Sydney news

The Top End mango harvest is starting to ramp up with the first fruit being picked in Pine Creek.

Former High Court judge Michael Kirby has said that he considered boycotting the upcoming same-sex marriage postal survey.

A critically injured 11-year-old girl is flown from Launceston to Melbourne after being shot in the face last night. A 25-year-old man is assisting police with their inquiries.

The Sunshine State has "ideal" conditions to be the first in Australia to get into the multi-billion-dollar seaweed business, researcher says.

Successive governments have failed the socially dysfunctional Pilbara town of Roebourne, the former regional development minister says, but a new approach aimed at fostering trust in the community is working.

Pastoralists in Western Australia's Pilbara region are excited to see live exports resume from the port of Port Hedland for the first time in more than three years.

Check out some of the groundbreaking inventions from finalists vying for one of Australia's top science prizes tonightfrom new ways to protect us from sunburn to a stem cell pen for surgeons.

A police officer investigating the brutal execution-style killing of brothel madam Shirley Finn in Perth in 1975, says he passed on a tip-off to his superior, that a notorious Sydney underworld figure killed her, but was told to "leave it alone".

An exhibition celebrating the work of French fashion legend Christian Dior has opened at the National Gallery of Victoria this week. Lateline's Emily Stewart caught up with Svetlana Lloyd, who worked for the designer as a house model in his Paris showroom in the 1950s.

Who'd play footy for a team that never wins? Meet the Ararat Eagles Reserves.

An inquest into the drowning of toddler Braxton Slager is told his foster mother did not assist paramedics who tried to save the boy and refused to go in the ambulance with him.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop joins 7.30 to discuss North Korea's decision to fire a missile over Japan.

The Anglican Church breaks new ground, electing a womanthe Right Reverend Kay Goldsworthy AOto lead the West Australian division as Archbishop.

A Tasmanian woman aged in her 70s dies after a collision between her bicycle and a car on the Bass Highway, near Ulverstone.

The former head of a Northern Territory local council, who denies claims he took a trip at ratepayers' expense to continue an affair with a co-worker, initially lied to police, a court is told.

As Australia delves into how we tell the nation's history, revisit the plaque highlighting the Indigenous point of view when added to a controversial statue 81 years later.

A legal battle looms over the future of the Tasmanian pulp mill permit, but the community's Mayor is hopeful another development will take over the site.

The Anglican Church breaks new ground, appointing a womanthe Right Reverend Kay Goldsworthy AOto lead the West Australian division as Archbishop.

A Federal Court judge says the native title process is still taking too long in New South Wales as she recognised the rights of the Western Bundjalung people as traditional owners.

The Northern Territory police force is "buckling at its knees" because of decreasing frontline numbers and poor resourcing, the officers' union says.

The Western Australia Government has backed a continued study and potential pilot to export solar power from the Pilbara to Indonesia.

Detectives investigating the murder of brothel madam Shirley Finn in Perth in 1975 received a tip-off from the public that notorious Sydney underworld figure Arthur Stanley "Neddy" Smith had killed her, a Perth court hears.

Svetlana Lloyd, a "mannequin" for the French designer, modelled clothes for the rich and famousbut it wasn't always as glamourous as it seems.

A koala stranded on a gum tree on the Murray River is rescued by a group of students on a canoe trip.

The first day surgery patient is given "the star treatment" at the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, a few days out from the official opening early next week.

A 68-year-old beekeeper accused of smuggling 2 kilograms of cocaine into Western Australia had come to the attention of authorities before he flew out, a Perth court hears.

A man who was caught with 10kg of ice inside fish statues is found guilty, despite arguing he was tricked into transporting the drug and later threatened with a gun.

A long-running aerial census of southern right whales along the southern coast of Australia records its highest ever result with over 800 of the vulnerable species spotted.

A Melbourne man charged with murdering his girlfriend's baby allegedly claimed the six-month-old boy had rolled off a mattress and hit his head against a heater, court documents reveal.

A crane operating off a barge at Milsons Point topples into Sydney Harbour, with stunned witnesses reporting a "huge bang" and seeing a cable fly off the construction site and land on Luna Park's distinctive entry face.

Canberra man Graham Dillon pleads guilty to the murder of his son Bradyn, admitting to causing more than 60 separate injuries in the months before Bradyn's death.

A judge commends the bravery of bystanders who intervened to save the life of a woman being attacked with a machete by her former partner in Brisbane's west.

Broadacre farmers in Western Australia, who have struggled all year with dry conditions, are now suffering from hail and storm damage.

An inquest has been told how a man used a wheelie bin to save five people during the severe floods that hit Dungog in the New South Wales Hunter Valley two years ago.

We're told to keep moving as we get older, but how do you physically do that if you're frail or battling debilitating conditions such as Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, stroke or arthritis?

Tasmanian salmon producer Tassal is trying to find new locations for the company's controversial seal relocation program after dumping a record number last year on the north west coast.

After sneaking into the SANFL finals, Central District is expected to shake up this year's finals series, starting with Norwood at Adelaide Oval this weekend.

Australia's Christian churches offer sanctuary to 100 asylum seekers caught up in a Government welfare crackdown affecting those who were originally transported to Australia for medical treatment.

Adelaide vice-captain Rory Sloane needs his appendix removed, which puts him in doubt for the Crows' opening AFL final at the Adelaide Oval next week.

Approximately 20 new properties within Central Australia and the Barkly now fall within the bluetongue virus zone within the Northern Territory.

WA's Sports Minister delivers a slap down to people unhappy NRL will beat AFL to the new Perth Stadium, as West Coast and Fremantle are handed some bad news around Friday night footy at the ground.

Homes are under threat from bushfire in coastal wetland north-east of Kempsey.

A crane operating near Luna Park in Milsons Point topples into Sydney Harbour as stunned witnesses report hearing a huge bang.

Anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd abandons its bid to stop hunts as Japan uses military-grade technology to track its ships in the Southern Ocean, with founder Paul Watson saying "we are going to have find an alternative way to deal with them, and we will".

Ten localities in Queensland's north containing the N-word will be discontinued and renamed, after community concerns are raised about a place called N*****s Bounce.

The skills of Paul McClarin are no longer available in Australia, but the results of his vocation are there for all to see at the National Museum in Canberra.

A 72-year-old former Scout leader who sexually abused two young boys across several years in South Australia will spend at least five-and-a-half years behind bars after the judge described his offences as "evil" and a "gross breach of trust".

If you are heading to the Thursday night AFL final at Adelaide Oval next week, the Crows have come up with a cheeky letter you could give your boss if you are late for work the next day.

The principal of a Catholic secondary college in northern New South Wales has received an 'invariably' positive response from the school community in his call to embrace two transgender students.

An armed robber tells the ACT Supreme Court he tried not to point his replica gun at anyone and said please during a post office hold-up.