Sydney news

Blue swimmer crab fishermen in the Shark Bay region of Western Australia describe the 2016/17 season as "mind-blowing" after stocks recover from the 2011 marine heatwave.

A rare white kangaroo poses obligingly for a photo after being spotted in bushland near Swan Reach.

Almost three months after coming to power with Premier Mark McGowan vowing to implement an "ambitious agenda", how much progress has the new WA Government made on its key promises?

The Indian sandalwood industry has been swamped by controversy this year, but it was business as usual this week with the start of harvest.

Passengers have described their horror the moment a man on board on a Malaysia Airlines plane allegedly tried to disrupt their flight. The plane had to return to Melbourne when police say a passenger declared he had a bomb and tried to access the cockpit. Melbourne airport has reopened both runways since the disturbance but travellers are being warned their could be delays today.

Heavily armed police are called to a plane at Melbourne's Tullamarine airport after passengers tackle a man who shouted about having a bomb as he tried to enter the cockpit of the Malaysia Airlines flight.

Adelaide aspires to be a smart city, but there are lots of different ideas about what that will involve. Expert Martin O'Malley believes they must "understand the tides of change and seek to take advantage of them".

Passengers are facing long delays at Melbourne airport this morning after a passenger tried to enter the cockpit of a Malaysia Airlines plane, claiming to have a bomb. Flight MH128 to Kuala Lumpur was forced to return to the airport shortly after take-off last night. A witness on the flight says staff called for help shouting 'danger',and that a group of men used a spare seatbelt to restrain the disruptive passenger.

The Sunshine Coast Council unapologetically chops down and mulches 18 fruit trees on verges in Buderim within the hugely popular Urban Food Street (UFS) precinct.

Police were about an hour away from calling off all search efforts when they found bones that are consistent with missing Sydney man Matthew Leveson. His "shocked and relieved" parents are hopeful they may now be able to lay their son to rest.

Heroic performances from the likes of Andrew Fifita and James Tedesco help New South Wales chalk up a humiliating 28-4 defeat of Queensland in State of Origin I at Lang Park.

New South Wales romped out to a 24-point lead in Origin I, but it was how they held onto it that was most impressive.

Victoria Police arrest a man following an alleged one-punch attack in the foyer of a hospital in Melbourne's east that has left a surgeon with life-threatening injuries.

Four councillors resign from a shire in the Pilbara that has been under a cloud of corruption allegations linked to Bill Price and the million-dollar Ningaloo Centre aquarium.

Nobuyuki Tsujii has been blind since birth and learnt to play piano by teaching himself nursery rhymes as a child. He's now internationally renowned and has just played Chopin's 2nd piano concerto with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

A plan by the Tasmanian government to reopen 4WD tracks in the north west of the state ahs resulted in years of court action, with some Indigenous groups saying it threatens important heritage sites.

The ambush killing of Queensland policeman Brett Forte will be in the minds of officers called out to jobs, the union says, as the probe into his death and that of gunman Rick Maddison continues.

Police uncover human bones which are consistent with missing Sydney man Matthew Leveson during a search in Royal National Park.

Classmates and family talk about the life and death of Zynab Al Harbiya, who died in a bomb blast in Iraq while visiting her sick grandfather.

SA Pathology says it will axe almost 200 jobs without hampering efficiency, but unions vow to respond with industrial action.

State Of Origin is back at its spiritual home as the Maroons host the Blues for this year's series opener. Follow the lead-up and every kick, run, pass and play with our live blog.

Police looking for missing Tasmanian man Dwayne Robert 'Doc' Davies say they changed their operation to a murder investigation after a tip-off.

Police uncover human bones while searching for the remains of missing Sydney man Matthew Leveson in the Royal National Park.

The man found dead in a wheelie bin in Melbourne's north is revealed as Ashley Phillips from Broadmeadows, as police call for public help in their investigation into his suspicious death.

Australian Olympic Committee media director Mike Tancred is cleared of a bullying allegation but will be "severely reprimanded" for his conduct towards the AOC's former chief executive Fiona de Jong.

Sydney chef Sabine Spindler conducts food waste reduction workshops.

A controversial drug rehabilitation program labelled a Mickey Mouse outfit by its critics receives $360,000 for a two-year trial in Western Australia.

Victorian police release a CCTV image of a man who assaulted a surgeon in the foyer of Box Hill Hospital, as his victim remains in a critical condition.

The Indian Government has announced a ban on the sale of cattle and buffalo for slaughter, but will it last?

The Indian Government has announced a ban on the sale of cattle and buffalo for slaughter, but will it last?

The brother of a Canberra woman on trial for attempting to murder their mother, says his mother had been like a hollow soul and wanted to die after her husband passed away.

WA Premier Mark McGowan is dubbed the "Rockingham rapper" by Opposition Leader Mike Nahan after a Facebook Live appearance run by a Perth radio station during which he tried his hand at DJing.

The co-owner of a West Australian cattle station confirms lone contractors were sent to her property to install key parts of the property's NBN infrastructure.

The New South Wales Government gives the green light for a $106 million timber manufacturing plant expansion at Oberon.

Two of six men on trial for murdering Patrick Slater near the Esplanade train station in Perth admit they were involved in violent altercations with the victim, but deny killing him.

The Sunshine Coast Council unapologetically chops down and mulches 18 fruit trees on verges in Buderim within the hugely popular Urban Food Street (UFS) precinct.

Owners of defective townhouses at a development in Melbourne's north-east are launching a class action against the building regulator for failing to protect them.

Landholders and farmers in Queensland's Darling Downs celebrate as the Land Court rules potential groundwater contamination is too risky for the $900 million Acland Coal Mine expansion to proceed.

A coroner overseeing a suicide inquest is urged to recommend that one-on-one care be introduced in all New South Wales psychiatric intensive care units, as the family shares victim impact statements.

More than a century after the Boer War, families gather in Canberra for the unveiling of a memorial commemorating the often forgotten conflict.

The ink dried this week on a 30-year lease for the Longreach saleyards, where new operators AAM Investment Group plans to sell 100,000 head of cattle annually by 2022.

Schools in regional Western Australia are paying more for power bills than metropolitan schools, leaving some regional schools facing financial hardship, unions say.

With detail on roads, water, soil and more, it is hoped a prospectus for Central Australian horticulture will encourage investors to grow crops in the outback.

One South Australian broadacre farmer has snapped a timely photo with a bird that flew into his ute.

Luke and Rebecca Trotter run an engineering firm from their South Australian winery, and say more people should move their businesses out of the city.

A worker is sacked after the TGA issued a nation-wide recall of Roche Products' diazepam, because the relaxant had been swapped out for different drugs at a Sydney distribution centre.

Alyssa Brown and her dog Shazza are the best of friends, and it is that bond that has helped the four-year-old win her first dog trial.

Residents of an historic coastal central Queensland town say there is nothing to fear after dark despite decades of stories and sightings of the paranormal.

Curator of Fishes at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Dr Michael Hammer, was one of several representatives from Australian institutions to take part in a Bush Blitz expedition in the Northern Territory.

Young people in the bush are set to have their voices heard globally after Australia's UN Ambassador for Youth toured northern New South Wales.