Australia is home to some of the best dairy operations in the world, but an analyst has warned that without a drastic increase in production the country could soon become an "import nation".

A social media video of a tourist hanging off a notorious WA cliff on Easter Sunday has prompted a furious response from a sea rescue group.

Australia was built on gold rushes a century ago, but there is a warning it could slip from second to fourth on a list of the world's biggest gold producing nations by 2024.

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".

Australian companies are enjoying record high woodchip prices, with overseas demand especially form China pushing the price for premium chips beyond $260 per bone-dry tonne.

A finishing school for western ringtail possums is not about airs and graces it's about helping orphaned possums get used to fending for themselves.

The shared horror of losing family members to homicide has united two women in their quest to form a unique peer support group in Western Australia.

African swine fever has depleted China's pig herd, creating a protein shortage that is benefitting Australian sheep farmers.

Growers question the process behind Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) announcing that a controversial ex-chairman is among the preferred candidates to fill board vacancies.

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

Suicide is the leading cause of death for Western Australians aged 14 to 44, but the State Government hopes its new plan will save lives.

This wild and rugged corner of north-west Tasmania is bursting with ancient history and dotted with artefacts, but you've probably never heard of it.

Dog owners whose animals kill sensitive wildlife, including penguins, now face fines of up to $5,040, after more than 170 little penguins die in dog attacks since June 2018.

Wombat researchers at the University of Tasmania have won an Ig Nobel Prize for unexpectedly discovering the "quite incredible" reason the animal's scat is cubed.

DAILY BRIEFING: The father of Graham Enniss, who escaped from Hobart's Risdon Prison this morning, urges his son to hand himself in, as police caution the public to stay away from the man.

Residents in the Hobart suburb of Risdon Vale say they are double checking their doors are locked as the search for a prison escapee enters its second day.

Tasmanian police release photos of a number of household items and non-perishable foods found in bushland near where a prison escapee was found.

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.

Tasmania is known for being clean and green, but Eva Pagett can't drink her tank water because it's contaminated with lead.

Three-year-old Chase has come ahead in leaps and bounds in this past year, his family credits a program giving kids like him free access to early learning.

Almost half a century on, John is setting out to write a memoir about the incident and the events that followed. The process meant revisiting the event and the questions that have been left unanswered.

Mandatory drug and alcohol testing for elected representatives could soon be a reality for a second Tasmanian council, but the proposal is proving to be divisive with one councillor labelling it "highly invasive".

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.

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.

Tasmanian farmer Richard Headlam says he was reassured a proposed coal mine on his land would not go ahead. Two years later, the plan by Midland Energy has been revived.

With the September deadline for practical completion of the Royal Hobart Hospital's new K-block redevelopment expired, the Government "needs to be upfront with Tasmanians" as to when it will be operational, Labor says.

The Liberals' plan to open up World Heritage Area and national parks to more tourism developments has been contentious from day one now, it has attracted the attention of Tasmania's auditor-general.

DAILY BRIEFING: A motorist is fined $963 and has had his car clamped for 28 days after allegedly being caught driving 172 kilometres per hour, and the University of Tasmania engages a "reputation protection" consultancy group.

For Kobe Dare, the revived Tasmanian Aboriginal language of palawa kani is "one of the strongest there is". He's learning to speak it, then going home to teach his parents.

A water scientist is backing Hamilton farmers' concerns about threats to a local lake from a proposed fish hatchery, including the threat of algal blooms.

Almost six years after her father died in a mining accident on Tasmania's west coast, Tameka Sylvester is still waiting for answers with the family learning of inquest news via social media.

DAILY BRIEFING: Premier Will Hodgman says it is "improbable" mining exploration licences or leases will be granted to companies looking for coal on agricultural land, and the Hobart City Council is one step closer to drug testing councillors.

DAILY BRIEFING: An elderly female driver has a fright after her car swerves off a road and over a cliff, and the Tasmanian Government holds off formally asking the Commonwealth to help pay for firefighting in the Wilderness World Heritage Area last summer.

The death of 17-year-old Maggie Lore at the Blackmans Bay blowhole in 2017 prompts a southern Tasmanian council to conduct a risk assessment of several areas in its municipality.

Diversification and innovation are proving to be a key factor in the survival of multi-generation farming families.

DAILY BRIEFING: Protesters fearing an imminent logging operation in Tasmania's Tarkine area are outside a government building in Hobart, as Labor calls for an investigation into how a 17-year-old escaped detainee custody.

A Tasmanian council has not yet decided whether it will appeal a decision giving a green light to a luxury helicopter-accessed fishing camp at Lake Malbena, saying the process has "put the council under a lot of stress".

Vicki Denton is seeing better than she has in years. She gave up on the public health system and went into debt to have private surgery to avoid going blind.

'A pleasant pastime' is over for Tasmanian flower grower Peter Botting. He has pruned his last peony leaving the industry in capable hands.

Residents of a heritage town in northern Tasmania accuse the Government of not consulting them over plans for a new prison nearby, and demand to know the location of other potential sites.

When Molly Sandford's construction worker ex-husband was told to have a "cup of cement" and "harden up" it was the last thing he needed. After losing him to suicide, she's determined to help others in the sector get the support they need.

A bushfire burning north of Hobart could pose a threat to the city's suburbs and critical infrastructure if uncontrolled, a fire officer warns, as Tasmania prepares for hot weather and strong winds over the next few days.

DAILY BRIEFING: The prisons watchdog says he was pressured to redact a report on the Ashley youth detention centre and he will strongly resist requests to do so in the future.