News without the noise
Australian news: federal and state politics, the economy, courts, weather and the stories that matter across the country.
2056 articles · page 2 of 43
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has described social media as a “business model for hate”, blaming algorithmic rage-bait for toxic politics and abuse aimed at politicians, while a new survey shows half of young Australians now view the United States as a threat rather than a friend.
· 3 sourcesACT Policing has seized more than 40 weapons and made four arrests in Canberra since October 18 as part of a nationwide crackdown called Operation Athena, with one Dunlop gun owner alone surrendering 27 weapons and 4000 rounds of ammunition after compliance checks revealed anomalies.
Sunday night football will become a feature of the AFL fixture in 2027, with a match in the timeslot in each of the first 13 rounds for the first time, and overlapping Sunday games that hurt viewer satisfaction this year will be scrapped.
· 3 sourcesInternal CSIRO messages released under freedom of information laws show the national science agency worked to manage scrutiny of its role helping gas giant Santos investigate an 18-year methane leak at its Darwin LNG plant, prompting critics to say the agency has not been transparent with the public.
· 2 sourcesVendors who sell at auction still achieve a better result than those who accept a pre-auction offer, but the premium has narrowed in both Melbourne and Sydney amid the property downturn, according to Ray White auction data.
· 3 sourcesNew research from the Centre for Public Integrity has found that almost 98 per cent of projects invited to apply under two Albanese government grants programs ultimately received taxpayer money, raising fresh questions about whether departmental checks provide a meaningful safeguard against politically motivated spending.
· 3 sourcesBrendan Nugent, the man accused of driving into federal MP Helen Haines, remains in custody on charges including intentionally causing serious injury. Haines, 65, remains in a serious but stable condition at Melbourne's Alfred hospital after losing both legs in the October 19 incident outside her Wangaratta electorate office.
· 5 sourcesAustralian households are paying 23% more for goods and services than they were at the end of 2021, with electricity, insurance and supermarket staples among the steepest increases, an analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows.
The American businessman suing West Australian Labor MP Jagadish Krishnan over an alleged $1 million unpaid loan claims he spent thousands of dollars on the politician's accommodation, a limousine ride and an evening Hudson River cruise during a May 2024 trip to the US, as Krishnan faced questions over whether he met his parliamentary gift and travel disclosure obligations.
· 13 sourcesA man has been arrested over the alleged stalking of members of parliament, according to reports published on 27 October 2026.
· 4 sourcesA lawyer for a now-19-year-old woman has argued the court cannot rule out that she acted in excessive self-defence or was goaded when she fatally stabbed her father at his Adelaide home on Boxing Day 2022. The woman, who was 16 at the time, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but not guilty to murder, a plea not accepted by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
· 2 sourcesGreens leader David Shoebridge faced embarrassment on Wednesday when the Russian ambassador attended his National Press Club address, where he reiterated his party's refusal to provide military aid to Ukraine. Shoebridge said he did not invite Ambassador Mikhail Petrakov and considered him unwelcome, but doubled down on the Greens' policy of withholding weapons, prompting sharp criticism from Labor, the Coalition and Ukraine's envoy.
· 2 sourcesThe Victorian government has announced a major shake-up to disability support in mainstream schools, cutting $3400 per eligible student each year and tightening eligibility criteria. The changes, delivered in a letter to school leaders late on Tuesday just six weeks before the end of the school year, have devastated families and drawn fierce criticism from principals and disability advocates, who say they were not consulted.
· 4 sourcesA damning new report prepared for the Albanese government has found almost two-thirds of homelessness providers are turning away Australians in need, with some services handing out tents instead of accommodation as the housing crisis pushes frontline services towards collapse.
· 2 sourcesA Perth man has been sentenced to nine months imprisonment after RSPCA inspectors uncovered a large scale puppy farm in Canning Vale, with the court estimating his operation generated an estimated $1 million in sales between 2021 and 2025.
· 2 sourcesNRL executive chairman Peter V'landys has travelled to Hong Kong and China on a private trip that sources say is primarily aimed at buying equipment directly from suppliers for his planned NRL Land entertainment centre in Sydney, though the visit has also sparked speculation about advancing the code's global round concept.
· 2 sourcesKurtley Beale has been recalled to the Wallabies for the first time in five years, with the 37-year-old selected as a shock replacement for Hunter Paisami in Australia's spring tour squad for next month's four-Test tour of the UK.
· 3 sourcesVictoria's opposition Coalition has pledged to double planned fuel-reduction burns and process timber from state-managed bushland at local sawmills in a forest management policy released ahead of next month's state election.
· 2 sourcesSelf-proclaimed Australian ISIS commander Isaac El Matari is set to be released from prison this Sunday after serving a five-year sentence, despite authorities' power to seek an extension of his detention. The Australian Federal Police is seeking court-imposed restrictions, while the Department of Home Affairs has not applied for a continued detention order that could have kept him behind bars for up to another five years.
Neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell has pleaded guilty to violent disorder over the attack on the Indigenous protest site Camp Sovereignty in Melbourne in August 2025, but argues he was provoked and that the violence was not targeted at Aboriginal people.
· 5 sourcesThe federal government wants to ban AI chatbots that seek to create "emotional intimacy", after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warned that children are treating such agents as their "best friend". The proposal comes as a new online safety standards bill passed the lower house.
· 2 sourcesUgari Nona has resigned as chair of NPA Family and Community Services after a Four Corners investigation exposed serious governance and child-safety failures at the operator's Injinoo Child Care Centre in Far North Queensland, where a former worker was jailed for assaulting three boys.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff has backed Tasmania's proposed ban on conversion practices after recommending a series of amendments, as debate ran late in the House of Assembly and Labor accused some Liberal MPs of using “children and faith to attack vulnerable Tasmanians.”
· 3 sourcesA man accusing Alan Jones of indecent assault has told a court he lied to police about the timing of an unrelated assault by a different person, but maintains the broadcaster kissed and touched him when he was 17. Complainant A finished giving evidence in Mr Jones's judge-alone criminal trial, which has been delayed until November 2 due to illness in the defence team.
· 3 sourcesEmmy-nominated New Zealand actor Melanie Lynskey is set to play convicted triple murderer Erin Patterson in a new Paramount+ limited series, Mushroom Murders: There's More to Unearth, just as Victoria's highest court prepares to rule on Patterson's appeals against her conviction and sentence.
· 9 sourcesA draft rule from the Australian Energy Market Commission that would let gas networks recover more of their costs from today's customers has drawn opposition from consumer advocates and the energy regulator, who warn households left on gas could face higher bills as the customer base shrinks.
· 2 sourcesUluṟu keeps surprising its visitors. Research cited in a new travel feature on the destination found 72 per cent of recent guests said it offered more to do than they expected, and more than half said they would stay longer if they were planning the trip again. The most common advice for first-timers: allow at least four nights.
· 2 sourcesAustralian shares surrendered an early gain of almost 1% to finish flat on Wednesday after stronger-than-expected inflation pushed market expectations of a Reserve Bank interest rate rise next week to nearly 90%. The S&P/ASX 200 closed at 8,847 points, with gains in mining shares offset by weakness in energy stocks and retailers.
· 23 sourcesThe federal government has conditionally invested $180 million in the Donald Rare Earth and Minerals Sands Project planned for western Victoria, backing a mine that local farmers say will destroy prime agricultural land. Two federal agencies, the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation and Export Finance Australia, have issued conditional approval for up to $110 million and $70 million respectively for the joint venture between locally registered Astron Corporation and United States uranium giant Energy Fuels, which has already contributed $183 million.
· 2 sourcesAustralia is on track for a sixth consecutive year of rising road fatalities, with deaths to the end of September already the highest recorded in 15 years, reversing decades of steady safety improvements. The trend has pushed the country further from its national target of halving road deaths by 2030 and reaching zero by 2050.
· 2 sourcesIsraelis voted on Wednesday in their first national election since the October 7 attacks, and with polls just closed, early exit polls indicated the opposition bloc of parties edging slightly ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition, according to Australian reports; RTÉ described the blocs as even. In Australia, federal politicians are set to receive a security boost that could include wider use of emergency alarms, as the government fast-tracks a review following last week's attack on independent MP Helen Haines.
· 10 sourcesAustralia's openers Travis Head and Matt Renshaw made a cautious but promising start in their chase of South Africa's 329 on day two of the third Test at Newlands, reaching 0-26 after seven overs with the series tied at 1-1.
· 20 sourcesThe New South Wales government has reversed a key provision of its new plastic waste law, abandoning a requirement that would have forced cafes to offer dine-in customers reusable glassware or crockery by 2030, Environment Minister Penny Sharpe announced on Wednesday.
· 4 sourcesA 46-year-old man has been charged with allegedly fabricating an injury and lodging a fraudulent compensation claim following the Bondi Beach massacre last December, in what police say was an attempt to obtain financial advantage from the worst terror attack in Australian history.
· 9 sourcesNew research from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study estimates that one in four young Australians have experienced physical abuse at the hands of their parents, with most cases occurring before the age of ten. The study highlights that physical abuse is overwhelmingly perpetrated by family members rather than institutional figures, challenging the common focus on abuse outside the home.
Billionaire businessman Clive Palmer secured a personal audience with Queensland Premier David Crisafulli over a “matter of commercial significance” related to his interests in the state, but the details have been blocked from public release under Right to Information laws. Documents obtained by Brisbane Times show only a single text message was released, with key segments redacted as “contrary to the public interest,” and no correspondence or records of three diarised meetings were found.
· 2 sourcesRising costs, sperm shortages and long wait times are driving some Australian parents who need assisted reproductive technology to abandon regulated IVF clinics in favour of private donor agreements and at-home insemination, a practice experts say carries significant legal and health risks due to a lack of mandatory checks.
· 2 sourcesSam Walker plans to see out the remaining year of his Roosters contract next season despite the spectacular breakdown of extension talks that saw the club pull a three-year, $4.2 million offer. The development comes as Hudson Young is set to become a free agent after the Raiders withdrew their contract offer, with both stars among the most in-demand players expected to be available when the November 1 transfer window opens.
· 9 sourcesIn a strongly worded opinion piece published across Nine newspapers, academic and writer Kylie Moore-Gilbert argues that the rise of AI-generated content and bot-driven disinformation is undermining Australian democracy and that current regulatory attempts, such as the Digital Duty of Care Act, are only a baby step toward addressing the fundamental disconnect between online and offline speech. She connects the recent attack on independent MP Helen Haines to an online environment she describes as a profit-driven Wild West.
· 2 sourcesIndependent MP Allegra Spender has carried her campaign against the government's startup capital gains tax changes into Parliament, proposing a simpler 40 per cent discount for active business assets in place of the 'innovative business' carve-out Treasurer Jim Chalmers introduced this week.
· 2 sourcesThe Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has reinstated mutual obligation requirements for Centrelink job seekers, effective immediately, warning that recipients who fail to comply risk having their payments suspended or cancelled. The move comes as the government invites more than 50,000 welfare recipients to apply for compensation after an investigation found hundreds of payments were unlawfully stopped.
· 2 sourcesFor couples considering a final holiday before a baby arrives, known as a babymoon, the second trimester is the ideal window, according to Sydney obstetrician Dr Sarah Ooi and travel writer Kate Allman, who recently spent five days at the InterContinental Hayman Great Barrier Reef at 26 weeks pregnant. The article, originally published as an opinion piece, offers practical advice on timing, health precautions, airline policies and travel insurance.
· 2 sourcesA Western Australian journalist has described an uphill battle to obtain basic information from government and institutions, arguing that transparency in the state has actually never been worse despite the government once billing itself as the 'gold standard' of openness. In an opinion piece published October 28, WAtoday journalist Hannah Murphy detailed multiple instances where authorities refused or obstructed requests for information the public had a right to know.
· 2 sourcesPersonal finance columnist Noel Whittaker has said unresolved problems in the federal government's capital gains tax overhaul mean estates could face tax on deferred gains, with the July 1, 2027 start date now eight months away and promised fixes still not delivered.
· 2 sourcesTwo Victorian public servants found by the state's anti-corruption watchdog to have attempted to conceal that almost $260 million in COVID-19 grants were paid to ineligible businesses now hold senior management positions at the National Disability Insurance Agency, the agency that administers the $50 billion NDIS.
· 4 sourcesLiberal-National MP Garth Hamilton has called for a rethink of pre-poll voting at federal elections, including potentially shortening the time booths are open, citing security concerns for voters and volunteers in the wake of the alleged attack on independent MP Helen Haines.
· 2 sourcesWestern Australia will open consultation on Wednesday on safety standards for plug-in 'balcony solar' panels and batteries, moving a step closer to becoming the first state to legalise the technology. Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson will announce the plan at a CEDA Energy Outlook lunch, with legislation to follow after the consultation.
· 6 sourcesGreens leader David Shoebridge will use his first address to the National Press Club today to unveil a $22 billion annual tax plan, proposing to lift the tax-free threshold to $26,000 and increase welfare payments, as official inflation data is expected to show prices rose 4.2 per cent over the past year, increasing pressure on the Reserve Bank to lift interest rates next week.
· 9 sources