Sydney news

Test fast bowler Mitchell Starc takes four wickets and Steve Smith scores 72 as the Blues score a 156-run win over South Australia.

A map outlining an extended contamination zone stemming from a toxic leak at Williamtown is expected to be released today.

Scientific modelling shows any oil spill in the Great Australian Bight would devastate southern Australia's fishing and tourism industries, the Wilderness Society says as it warns of the ramifications of letting BP set up offshore wells.

Nearly 11,000 Lake Macquarie residents have signed a petition against the closure of two local motor registries.

A rare flower only found near Sandy Hollow in the Upper Hunter has flourished, exciting botanists and bushwalkers alike.

Lawyers say the continued detention without charge of a teenager arrested in counter-terrorism raids this week could constitute a form of torture, lawyers say.

There were dramatic scenes at a Hobart service station which caught fire last night, closing streets on the city's eastern shore.

A rare Australian proof penny valued at $1.4 million will be put on public display in Sydney for the first time.

An independent review into the training of new doctors at the Canberra Hospital confirms a culture accepting of bullying, discrimination and harassment.

Scientists predict the world's third mass coral bleaching will happen early next year and damage about 38 per cent of the world's coral reefs.

Fugitive drug trafficker Bernd Neumann,who has been camping in bushland in Queensland,is recaptured 20 months after he fled from guards during a supervised sporting event.

The Department of Primary Industries is investigating illegal fishing activities on the Upper Hunter's Glenbawn Dam after several illegal fishing nets were discovered there.

A Hobart teenager is in a stable condition in hospital with upper body burns after his campfire exploded last night on Bruny Island.

The Sisters of Mercy will be acknowledged for more than a century of service in the western Queensland town of Winton this weekend.

Work to design a major road upgrade and cycleway for the Hunter Valley's Hermitage Road has gone to tender.

The luxury liner Queen Elizabeth will be among nine cruise ships that will visit the Port of Newcastle during the upcoming cruise ship season.

A body found in Melbourne's east is believed to be missing woman Penny Bailey, police say, as her son remains in hospital following his arrest.

The Newcastle Permanent has released its results for the last financial year, saying home loan portfolio growth has exceeded 50 per cent in the past 12 months.

The Orange City Council says it will push ahead with a major upgrade of a sporting facility if it is unsuccessful in getting to host a centre of excellence for cricket.

The owners of a Northern Territory packing shed buy the marketing rights to one of Australia's most popular mango varieties.

Unions are making another attempt to challenge hundreds of job cuts at energy companies just days before affected staff are due to be notified.

The mayor of Goulburn Geoff Kettle says a new neighbourhood retail centre will help cater for the fastest-growing part of the city.

The New South Wales Attorney General says the expanded capability of the new Newcastle courthouse will not affect the viability of the region's smaller justice facilities.

Adelaide is invited to join an international network of cities renowned for hosting the biggest and best festivals.

A short story by seminal Australian author Patrick White, awarded the country's first Nobel Prize for literature in 1973, has been transformed into a theatre production for the first time.

Controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders has his Australian visa granted, allowing him to travel to Perth in just over a week to launch an Australian anti-Islam party.

Jamie Maclaren struck a brace on his Roar debut as Brisbane accounted for the Wanderers 3-1 in an action-packed season opener.

A search is underway for a hunter missing in the outback in the east of Western Australia since yesterday.

Former Brisbane Lions AFL player Jason Roe receives an 18-month suspended sentence in the Northern Territory for buying and selling more than 700 grams of cannabis.

A body found in Melbourne's east is believed to be missing woman Penny Bailey, police say.

An 18-year-old man arrested in connection with a terrorist shooting outside New South Wales Police headquarters in Parramatta will be kept in custody for a further 100 hours.

Driver David Reynolds is rebuked and fined $25,000 for "disgraceful and completely unacceptable" comments made about all-female Bathurst team Simona de Silvestro and Renee Gracie.

Controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders claims to have had his Australian visa granted, meaning he will be able to travel to Perth in just over a week to launch an Australian anti-Islam party.

Traditional owners in Kakadu prepare to assess the damage from a fire that threatened important cultural sites, after authorities extinguish the blaze.

A former Tasmanian teacher and fitness instructor is sentenced to seven years in prison for sexually abusing boys under the pretext of helping them with their health and fitness.

Tune in and follow the latest updates from the A-League season opener between the Western Sydney Wanderers and Brisbane Roar at Parramatta Stadium.

Organisers of the Royal Launceston Show hope a renewed focus on agriculture will help to improve crowd numbers.

Once a month, a group of volunteers led by ornithologist Lindsay Smith heads out to the continental shelf in the Southern Ocean, off the New South Wales coast, to tag albatross.

There are no current plans to use the ADF's only Indian Ocean naval base, HMAS Stirling, as a base for US warships and submarines, a federal parliamentary inquiry is told.

The transport union says it is disappointed some peak transport industry bodies are not supporting a move for a minimum rate to be established for owner-operator truck drivers.

A toddler who had his head and neck separated in a car crash in northern NSW is doing well after having spinal surgery in Brisbane's Lady Cilento Children's Hospital.

A former Hobart lord mayor calls for a review of a $45,000 annual meal allowance on which city councillors can dine together after their fortnightly meetings.

The debilitating soil-borne disease Panama tropical race 4 (TR4) has struck a third time in the Tully Valley.

More than 200 artists contribute exhibits for the TARNANTHI Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art.

Some of Australia's best surrealist artists are on show at the National Gallery of Victoria, highlighting the influence of surrealism on popular culture, including fashion, film and performance.

In a former house in regional New South Wales there are a group of people who work in a special part of the mental health field.

There are many aspects to mental health care but a lesser known area is occupational therapy.

Local residents north-west of Melbourne want state environment department workers held accountable after a planned fuel reduction burn ran out of control and destroyed at least two houses. The Victorian Government has called an inquiry into the fire.

Bottle shops owners in the north-west Queensland city of Mount Isa introduce strict sale conditions to tackle public drunkenness.

Tumbling nickel prices are eating into miner profits with about 60 per cent of global producers now losing moneybut one investment bank believes there is a turnaround in sight.