Sydney news

More than 12 months after an inquiry into a massive bushfire which all but destroyed the town of Yarloop recommended WA create a rural fire service, there seems to be no consensus on whether it should happen.

Forecast budget surpluses are dramatically slashed to free up funds in order to soften the blow of Holden's closure, today's South Australian budget will reveal.

A remote Gulf of Carpentaria town works with police volunteers to make a documentary aimed at tackling drug addiction.

Housing industry groups raise concerns about the privatisation of SA's Lands Titles Office, which is expected to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for the State Government.

A shipping company is charged and faces a fine of up to $17 million for allegedly spilling about 15 tonnes of oil but experts say it could prove difficult to enforce a fine even if the prosecution is successful.

Wild crocodile eggs will be harvested at a Cape York community in a test case to see if the practice should be allowed again in Queensland.

Blues coach Laurie Daley takes a thinly-veiled swipe at the referees following New South Wales's heartbreaking 18-16 State of Origin II to the Maroons in Sydney.

The man known as the "Godfather of Coral" is calling on the Federal Government to revoke its environmental approval for Adani's $16-billion coal mine, arguing two bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef have happened since the decision was made.

State Of Origin II was a vintage Maroons finish, but also an unfortunate return to some nasty old habits for New South Wales.

Dane Gagai scores a double as Queensland comes back from a 10-point deficit to beat NSW in Sydney. See how it happened in our State Of Origin blog.

A Dane Gagai double and a Johnathan Thurston pressure kick give Queensland a brilliant comeback victory over the Blues to level the Origin series at 1-1.

Will the Blues end Queensland's dynasty, or will the Maroons force a decider in Game II in Sydney? Join our live State Of Origin blog to find out.

Shadow Education Minister Tanya Plibersek joins 7.30 to discuss why Labor opposed Gonski 2.0.

The lawyer for a man convicted of murdering an Adelaide teenager in 1971 tells the High Court the evidence presented at the original trial was unreliable.

Judge Greg Borchers told a 13-year-old who had committed property crimes that he had taken advantage of his mother's death and the community could not afford for him to be released back into the community.

Far west cotton grower Tandou will decommission its irrigation system at Menindee and convert the property into a dorper lamb business, its owner Webster Limited announces.

Even before a price hike kicks in next month, welfare organisations are seeing a surge in the number of clients who are struggling to pay their electricity bills.

Multiple people have faced charges for rorting the travel component of the scheme, but the NT Government says it goes beyond that.

A Victorian man who visited Phuket for 10 days last month and struggled to stay awake after returning home dies from Japanese encephalitis. Doctors say the risk of catching the mosquito-borne disease is "in the order of one in a million".

In a groundbreaking move, the ACT Government is in talks about legally providing drug testing at a major Canberra music festival, according to the Ted Noffs Foundation.

Guerrilla cycling activists who say they are sick of waiting for a Perth council to take action spray-paint bike priority markings in the dead of night on a road they say is dangerous.

Actress Rebel Wilson will seek $7 million in damages for a series of defamatory magazine articles depicting her as a serial liar, but that figure is "conservative" given she could have made up to $18 million from lead roles, the Melbourne Supreme Court hears.

Sydney's Giant Steps school educates children with autism. It's set to be a big winner once federal Parliament passes the schools funding legislation.

Do you live in an apartment and wish that you could join the solar power revolution? Here's how one co-operative housing block in Sydney transformed their building and became one of the first apartment blocks to become equipped with solar and batteries.

Matthew Taylor admits he wasn't a model prisoner. He says he did ice and got into fights with officers and other detainees. He was also among the first inmates to be chosen as a mentor in a unique peer support program.

It is not the typical learning environment, but for Queensland prison inmate Terry (not his real name), his time behind bars has given him the chance to learn a trade for the first time.

The 18-year-old mother of a West Australian baby who suffered a catastrophic brain injury and died in hospital last month is remanded in custody on a charge of causing grievous bodily harm.

A retrial clears 30-year-old Drew Thompson over allegations he held a woman he met on a dating site at gunpoint after she humiliated him in public.

Argentina plans to donate dozens of Nazi artefacts found in a hidden room behind a bookshelf to a Holocaust museum, but one prominent researcher is against the plan, saying we shouldn't "pay too much attention to [what] the perpetrators produced".

The Tasmanian devil, bilby or maybe the quoll springs to mind when people they think of Australian marsupials - but another species that might not make the list is the antechinus, driven to extinction from Sydney's North Head decades ago.

Labor leaders criticise a threat made by CFMEU boss John Setka, who told a rally that workers would "expose" building commission inspectors, lobby their neighbourhoods and make their children "ashamed of who their parents are".

A former Melbourne imam who conducted a wedding between a 14-year-old girl and a man more than 20 years her senior is released on a two-year good behaviour bond.

The emphasis on tackling at the expense of skills in Aussie rules is a blight on the modern game, the Australian Football Hall of Fame's newest legend says.

Former Origin player James McManus's landmark case against his old club will have huge ramifications for Australian sport as he sues over the Newcastle Knights' handling of his alleged repeated concussions.

John Edwards is formally charged with the murder of his estranged wife Sharon Edwards who was last seen near Grafton in 2015.

Men who lived in Mr Fluffy houses in the ACT are at increased risk of contracting the deadly cancer mesothelioma than those who had not, according to the Australian National University.

We asked you how you coped after a traumatic event, whether it be an accident, injury or death in the family. These are just some of your responses.

Actress Rebel Wilson will seek almost $6 million in damages for a series of defamatory magazine articles depicting her as a serial liar, but that figure is "conservative" given she could have made up to $18 million from lead roles, the Melbourne Supreme Court hears.

A man pleads guilty to murdering two women at Millicent in the south-east of South Australia last month.

A vivid dream becomes a 32,000-word novel for budding young South Australian author Mallory Whiting.

Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi "blames other people, makes excuses and denies that it is her fault", a tribunal which found she committed 45 serious breaches of the Local Government Act is told.

Ipswich Councillor Paul Tully confirms run for mayor after the shock resignation and launch of legal proceedings against former mayor Paul Pisasale.

Guerrilla cycling activists who say they are sick of waiting for a Perth council to take action spray-paint bike priority markings in the dead of night on a road they say is dangerous.

A former real estate agent and pastor who scammed clients out of $3 million used the profits to fund an extravagant lifestyle, including buying a luxury car and tailored suits.

NBA draft prospect Terrance Ferguson could give the NBL a boost for choosing the Adelaide 36ers ahead of top US basketball colleges including Arizona, Louisville, Kansas and North Carolina.

Payments will be boosted by as much as $5,000 for South Australian businesses taking on apprentices and trainees in a state budget measure.

A record number of Dark Mofo nude swimmers results in a towel shortage on a Hobart beach but does not deter 1,000 people from plunging into the Derwent River.

John Edwards is being driven across the border to NSW, where he will be charged with the murder of his estranged wife Sharon Edwards, police say.

A Victorian taxi driver is charged with dangerous driving causing death after a fatal crash with a mini-bus, which was carrying nursing home residents who had been on an outing to a bakery.

Former Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale is granted bail by a Brisbane court, subject to strict conditions, after being charged with extortion and two other offences, despite police objections.