Sydney news

Residents on the mid-New South Wales coast are scathing of the Department of Defence, after revelations it delayed informing them about the contamination of their water supply. Fire-fighting foam chemicals from the Williamtown RAAF base have leached into the town's groundwater, and residents are locked in a battle with defence over remediation and compensation. An independent report into how the New South Wales Environmental Protection Authority managed the contamination also says defence knew a

The remote West Australian town of Kununurra is a long way from North America. But the future of one of its biggest industries, sandalwood, now hangs in the balance after an expose by U-S activist investors. In March the California based firm Glaucus Research likened Kununurra's biggest sandalwood producer, Quintis, to a ponzi scheme and declared its stock worthless. Two months on Quintis's stock's crashed, its credit rating's been downgraded and it's likely to have been issued a please explain

The national body tasked with making sure agricultural chemicals are safe is being crushed under the weight of product assessments, amid an exodus of highly qualified staff. The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) approved 83 per cent of product applications within legislated timeframes in the September quarter, but completed just 42 per cent within timeframe from January to March. One in five regulatory scientists have now quit the APVMA, as the agency forges ahead

Budget week is drawing to a close with the Federal Government and Opposition trading blows over the question of fairness. The Government says it's at the heart of its budget; but Labor's announced it won't back the full plan to increase the Medicare levy to help pay for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Bill Shorten says Labor would support a higher levy for those earning over $87,000 and it would also re-impose a two per cent levy on the highest tax bracket.