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2073 articles · page 28 of 44
The federal budget deficit for 2025-26 came in at $22.3 billion, $6 billion better than forecast, as Treasurer Jim Chalmers sought to frame Tuesday's expected interest rate rise as the product of Middle East conflict and high oil prices rather than government spending or wage growth.
· 12 sourcesDean Jason Milley, a 53-year-old man from Longwarry in Victoria's Latrobe Valley, has been sentenced to prison after he was caught offering vapes and money to teenage boys in exchange for child sex abuse material, the County Court heard. Judge Diana Manova described his conversations with victims as 'highly sexualised and depraved'.
Fremantle's signature "Wharfie Time" fan activation backfired spectacularly in the AFL Grand Final on Saturday, inspiring Brisbane to a remarkable come-from-behind victory that delivered the Lions a second three-peat and extended the Dockers' premiership drought to 32 years.
· 3 sourcesThe 31-tonne humpback whale carcass that drew great white sharks dangerously close to shore at Perth's City Beach has been removed, but the beach remains closed to the public as shark activity persists. A large crane was required after an excavator brought in on Wednesday could not safely lift the carcass.
· 13 sourcesLabor's Cameron Maclean has been elected lord mayor of Parramatta by a single vote after Tanya Raffoul, the councillor who quit the Liberal Party hours earlier over its links to One Nation, used her vote to back him at a testy and tearful council meeting on Monday.
· 5 sourcesARL Commission chairman Peter V'landys personally intervened to save thousands of Newcastle Knights fans from a travel nightmare, securing NSW Premier Chris Minns's agreement to scrap planned trackwork on the Newcastle-to-Sydney line as Sunday's NRL grand final sold out on Monday morning.
· 5 sourcesA former NSW police officer on trial for murdering Sydney couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies discussed with a friend how he would dispose of a body if he killed someone, a court has heard. Beau Lamarre-Condon asked Georgia Cook over dinner in May 2023 whether she would help hide a body, and later outlined a plan to dump belongings and hide bodies in bushland.
· 6 sourcesThe number of registered rooming houses in Victoria has jumped nearly 19% over the past year to more than 2,040, as former residents and advocates warn the system is failing vulnerable tenants with limited privacy and scant access to support services.
· 3 sourcesMike Baird has resigned as chair of Cricket Australia after his home state, New South Wales, withdrew support for him over his decision to push ahead with plans to sell Big Bash League clubs. Former Test batsman David Boon will take over as interim chair at next month's annual general meeting, while a search is conducted for a longer-term replacement.
· 3 sourcesBritish celebrities who successfully beat back AI companies lobbying for free use of their work are warning Australia to prepare for a similar fight, as the Albanese government considers copyright reforms that could allow artificial intelligence systems to train on creative content without permission or payment.
· 2 sourcesPremier Ben Carroll has announced an $80 million election pledge to duplicate the Upfield line in Melbourne’s north, promising to increase train capacity by 50 per cent, while delaying the removal of eight level crossings on the line until 2033, saving the state budget $686 million.
· 7 sourcesA new dedicated service will open in New South Wales to support sexual assault victim-survivors as they navigate the legal system, following a case in which one woman spent more than two years prosecuting her former partner.
· 2 sourcesTreasurer Jim Chalmers is set to reveal a $6 billion improvement to the federal government's forecast deficit, offering a brighter budget outlook ahead of a widely expected Reserve Bank interest rate hike. The announcement comes as the government and opposition stake out positions on regulating artificial intelligence following the recent OpenAI agent hack, with Finance Minister Katy Gallagher pledging legislative guardrails by year-end and Shadow Defence Minister James Paterson urging caution against excessive penalties.
· 10 sourcesWith months until the Victorian state election, AI-generated deepfake videos are already appearing in paid advertising, depicting events that never happened. Researchers warn that these deepfakes are becoming increasingly difficult to detect and could erode public trust in democracy, with approximately one in four people unable to distinguish them from authentic footage.
A decade after a violent spring storm plunged South Australia into darkness, cutting electricity to more than 850,000 properties and about 1.7 million people, the political debate over the state's energy system remains live.
· 2 sourcesThe Reserve Bank board will convene from this afternoon for a two-day meeting that is almost certain to result in a fourth interest rate rise this year, lifting the cash rate to 4.6 per cent. The decision, due at 2:30pm Tuesday, comes as three new external factors — a Middle Eastern oil supply crisis, reduced migration and potential constraints on AI-driven productivity — pull the inflation outlook in conflicting directions.
· 6 sourcesBillionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart allegedly tried to recruit Liberal National MP Henry Pike to One Nation during a lunch at her Sunshine Coast holiday home, according to Coalition sources cited by ABC's Four Corners program.
One Nation's general manager, Kelvin Morton, referred to David Farley as an 'asshole' in text messages just days before Farley's historic Farrer byelection win in May, documents seen by Guardian Australia reveal.
· 2 sourcesAustralian sport enjoyed a double dose of upsets as Alex de Minaur defeated world No.2 Alexander Zverev at the Laver Cup, while an undermanned Wallabies side stunned the reigning rugby world champions with a four-point victory after receiving four cards.
· 6 sourcesA police officer with only 10 weeks on the job chased an alleged assailant after being stabbed in the neck, the police union has said, describing the officer as 'an absolute hero' who continued the pursuit while holding his neck to stem the bleeding.
· 3 sourcesA magnitude-3.9 earthquake in Victoria's High Country — the most powerful recorded in the area in over a decade — sent rumbles through the East Gippsland valley on Saturday night, shaking homes and prompting hundreds of reports to Geoscience Australia.
ACT Chief Police Officer Scott Lee has warned that outlaw motorcycle gangs are deepening their presence in Canberra, driven by the territory's growing prosperity. With five gangs now established in the capital, Lee is advocating for the introduction of contentious anti-consorting laws to curb their activities.
Dangerous sharks off the New South Wales coast could soon be detected by artificial intelligence, with new government data showing expanded drone surveillance triggered more than 1,200 detections and 360 interventions over winter.
· 6 sourcesThe Brisbane Lions have won the 2026 AFL grand final, defeating the Fremantle Dockers. With less than seven minutes remaining in the final quarter, Lions player Ryan Lester made a decisive tackle on Fremantle's Josh Treacy, preventing what looked certain to be a Fremantle goal. Lester reportedly has little memory of the tackle that helped his team secure the premiership. The Lions are celebrating on Sunday after Saturday's victory.
· 6 sourcesOne Nation could collect as much as $633,000 from people who applied to run in the Victorian state election, with rejected candidates accusing the party of running a 'cash grab' through a 'pay-to-play' application process.
· 2 sourcesThe Reserve Bank is expected to raise interest rates for the third time this year, adding to cost-of-living pressures in Canberra where business sentiment is at its lowest point and fuel prices are the highest of any Australian capital city.
· 2 sourcesConstruction is set to begin imminently on the Gawara Baya wind farm near Mount Fox in north Queensland — the largest wind farm to be built in Australia in two years — but about half the tiny community of 84 residents has formed a group to oppose the development, arguing the push for net zero is destroying their way of life.
· 2 sourcesPrivate colleges across Australia are offering discounts to rush students into the Graduate Diploma of Management (Learning) before the federal government deregisters it in October over fears the course was being used by non-genuine students to remain in the country.
· 3 sourcesThe Victorian government is considering emergency extractions of threatened bird species from the wild to protect them from the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, which is spreading through wild bird populations in the state's northern wetlands.
New South Wales' patient safety agency has prohibited hospitals from using environmentally friendly medical supplies that are standard in every other Australian state and territory, mandating instead single-use products that contribute to landfill and cost taxpayers millions annually.
· 3 sourcesSam Curulli, the former deputy CEO of the Shire of Coorow, has been accused by police of continuing to offend after his arrest in March on charges of attempting to gain benefit by fraud, corruption and stealing.
· 3 sourcesGrand final hero Logan Morris has revealed he played through a stress fracture in his back and barely trained in recent months as Brisbane stunned Fremantle to win their third straight AFL premiership — making him the first AFL footballer to win a flag in each of his first three seasons.
· 9 sourcesFremantle's devastated players have begun the long road to recovery after their inexplicable grand final collapse, with coach Justin Longmuir urging his team to 'sit in the grief' following Brisbane's extraordinary four-minute heist that secured the Lions' third consecutive premiership. The Dockers led by 17 points with just over four minutes remaining before the Lions staged a remarkable comeback at the MCG in front of 100,023 fans.
· 8 sourcesA jury has been shown 14,000 hours of CCTV footage, heard testimony about a shopping trip and three gunshots in the trial of former New South Wales police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon, who is accused of murdering Sydney couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies.
· 3 sourcesKylie Minogue took to the MCG stage for the AFL Grand Final pre-game entertainment on Saturday, delivering a 20-minute set of career-spanning hits while braving rainy conditions in front of more than 100,000 fans.
The number of Queensland children known to the child protection system who died has surged nearly 60 per cent year-on-year, with 91 deaths recorded in the 2025–26 financial year – the highest figure in five years, according to the Queensland Family and Child Commission's annual report released Friday.
New data shows Victoria's crime rate fell 3.8 per cent in the year to June, the first sign of a sustained plateau after years of rising offences, but the political crisis over community safety shows little sign of easing as a state election looms.
AI infrastructure company Firmus Technologies appears to have conducted illegal excavation work at its proposed 52-megawatt data centre site in Wesley Vale, Tasmania, without necessary permits, according to Latrobe Council. The council says the work may go beyond an approved forest practices plan, and the company has agreed to cease operations while assessments are carried out.
· 2 sourcesThe Mary River in south-east Queensland, described as one of the most degraded rivers on Australia's east coast, is showing signs of recovery thanks to decades of restoration work by landholders and the Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee (MRCCC), which has completed more than 850 projects to improve water quality and reduce erosion.
· 2 sourcesBruce Pascoe, the author of the landmark and controversial book Dark Emu, is bracing for another round of heated debate with the release of his new work, The European Mind: Colonialism, Capitalism, Christianity and How to Recover, in which he blames Western institutions for racism and dispossession. Pascoe has expressed hope that the discussion will be marked by 'decency and intellectual curiosity' rather than the bitter storm that followed his earlier book.
The New South Wales government's crackdown on 'AI-doctored' rental listings has suffered an embarrassing setback after a property advertisement it flagged as a deceptive, AI-manipulated image turned out to be a genuine photograph of a $5,000 courtyard mural.
· 2 sourcesThe long-awaited trial of former New South Wales police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon began Monday in Sydney, with the accused pleading not guilty to the murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies. The court heard that Lamarre-Condon entered Baird's Paddington home disguised as an UberEats driver before firing three shots from his service weapon.
The 2026 NRL Premiership finals continue with two Week 2 fixtures this weekend, followed by a Week 3 showdown in Brisbane next week, as confirmed by published match schedules.
· 8 sourcesKirk Osborne, facing 22 domestic violence charges, has told a court he never intended to 'prostitute' his ex-wife out after posting her dating profile online with the caption 'have a crack'.
· 3 sourcesA Sydney man has become the first person jailed under Australia's new mandatory minimum sentencing laws for performing a Nazi salute, after he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment on Friday. Nathan Ballesty, 36, pleaded guilty to the salute charge along with six counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend, and one count of contravening a police order.
The traditional friendly wager between the premiers of Western Australia and Queensland ahead of Saturday's AFL grand final appears to have been called off, with both leaders reportedly too busy to place a bet.
· 3 sourcesThe grieving father of a five-day-old boy who died in 2023 has rejected a Queensland coronial inquest's conclusion that the death was not preventable, vowing to apply to have the findings set aside and calling for greater transparency in maternity care.
The former foster carers of an eight-month-old Ballarat baby who died just days after being returned to her biological parents say the child protection system failed her. The baby, identified only as Mia, had been in foster care since three weeks old after presenting with signs of traumatic injury including bruising. She was returned to her biological parents following a court-ordered parenting assessment, but died three days later.