Sydney news

Western Australian traveller Lorri Western inspects a zircon gemstone north of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

John Torney washing rocks while fossicking for gemstones in outback Central Australia.

Zircon gemstones Carol and Jim Torney have fossicked across Australia.

Lorri and Les Western, from Western Australia, sort through rocks looking for gemstones north of Alice Springs.

It will be impossible to keep Adelaide fans quiet today after the Crows spanked Port Adelaide with a record 84-point win at Adelaide Oval in wet and windy conditions.

Lorri Western, from Esperance in Western Australia, inspects a zircon gemstone in outback Central Australia.

The onset of winter prompts travellers from across the country to converge north of Alice Springs on the hunt for garnets and zircon.

Self-confessed "grey nomad" John Torney takes a break from washing rocks while fossicking for gemstones in outback Central Australia.

Fossicking has been a life-long passion for Carol Torney, having learned from her mother as a child.

All the great cities of the world have a watery centrepiece, so how did Canberra get its lake?

A new leaked report backs the case for an inland rail link from Wollongong to south-west Sydney, the second report in a week to do so.

On the final day of the Garma festival, in north-east Arnhem Land, Indigenous leaders are urging people not to be discouraged by the Prime Minister'sfailure to commit to a referendum on an Indigenous voice to Parliament. They say progress is being made on other fronts, with two states already forging ahead with their own treaty negotiations.

In an attempt to end her life, Donna Thistlethwaite fell from Brisbane's iconic Story Bridge. Fate intervened and she miraculously survived. Her experience is a cautionary, but life-affirming tale that after the dark days, life can be "great".

Australian Navy divers and a survey ship are expected to arrive at Shoalwater Bay today to assist with the recovery operation of a US military aircraft that ditched into the water on Saturday afternoon.

Kwinana industry heavyweights are trying to ensure residential development in Mandogalup is kept to a minimum after the EPA a potential 'all clear' for new housing, while developers and local residents are welcoming the report.

Predicting boom times for the Richmond football club is an infamously hazardous business, but the Tigers' win over Hawthorn shows they are up and about.

The Adelaide Crows show exactly why they're top of the pile with an absolute drubbing of Port Adelaide, after St Kilda beats West Coast and Richmond edges Hawthorn.

Geelong skipper Joel Selwood will undergo ankle surgery and miss his team's next three AFL games.

The Penrith Panthers' finish strong in a 28-14 win over the Wests Tigers while Manly virtually hands the Storm the minor premiership with a win over the Roosters.

Khaled Merhi, who was arrested after a series of terror raids in Sydney last weekend, is charged with possessing a prohibited weapon.

The private owners of the Melbourne Rebels confirm the transfer of the Super Rugby licence to the Victorian Rugby Union, securing the team's future.

Police from the Joint Counter-Terrorism taskforce charge a third man arrested in last weekends terror raids in Sydney.

The Tasmanian Government's plan to replace suspended sentences with other options will exacerbate the "pressure cooker" that is Tasmania's prison system, say unions.

The death of Arnhem Land musician Dr G Yunupingu at 46 years of age should highlight the crippling impacts kidney failure is having on Indigenous Australians, health experts say.

Up to 200 people will not be able to return home tonight while emergency services work to secure a crane that collapsed into an apartment complex at Wolli Creek in Sydney's south.

A nine-year-old boy is injured after falling from a bridge onto rocks while watching a white water race event on Western Australia's Avon River, east of Perth.

Police are investigating the homicide of a woman, whose body was found in bushland in far north Queensland.

Victoria's alpine areas are being pummelled by blizzard conditions, with the heaviest snowfalls of the season, as a powerful cold front makes its way across the state.

Three US marines are presumed dead after a military Osprey aircraft crashed off the coast of Queensland on Saturday. Here's what we know about the crash.

After dodging the brunt of wild weather overnight, Adelaide is battered by strong winds and rain as severe weather moves across parts of South Australia.

Distance, isolation, limited services and patchy internet makes the book delivery service in far west NSW just as important for residents today as it was when it started 40 years ago.

The trainee pilot of an ultralight plane that crashed during a training flight at Clyde North, south-east of Melbourne, earlier this week dies in hospital.

Regional dance students in South Australia learn new skills during a visit by the Sydney Dance Company.

A 32-year-old man missing since Thursday in a remote and rugged stretch of Western Australia's Pilbara is found alive after he became separated from his travelling companion and vehicle.

An 1834 draft charter for South Australia is among a cache of 2,500 historical documents of significance uncovered from a storage shelf in the state's parliamentary library.

A crane collapses onto a unit block in Sydney's south, injuring three workers in an incident the construction union is condemning as "not good enough".

Round 22 wraps up with a Sunday clash between Manly and the Roosters, before the Panthers take on the Wests Tigers. Follow all the NRL action live in our ScoreCentre.

Queensland's tow truck industry will be regulated and fees capped at $250 under new fast-tracked laws. It comes after complaints that people who parked on private property were being charged exorbitant fees to get their cars back.

Jaiden Harris wades through icy cold water in the dark to greet the start of this year's Tasmanian brown trout fishing season, and he's not alone.

US authorities confirm they do not expect to find three marines alive after their military aircraft crashed off the Queensland coast yesterday.

St Kilda takes on West Coast before Richmond's date with Hawthorn, ahead of a big Sunday Showdown between the Crows and the Power. Follow it all live in our AFL ScoreCentre.

Martin Cash escaped the infamous Port Arthur prison, robbed inns and killed a man in Hobart, but somehow was one of the only bushrangers to die of old age.

The company at the centre of one of Queensland's longest running mine disputes says time is running out for the people who rely on it for jobs, as activist groups question New Hope's exploration plans.

Brodie Grundy laid the perfect tackle, was awarded a free kick and will likely be suspended for it after North Melbourne's Ben Brown was concussed in the Pies' win.

A record number of prisoners across South Australia have entered works in an exhibition for the SA Living Artists Festival, with the organiser saying it builds confidence for prisoners returning to society.

Victoria's alpine areas are being pummelled by blizzard conditions with heavy snowfalls setting in, as a powerful cold front makes its way across the state.

The clothes and equipment belonging to a missing 32-year-old man last seen on the Canning Stock Route in WA's Pilbara have been found, as a massive search in the remote stretch of the state enters its third day.

Ipswich becomes the "dumping capital" after a waste levy is scrapped to make it cheaper for interstate businesses to get rid of their rubbish in Queensland, the Acting Mayor says.

Adelaide dodges the brunt of wild weather overnight but a severe weather warning remains in place for parts of South Australia, with wind gusts of up to 120 kilometres per hour possible.

A large-scale search is underway for three US military personnel missing and feared dead after a Marine Corps aircraft crashed off the Queensland coast on Saturday afternoon.