An unwanted steam locomotive that was left to rust has become a symbol of pride for a Queensland town, thanks to years of painstaking restoration work.

Fast rail, a high frequency Metro, and a duplicate M1, are just some of the multi-billion-dollar "fixes" aimed at getting South East Queensland moving again. But is it enough to solve the transport woes?

A formal investigation begins over the actions of Noosa Shire Councillor Jess Glasgow as a contestant on reality TV dating program The Bachelorette, with comments he made on the dating show described as "crude" and "highly offensive".

Thousands of hectares of native forest north of Noosa, which was due to become national park, will now remain open to the timber industry in order to save hundreds of jobs.

It has been three weeks since the NT's last COVID-19 diagnosis and this weekend some Northern Territory parks will reopen.

From May 15, Territorians will be able to sweat it out at the gym, dine at a restaurants and get their nails done. And from June 5, they can get a tattoo or head to a nightclub.

Defence says it "proactively tested" members for COVID-19 in the Middle East after it was notified a number of locally engaged contractors had tested positive to COVID-19.

Northern Territorians are hitting the roads, pools and sportsgrounds in droves today, for the beginning of one of Australia's largest wind backs of coronavirus restrictions.

In Central Australia, butterflies have only several weeks in certain months to pollinate flowering plants in the desert region, making their presence there crucial.

Graziers have turned to the help of a landscape ecologist to battle severe drought in rain-starved areas of far western New South Wales.

Over the past seven weeks, ABC readers have been submitting questions about the NSW election in the process, you actually told us three things would decide your vote this Saturday. Here's a peek.

From 85 millimetres of rain in a year to more than 50mm in a day, widespread Easter rain raises spirits from Bourke to Menindee.

Yet more rain in recent days in western Queensland has meant the rivers are flowing. But sadly the latest downpours, linked to the snow in Western Australia on Good Friday, hasn't been enough to get more than a dribble into the Darling.

Wilcannia locals worry their weir won't ever be built, despite State and Federal Government pre-election promises.

Twenty-five years since The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert shone a light on homophobia in the outback, the landscape has changed in regional Australia.

The drought takes its toll on organic farmers who say the big dry has ruined their ability to meet the conditions of their licences, so they cannot sell their livestock as organic.

The president of WA Farmers is calling for higher standards to be met before proposed foreign investments are given the green light.

The City of Albany says it will be just a few hundred thousand dollars out of pocket from investments in failed US investment bank Lehman Brothers, after the latest settlement agreement.

Real estate agents say Albany's rental market has tightened significantly in recent times.

Western Australia's bulk grain handler says it has already received about 12.5 million tonnes of grain during this year's harvest and there is still more to come from southern areas.

Western Australian quarantine officers have intercepted a number of pests in products imported from other states and say, if released, they could have had damaging effects on local industries.

An investor, who has been left waiting months for the return of rare bank notes he owned through a collapsed Albany dealer, says further delays to that process are distressing.

The president of Albany's biggest surfing club says the funds spent on the Western Australian Government's new shark strategy would be better used researching shark repellents.

Financial penalties have been imposed on Western Power for failing to meet its target for service performance to customers in regional areas.

The Royal Life Saving Society says WA's latest drowning figures, which reveal a 50 per cent increase on the previous year, should serve as a warning ahead of the festive season. A new report shows 31 people drowned in the state in 2012. Children under the age of four were the highest risk group for drowning and near drowning. Older people over the age of 55 were also at risk.

With extremely hot inland conditions being experienced and forecast in Western Australia, farmers are warned of potential threats to livestock.