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Australian news: federal and state politics, the economy, courts, weather and the stories that matter across the country.
2058 articles · page 18 of 43
Helen Garner's intimate novel "The Spare Room" has been adapted into an opera premiering this week, bringing to the stage her raw account of the three weeks in 2006 when she cared for a friend with terminal cancer.
Australian Theatre for Young People's production of the two-hander musical Islander sees Georgia Laga'aia and Rebecca Ordiz play more than 25 characters between them, in a show that reimagines a Scottish musical as a celebration of Samoan culture.
After the NFL's debut at the Melbourne Cricket Ground drew thousands of American visitors, Melbourne business and sports figures are calling for the city to play a bigger role in Australia's international branding, arguing that national tourism campaigns have long ignored the state in favour of outback icons, the Great Barrier Reef, and Sydney Harbour.
More federal public servants were retrenched in 2025-26 than in the previous three years combined, with total retrenchments nearly quadrupling to 1328, new Australian Public Service employment data shows, yet only 20 of those exits were involuntary.
Australian capital cities are holding vigils on Wednesday to mark the third anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, while pro-Palestine gatherings are also expected. Overseas, a housing protest in Barcelona turned violent after masked demonstrators set cars on fire, a British man was arrested over an alleged plot involving a US airbase, and the White House defended a controversial remark by former President Donald Trump.
Funding for Ask Izzy, an online directory used millions of times by Australians seeking food, housing and emergency assistance, was cut in the May federal budget. Now a coalition of 24 major charities including Mission Australia, Foodbank, OzHarvest and St Vincent de Paul have signed an open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese demanding the government restore the $2 million a year that keeps the service running.
A Perth private paramedic collapsed in Joondalup Magistrates Court on Tuesday after being shown footage of a head-on crash he allegedly caused by driving on the wrong side of the road with unauthorised lights and sirens on his personal car. Jack Dunn, 30, managing director of Rescue Recovery 1, faces charges including aggravated dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
The Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists has issued a fresh warning to patients, saying some are still failing to declare they are taking GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic or Mounjaro before surgery, after a study found users faced an 11-fold increased risk of regurgitation or pulmonary aspiration under general anaesthetic.
The Reserve Bank of Australia does not aim to stop prices from rising, according to a detailed explainer that addresses a common public confusion. The RBA wants inflation of 2.5 per cent each year, meaning the general price level will continue to climb, just at a more moderate pace.
The federal government handed Anthropic a draft of its data centre guidelines while negotiating a deal in which the Claude chatbot maker agreed to follow them, and its own briefing notes record that it consulted the company on the rules' development, documents released under freedom of information laws show. Anthropic denies having any influence on the final document.
Several businesses have cut their ties with a fitness influencer who has been charged with domestic violence offences, according to coverage published across the Australian newspaper network on Tuesday.
Tax changes announced in the May federal budget are set to affect a broad swathe of Australians planning for retirement, with financial advisors warning that many long-established strategies are no longer viable under the new rules.
A Guardian Australia investigation has revealed that unmarked communal graves are being used to bury impoverished Australians at Rookwood Cemetery in western Sydney, in some cases without notifying families. The revelations have prompted widespread political condemnation and an urgent review from the New South Wales government, while cross-party calls grow for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to establish a uniform national standard.
Richard Morecroft, who anchored the ABC's nightly NSW news bulletin for almost two decades, has died at the age of 70 following a cancer diagnosis.
Several Australian news outlets, including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Brisbane Times and WAtoday, are reporting that Matildas star Mary Fowler is taking leave from the national team. No official statement from Football Australia, the Matildas or Fowler has been released, and the reason for the absence and its duration are not yet known.
Australia's Rugby League World Cup campaign faces an unusual threat: not New Zealand, Tonga or Samoa, but the November 1 contract deadline that will see 11 players, including Cameron Munster, Harry Grant, Latrell Mitchell and Sam Walker, hit the open market mid-tournament.
Jaymie Graham, now the coach of North Melbourne, has shared the personal reasons behind his decision to retire from AFL football at age 25 after a 37-game career with West Coast. In a revealing interview, Graham said he and his partner Kasey had taken in his five-year-old sister Candy, and he had become a father to son Hudson, fundamentally shifting his priorities away from the game.
The federal opposition has announced three migration policy proposals that would significantly reduce international student enrolments, including plans to abolish temporary graduate visas. The proposals, revealed by Opposition Leader Angus Taylor on Tuesday, overlap with recent government changes on partner and child visas and onshore applications, but differ in their approach to post-study work rights.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor and outgoing home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam have released the Coalition's detailed plan to reduce immigration levels, a year after Liberal MP Andrew Hastie quit the frontbench to warn the party needed a tougher stance on the issue. The policy is the party's most concrete response yet to a migration debate that has reshaped Australian politics and fuelled the rise of One Nation.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has announced a hardline immigration policy that would cut net overseas migration by 60,000 more than Peter Dutton's 2025 proposal and go beyond even Pauline Hanson's bottom line, reducing temporary visa holders by 650,000 over four years and halving humanitarian places to 10,000 a year.
A gymnastics coach has been stood down from all duties after an alleged physical assault of a child at Splitz Gym in Brisbane's Sumner Park, with Queensland police confirming an investigation is underway.
Western Australia's fisheries minister has ruled out allowing the incidental capture of great white sharks, as the state government boosts its shark mitigation budget by $5 million to nearly double spending on helicopter and drone patrols at Perth beaches.
Comedian Dave Hughes will no longer appear at Victorian Liberal Party events as an entertainer or guest speaker after the party told him his performances would breach the state's political donation laws, raising questions about the use of celebrities in election campaigns.
Peter Manning, the former executive producer of Four Corners and ABC news and current affairs chief who is credited with saving the landmark program from cancellation, has died at the age of 81 after a 60-year career in journalism.
The only health clinic in the remote Northern Territory community of Alpurrurulam has been shut down after two nurses were threatened by residents and had to be escorted from town by police. The closure leaves the 350 residents of the dry community needing to travel 180 kilometres to Camooweal in Queensland for medical care. The incident has also sparked calls for the NT government to reopen a local police station.
The Coalition has unveiled its long-awaited migration plan, completing a three-way contest with the federal government and One Nation over how deeply to cut arrivals. One Nation is promising net negative migration for its first three years, the Coalition would temporarily halve net migration to 100,000 a year, and Labor is committed to returning to a rate of 225,000 a year by 2028.
The world's highest-rated racehorse, Ka Ying Rising, finished a long head second to fellow Everest contender Ninja in a 1000-metre trial at Royal Randwick on Tuesday, but punters kept the Hong Kong superstar at $1.30 favourite for the $20 million Everest on October 17.
The AFL Players' Association has concluded that free agency is underutilised and has not materially impacted competitive balance in the AFL, flagging a potential overhaul of the system as part of negotiations for the league's next collective bargaining agreement.
Alan Jones spent more than $85,000 renovating a teenager's family home before allegedly putting his tongue in the boy's mouth and touching his bottom at the former broadcaster's Fitzroy Falls farm, a Sydney court has heard. The 85-year-old is on trial for 19 counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual touching without consent against five male complainants between 2003 and 2020.
The Wallabies have received a significant boost with Len Ikitau cleared to play in Saturday's Bledisloe Cup opener at Eden Park, overcoming an ankle injury to shift back to inside centre and replace the suspended Hunter Paisami. Meanwhile, Fraser McReight has credited the tough love of former Wallabies coach and now-All Blacks coach Dave Rennie for helping him become a world-class flanker, setting up an unprecedented clash where a former Australian coach leads New Zealand.
Firefighters in southeast Queensland are bracing for two major bushfires at Murphy’s Creek and Seventeen Mile to merge within days, while storms forecast for the region bring the risk of lightning strikes igniting new fires. The blazes, in the Lockyer Valley southwest of Brisbane, have already scorched about 1600 hectares of bush and farmland as of Monday evening.
New North Melbourne coach Jaymie Graham has been officially appointed as the Kangaroos' senior coach, taking over from Alastair Clarkson who was sacked last month amid player confusion over game plan and mixed messaging. Graham, 43, was presented to the media on Tuesday at Arden Street, alongside chief executive Jen Watt, who described him as having 'strong values alignment' with the club.
A 19-year-old woman has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter over the stabbing death of her father on Boxing Day 2022, as prosecutors rejected the lesser plea and prepare for trial in the South Australian Supreme Court.
Pro-Palestinian groups have faced criticism for planning vigils on the third anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel, with NSW Premier Chris Minns labelling the events 'heartless' and 'in poor taste'.
Australian comedian Judith Lucy has publicly revealed she has been diagnosed with breast cancer and will undergo a double mastectomy next week. In a video posted to Instagram, the 58-year-old delivered the news in her trademark deadpan style, calling it a 'not-so-fun update' and urging women to keep up with their mammograms.
Severe thunderstorms have begun moving across South-East Queensland, bringing large hail, damaging winds and the risk of flash flooding, with the Bureau of Meteorology warning the worst is still to come on Tuesday afternoon and evening.
Matildas and Manchester City forward Mary Fowler has withdrawn from the upcoming international friendlies against Germany and Haiti, with Football Australia citing undisclosed personal circumstances. The announcement was made on Tuesday, a day after Fowler made her 100th appearance for Manchester City. The decision comes as her partner, NRL star Nathan Cleary, recovers from surgery on both legs.
Sydney Roosters forward De La Salle Va’a has revealed his desire to make a shock cross-code switch to the NFL, and is poised to ask the premiers for an off-season window to pursue his ambition through the sport’s International Pathways Program.
Police are investigating after a man was found dead inside a unit on North Road in Woodridge, Logan, south of Brisbane on Tuesday morning.
A Gold Coast rugby league club is grappling with the loss of two young players who died by suicide within days of each other, prompting calls for children to seek support if they are struggling.
Former ACT attorney-general Gordon Ramsay has pleaded not guilty to all charges at an arraignment hearing in the ACT Supreme Court, with the trial unlikely to begin before mid-2027 due to court scheduling constraints.
St Kilda's demand for Geelong's first-round draft pick and a player in exchange for Rowan Marshall is driven by the Saints' own ambitions to recruit Brisbane midfielder Sam Marshall, creating a complex three-way trade puzzle that explains the club's ambitious asking price.
The Australian Army soldier killed in a vehicle rollover at a Northern Territory training ground has been identified as Corporal Brendan Hannam, a 28-year-old father of two who served in Afghanistan and trained Ukrainian forces. Chief of Army Susan Coyle described him as a 'much beloved junior leader' who would 'give the shirt off his back for anybody.'
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has unveiled the Coalition’s long-awaited migration policy, pledging to slash net overseas migration to 100,000 in the first two years of a Coalition government — a cut of two-thirds from current levels that he described as “the biggest cut to immigration in the history of this country”. The plan would reduce the number of temporary visa holders by around 650,000 over four years while abolishing temporary graduate visas and halving Australia’s humanitarian intake, but adds 100,000 skilled migrant places.
Firefighters are working to contain bushfires near Toowoomba, Queensland, according to reports published on Monday, 5 October 2026.
Families in rural Australian communities are being locked out of the federal government's Building Early Education Fund (BEEF), according to childcare advocates and residents who gathered at forums in Longreach and Blackall. They say the fund's eligibility criteria exclude council-run and local not-for-profit centres that are the backbone of early childhood education in remote areas.
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has declared his party is driving the political agenda after the Coalition prepared to announce deep cuts to Australia's migration levels, saying the opposition had effectively adopted One Nation's policy.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's popularity has fallen to a new low in the latest opinion poll, according to reports from multiple Australian news outlets.