The water watchdog says it is investigating claims that irrigators in the Namoi Valley pumped water out of the river system during a recent embargo.

The Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) has cleared New South Wales irrigators who were accused of illegal pumping during an embargo that was put in place after recent rain.

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.

Australia's first liquid natural gas import terminal will be built at Port Kembla, south of Sydney, with hopes it will secure thousands of jobs and meet the bulk of the state's gas needs.

A Chinese mining giant is being accused of underestimating the impact a proposed open cut mine will have on groundwater on the New South Wales Liverpool Plains.

As a river runs dry in the northern basin, the blame game continues, and farmer Andrew Watson says irrigators are being unjustly targeted over water use.

Matt Clifton grew up with a passion for music, but his small-town upbringing meant live music events were few and far between, so he brought one home.

Australia's colonial banks are given new lives as bank branches close across regional Australia.

With towns across New South Wales at risk of running out of water within months, there are renewed calls for an urgent upgrade of water storage infrastructure.

Water stations reduce heat stress and other effects of drought and extreme weather events on koalas and other animals, new research finds.

Police find four children under the age of 14 who took a Nissan Patrol from Gracemere in central Queensland and embarked on a joyride to Grafton in northern New South Wales.

After more than two years without any decent rain, a community in the far north of New South Wales is been given a reprieve.

A burst water main in the western Sydney suburb of Kingswood has spilled a million litres of water and inundated the streets.

Three young sisters work together to fulfil their dream of owning and operating their own Hereford stud and, despite drought and study, they are making a success of it.

An emergency warning is downgraded in northern NSW after an "unpredictable and fast-moving" grass fire had threatened homes, with embers to blowing up to 4 kilometres ahead of the fire front.

Business owners in Tenterfield say tourists will be the key to the rural town's recovery, as bushfires and drought take their toll on the local economy.

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.

The remains of a 77-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman are found on a property destroyed in the bushfires which ripped through northern NSW earlier this week.

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.

The Prime Minister and NSW Premier announce a $1 billion joint investment to upgrade the Wyangala Dam and build a new one at Dungowan to help drought-devastated NSW regional communities.

A man is charged with two counts of murder after a woman and a young boy are found dead in a Tamworth house fire that police believe was deliberately lit. Two other people are in hospital with burns.

Almost bone-dry from drought and having endured four major bushfires this year, Tenterfield was due for a break. That came in spades when the town found a new water supply.

Residents in the regional city of Armidale are using their own water to save trees in their heritage-listed park, as the drought continues to deplete the district's water supply.

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.

The Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein says public schools will remain open, but parents who wish to keep children home may do so.

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.

Some veterinarians in Tasmania are sceptical about suggestions animal ventilators could be used on humans during the coronavirus pandemic, with some warning making them fit for purpose may be too expensive.

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

Once a destination for grey nomads and bus tours, Australia's island state has built its brand into something clean, green and edgy. With 10 per cent of its economy hinging on tourism, Tasmania has a lot to lose.

Allison Davies says when she uploaded a cheerful ditty about wellness on her Instagram page she had no idea it would strike a chord with families worldwide.

Four men and one woman appear in court charged with murder over the death of a 23-year-old man in Burnie, in Tasmania's north west, early on Sunday morning.

The Australian Government will launch hundreds of flights to deliver fresh produce to key international markets as part of a big-spending boost for exports.

For the first time in about a fortnight Tasmania has had no new positive coronavirus tests, but the Premier says that's no reason to relax while warning parents to supervise children not at school.

One of the latest cases of coronavirus in Tasmania is an employee of a local tour company that hosted two interstate travellers who, after leaving the state, were found to be ill with the disease.

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.

Year 12 students are assured they will receive an ATAR university entrance rank and will not have to repeat the school year.

The Tasmanian man was trying to get home in a yacht when he hit rocks near Portsea on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula.