Is the government pulling the right levers to mitigate the economic impact of Covid-19. How long can the Australian economy survive shut downs before we tip into irreparable damage? 

How do we revive the economy once the pandemic passes? Coronavirus has Australia headed for a deep recession, so what can we do now to plan our way out of it? Is the answer more government intervention and state planning? Or, is now the time to launch a new reform agenda that sharpens the incentives to work, save, invest and hire? And, Alexander Downer: “I don’t know what China’s problem is” Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called for an investigation into the origins of the virus. But China’s Ambassador in Canberra upped the stakes this week by threatening a trade and tourism boycott of Australia. Australia’s longest serving Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer says China’s Cold War style rhetoric will backfire on it, and it is in everyone’s interests to investigate the origins of the virus. But as we head into recession, can we afford to aggravate our largest trade partner?

Sweden's virus experiment: death sentence, or a way forward?

The Racing Commission had a long and open discussion but again cleared the Cherokee Nation's belated application for a casino permit in Pope County. A Mississippi casino operator says it will sue if the Cherokees win the permit.

The post Arkansas Racing Commission sticks with competition for Pope County casino; Mississippi operators promise lawsuit if they don’t win appeared first on Arkansas Times.

The Big Issue has been helping disadvantaged and homeless people earn an income for almost 30 years, but one seller says a recent price increase has triggered a drop in sales and income.

Native plant sales jump 70 per cent for South Australian nursery as rain and physical distancing provide boost for local nurseries.

Eyewear giant Specsavers has admitted that the personal information of some clients in Queensland is missing and may have been stolen.

The Landgate deal represents a sizeable change in position by WA Labor, a party that spent years fighting tooth and nail against privatisations but just locked in one of the state's biggest-ever deals with the private sector, writes Jacob Kagi.

Western Australia moves significantly closer to legalising voluntary assisted dying with the State Government's euthanasia bill sailing through the Lower House of Parliament but it still faces a major hurdle.

A Perth man is found guilty of murder after claiming he was defending himself against a home invader when he tied up his victim and bashed and stabbed him before slashing his throat.

Space exploration has given us conveniences such as smartphone cameras, memory foam mattresses and satellite navigation, but it also boosts the economy.

Brutal heat and bitter cold have cost farmers in WA more than 1.5m tonnes in crops over the course of a fortnight, according to a grain industry report.

An ageing workforce and preconceptions about the transport industry are helping create a nationwide truck driver shortage that has serious implications for the economy.

A delicate rescue operation frees a baby humpback from shark nets off Noosa on the Sunshine Coast with the whale's mother staying close to her calf during the ordeal.

Uncle Dick and Aunty Ruth Carney share how they built their own 'piece of heaven'.

WA has now posted six days in a row without a new case of COVID-19 after no new cases were recorded overnight, with 95 per cent of people who contracted the virus in the state now recovered.

Whether Australia or India wins the final, this T20 World Cup almost promised too much but has delivered even more. If fans #FillTheG on Sunday it will give this tournament the conclusion it deserves, writes Richard Hinds.

A Brisbane multi-millionaire who donated $300,000 to a charity associated with a group later found in court to be an "exploitative cult" says he gave the money freely as a reward for treating his chronic pain.

Australian Olympic cycling champion, Anna Meares, says fracturing her neck in 2008 and a quick succession of significant life changes, transformed her outlook on life.

By the end of April there has normally been regular fire crew training, inductions, and planning, but social distancing has made that near-impossible.

The Holmes family will continue staying home even after COVID-19 lockdown rules are relaxed — with good reason.

The New Zealand Warriors will fly into Tamworth tomorrow, in an exemption from current travel rules.

Three years after shutting down and shedding more than 30 local jobs, Binnaway's abattoir is reopening, offering a much-needed boost.

With dams and creeks bone dry in drought-stricken towns, firefighters are being forced to find ways to combat blazes that are almost impossible to extinguish.

A coroner finds clear and ongoing inadequacies in the care of a pregnant Indigenous woman, who later died from sepsis, by doctors and staff at Tumut Hospital.

The family and friends of Naomi Williams, who died, along with her unborn son, after 20 attempts to get help, say the apology they have received via a statement from the health district is not good enough.

Climate protesters who brought the streets of Melbourne to a standstill are vowing to make a comeback in autumn as police reveal the cost of overtime for controlling the protests would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The limitations of company annual general meetings were laid bare at Crown's flagship Melbourne casino this week, where questions about company scandals were batted away, but Crown won't escape scrutiny for long, writes Daniel Ziffer.

In the wake of the racehorse slaughter scandal, calls are growing for greater financial support for rehoming thoroughbreds and an enforceable standard of care.

High-density developments are cropping up in almost every Melbourne suburb and local resident groups have had enough.

Comic superheroes and villainous characters put their differences aside over the weekend, uniting for far north Queensland's first ever pop culture and comic convention, Tropicon.

In the end Mines Rovers were too good for Railways, securing their 42nd Goldfields Football League flag with a thumping 64-point win.

This gaggle of geese is beloved by Instagrammers, but the local council says the abandoned birds are destroying the environment and must be rehomed.

Gay and lesbian culture has been long associated with the city, often to the detriment of LGBT people in rural Victoria who felt they could never be accepted.

Paul Levitz

Kari Gislason concedes it would have been very easy to write a sad memoir about his relationship with his dad - but he made a concerted effort not to go down that track.

Power has been restored to most of the 55,000 homes and businesses in Western Australia that were plunged into darkness when a massive storm hit the southern part of the state.

Theatres and art galleries around the country are on high alert after the NSW Government decision to withhold an annual grant from Australia's biggest multi-arts venue, Carriageworks, forcing it to appoint administrators.

MIT research scientist, Andrew McAfee, argues we need to rethink our assumptions about capitalism and the environment.   Economic growth, he says, has been gradually decoupling from resource consumption. So, if capitalism survives this current crisis, we may need to adapt our understanding of the way it all works.  We also hear from Annmaree O’Keeffe, from the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands Program, about the value of Australia’s international public broadcasting effort now that the Pacific is once again an Australian geopolitical focus.

MORNING BRIEFING: The father of missing Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez will front the media today as homicide detectives travel to Byron Bay to assist in the investigation, while some of the residents of Mascot Towers will be permitted to return to their homes to pick up belongings.

The NSW Treasurer delivers a surplus of around half that expected this time last year, but is forecasting blue skies ahead. He's optimistic despite doubts circulating about the domestic and global economies, Ian Verrender says.

Business is booming for the gold mining industry as the price of the precious metal sets new benchmarks almost every day, but not everyone in mining towns like Kalgoorlie is taking a shine to the recent "mini gold rush".

Some regional Australians argue they should see social-distancing measures wound back first because there is less risk of COVID-19 spreading, but a leading health expert is not a fan of the idea.