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Study shows 'climate-change fingerprint' in Australian bushfires

A study suggests Australian bushfires were 30 per cent more likely as a result of climate change but there was no clear climate-change driver for local drought.




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Where the wild things are: How nature might respond as coronavirus keeps humans indoors




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China limited the Mekong’s flow. Other countries suffered a drought.

New research show that Beijing’s engineers appear to have directly caused the record low levels of water in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.




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Study finds 160 ways to protect the Great Barrier Reef

From cloud brightening to heat-tolerant corals, a study has identified 160 possible interventions that could help protect the Great Barrier Reef.




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Fury over killer drink-driver plea deal

CHARGES against a man who was more than double the legal alcohol limit when he killed his mate and injured two others have been downgraded, angering one of the survivors.




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Victoria’s child abuse hotline in crisis

MORE than 20,000 calls to Victoria’s child abuse hotline went unanswered in an 18-month period, with some callers waiting more than two hours for an operator.




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How a dating site aids liver transplant success

THE same process used by an international matchmaking site to pair lonely hearts may hold the key to improving the outcomes of liver transplants.




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Factories damaged in huge blaze

MORE than 50 firefighters on the ground and in the air were needed to tackle a huge factory fire in Melbourne’s west overnight.




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Two more agencies admit underquoting

TWO more Melbourne real estate agencies have been punished for underquoting, with one caught telling a client the practice was “just a little (marketing) ploy” to “get people through the door”.




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Motorcyclist dead in horror truck smash

A WOMAN is dead after a truck failed to stop at a red light and ploughed into the back of her stationary motorcycle in Melbourne’s outer east.




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Falling power use due to coronavirus risks system overload and blackouts, experts warn

Falling demand for electricity caused by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic could leave WA's main electricity system at risk of a solar power overload within months, experts have warned.




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'Freaking out' and 'falling through the cracks': Screen industry workers explain the shutdown crisis

With the shutdown of an estimated 100 film and TV shoots, many of the sector's 30,000 workers lost their entire income overnight and say they can't access the Government's job assistance schemes.




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Photos capture North Korean ships breaking UN sanctions in Chinese waters

In what appears to be a lax enforcement by China of UN sanctions, North Korean vessels — some carrying illicit coal shipments — are seen anchored in Chinese waters last year in photos from a UN report.




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The desert is now deserted, so these locals are seeing Uluru in new light

Uluru in 2020 is a rare sight for Mutitjulu local Verna Wilson, who is taking her kids out to see parts of Kata Tjuta National Park that are typically bustling with tourists.




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The world's energy order is changing — and China is set to reap the strategic benefits

Historians will look back on this period as an epoch in capitalism, when oil-producing nations were powerful because they were necessary to keep the whole engine running. But the global shift towards renewable energy will change all that, Gareth Hutchens writes.




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From computer games to building supermarkets — this business shows the problems in our 'pivot' to manufacturing

The Federal Government has been spruiking a renewed focus on Australia's shrinking manufacturing sector in the post-COVID-19 world. But experts say it will be tough to flick the switch on a withering part of the economy.




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This cleaning service said it could ‘deactivate' the coronavirus

The Australian Department of Health says it does not endorse any cleaning company in relation to COVID-19 and warns businesses not to use a free online course in their marketing materials.




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Coronavirus to wipe half a billion dollars off Cairns tourism in two months

With tourism ground to a halt, industry experts say Cairns will be one of the regions hardest hit by coronavirus, estimating it is on track to lose $500 million in visitor spending by April.



  • Epidemics and Pandemics
  • COVID-19
  • Travel Health and Safety
  • Great Barrier Reef
  • Oceans and Reefs
  • Government and Politics
  • Tourism
  • Travel and Tourism
  • Diseases and Disorders
  • Infectious Diseases (Other)
  • Respiratory Diseases

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Bubble-wrapped windows and foam-taped doors: How to keep warm for less this winter

Fancy your home as an "hermetically sealed space ship" this winter, and keeping warm to boot? Here's how you can do both and not pump out more electricity, gas or wood smoke.



  • Energy
  • Electricity Energy and Utilities
  • House and Home

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Trump says China should be punished if 'knowingly responsible' for coronavirus

The US President warns China that it should face consequences if it was "knowingly responsible" for the coronavirus pandemic, as protests about strict stay-at-home measures spread across America.




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'Right to repair' taken up by the ACCC in farmers' fight to fix their own tractors

The competition and consumer watchdog has launched an inquiry into whether tractor manufacturers are failing farmers who want the right to repair their own machinery.




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Coles workers demand better protection against coronavirus after hand sanitiser switch

Workers say the supermarket giant is not providing them with the best possible protection against coronavirus after their complaints were dismissed by the head office.




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Grattan Institute projects 3.4 million Australians will lose jobs, and predicts which industries will be hit hardest

The think tank predicts between 14 and 26 per cent of the entire Australian workforce will lose their job, if they haven't already, as a result of government shutdowns and physical distancing rules.




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Kids head back to school in the NT, where there have been no new coronavirus cases for two weeks

Anxious parents express their relief as kids in the Northern Territory head back into the classroom for term two after homeschooling when the COVID-19 crisis first hit.




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Airline bailout push turns ugly as Queensland Minister warns NSW Treasurer to 'back right off'

Queensland's State Development Minister Cameron Dick is warning the NSW Treasurer to "back off" over a move to lure Virgin Australia from Brisbane to Sydney as part of a possible bailout package for the embattled airline.




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Victorian suppression of COVID-19's spread 'more successful than maybe we could have even imagined'

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton reveals theoretical modelling which suggests 36,000 people could have been killed by coronavirus in Victoria if no physical-distancing measures were put in place.




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ASX drops 2.5pc as oil prices collapse, NAB flags $1.1b hit to earnings

Australian shares drop as US oil plunges to a 21-year low, Caltex takeover fails due to coronavirus risk, and NAB flags $1.1 billion hit to its earnings.




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600,000 people out of a job, 1.6 million with no income from work: ABS estimates the initial cost of coronavirus

A new survey from the ABS shows the extreme effect of coronavirus social-distancing measures on employment, with well over a million workers losing their incomes in the space of a month.




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Virgin Australia pilot calls for a last-minute lifeline

Virgin Australia captain George Kailis has been flying planes for almost 20 years, but fears for himself and co-workers as the company looks likely to enter into voluntary administration.




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Branson calls for UK Government bailout to save Virgin airlines

In an open letter to Virgin employees, Sir Richard Branson calls on the UK Government to help save Virgin Atlantic, while warning against allowing Qantas "a monopoly" should Virgin Australia "disappear".




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ACTU secretary tells Q+A the Government is 'spying' on union leaders

ACTU secretary Sally McManus tells Hamish Macdonald the Government taps the phones of union chiefs, while economist Gigi Foster causes a stir by saying the coronavirus lockdown may not be worth the cost.




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Virgin Australia expected to go into voluntary administration

Virgin Australia is expected to announce the airline will go into voluntary administration, with Deloitte tipped to help the company restructure about $5 billion in debt and pay off its creditors.




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'Everything has to change' — The new laws to deal with Victoria's coronavirus emergency

Changes necessary for the Victorian Government to deal with the coronavirus pandemic include plans to hold judge-only trials and giving councils the power to hold meetings online.





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'No job losses planned' as Virgin Australia goes into voluntary administration

Australia's troubled second airline, which saw its cash flow collapse because of tough coronavirus travel restrictions, appoints accounting firm Deloitte to act as administrator after the Federal Government rejected calls to bail it out.




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One of the world's few micronations celebrates its 50th, but is the Hutt River Province dream over?

On this day 50 years ago, WA farmer Leonard Casley "stuck his nose up" at the Federal Government and seceded from Australia, forming the micronation the Principality of Hutt River.




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Rex to continue servicing regional airports after Government offers COVID-19 lifeline

The Federal Government has thrown airline Regional Express a funding lifeline to continue servicing airports in regional Australia during the ongoing pandemic.




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Between a croc and a hard place: Inside a farming couple's fight to save their scaly charges

Farmer John Lever and his wife Lillian say their Koorana Crocodile Farm has just two weeks of food left to feed 3,000 crocodiles, so they're offering an 'adopt a croc' program to raise funds.




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Young people dominate nearly 800,000 job losses since COVID-19 crisis escalated

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a 5.5 per cent slump in jobs in the first week after extensive business shutdowns and social-distancing limits were introduced to contain the virus, new ABS figures show.




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Worker killed in industrial accident at quarry north of Adelaide

Police and paramedics are at the scene of a fatal industrial accident at Truro north of Adelaide, where a man has been killed.




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Virgin going into administration a 'real failure' for regional communities

Regional centres are concerned they could be badly hit by the potential collapse of Virgin Australia, with higher airfares and less competition.



  • Health
  • Diseases and Disorders
  • COVID-19
  • Business
  • Economics and Finance
  • Community and Society
  • Government and Politics

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From flying planes to stacking shelves — Virgin Australia staff react to airline's insolvency

Virgin Australia's potential collapse has left staff scrambling for jobs, as tourism and aviation industries prepare for the threat of major player leaving the market.




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The live export cattle price to Indonesia has crashed, why?

The live cattle trade out of northern Australia has its biggest price crash since 2011, with key markets such as Indonesia and Vietnam struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic.




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Australia faces biggest economic contraction since Great Depression, Reserve Bank warns

Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe warns Australia's unemployment rate is likely to hit 10 per cent by June, and even though Australia will recover, the coronavirus emergency "will cast a shadow over our economy for some time to come".




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Opposition accuses Government of scaring Victorians with 'worst-case scenario' modelling

The modelling predicts more than a quarter of a million jobs could be lost in Victoria due to the coronavirus pandemic in what Premier Daniel Andrews says is the perhaps the "biggest economic and employment challenge" in the state's history.




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Company charged $42 for box of masks in January, now charging $780

Health professionals are incensed by dramatic price increases for face masks and other protective equipment by one of Australia's largest medical supply companies.




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Brent oil futures drop to near two-decade low amid falling demand and storage woes

With the world experiencing "the biggest supply and demand disparity in history", benchmark Brent oil futures fall to their lowest level since November 2001.




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COVID-19 hoarding triggers record surge in retail sales, but a payback is coming

Supermarket and grocery store turnover leapt 22 per cent in March on panic buying of toilet paper and food but sales are expected to fall as stockpiling subsides and major retailers, including Myer, extend shutdowns.




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Australia capitalises on low fuel prices to establish stockpile in US

Australia will buy fuel from the US at historic low prices to bolster its national stockpile, after criticisms that the Government only holds about 30 days' worth of fuel in domestic storage, far below the 90-day minimum.




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Ruby Princess doctor tells inquiry she would not have allowed passengers to disembark

The senior doctor on board the Ruby Princess tells an inquiry she is surprised passengers were allowed to disembark in Sydney last month despite some displaying COVID-19 symptoms.