ABC North Coast resident arts reviewer, Jeanti St Clair looks at the latest music and theatre to hit the region.

As bushfire victims work to rebuild their lives after the devastating Australian summer, a group of quilters is stitching together beautiful handmade squares from around the world to offer a gift that is like a "nice warm hug".

Given only weeks or months to live, Gail Baker's dying wish is for her sister to travel from New Zealand to care for her toward the end of her life. But red tape is preventing her from doing so.

Health authorities in NSW carried out more than 8,800 tests yesterday, and they're delighted that only five came back positive.

Coronavirus deaths decrease in New York but rise everywhere else in the country.

While the lucrative mud crab trade was all but halted by the impact of coronavirus, eels enable one commercial fisher to claw back some lost trade.

Scores of crew members on the Ruby Princess celebrated with a party on the day it docked in Sydney unaware of the public health disaster that was about to happen.

It was the New South Wales rail disaster that killed six people and injured 100 more. Some of those on board share their recollections of that day.

Jim Hamilton, 68, a passenger on Ruby Princess, says a stint in intensive care with COVID-19 has left him musing about "the meaning of life and everything".

When police launched a youth outreach program in Dubbo six months ago, they would have been happy to see charge rates drop by 10 per cent. But Project Walwaay has wildly exceeded expectations.

This supernatural YA novel adaptation is an overwrought affair that fails to cast a spell.

The Secret River is a classic in the making, says ABC 720 cultural correspondent Victoria Laurie

This comedy about battling magicians may not be incredible or magicial, but its grab bag of stupid jokes is enough to create some decent chuckles.

It's unusual to go to an art gallery and to be asked to not so much look at the art as listen to it. But this is what you need to do if you go the Northern Rivers Community Gallery in Ballina this week.

This Stone-Age family adventure features sophisticated animation and primitive storytelling, but offers some pleasing moments.

Explosive drama and long held grievances come home for Christmas in this stylish drama.

James Blake brought is soulful electric music to the Astor

Greg McLean and John Jarratt reunite for more blood, guts and killing in the outback, but this sequel fails to have the impact of the original.

Bit by bit, children's play The Curious Scrapbook of Josephine Bean reveals itself to be one of those rare love stories that really touch you.

A self-described experienced horse breaker has been fined and sentenced to a community correction order for a "silly decision" to use a lasso to strangle a brumby.

Paris Whibley has made the 1,200-kilometre round trip from her family's farm near Moree in NSW to Sydney three times during her school holidays to compete at the Royal Easter Show.

The Broncos answer a number of their critics by ending a four-match losing streak with a convincing victory over the Sharks, while the Tigers snare a win against the Titans in Tamworth.

An emergency warning has been issued for a blaze burning at Sandy Creek, east of Armidale, which has closed roads and is threatening several properties where residents have been told it is "too late to leave".

MORNING BRIEFING: The Rural Fire Service says it will begin assessing the full extent of the bushfire damage in northern New South Wales today, and a man is charged after a robbery in 2003.

With towns facing "zero day" water crises National Party MPs are frustrated not enough dams are being built, but states are spending billions to fix a system ill-prepared for crisis.

Whitehaven's Maules Creek coal mine is being investigated for allegedly unlawfully taking water, after farmers say their groundwater is drying up. The company has already been found to have allegedly unlawfully taken surface water by the NSW regulator.

There are now 22 people in Tasmania who have tested positive for coronavirus, with five people being diagnosed today, the director of public health says.

Tasmania records six new cases of coronavirus, with four of those infected being passengers who returned to the state after disembarking the Ruby Princess cruise ship.

Renters in Tasmania could be safe from eviction until at least September under emergency laws to shield them during the coronavirus crisis — with New South Wales tenancy advocates welcoming the development and calling on "all governments" to follow suit.

As coronavirus restrictions tighten and public venues close around the country, egg producers turn to other avenues of income to get by.

Ella Ross and Thomas Edwards were all set to buy land in southern Tasmania and build their first home until coronavirus put a hold on their plans when they were told their casual work "could not be counted".

As Tasmanian health authorities say they are yet to learn how two people in the state's north-west contracted coronavirus, four new cases are confirmed.

Leaders show us their true colours during a crisis, and Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein — only in the job three months and following the popular Will Hodgman — is already giving clues as to how he will fare, writes Emily Baker.

A ship that sank in 1852 off Rye in Victoria has given archaeologists new insights into early Australian boatbuilding.

A Tasmanian farmer's suggestion that people make champagne with their surplus rhubarb draws a legal warning from the French.

A clampdown on foreign investment into Australia could cut-off vital funding for cash-strapped farmers and businesses during the COVID-19 crisis, industry figures say.

A Tasmanian police officer is charged over a car crash that killed a pedestrian from New South Wales earlier this year.

A day after the Prime Minister announced a moratorium on evictions, this doctor was given an ultimatum by her landlord — either she stop working at a hospital or move out.

A man suffers head injuries when he is hit by a car that mounted a tram stop outside the Royal Adelaide Hospital, narrowly avoiding other bystanders.

Lawyers for two teenagers who threatened to carry out a school massacre tell South Australia's Supreme Court they should be immediately released.

A South Australian citrus grower is lathering his crops in molasses in an attempt to protect the produce from damaging frosts.

Peacocks are popular pets with people eager to host the showy ornamental bird, despite breeders admitting they are not particularly good companions nor protectors.

The last few players at this small town's croquet club are forced to close the door after 91 years but the sport isn't finished just yet.

Six regional aged care facilities in South Australia are failing to meet standards, a State Estimates committee hears, with three based in the same region.

Police say poor decisions, not weather conditions, were to blame for a head-on crash between two trucks yesterday, but transport authorities argue it is premature to blame the drivers, given how difficult it can be to pull over to the side of the road.

Fishing businesses report an increasing demand for carp as a "premium" food product, but fear the looming herpes virus release could kill the industry before it even takes off.