially lethal abuse. Advocates argue that despite Tasmania making strangulation a standalone crime in 2022, more needs to be done to integrate services for victim-survivors.
As all major parties commit to cutting net overseas migration, experts warn the political debate is missing a critical blind spot: large parts of regional Australia are already shrinking and rely heavily on migrants to sustain their populations and workforces.
Australian police have arrested an alleged crime kingpin in connection with the fatal shooting of an 11-year-old child, according to reports from multiple Nine Publishing outlets. The development marks a significant step in a case that has drawn national attention.
The number of Australian pharmacies stocking the abortion pill MS-2 Step rose by nearly 50 percent after the Therapeutic Goods Administration relaxed prescribing restrictions in 2023, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. Researchers say the changes have made medication abortion safer and faster to access, particularly for women in regional and remote areas.
Perth renters are unlikely to catch a break from the city's housing downturn, with new data showing asking rents stalled at $750 a week and the rental vacancy rate tightening to 0.4 per cent even as house prices fall.
Coalition leader Angus Taylor's proposal to slash net migration to 100,000 and reduce temporary migrant numbers by 650,000 may lead to higher prices for rideshare and food delivery services, but one labour economist argues the move could boost productivity by forcing firms to innovate rather than rely on low-wage workers.
A retired couple from the New South Wales Hunter Valley has defeated a billion-dollar coal company in a landmark High Court case, successfully challenging the expansion of the Mount Pleasant coalmine on climate grounds.
With the next federal election potentially two years away, Australia's major political parties and One Nation have released immigration policies with sharply differing net overseas migration (Nom) targets, sparking debate over the feasibility and consequences of rapid reductions.
Australia's High Court has struck down a state regulator's approval of a massive coalmine expansion in the Hunter Valley, a likely historic victory for community members that could have ramifications for other fossil fuel projects. The judgment, delivered on Wednesday, came as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese led a delegation of Pacific leaders to Tuvalu, where the contrast between his climate advocacy and his support for coal at home was under scrutiny.
Australian cricket great Ellyse Perry has refused to set a timeline on her retirement, declaring she still loves the daily challenge of getting better and working with her teams. The 35-year-old spoke in Brisbane ahead of the three-match one-day series against Bangladesh, which begins on Friday at Allan Border Field.
The Australian Defence Force has suspended operational use of the Supacat troop-carrying vehicle involved in a fatal rollover that killed a soldier during a training exercise at the Mount Bundey training area in the Northern Territory on Monday evening.
Australian portrait artist Ralph Heimans, whose subjects have included Queen Elizabeth II, has unveiled an oil-on-canvas portrait of the late English anthropologist Jane Goodall in Washington, more than a decade after he first resolved to paint her at a Westminster Abbey service.
Essendon has traded two of its premier players, Zach Merrett to Hawthorn and Jordan Ridley to Geelong, by lunchtime on Wednesday, a full week before the AFL trade period closes on October 14, in what has been described as a reset of the club's approach at the trade table.
A Chinese mother who immigrated to Perth to give her daughter a fresh start after bullying at home was murdered in a hotel room by a man she trusted. Nongyu Peng, 42, was killed by an overdose of GHB administered by 27-year-old Ruihong Nie in February 2024, according to reports from the Supreme Court of Western Australia.
Coalition and Greens senators have joined forces to oppose the Albanese government's plan to abolish the private health insurance rebate bonus for Australians aged over 65, as new modelling reveals the majority of those affected have an annual income below $37,000. The bipartisan revolt threatens the reform's passage through parliament and the $3 billion in savings Labor is counting on to fund aged care beds and cover its backdown on charging older Australians for at-home care services.
Tourism operators in the Northern Territory are calling on the federal government to establish a dedicated resilience fund to help businesses survive the coming wet season, warning that rising costs, reduced flights and the impact of extreme weather earlier this year have left many small and family-run operators at risk of closure.
Speculation that Powderfinger may reunite has intensified, with multiple major news outlets now covering the cryptic billboards that appeared in three Australian cities. The Sydney Morning Herald published a follow-up report on Wednesday, adding to the buzz surrounding the band that broke up 16 years ago and last performed together in 2017.
A senior police officer broke down in the witness box during the murder trial of former police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon as she described finding the remains of the two men he is accused of killing.
The highest-paid head of department in Queensland earned more than $900,000 in the 2025-26 financial year, with more than half a dozen public servants paid more than Premier David Crisafulli, according to annual reports released by the state government.
The High Court of Australia has found that New South Wales coal mines must account for the emissions created when their product is burnt overseas, a decision an international climate law expert has labelled a 'game changer' for the industry.
A leading constitutional expert has accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government of 'grey corruption' over a $6 million grant to a golf club in his electorate, describing the grants scheme as a 'farce' that dressed up political favours as sound public policy.
Nick Blakey has flown to Melbourne to explore a trade from Sydney, with Geelong his preferred destination, but Gold Coast has entered the race with coach Damien Hardwick set to meet the 26-year-old. Reports from Monday indicate significant progress has been made in negotiations, though no deal is yet finalised.
The Royal Australian Mint has unveiled a new $1 coin collection chronicling five of Australia's most celebrated inventions, from the jaffle maker and baby safety capsule to the black box flight recorder and the wireless technology that underpinned Wi-Fi.
The South Australian government has announced plans to ban the use of good character references for all convicted criminals during sentencing, following a nationwide campaign to abolish the practice. Attorney-General Kyam Maher said the proposed laws are a recommendation of the Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence and would prevent the re-traumatisation of victim-survivors during court proceedings.
Coalition MPs have conceded that the party’s newly released immigration policy has not been costed in full by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO), despite Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor repeatedly defending the plan as "budget neutral."
New research from the Australian National University, the University of Canberra and the Australian National University indicates that university students may be open to alternative pathways for addressing sexual assault, such as restorative justice, but these options are often difficult to access. The study comes amid renewed scrutiny of how universities handle sexual misconduct, following the Cornell 7 case in the United States.
Victorian Premier Ben Carroll has apologised to the Jewish community for what he said was the state government's inadequate response to the rise in antisemitism following the October 7 2023 attacks. In his first major public address to Melbourne's Jewish community since becoming premier, Carroll told students at Mount Scopus Memorial College that it was his personal mission to rebuild the relationship between Australia and its Jewish people.
Matildas star Mary Fowler has pulled out of upcoming international friendlies against Germany and Haiti citing unexplained personal circumstances, with reports linking her absence to a visit to Sydney to be with her partner, NRL star Nathan Cleary, as he recovers from a career-threatening broken leg.
Victoria recorded 632 drug overdose deaths last year, the highest number since the Coroner's Court began collecting data in 2000, with a sharp rise in fatalities among men aged 45 to 54 driving the state's drug-related deaths to their highest levels since the late 1990s heroin glut.
New data shows a jump in Australian home building in the June quarter, but the Labor government is still about 100,000 dwellings behind the pace needed to reach its 1.2 million home target over five years, and experts caution that deteriorating economic conditions could slow future projects.
The Australian government has announced that current and former Defence personnel may apply to have historical homosexual convictions expunged from their service records, and will issue a formal apology later this year for the persecution of LGBTQ+ members of the Australian Defence Force.
Benjamin Wen, a former Perth child psychiatrist, has been jailed for 10 years and six months for sexually abusing young patients under the guise of routine "puberty checks" at his Cockburn clinic between 2012 and 2016.
Comedian Dave Hughes says he will stop speaking at Victorian Liberal Party events after the party decided his unpaid appearances could breach the state's political donation laws. A report to the Victorian Electoral Commission raised concerns that the market value of his speaking services constitutes an in-kind donation that exceeds the legal cap.
Former Bishop of Broome Christopher Saunders has been sentenced to six years and six months in prison for sexually abusing two young Aboriginal men over a decade, in a case that has made him one of Australia's most senior Catholic clergymen convicted of child sexual abuse.
Paringa Estate, the Red Hill South restaurant and vineyard on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, has been awarded a score of 14.5 out of 20 in an updated review by the Good Food Guide, as published by Nine newspapers.
About 700 people gathered at Bondi Pavilion at dawn on the third anniversary of the October 7 attacks on Israel, where Israel's ambassador to Australia drew a direct line between the Nova festival massacre and December's Bondi terrorist attack.
Bear's Wine Bar in North Melbourne has received a score of 13.5 out of 20 in the Good Food Guide, according to a review published across Nine newspapers.
An 18-year-old Paralowie man has been arrested and charged with the abduction of a child following an alleged attempted abduction on Monday evening. Police said the man picked up a young girl who was walking with a couple on Niven Drive at Paralowie and carried her a short distance before releasing her.
Australian adults can again access Pornhub after its parent company, Aylo, implemented age-checking via Apple's device-level verification, ending a seven-month block imposed over compliance with national online safety codes.
Australia's High Court has delivered a landmark judgment in the nation's first climate change case, ruling that planning authorities must consider the local environmental effects of greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel projects, including those generated when coal is burned overseas. The 3-2 decision upheld a NSW Court of Appeal ruling that overturned MACH Energy's proposed expansion of its Mount Pleasant coalmine in the Hunter Valley.
The High Court has invalidated approval for a major coal mine expansion in New South Wales, ruling that planning authorities failed to ensure greenhouse gas emissions from coal burned overseas were minimised. The decision has drawn sharp political reactions, with the federal opposition calling for urgent legislative intervention and environment groups hailing a landmark climate precedent.
Australian Formula 1 driver Oscar Piastri has endured a difficult 2026 season, going more than a year without a race win and sitting seventh in the drivers championship. But Damon Hill, the 1996 world champion, believes Piastri can still become a world champion if he is in the right environment, potentially at McLaren.
Richard Morecroft, the former ABC news presenter who became a photographer and conservationist, has died at 70. Nine newspapers have republished a 2022 Good Weekend profile recounting his meeting with partner Alison Mackay on a diving boat at Cape Tribulation in 1990 and their subsequent courtship by fountain-pen correspondence.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has pushed back against claims from Australia's peak business body that the Coalition's migration policy is a "flat tyre", as the plan to slash net overseas migration to 100,000 per year comes under fire from industry and Labor alike.
Police are preparing a major operation for the second day of the Land Forces international weapons expo at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, after around 2000 anti-war protesters marched through the CBD on Monday night. Meanwhile, beaches in the Town of Cambridge have reopened following the removal of a humpback whale carcass that caused unsafe bacteria levels in the water.
A whale watching cruise shifted into an impromptu rescue operation after a jetski capsized, according to reports carried by several Australian news organisations. No further details on the location, those involved or any injuries have been released.
The last complainant in the trial of former broadcaster Alan Jones has begun giving evidence in court.
The federal and NSW governments have committed more than $1.2 billion to upgrade regional roads across New South Wales, including a corridor used to transport wind turbines between Newcastle and Dubbo and routes serving the state's south-west and New England regions.