"More mines, more jobs, more future," proclaims a mysterious billboard near Kingaroy. But not everyone agrees and the years of "constant fighting" are taking a massive toll.

The father of missing Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez says unlocking his son's last WhatAsapp messages could be key to find him alive. But a leading expert says the tech giant is incapable of unjumbling the "garbled" encrypted messages.

An Indigenous boy with an intellectual impairment was stripped naked inside Brisbane's adult maximum-security police watch house after being deemed a suicide risk, documents reveal.

A screen shot showing an umpire telling a security guard to get off the pitch as two players tussle at the North Melbourne vs GWS Giants AFL match at Bellrieve Oval in Hobart on Saturday June 15, 2019.

MORNING BRIEFING: Housing Minister optimistic debt will be wiped, city demands urgent action on climate emergency and councils increase rates.

Police announce a $500,000 reward for information about the rape of an 18-year-old woman in Melbourne's CBD last year, as the victim speaks about the "traumatic" attack for the first time.

Ex-detective Paul Dale tells a royal commission he has waited years to expose "corruption" within Victoria Police over the use of Nicola Gobbo as an informer, and that his sexual relationship with the woman known as Lawyer X has been exaggerated.

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.

More than two decades since Philip Nitschke set fire to the "disgusting, pathetic" bill overturning voluntary euthanasia in the Northern Territory, the region remains in a stranglehold, banned from even debating the issue.

Queensland Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch's comments at an Indigenous festival reveal Labor is divided on the Adani mine's recent approval, the State Opposition says.

A south-east Queensland council with more than 700 memorabilia items the bulk of which is believed to have been bought with ratepayers' money is asking the community what should be done with the haul.

The Victorian Government prepares to reintroduce a bill which would make it easier for people to alter the sex recorded on their birth certificate to male, female or any other gender descriptor of their choice.

If you look up to the eastern sky tonight, you're likely to spot one of the biggest planets at its brightest. Jupiter, the fifth planet from the sun and largest in our solar system, is visible to stargazers this month.

A life-saving surgery seen as a major breakthrough in stroke treatment is only available to Canberrans during business hours, but soon patients will not have to worry about whether the timing of their stroke will affect their care.

Star gazers are marvelling at Jupiter

A screen shot showing an umpire telling a security guard to get off the pitch as two players tussle at the North Melbourne vs GWS Giants AFL match at Bellrieve Oval in Hobart on Saturday June 15, 2019.

Funding flows for low-income earners to buy a home and a new Women's and Children's Hospital are on the cards in South Australia's 2019 budget. Find out how the budget will impact you.

A teenage basketball star from a celebrity family in California is set to move to Wollongong in New South Wales in one of the most intriguing signings in Australian basketball history.

A new video shows Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch telling a room full of people she has shed tears over the approval of Adani's Carmichael coal mine, while also saying current environmental legislation is flawed.

When 22-year-old Jake Vincent had a stroke, he was forced to wait at the emergency department for almost seven hours. The doctor who finally saw him "went white" he hadn't been administered a time-critical medication earlier.

WA Liberal MPs distance themselves from their new leader's policy direction, including contentious moves to abandon the Western Power sale and steer away from supporting deregulated trading hours, after strong criticism from the business lobby.

Former drug squad detective Paul Dale wanted to speak to gangland bosses Tony Mokbel and Carl Williams nine days after he was arrested for the burglary of a drug house, the royal commission hears.

Two brothers charged with intentionally causing serious injury over an alleged attack on a a senior Victoria Police officer displayed aggressive and threatening behaviour and were "attempting to engage in a fight" a Melbourne court is told.

The Health Department confirms a massive spike in the number of influenza cases in Western Australia this year, with 3,000 extra notifications and 14 deaths in the past week alone.

Hawthorn captain Ben Stratton is suspended for two weeks by the AFL tribunal, one week each for repeatedly pinching Essendon's Orazio Fantasia and stomping on the foot of Shaun McKernan.

A high school teacher who had sex with a 16-year-old student from a North Queensland school is found not guilty of procuring a young person for carnal knowledge.

Stunning footage of a security guard at Bellerive Oval attempting to enter the field of play to separate two tussling players has former players shaking their heads.

A 27-year-old Canberra man is found guilty of running a major drug operation to fuel a flamboyant lifestyle complete with expensive cars and inspirational quotes played out on Facebook and Instagram.

A female footballer who played in a men's South Australian country league has her suspension reduced to four weeks by an independent tribunal.

Police arrest a woman they had urged to come forward to authorities after a 23-year-old plunged to her death at a high-rise complex in Sydney's inner east.

The Queensland Supreme Court will decide whether to allow a widow to use her dead husband's sperm to give her young son a sibling, as they were planning to do so before he died.

Canberra Grammar students discover the unexpected benefits of rebuilding damaged classrooms in Nepal, as they form special bonds with school hosts in the heart of the Himalayas.

There is a "crisis of confidence" in the NSW building industry following the second emergency evacuation of an apartment block in Sydney in six months, the Insurance Council of Australia and Federal Government warns.

Craig has been threatened with a machete and separated from his daughters, but he says that is the reality of being homeless in Tasmania's capital.