The return of hooved mowers will tickle the olfactories.

Temperatures in Melbourne dropped from more than 30 degrees before the storm hit to 17.6 degrees at 5pm, as gusts of up to 100km/h brought down trees in Frankston.

South Australia reopened its domestic borders on November 23 and has recorded 29 community cases since as it adjusts to life after COVID-zero.

A cluster of COVID-19 cases linked to an Adelaide high school reunion has grown, as South Australia grapples with the inevitable spread after reopening borders.

Dubbo South Public School will be closed on Friday after a fire tore through multiple rooms. One person was taken to hospital in a stable condition for smoke inhalation.

The state government said that “heavily reduced” services will operate on multiple lines on December 7, while intercity trains will run to a weekend schedule.

Additional cases of the Omicron variant have been detected in Sydney, casting doubts on the effectiveness of the state’s two-tiered quarantine system for international arrivals.

The Andrews government has given its clearest indication yet of the criteria it will use to scrap controversial vaccine mandates as criticism grows of rules forcing people to prove their vaccination status in shops and other settings.

There is growing speculation that Greg Hunt will retire from federal politics, Victoria’s pandemic laws are due to pass the state’s upper house today and South Australia’s Parliament has been adjourned for contact tracing.

“Our navy is more capable, more professional and more lethal than it has ever been,” Thursday’s graduates were told.

James Hayward is a South West MLC and was vice-president of the federal branch of the Nationals.

The redevelopment of the Queen Victoria Market will cost $268 million and is expected to attract 18 million visitors a year, according to a new business case for the precinct. 

Health executives were grilled about the condition of hospitals in the state’s far west at a parliamentary inquiry on Thursday.

Male politicians have long been treating their female colleagues badly. Sometimes it is a female parliamentarian who offends, as happened this week.

Australia has one of the lowest employment rates for people with disability in the OECD.

As the bill they have demonised was debated and voted on by MPs on Thursday, the tone of demonstrators on the steps of Parliament softened.

The body was found to have “failed in its duty” when charging seven Logan councillors and the city’s mayor with fraud, charges that were ultimately dropped.

The murder of Hannah Clarke and her three children drew the issue of coercive control into the spotlight.

A Brisbane man who was sending money to Thailand and the Philippines to facilitate the sexual abuse of children has been jailed.

Peter Jenkins, a former Army Reservist and retired Victorian and Queensland police officer, tells the story of his late son, Shaun.

The $64 million redevelopment is running months behind schedule as ratepayers go to the polls this weekend.

The head of Gold Coast Water Police said he had been regularly speaking with Chris Caserta’s parents in Victoria about the search for their son off the Gold Coast.

Today on Please Explain, federal politics reporter Katina Curtis joins Nathanael Cooper to look at the recommendations from the review into workplace culture at parliament house.

Proposed federal legislation will not make the internet safer, but it will make it harder for regular people to sue if they are defamed on social media.

Francesco “Frank” Madafferi has been denied bail as he awaits an appeal against his conviction, which he claims was tainted by the double-dealing of his lawyer with Victoria Police.

At the inaugural Liberal Reform Coalition meeting held on Wednesday night, the crowd called for the immediate resignation of the two politicians.

Catholic schools are doing long-awaited sacraments this term, but some family members can’t attend if the priest is unvaccinated.

An infectious disease expert has bowled over assertions from the government that COVID would ‘run riot’ through the community if an outbreak occurred during next month’s scheduled Ashes Test at Optus Stadium. 

Health authorities have warned there could be undetected community spread of COVID-19 on the Gold Coast for “some time”.

With the arrival of the Omicron variant, booster shots are looking more urgent. So, what side effects can you expect?

Protesters have rallied both against and in support of the state government's new pandemic laws in Melbourne.

Despite natural advantages in wind, sun and space, WA is the laggard state in Australia’s race to be a “renewable export powerhouse” according to a report by the WWF-Australia.

Families fleeing Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power in August are facing a new struggle as they grapple with a critical shortage of affordable housing in Perth.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA estimates the potential for 39,000 West Australians to walk away from their job could result in a $2.9 billion impact on the state.

The man was hit by the truck following an argument as he grabbed onto the front passenger side while the truck tried to drive away, police say.

The executive who led Virgin for nine years was spotted on Wednesday inhabiting a different universe: seat 3C on Qantas’ 10:30am flight from Sydney to Melbourne.

Shamed by a report on the extent of sexual assault, harassment and bullying within the nation’s Parliament, now is the time to catch up with reforms in other countries.

One of Australia’s richest families wants to spend $12.5m renovating a property in South Yarra and opening a world-renowned Soho House club.

As an Australian man from a Middle Eastern background, I blame the major political parties that dominate local councils. They are not sensitive to the cultural needs of large proportions of their constituencies.

It’s time we built our own citizens’ digital network - and the national broadcaster is a good place to start.

More than 5 million people in NSW will decide the future of their councils this weekend. With the pandemic upending lives, much is riding on the outcome.

Record rainfall across the state is taking an enormous toll on rural landholders in NSW. And the mouse plague might not be entirely done with, either.

Should dogs be allowed in cafes and restaurants? Meet the Sydney mayoral candidate who wants to make it so.

The Committee for the Economic Development of Australia says up to 550,000 people born in the coming decade face lives of poverty if the nation’s approach to tackling disadvantage does not change.

Parliament House is the only place I have worked that has a bar selling full-strength grog each working day.

The existing storages at Cataract and Prospect are not sufficient to ensure an adequate supply of water.

35 years ago, angry students from Abbotsford Public began a campaign to end the vandalism inflicted upon their school.

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

The new facility simulates conditions on the lunar surface to test the durability and function of equipment being designed to be sent there.

Electricity providers said about 3000 properties were without power at 9pm on Wednesday evening.