The 2020-21 state finances annual report released late Friday reveals that WA’s operating surplus for that year hit $5.8 billion.

When year 9 students Jack, Darcy and Wesley set up CovidBaseAU earlier this year, they kept their ages secret because they wanted their site to be taken seriously.

Brisbane Festival has a new artistic director this year, who has put her own twist on the Riverfire fireworks bonanza.

The 15-year-old girl suffered serious head injuries when she was struck by the runabout’s propeller at Narrabeen Lakes.

The mother of George Lin, a 21-year-old student at the University of Sydney, visits his grave every day, she told a Sydney court. Lin was run over by a garbage truck in 2020.

Brett John Callaghan lured the girl from a playground at Thornleigh by offering to charge her phone. He assaulted her at a Dural home and in his car.

Michael Holt was jailed for more than four years in 2017 for weapons and child porn offences. Within a week of becoming eligible for parole, officers found disturbing hand-drawn pornographic imagery in his cell.

His comments come after a tumultuous week in Victoria, where protesters clashed with unions and police, rallying over mandatory jabs.

Like so many, I’m gutted not to be going to a grand final this year, but don’t begrudge supporters in other states their end-of-year spectacles - as long as it is temporary!

Australian universities have welcomed a plan to bring 500 students into Australia, but want the government to recognise Chinese-based coronavirus vaccines to attract Chinese students.

From the start, Peter Hood was ‘the driving force’ behind the band’s monstrous, pounding sound.

Officers discovered the bodies in a home about 8.15am on Friday after being alerted of an incident at the address.

Nine ambulances responded to the incident and police were questioning the car driver.

“The lungs become more inflamed, leading to breathing difficulties. Fatigue and high fevers are common. Everyone is absolutely miserable.”

Woodside wants $US3b from selling down Pluto LNG to ease the financial burden of its $US12b Scarborough investment, but environmental groups are mobilising to thwart the deal.

Protesters have taken their action to the inner-northern suburb of Northcote but were met with a quick police response, which broke up the protest within an hour.

An airline pilot’s job requires extraordinary skill – but it’s also a labour of love: those grounded by the pandemic reflect on the thrill of being airborne.

The back-to-nature trend is leading to tricky terrain. How heavy are hiker footprints becoming in pristine wilderness areas – and who has the right to make them?

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said 56.6 per cent of people aged 16 and over in the state had now been fully vaccinated against the virus.

From ancient salt lakes to thermal baths, art deco cinemas to killer biscotti, there’s plenty of wonder to rediscover when that 5K radius stretches.

Maaryasha wasn’t optimistic when Shaya turned up late for their second Skype date – until over the webcam, she heard an ambulance radio in the background.

The week in photos from the award winning Sydney Morning Herald and Financial review photographers.

Stirling MP Vince Connelly’s wife Peta said the better candidate lost the preselection battle and claimed a senior female member of the party impeded his campaign.

Queensland’s Deputy Premier has raised the spectre of more virus cases by Christmas if the state opens its borders before its vaccine rollout hits coverage levels.

Today on Please Explain, sports reporter Sam McClure joins Nathanael Cooper from Perth to look at Saturday’s historic AFL Grand Final.

Want to chat? We’d love to hear from you. Send your letters to goodweekend@​goodweekend.com.au.

Bourke Shire Council shot 15 dogs, including 10 puppies, due to COVID-19 restrictions last month.

Virginia Christensen remembers the day Keanu Reeves walked into Palm Beach Fish and Chips: “All the girls had an absolute meltdown at the fryers.”

The retrial of Arona Peniamina came to a close on Friday, when a jury returned a majority verdict after three days of deliberations.

A claim lodged with the Fair Work Commission says the worker lost thousands in wages. The rail union fears the case is the “tip of the iceberg”.

Victoria will likely fail to meet its first dose vaccination target of 80 per cent by this Sunday, as was initially projected, but is expected to reach the milestone by mid-to-late next week.

There are concerns Melbourne’s violent rallies may have been super-spreader events, international students are set to return to NSW by the end of the year and the Treasurer has backed calls to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

The grainy yet distinct video of four white officers assaulting a black man is among the 20th century’s most recognised images.

Photographer Dominic Lorrimer catches up with performance artists to see how they are coping with lockdown.

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has said Victoria did not include construction in its initial financial support plan, and the emerging stoush was a “distraction”.

For Demons fans, the grand final is not just the game played or the moment in time. It holds the memory of all the years that have come before it.

Sydney pathologist Andrea Thomson* didn’t see the school holidays going this way: locked inside with her three children, all COVID-19 positive, while her husband isolates separately in the house.

At least 10 convicts, Australia’s first bushranger and the first Eureka Stockade rebel tried for treason were of African descent, a new documentary reveals.

The state records no new cases as a new mask-wearing rule is announced before Brisbane hosts the NRL grand final.

The Queensland government says common sense has prevailed after a scheme to give away NRL tickets to people getting vaccinated appeared to be derailed by TGA rules.

WAFL great Brad Collard, dismayed at the flow of mining money into community projects, wants to see more Indigenous voices in the conversation.

The move is a rare sign of significant action on greenhouse gas emissions from the McGowan government since it sided with the gas industry in March 2019 to quash an EPA proposal for all new large projects offset all emissions.

How do you move a zoo? very carefully.

Trivia buffs: test your knowledge with today’s interactive superquiz and target.

It cuts both ways and once you look beyond the conspiratorial muck, it becomes clear that these protesters feel no one stands in solidarity with them.

The Defence Minister’s failure to support a number of General Angus Campbell’s decisions has made the defence chief a “lame duck”, senior sources say.

During sporting events, domestic violence numbers grow. This is a dangerous time, and a time for decent men to step up.

There was up to 30 per cent more family and domestic violence incidents reported during the grand final weekend last year when compared to the average daily number. 

The bill for the compulsory local body elections in December is a near three-fold increase on previous elections.

There’ll be more blanching over another “reliably conservative” federal government appointment which quietly occurred this month