The forestry industry believes the Coalition's pledge of planting 1 billion trees by 2030 is unrealistic, unless it removes barriers preventing the sector's growth.

The company proposing a coal mine for NSW's Manning Valley, refused by an environment court on the grounds of its contribution to climate change, will not appeal the decision.

The free cuppa and bikkie offered at the once-popular Driver Reviver sites on the nation's major highways have been slowly losing their appeal to tired motorists.

The reliability of roadside drug testing for cannabis is in question after new research reveals a "concerning" proportion of the tests are inaccurate, while a driver argues the 'passive smoking' defence and has charges dismissed.

A police taskforce is set up to investigate the alleged misconduct of gynaecologist Emil Gayed, following complaints made by almost 200 women to a NSW public inquiry about health care including the unnecessary removal of organs.

The Mini Minor car was a symbol of the Swinging Sixties and now it is helping one veteran dairy farmer keep a perspective on the rigours of family life and work.

MORNING BRIEFING: Police investigate what is believed to be a human bone discovered by passers-by at a Port Macquarie beach, while a Sydney northern beach road is closed after a pedestrian was killed by a car overnight.

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

Toddler William Tyrrell, who vanished from his foster grandmother's home in the sleepy town of Kendall almost five years ago, was likely abducted by someone who chose to "act on their desires", an inquest into his disappearance hears.

A wooden cross marked "2014" the same year that William Tyrrell went missing was among several false leads found during a large police search for the toddler around Kendall on the NSW mid-north coast, an inquest hears.

An inquest into the disappearance of toddler William Tyrrell hears an SES volunteer who was involved in search efforts for the toddler on the NSW mid-north coast, did not respond to police questions.

The former chief investigator who led the investigation into the disappearance of three-year-old William Tyrrell on the NSW mid-north coast is accused of misleading a neighbour during a police interview two years ago.

People in a packed gallery sit up when inconsistencies begin to appear in the testimony of "person of interest" Paul Savage, a neighbour who claimed he joined in the search for the missing three-year-old.

As the Coronial inquest into William Tyrrell's disappearance had a special sitting in Taree just 40 kilometres from where the toddler was last seen family members have been left frustrated by delays and disappointed by its failure so far to turn up any substantial new leads.

Three girls aged 12, 13 and 14, are before the courts over 13 grassfires police allege were deliberately lit on the New South Wales mid-north coast.

Whitegoods repairman Bill Spedding tells an inquest into the disappearance of William Tyrrell he was having coffee with his wife on the day the toddler vanished, before revealing the "devastating impact" of the police investigation on his life.

A Kendall resident says he is certain he saw William Tyrrell being driven away by a blonde woman in a car at high speed moments after the toddler vanished from the New South Wales mid-north coast almost five years ago.

Washing machine repairman Bill Spedding is seeking up to $1 million in compensation after accusing NSW Police of causing him "reputational damage" by wrongly linking him to the disappearance of William Tyrrell.

Farmers along Australia's normally green east coast are reeling from the worst drought they have ever seen and face a tough summer if it doesn't rain in the next few months.

Members of a NSW rugby league club who were photographed at an airport wearing offensive t-shirts emblazoned with a topless mermaid look set to face the wrath of the sport's officials.

The whitegoods repairman who became the chief suspect in one of Australia's biggest child abduction mysteries reveals for the first time how the ordeal "shattered" his life.

A private company has unveiled its plans to build a major off-stream dam in the Northern Territory so who is NT Water Pty Ltd?

A review of WA's cattle stations finds at least a dozen are at risk of animal welfare issues in coming months because of a lack of food and water.

A piece of land formerly part of the Durack pastoral empire handed back to traditional owners.

Land clearing work at the Kimberley's Yakka Munga cattle station has ground to a halt as native title holders blockade the road and refuse contractors entry to the site.

A "flood" of vulnerable Australians have been walking into Telstra shops looking to buy a cheap flip phone and walking out with contracts worth $250 a month. Now the consumer watchdog is investigating.

A health facility able to meet the needs of acclaimed Aboriginal playwright Jimmy Chi was not available at the time of his death, a coronial inquest has heard.

Conservation groups want harsher penalties for illegal land clearing, as the WA Government investigates a Chinese-owned company over the mysterious clearing of 120 hectares at a cattle station.

WA and NSW cane toads are bigger, stronger and can travel further, but they lag behind Queensland toads in one significant feature testicle size.

A network of oil wells that involve fracking in the Great Sandy Desert, connected by pipelines to new and existing ports, may become Australia's biggest oil-producing project, according to traditional owners negotiating with the private company.

Police are called in after 'Cinnamon', a 40cm-long saltwater crocodile, is stolen from Broome's Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park.

In the dusty station country of northern Western Australia, a unique competition is highlighting the importance of animal welfare to cattle producers and attracting international attention.

Now that Western Australia's moratorium on fracking has been lifted, can gas from the Kimberley prove that it is economically viable?

A day after Jody Gore was released from her murder sentence in an act of mercy by the WA Government, she says she hopes her case brings the "silent epidemic" of domestic violence into the open.

An arrest warrant has been issued after a man who served 12 years in prison for bashing and raping two tourists in WA's far north breached his post-sentence supervision order and failed to appear in court.

Lou Brown used meditation and shear effort to clip about one sheep a minute for eight hours and claim the new world record.

A man and a woman are dead after they were hit by a truck overnight on Brookton Highway in Jelcobine, almost 100 kilometres south-east of Perth, with police closing the road to investigate the crash.

A crackdown on home loans emerges in the wake of the Banking Royal Commission, with borrowers being asked for deposits of up to 30 per cent and banks throwing greater scrutiny on location and living expenses.

A strong cold front is expected to bring damaging wind gusts, heavy rain, thunderstorms and possible flash flooding to south-west WA, with up to 40 millimetres of rainfall set to be dumped on Perth.