Breaking news, politics, business, economy, and current events from Australia.
Perth’s enduring love affair with double-brick homes is causing unnecessary construction delays, experts say — but some are choosing to buck the trend and avoid the lengthy build times. Anke and Graham Hoskins’s timber-frame home is on track to be finished in less than nine months, about half the time it takes to build a…
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi shifted his back foot to the side, dipped his broad shoulders, extended out his bat almost horizontally and bludgeoned the white ball out of the field, right into the facade of a packed corporate stand. It was the shot of a veteran baseball slugger, not of a 14-year-old facing his first ever ball…
In October last year, as clinical worker John McNeur delivered a health workshop in the remote Northern Territory, alarm bells began to ring. The 68-year-old Darwin local was working with the community clinic in Timber Creek, teaching Aboriginal health coaches about chronic conditions. As he ran through the symptoms for pancreatic cancer — back and…
When a Northern Territory politician’s lengthy history of driving infringements surfaced in the media this week, it was the last thing the NT Opposition needed. Arafura MLA Manuel Brown was suspended from driving for three months last year for speeding, then once he got his licence back, he put his foot down and got fined…
India rested wonderkid Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and lost to Ireland for the first time in men’s international cricket overnight. Ireland was made to bat first in the Twenty20 and recovered from 4-51 to score 9-182 at Stormont in Belfast. India was all out for 148 with seven balls remaining and lost by 34 runs in its…
On a brisk June morning, Tom O’Malley headed to his local post office to collect some unusual packages. Waiting in line, the landcare facilitator said he could “hear it buzzing from five or 10 metres away”. To the surprise of post staff and other mailers, the packages contained thousands of live dung beetles. “You can…
17-year-old Tasmanian pianist CJ Jones has learned a lot from his whirlwind journey on The Piano. Two lessons in particular stand out: making new friends and never quitting. We first met Jones when he travelled from his Tasmanian hometown of Launceston to the Brisbane Queen Street Mall, where he wowed judges Andrea Lam and Guy…
“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes” – Oscar Wilde After almost 40 years in Australian journalism, 27 of them at the ABC, I am now in possession of enough mistakes to claim a small amount of experience. As this will be my last column for you, here are 27 things, in no…
In a backyard studio, surrounded by plants and birdsong, artist Cheryl Blacklock is bringing to life an abstract image of a young woman’s face. Eyes brimming with emotion gaze out from the canvas, as Ms Blacklock’s hand moves as if on instinct, a vision clear in her mind. The art studio has become a refuge…
There have been three state budgets since the failed Voice referendum in October 2023, and this year marked the fourth for the Minns Labor government. Some Indigenous groups feel this year was another “missed opportunity” for First Nations communities, and one that “lacked innovation, creativity and opportunity”. Tuesday’s state budget revealed $154 million has been…