Dr Barbara Anne York Main OAM, who died last week, was one of Australia's leading spider researchers and conservationists. She studied the world's oldest spider and championed their home at a time when both the environment and women were given no fighting chance.

Amid international efforts to find a vaccine for the deadly pig virus, Australian authorities and industry are bracing for an outbreak that some pig farmers fear is "inevitable".

Emergency services rescue an eight-year-old boy after he climbed into a chimney at his home in the town of Katanning in WA's Great Southern and became stuck.

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.

For inmates in a maximum security prison in WA, socialising unwanted dogs is "like a day away" from jail and the effects of the program are being described as "win-win".

Researchers are scouring the planet for drought and heat resistant crops as many Australian grain farmers face another failed winter season.

Arm wrestling is often associated with a casual competition at the local pub, but professionals like Ryan 'The Milkman' Scott compete internationally and are working hard to grow the sport in regional communities.

As it makes what could be a last-ditch effort to ensure its future, collapsed wave energy hopeful Carnegie Clean Energy is still not disclosing the performance of its most valuable asset, its CETOwave technology.

Modern consumers want to know more about the story of their food where it came from, how it was produced and farmers in WA are taking advantage of the trend.

It is now decades since Todd Jefferis first raised the alarm about the sexual abuse atrocities carried out at Katanning's St Andrew's Hostel in Western Australia, but his fight for justice might finally be nearing an end.

Fyfe's tiny home town of 500 people has produced more than its fair share of AFL and AFLW stars, with nine local players making it to the top in recent years.

The school holidays are about to get ugly with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting thunderstorms and some wild weather for Friday, the second last day of the Perth Royal Show.

A hospital orderly from Albany, Western Australia, turns old wood into stunning works of art using nothing more than a chainsaw.

There are only a handful of sheep dairies in Australia, but it is a popular alternative to traditional dairy products.

Authorities in Western Australia investigate a large mussel die-off that covered a 1km stretch of beach on the south coast last week.

The WA SES Volunteer Association hits out at department bureaucracy after a decade-long wait for equipment.

Sources have confirmed the $150 million public housing debt owed by Tasmania will be waived, as demanded by Senator Jacqui Lambie in exchange for her vote on the Federal Government's tax cuts.

A severe weather warning for Tasmania's east coast is cancelled but heavy rain continues to fall in the region, with snow in the highlands.

A ship left Melbourne in January 1954 to set up Australia's first Antarctic base. Facing harsh conditions and the unknown, the pioneers built Mawson Station.

A trampoline lands on the roof of a Hobart home, piercing a bedroom ceiling, as strong winds of up to 155 kilometres per hour wreak havoc in southern Tasmania overnight.

The family of a model who was murdered 50 years ago is suing Tasmania Police for what it alleges is misconduct in the handling of the investigation.

Formula Three driver Alex Peroni walks off a plane in his hometown of Hobart just one week after a horror race day crash in Italy.

Tasmanian-based infant formula company Bellamy's tells shareholders to vote in favour of a $1.5 billion takeover by Chinese company Mengniu.

DAILY BRIEFING: The family of three-year-old Eleanor Oakley, which has been fundraising so the young girl can travel to the US to receive cancer treatment, reaches its $300,000 target.

A victim of one of Tasmania's "most horrendous" crimes, a woman is fighting the justice system to keep her captor and rapist in jail, while being unable to identify herself.

Fire is "absolutely the number-one risk" to the city of Hobart, authorities say. But has the island state learnt from the 1967 fires that destroyed hundreds of homes and claimed 62 lives?

DAILY BRIEFING: Inmates involved in an escape from prison allegedly tried to get out earlier the same morning, and the Tasmanian Mayor defends renting a short-stay property to staff.

DAILY BRIEFING: The wait for public housing in Tasmania blows out by 34 per cent for those most in need, and passengers on a tourist train get a fright after an apparent failure of the braking system.

Until 2012, Maria Island's animal inhabitants were living without any major predators. But when devils were introduced they had to adapt or die.

As Tasmania lures more tourists with its wilderness charms, there are fears the method of holding tour operators accountable for licence breaches in precious wilderness areas is not up to the task.

A man who assaulted his then-pregnant girlfriend on a weekly basis, destroyed her possessions by driving over them and smeared faeces on her clothes is jailed and described by the presiding judge as "domineering" and "cowardly".

DAILY BRIEFING: A promised lost-cost abortion service for southern Tasmania is on hold indefinitely, and the union says more immediate solutions are needed to address prison overcrowding.

DAILY BRIEFING: The majority shareholders of Hobart Airport have sold a 70 per cent stake in the facility, and concerns surround the rejection of the Constitution Dock extension.

DAILY BRIEFING: Scientists offer the public the chance to name a rare red handfish, and there are calls for councillors to receive training on responding to bullying.

The flooding of Lake Pedder started the green political movement but remains an open wound. A nostalgic campaign to drain it is ramping up, but flies in the face of Hydro Tasmania's bold plans to grow its renewable energy assets.

Despite a bid to move Tasmania's time zone 30 minutes earlier than eastern standard time failing to win support, Prime Minister Scott Morrison tells Liberal Party faithful their future remains bright thanks to the revived fortunes for the island state.

As Tasmania heads towards its busy summer tourist season, residents in popular locations are bracing themselves to share the road with tourists.

A cancer patient whose hysterectomy wound was split open after an assault by her former partner and carer, who has now won an appeal against his jail sentence, says she wants to see justice before she dies.

A judge sentencing a woman and her former lover to jail for the shooting murder of her partner Dwayne "Doc" Davies ?labels the act an "outrageous killing" and a "betrayal" by the victim's wife and close friend.