Regional airline Rex is threatening to cut services on its Sydney-to-Dubbo and has sent a scathing letter to Dubbo households criticising their local council.

There are fears important wildlife habitat is being destroyed as a developer tries to enact a 1984 site approval on the New South Wales north coast.

Police say a pipe bomb found in Mullumbimby on the NSW far north coast has been rendered safe and has been taken away for forensic examination.

Toowoomba Regional Council's motto is "Rich traditions, bold ambitions" — and it has boldly created a new tradition in choosing its deputy mayor.

A controversial idea to build a bridge over Far North Queensland's Daintree River is back on the agenda, with the new Douglas Shire Mayor narrowly winning a vote on the issue.

Authorities in a 'dry' Queensland community say illegal alcohol poses one of the biggest health threats to its people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

First-time mayors and councillors who are the subject of minor misconduct complaints will get a three-month amnesty, Queensland's Office of the Independent Assessor says.

Water restrictions have been eased for residents of the Macquarie Valley, but it's unlikely affected councils will move back to unrestricted water usage anytime soon.

Metadata has not provided any evidence the allegedly falsified annual report was downloaded from the City of Sydney website by anyone in Energy Minister Angus Taylor's office, NSW police confirm.

Six local artists, including four old friends in life and in art practice, have come together with an exhibition well timed for International Women's Day at Lone Goat Gallery in Byron Bay. The theme, Essence of Woman was put to the artists to freely interpret, and the six women have done just that.

Union calls to sack a council on Tasmania's east coast are growing louder, with the news its most senior staff member has resigned.

Ian Pearce's resignation is the latest to plague a small east coast council, blaming his speedy exit on age, health concerns and union harassment.

Where to start with an old glasshouse, littered with plastic, that was used for a hydroponic tomato farm for several decades?

A Melbourne council will hold a "solemn" ceremony to acknowledge the impact of European settlement on Indigenous Australians before its usual Australia Day celebrations a move an Aboriginal group says could provide a national model for January 26.

An array of spectacular orchid displays attracted more than 2,500 people from across Queensland to the Australian Orchid Council conference and show in Mackay at the weekend.

Detectives charge a man with murdering a woman who was found shot dead at a house in north-west Victoria at the weekend.

While a Victorian council rejects drought funding it says isn't needed, farmers in far-west New South Wales say they feel like they're in a "forgotten corner".

A rise in the number of assaults against local government employees prompts Victorian councils to call for a change in sentencing laws to better protect their staff.

This gaggle of geese is beloved by Instagrammers, but the local council says the abandoned birds are destroying the environment and must be rehomed.

Locals in the Victorian town of Daylesford say they are shocked and devastated by council's decision to remove an "aggressive" gaggle of geese from the area, describing them as "a bit of an icon" in the tourism hotspot.

As urban sprawl puts pressure on the food bowl on Melbourne's fringes, and as water becomes increasingly scarce, one council has a bold idea that might just catch on.

Councils across Victoria are left to fight the war on waste from the frontline while the State Government works towards a consistent recycling policy.

A ratepayers advocacy group says a damning report into the risk of corruption within local government in Victoria highlights the need for greater scrutiny of regional councils.

MORNING BRIEFING: The proposed changes allow councils to apply the rate cap more flexibly and comes as local governments suffer financial hardship from the coronavirus pandemic.

A south-east Queensland council with more than 700 memorabilia items the bulk of which is believed to have been bought with ratepayers' money is asking the community what should be done with the haul.

More than 12 tonnes of dead fish have been buried after a council on the New South Wales north coast bowed to public pressure and opened a lagoon.

The City of Marion backflips on a decision to evict the Cove Football Club from its Hallett Cove premises over sexual harassment and intimidation allegations.

An Adelaide council's proposed plans for the upgrade of a skate park generates curiosity on social media, with an artist impression seemingly resembling part of the male anatomy.

A council in regional Western Australia is the latest to join the list of local governments around the country to allow ratepayer money to fund defamation action against members of the public.

A 60-year-old man living in a caravan in outback WA faces legal action and fines of up to $50,000 from his local council after erecting a shade structure without a building permit.

Shadow Local Government Minister Tim Smith and Ratepayers Victoria president Dean Hurlston are calling for rates to be frozen and for the State Government to do more to help council staff, May 6, 2020.

Buskers are being accused of antisocial behaviour in Darwin's CBD and the council has responded by revoking licenses for two months.

Adelaide councils are considering a range of options to address the problem of abandoned shopping trolleys including GPS tracking, locking systems and a bounty for returned trolleys.

A controversial teddy bear fence, which stretches for more than a kilometre on South Australia's Copper Coast Highway, is being deliberately hacked apart by knife-wielding "haters", its creator claims.

Up to 100,000 litres of water is being used each weekday by a regional New South Wales council to keep drivers safe on its gravel roads all 954 kilometres of them.

Social media went into meltdown after images emerged of a power pole in the middle of a Newcastle street.

The Cancer Council uses new digital technology to transport more regional cancer patients to treatment.

New legal advice suggests Australia's water suppliers may have no legal basis to add fluoride.

Relatives visiting the gravestones of their family in a NSW town, who found the gravestones razed, thought it was the work of vandals.

A NSW Mid North Council apologies for the grief it caused the community for knocking over headstones.

A dam project in a Tasmanian municipality has blown the local council's budget, with residents saying the salmon farming giant which is set to benefit most from the dam should pay for its completion.

The Launceston City Council becomes the second in Tasmania to scrap its Australia Day celebrations and instead hold its citizenship ceremony on a less contentious day.

Mandatory drug and alcohol testing for elected representatives could soon be a reality for a second Tasmanian council, but the proposal is proving to be divisive with one councillor labelling it "highly invasive".

DAILY BRIEFING: The majority shareholders of Hobart Airport have sold a 70 per cent stake in the facility, and concerns surround the rejection of the Constitution Dock extension.

A Tasmanian councillor announces her resignation live on radio, saying ongoing "personal attacks" and negative comments on social media have taken "too much" of a toll.