Sydney news

Fortescue Metals Group is repaying debt worth $US750million ($1.07 billion) as part of its efforts to reduce interest costs.

The 12 per cent of adults who continue to smoke must carry the financial burden of the quitters, the leaners, who butt out and deny the Treasury its due.

Sam Burgess arrives "home" in Sydney insisting his stint in English rugby union was not a failure.

The pain may not let up next year for metallurgical coal producers from Australia to the US as quarterly contract prices are forecast to remain at a record low.

Fabulous views, tick. Wonderful architecture, tick. Magical space, tick. So what's left to make prestige property-lovers really sit up and take note? A glorious pool.

Auckland house prices now exceed nine times the income of residents, making the city one of the most expensive in the world, the RBNZ said.

Paint and building products maker Dulux is confident of further profit growth after recording a solid lift in full-year earnings.

Satire: Australians were madly rushing to clear up empty beer bottles and stray bongs this morning after the landlord announced a last-minute rental inspection.

Sam Burgess has flown back into Sydney to rejoin his old club South Sydney, rejecting criticism over his departure from Bath rugby union.

The "secret sister" scheme promises a bounty of gifts for anyone who passes along the Facebook post.

The Minister for Local Government has been presented with a plan to create three "super councils" covering the Central Coast to Port Stephens.

A booming black market for infant formula has left mothers around the country scouring supermarkets for the remaining tins.

Housing affordability concerns across the globe are pushing some of our urban planners, designers and architects to think increasingly outside the square when it comes to alternative housing solutions.

Police identify skeletal remains found in bush near the WA town of Broome as those of Queensland man Brian Pedder, who arrived in the Kimberley late last year.

Australian mangoes are destined for more overseas markets with a plan to double export value by 2020, but there is criticism of constraints in the new US market.

The $1 billion pipeline to bring NT's natural gas into NSW is now almost certain to become a reality, says Central Petroleum's MD Richard Cottee.

Land prices in Balwyn have leapfrogged ahead of the traditionally more prestigious neighbouring suburbs as buyers battle to live in the coveted Balwyn High School zone.

The 108 men of D Company 6RAR who stood their ground against seemingly impossible odds in the Battle of Long Tan will be honoured at Remembrance Day commemorations at Caloundra.

AGL said concerns about fugitive methane emissions from its Gloucester operations have been 'comprehensively addressed'

An archaeologist is leading a team of researchers to study the impacts of gold mining on the state's river systems.

Online travel group Webjet says strong growth in all of its business units should power a 20 per cent jump in pretax profit this year.

While the CIA's interrogation methods have attracted condemnation, there has been but a muffled squeak over children with autism being locked up in our primary schools.

A man blows off the fingertips of his right hand with some type of explosive in Perth.

The Canberra Innovation Network says it is confident the ACT could become a hub for start-up businesses in Australia.

A member of Victoria's wild dog advisory committee says the State Government must retain the group.

Blackall State High School students in Queensland's central west have filled their teachers with pride by telling the previously unknown story of an outback nurse.

Regional NSW is calling for new residents as part of the "Evocities" campaign.

The head of a committee examining mental health effects of FIFO lifestyle is dismayed at Colin Barnett's decision to extend the lease of a Pilbara work camp.

Nothing can console a parent over the death of their child, but knowing her son's organs saved five other people helps Angela Van Goor feel her son did not die in vain.

West Australian Opposition Leader Mark McGowan takes a swipe at Federal Labor figure Joe Bullock, over the former factional heavyweight's public criticism of "internal party matters".

Confusion over the Barnett Government's Perth Freight Link project deepens, with the Transport Minister and Premier at odds over when trucking operators will be hit with a toll.

The Returned Services League is reviving a past era in the hope Adelaide will come to a virtual standstill at 11:00am to mark Remembrance Day.

A New South Wales north coast surfing club criticises the State Government on what they say has been slow action on shark-deterrent technology, in the wake of a serious attack on a young surfer who remains in an induced coma.

An anti-smoking campaigner says Wagga Wagga City Council has missed an opportunity to take the lead on the issue in New South Wales.

Riot police reportedly used tear gas and rubber bullets to restore order at the Christmas Island detention centre after a violent stand-off between authorities and detainees. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says the detainees in the centre, whether asylum seekers or New Zealand citizens under deportation orders, have been assessed as high risk, and that police used appropriate force in quelling the uprising.

An extremely early Western Australian cherry season has begun, following a recent spell of warm weather in the Great Southern and south west of the state.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau will begin its onsite investigations this morning into a fatal helicopter crash in the Hunter Valley.

Vandals break into a railway station in Melbourne's north-east, starting a train and derailing it, "destroying everything in its path".

Zinc dropped to the lowest since 2009, leading declines in industrial metals after weaker-than-expected inflation in China added to concern about slowing growth.

The workplace regulator is investigating claims teams of cleaners working at several Coles supermarkets in Newcastle have been underpaid.

Vandals break into a railway station in Melbourne's north-east, starting a train and derailing it, causing extensive damage.

A New South Wales north coast surfing club criticises the State Government on what they say has been slow action on shark-deterrent technology, in the wake of a serious attack on a young surfer who remains in an induced coma.

One of the greatest bands of all time botched a song so badly at Boondall that they had to start it again. But they did it with honesty and ultimate brilliance.

The Oberon and Boorowa Councils take the next step in the local government reforms.

The Department of Defence has revealed it is reviewing past practices at bases around Australia to determine the extent of firefighting foam contamination, that is already affecting the Port Stephens community.

The news, traffic and weather to get you up to speed.

Snapchat's valuation was cut by a quarter by one of its biggest backers, the latest evidence that private technology companies are losing some of their lustre.

The forecast dry, hot summer has raised concerns about the reduction in Rural Financial Counselling support for people in the central west.

The ASX 200 is heading for a flat open on a soft lead from overseas and after a fresh wave of selling swamped base metals.

The chair of an inquiry into brothel regulation says licensing would help prevent questionable characters entering the sex industry.