Deploying Defence aircraft to bring hundreds of performers to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Sydney presents an opportunity for Australia to gain ground in the battle for influence in the Pacific.

MORNING BRIEFING: Archbishop Glenn Davies says anyone in favour of same-sex marriage should step away from the church and not "ruin it", while a Sydney prison officer is charged with having an inappropriate relationship with an inmate.

Sometimes being creative involves getting burnt. It's a lesson two gay podcasters in Sydney learnt the hard way.

Tim Cahill may be Australia's all-time leading goal scorer, but the Socceroos legend has been inspired by a young player who was also told he won't make a top-ranked team because of his size.

Investigations will begin into how a number of dams in drought-ravaged parts of NSW came to be filled during a ban on pumping water along parts of the Murray-Darling earlier this year.

Space advocates spruik the human benefits but critics say it costs far too much. Ever since the moon landing, space has been seen as a "giant leap" for humankind, but is it in the wrong direction?

The Australian racing industry is in turmoil after revelations of former racehorses being slaughtered at abattoirs, with leading trainer Chris Waller so shocked he "couldn't watch" the vision.

An 81-year-old man is charged over the alleged sexual and indecent assault of two minors in northern NSW and police say there could be more victims who were drawn in over CB radio at the time.

Five Dock is divided over the news a new train station will be built in the heart of the suburb with some fearing a repeat of the CBD light rail disruptions, while others looking forward to the economic injection from better transport.

MORNING BRIEFING: Police charge a man who allegedly returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.299 during a random breath test last night, and motorsport fans plan to protest against the NSW Government's decision to demolish the Parramatta Speedway.

Figures released by the Department of Finance last week show the budget is now back in deficit by $4.8 billion. Now some economists doubt the government will be able to reach the projected surplus, including former Treasury advisor Warren Hogan.

Newcastle's Anglican Dean calls for unity and respect as the diocese prepares to vote on blessing same-sex marriages.

NSW Police has refused to reveal if defence lawyers are being spied on with electronic surveillance as part of criminal investigations.

A 19-year-old woman is charged with torture and causing the death of an animal after allegedly stabbing a cat 20 times and throwing it from a balcony on Sydney's northern beaches.

A Federal Court judge rules Chinese property developer Huang Xiangmo should declare his overseas assets as the ATO which alleges the billionaire has an unpaid $141 million tax debt closes in.

A NSW Police officer accused of tasering a 16-year-old boy and repeatedly bashing him with a baton will continue to serve in the force, despite being charged over the alleged on-duty assault.

Pilots are still hungry for the thrill of flying a Grumman Tracker more than 30 years after they last launched it off the back of an aircraft carrier.

Extreme winds are churning up dust from Broken Hill to Sydney, with some parts of the central west turning red and forcing residents to eat dinner under bedsheets so as not to spoil their food.

Ivan Milat, Australia's most notorious serial killer who was serving seven life sentences for the murders of backpackers, has died aged 74. Milat had been diagnosed with terminal cancer in May. He died at 4.07am at Sydney's Long Bay Prison hospital on October 27, 2019.

Backpacker killer Ivan Milat, who was serving seven life sentences, dies in Sydney's Long Bay Prison hospital six months after he was diagnosed with terminal stomach and oesophagus cancer.

MORNING BRIEFING: NSW's economy has dropped to third, behind Victoria and Tasmania, according to CommSec's State of the States report, which measures performance based on several factors.

A court hears an Australian Federal Police officer told ABC lawyers he did not want to see "sensationalist headlines" prior to a raid of the broadcaster's Sydney headquarters this year.

More than 90 fire fighters are battling the blaze in inner west Sydney.

A jury hears how a woman who was allegedly gang raped by prominent Chinese actor Yunxiang Gao, and a producer, in a Sydney hotel room begged the men to let her go.

A copied artwork featured in the lounge room of Ricky Gervais's character in the Netflix series After Life results in a payout to Aboriginal artist Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri.

Manly Sea Eagles hooker Manese Fainu will spend the night behind bars after he was refused bail during a court appearance in which he was accused of stabbing a man outside a church in Sydney's south-west last week.

Last year, more than 12,000 students in NSW received long suspensions of up to 20 days and a new report reveals this could be creating a pathway from school to prison.

South Sydney Rabbitohs forward Sam Burgess has been forced into early retirement from the NRL aged 30 due to a chronic shoulder injury.

Court documents provide insight into the shambolic and costly planning issues being created by a major housing expansion on the southern outskirts of Sydney.

While the big aged care chains may have copped many of the torrid headlines, the Federal Government has been another target at this royal commission, writes Anne Connolly.

NSW's Law Enforcement Conduct Commission recommends disciplinary action be taken against two police officers who engaged in misconduct by racially abusing two Afghan women at a traffic stop in Western Sydney.

The first report from the 10-month royal commission into aged-care standards offers blunt condemnation of the system, describing it as "unkind and uncaring" and fails to deliver safe care.

Challenged by animal activists over the slaughter of newborn male calves, some dairy farmers are marketing older calves as veal to the ethical consumer.

A former Catholic priest accused of assaulting 40 victims across eight NSW parishes from the 1960s to the mid-1990s has pleaded not guilty to the 139 charges.

Horses, then cars and motorbikes staged races at low tide on a beautiful stretch of sand on the NSW south coast, but it has fallen silent now that it is a national park.

Garry McQuinn has found a way around the challenges of creating a new hit Australian musical by turning the National Institute of Dramatic Arts into a "musical theatre lab".

In Sydney to open the International Women's Jazz Festival, Wilma Reading toured the world during the genre's golden age but the "icon and trailblazer" is almost unknown in her home country.

The theory in media circles is that the banking royal commission was big news because "everyone has a bank account". There seems to be no corresponding extrapolation for aged care, writes Anne Connolly.

A $2.9 million payout is being challenged in court today after it was found Nationwide News defamed actor Geoffrey Rush in a high-profile case earlier this year.

MORNING BRIEFING: The $2.9 million awarded to Australian actor Geoffrey Rush in his defamation case will be challenged in court today, while much-needed rain has fallen in some of the state's driest areas.

A NSW school principal who has been accused of sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl has been released from custody on strict conditions.

Geoffrey Rush's barrister tells an appeal hearing his client has been "slurred" by The Daily Telegraph's lawyer, who yesterday accused the actor of "delivering lines" when describing the impact the newspaper's articles had on his life.

Sydney woman Susan Leslie O'Brien may be home before Christmas after being sentenced to three-and-a-half months in jail for hitting and killing a Balinese teenager with her car.

One of the lead authors of the study says it outlines key indicators to track the depth and scale of climate change.

It's criticised for being "disingenuous", and many Christian students say it can be socially draining. So why hasn't face-to-face evangelism gone out of fashion in a digital world?

Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry has notched up plenty of career highlights, but her biggest is being involved in the "watershed moment" of women's sport in Australia.