Australia’s economic slowdown is just beginning, economists warn, as interest rate rises and cost-of-living pressures weigh on households. The economy grew just 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed on Wednesday, but the figures only captured the first month of the Middle East war. “Surging inflation, sky-high…
For years, Hobart City Council meetings have generated headlines for all the wrong reasons — from arguments over missing snacks to bitter personal attacks. But as the Tasmanian capital prepares to elect a new council in October, the Town Hall is heading towards what could be its biggest shake-up in a while. Lord Mayor Anna…
Australia has gained access to a highly advanced artificial intelligence system deemed too dangerous for public release, as the federal government is urged to speed up its response to the risks and opportunities of AI. Several private companies and the government are among 150 additional organisations across 15 countries granted use of Anthropic’s Claude Mythos…
It’s not often that the Pope, college students and Australians agree. One topic that has put these unusual bedfellows all roughly on the same page is artificial intelligence. Last week, Pope Leo XIV published his first encyclical, a 43,000-word plea to address the threats posed by AI. American college students have been expressing their concerns…
Australia’s dive industry has backed calls to expand no-fishing and no-drilling zones across the nation’s oceans ahead of a federal review of marine parks. The sector will today launch a public advertising campaign urging stronger protections in offshore waters, including the Coral Sea off Queensland. The campaign comes as federal environment minister Murray Watt prepares…
Three people have been charged in Western Australia after allegedly attempting to smuggle a suspected Queensland fugitive out of Australia. It is the first time anyone in WA has been charged with attempted people smuggling. The suspected fugitive is a 32 year-old man who is allegedly an outlaw motorcycle gang member and was one of…
A life-saving breast cancer and endometriosis drug will be pulled from Australian shelves by a major global drug manufacturer later this year, in a move some women have described as “cruel” and “soul-destroying”. Goserelin 3.6mg implant, also known as Zoladex, will be removed from both the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and the private market in…
Meg Girdler went all in to buy her small Sydney apartment near the peak of the market in December last year. The 46-year-old believes her house is now worth less than she paid for it and was at risk of slipping into negative equity, meaning her Marrickville home would be worth less than what she…
At least 21 people have been killed and more than 40 injured when fire ripped through a hotel in Delhi, police say, in one of the deadliest blazes in the Indian capital in recent years. The building, in the city’s southern suburb of Malviya Nagar neighbourhood, had a restaurant on the ground floor and a…
A new Deloitte report has marked 2026 “the year of AI” and said the real “winners” will be organisations that thoughtfully combine human and machine strengths. The quarterly employment forecast from the major consultancy firm suggests AI is reshaping the labour market, but not necessarily through job losses. While 82 occupations were identified as likely…