Sydney news

Tourist hotspot Bruny Island will have a new ferry service by the middle of next year but the Tasmanian Government is short on detail.

A man will face an Adelaide court tomorrow charged with rape and unlawful detention of a backpacker who was found on Friday.

The potential exposure of 25 workers to asbestos prompts calls from Labor and the construction union for a fresh audit of the $680 million Royal Hobart Hospital redevelopment.

Gary Hughes had a distinct experience of Black Saturday, as both a reporter and a victim. The journalist won awards for his coverage of the disaster, but struggled with the way the media treated people who had lost everything.

Almost anywhere you go in Canberra you will see cranes dotting the skyline, building the city's next hulking apartment towers. But is an oversupply likely, and is that a bad thing?

A 52-year-old man is arrested over the alleged abduction and sexual assault of a European backpacker in South Australia's Murray Mallee region.

Melbourne City's second-stringers show their wares, earning a point with a gritty comeback to draw 2-2 with the Roar in Brisbane.

Severe thunderstorms in WA are likely to produce damaging winds and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding and large hailstones, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

After leading by 19 points at half-time, Collingwood goes scoreless in the second half as Melbourne wins at Princes Park.

The immediate threat of severe weather in WA passes, but rescue services continue to monitor the situation, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

South Australian police arrest a 52-year-old man over an alleged abduction and sexual offences of a European backpacker in the state's Murray Mallee region.

A helicopter rescues about 15 people trapped by floodwaters on Western Australia's south coast, after torrential rain swells waterways.

Police hold serious concerns for a missing European tourist who they suspect may be in South Australia's Murraylands region.

South Australian police appeal for anyone holding a European tourist against her will to let her go unharmed as they hold grave concerns following the backpacker's disappearance.

A European backpacker, who police feared was being held against her will in South Australia's Murraylands region, is found safe in Murray Bridge.

WA Labor says it will set aside 50 per cent of iron ore royalties to pay down state debt, but it has not ruled out increasing taxes.

A 52-year-old man from South Australia's Coorong region is facing abduction charges over the abduction of Belgian backpacker Davine Arckens.

Carlton is unbeaten after two rounds of the AFL Women's season, coming home with a wet sail to beat GWS by 13 points.

How do you cope with the heat when you're in one of the hottest towns in Australia?

A South Australian man will face abduction charges over the disappearance of a tourist.

Victoria wicketkeeper Sam Harper heads to hospital for scans after being hit in the head by South Australian Jake Lehmann's bat during a Sheffield Shield match at Adelaide Oval.

A South Australian man will face charges of abduction and sexual offences over the disappearance of a tourist.

Australia has its first lentil beer.

Residents in Western Australia's Goldfields and Wheatbelt are being warned to brace for more bad weather with a severe thunderstorm bringing hail and damaging winds to parts of the state.

There are no signs of heat relief for Canberrans, with the temperature hitting 41 degrees Celsius for the second time in as many days, as ActewAGL reminds residents to monitor power usage to ease pressure on the grid.

A luxury cruise ship being towed back to Melbourne after it broke down off Victoria's coast with more than 3,000 passengers and crew on board also experienced a problem with its propulsion system a fortnight ago, the company reveals.

New low-emission buses are about to go into service in Adelaide, with dozens more to be built to fill interstate orders, as part of manufacturing efforts to fill the jobs hole when Holden closes in northern Adelaide.

A "perfect storm" party of teenagers, heat, drugs and alcohol forces the closure of the Pacific Highway at Lake Macquarie in NSW overnight, police say, after hundreds of drunken partygoers spill onto the streets fighting, throwing bottles and cans.

Western Australia's peak environmental lobby group claims uranium miner Cameco is unlikely to prioritise development of its projects in the state in the wake of a quarterly profit that was lower than expected.

Up to 25 contractors working on the Royal Hobart Hospital redevelopment in the CBD have potentially been exposed to asbestos due to an administrative error.

A man is rushed to hospital after an explosion and fire at a hair loss treatment salon at North Adelaide.

As Queenslanders deal with extreme summer heat and closed beaches, records are predicted to tumble on Sunday in the state's south, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

"It’s been over two months now since this madness started and, for the many of us at the heart of it, it is all consuming. It has taken over our lives to the exclusion of everything else. We live and dream in this strange reality."

There is a new political fault line emerging in Australia, and it cuts across the traditional progressive and conservative divide.

Police are forced to close the Pacific Highway at Lake Macquarie in NSW overnight, after hundreds of drunken partygoers spill onto the streets fighting, throwing bottles and cans.

All sports need to showcase their big occasions. Sunday's W-League grand final is one of those occasions.

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Hundreds more whales have swam into shore at the site of an earlier stranding at Farewell Spit as the tide came in, sending volunteers scrambling.

Two people have been taken to hospital and police are seeking witnesses after a shooting in Gordon on Friday night.

A fraudster who stifled $2.15 million out of men she targeted through an online dating website has sold all her assets in a bid to pay them back. 

An environmental group is warning water quality in Macquarie Harbour is threatening the survival of an ancient skate species.

Dustin Martin may be the Tigers' reigning best and fairest but the midfield bull has been asked to continue to refine his defensive game.

The energy grid will be pushed to the limit, handling a rare weekend peak demand while feeding New South Wales any spare power.

On Facebook, Don Meij, the boss of pizza giant Domino's refers to himself as chief enthusiasm officer.

You are in trouble in the Gold Coast surf and in urgent need of a lifesaver, but fear not when you find the man who comes to your rescue is old enough to be your grandfather.

A man has been rushed to hospital after being stabbed several times in Melbourne's south east this morning.

The two women were reported missing just before midnight from the Gold Coast prison.

Some call him the French Obama, even the French Kevin Rudd. Emmanuel Macron, the independent running for the French presidency and polling well, is likely to become increasingly visible and viable.

Pointing our solar panels in the wrong direction is only one quirk in our strained energy system.

With the future of US-China relations still unclear, Australia and other Asia-Pacific nations can only wait in hope that level heads prevail in the White House.