Sydney news

A Port Stephens resident says he is alarmed locals have started removing healthy trees from their properties since council endorsed an amendment to its Development Control Plan.

Members of the Hunter's mining community will gather in Cessnock tomorrow for the 20th annual Memorial Day Service to remember those who have died in mining accidents.

Queensland Liberal MP George Christensen rejects the idea of resettling any Syrian refugees in his Mackay electorate, saying they could take jobs otherwise done by "locals".

Police are claiming a major victory in the fight against illegal drug supply in the Newcastle region, after a series of raids on properties across the city uncovered drugs and guns.

SA Health says it will look to replace a group of doctors in the state's south-east after negotiations failed to resolve a contract dispute.

The West Coast Eagles vault into AFL premiership favouritism after demolishing Hawthorn by 32 points at Subiaco Oval.

The Melbourne Storm show their NRL finals pedigree to upset the Sydney Roosters 18-16 to reach the preliminary finals.

Sydney Roosters full-back Roger Tuivasa-Sheck wins the Warren Ryan Medal following an outstanding performance during the 26 rounds of the 2015 NRL season.

The first Indigenous Australian to play professional football in WA is to be honoured after lying in an unmarked grave for nearly 80 years.

Part of the weapon used by Simon Rochford in the killing of his girlfriend, and suspected murder of Pamela Lawrence in 1994, is found in police possession after being thought lost for many years.

Hundreds of Queenslanders are ready to open up their homes to the Syrian asylum seekers due to arrive in Australia later this year, Deputy Premier Jackie Trad says.

The principal of Geelong Grammar apologises at the child sex abuse royal commission saying the school "did not listen enough to the child or have a robust enough system to investigate the staff".

Police believe missing young mother Jody Meyers is dead and have identified her partner as a "person of interest" in the investigation.

Grandstand brings you live updates from the NRL finals series, with the Roosters and Storm kicking things off Friday night with their qualifying final.

Follow all the AFL action as it happens in the second qualifying final as the West Coast Eagles host Hawthorn for a spot in the preliminary final.

The family of missing woman Johann Morgan have used her 41st birthday to renew a call for information about her disappearance.

NT authorities say at least 24 fire trucks are battling uncontained blazes burning at a number of locations in Darwin, with three helicopters and small planes doing water drops.

Police ramp up their presence in Subiaco and other Perth entertainment precincts for this weekend's AFL finals double header, as footy fans prepare to get behind the Eagles and Dockers.

Older people with unhealthy diets have smaller brains, according to a new study that researchers say is yet more proof that junk food has a terrible impact on health.

Shantelle Tassone will not give up until she has played netball for Australia. At 15, she has already been picked in Australian schoolgirl squads.

Police believe it is unlikely a woman stabbed at a home in Bendigo, in central Victoria, this morning was the victim of a random attack.

The best way to end the working week. This week's panel were Rob Carlton, Rebecca De Unumuno and Tommy Dean.

A furious resident of a western Sydney street slams the builders of the WestConnex for not warning locals about the discovery of asbestos.

An Alice Springs man who stabbed another man who was cooking at home and then was found eating a sandwich when police arrived is jailed for four years.

With choreographed fights and a raw tale of a refugee's escape from war-torn Congo, Prize Fighter is an in-the-round skilful theatre.

"The grey sand and whistling winds that day made Australia seem further away than ever, even though I knew that if I swam towards that ship and just kept going, eventually I'd hit home."

A Sydney mechanic is attracting a lot of attention as he travels around the country in a 1942 Willys jeep.

The second week of the inquest into the 1969 suspected murder of Lucille Butterworth highlights some of the misleading evidence that plagues the case.

Environment groups urge for a balance between safety and serenity after a coroner recommends the use of drones to check trees in response to the death of a girl in a Victorian park.

The Burnside War Memorial Hospital in Adelaide's east writes to more than 1,600 people about a salmonella outbreak that has led to at least 11 people contracting gastroenteritis.

The first spring orchids have begun emerging in Northcliffe, in areas affected by Western Australia's largest ever bushfire earlier this year.

Canberra's annual flower festival Floriade could move to a new home after nearly 30 years at Commonwealth Park.

A Darwin labour hire company is investing in barrier cream in an effort to protect workers from the effects of mango sap.

With blooms starting to peep through the soil at Floriade, 666 ABC Canberra captured some of the first photos for 2015 festival.

Melbourne is getting a taste of the increasingly bitter taxi rallies seen around the world, as the political quagmire over illegal ride-sharing company UberX continues to cause angst among drivers.

Annual hard rock festival Soundwave will meet its "day of rockoning" on Australia Day 2016, when Finland's Eurovision champs Lordi join the dark legions invading Melbourne Showgrounds.

Melbourne will host another exceptionally strong Saturday of early spring auctions this weekend as the local market continues to surf on solid buyer and seller confidence.

ASX follows Chinese sharemarket lower in a topsy-turvy session.

Australia has a one in three chance of falling into a recession, according to global investment bank Goldman Sachs. 

A tunnel shaft drilled in Sydney's north marks the beginning of excavation work for the nine-kilometre NorthConnex tunnel, which the Government says will relieve the country's "most congested road".

Feuding cane growers and sugar millers both firmly agree a commercially negotiated solution to the current marketing impasse would be better than government intervention.

Thursday looms as the next crunch day for Melbourne's besieged public transport system, which faces the threat of another month of disruptive rail and tram shutdowns.

Liverpool's mayor says the "highly defamatory lies" lodged against him in parliament come from an MP whose son works for a union locked in a dispute with the council.

Twelve performers from a Sydney production of Avenue Q will finally be paid for their work, eight weeks curtains closed on the scandal-plagued production.

Many pilots are frustrated with their ability to receive a promotion to captain due to the seniority system and the lack of growth at local airlines.

The principal of Geelong Grammar has apologised to students who were sexually abused at the prestigious school, which he said failed its duty of care.

Tuggeranong Hawks will be looking to provide a proper send-off for club legends Kurt Masters and Jay Kickett and qualify for their first senior grand final in 17 years on Saturday.

Plans to move Mineral Resources Tasmania to Burnie will go ahead but the State Government confirms no existing staff will be involved in the first stage of the move.

Bee Gee Barry Gibb has received an adoring welcome from fans at the opening of the next stage of a Queensland road named after the iconic band.

Former Turnbull advisor set to face hearing on indecency, drugs charges next year.