An ominous drone photo of sharks circling a whale beached near Albany in WA snaps top prize at this year's Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year awards, with the photographer saying the scene was "unreal".

Questions are raised over a Northern Territory university's continued ownership of a loss-making private business colleges in Cairns, at a time when the university is being offered a multi-million-dollar NT Government bailout to keep its training sector afloat.

Matthew Ross White pleads not guilty to the murder of Donna Steele, as the Supreme Court in Cairns hears her killing occurred when she fought back during a botched extortion bid.

A man accused of murdering a woman in Far North Queensland changes his plea to guilty two days into his Supreme Court trial and will face sentencing this morning.

A court releases the video of a police interview that shows the murder confession of Matthew White, who strangled Cooktown woman Donna Steele in a botched extortion bid and has been sentenced to life in jail.

An island of floating rock known as a pumice raft is gradually heading for Australian shores across the Coral Sea and is so expansive it can be tracked via satellite.

Myanmar's national sport is similar to volleyball but players use their feet instead of their hands. The game is now being regularly played in Australia by Karen refugees.

Drought has collided with high demand for soybeans, lifting prices by around $500 a tonne, prompting warnings of a price hike for soymilk, tofu and tempeh.

A 10-year-old boy writes to Queensland's Environment Minister pleading with authorities not to remove a giant crocodile that has been sunning itself on a creek bank.

A woman is recovering in hospital after a wild dog, believed to be a dingo, burst into her Cape York house and attacked her while she was cooking dinner.

The manager of Australia's best-known locally produced tea brand says there is a real shift in the climate on its plantations in Queensland's far north.

Scientists fear Cape York's Iron Range (Kutini-Payamu) National Park could take decades to recover after weekend fires.

A Far North Queensland tourist island, left lying in ruins for years, will undergo a multi-million-dollar redevelopment in an effort to create an international tourism drawcard.

A Cape York mayor says a perpetual cycle of death is ripping his community apart and more can be done to detect chronic diseases earlier.

The makers of Rexona, the deodorant identified by retailers and police as the product most misused by Queensland children, acknowledges its product was implicated in five deaths across two states through misuse but says there is "nothing that currently exists" to fix the problem.

One squid, most likely the diamondback squid, lays an estimated 40,000 free-floating eggs into Great Barrier Reef waters, in an event for the species that experts say lives fast and dies young.

Mango fans get ready, because the season is ramping up in the Northern Territory with more than 200,000 trays picked last week.

A report by Human Rights Watch says new regulations to tighten the use of chemical restraints on dementia patients has actually normalised the treatment to the detriment of patients.

Astronaut screening programs have inspired a group of Australian scientists to study the individual personalities of 50 native rats and how they cope with environmental stresses.

A man is dead and a woman seriously injured after falling more than 10 metres from a zipline in the Daintree rainforest in Far North Queensland, police say.

A father who threatened to kill a Federal Circuit Court Judge in a late night, expletive-laden phone call walks free from a Far North Queensland court.

Manly sends fans home happy with a win over the Eels at Brookvale after the high-flying Storm down the Titans at Robina.

Despite warnings it could undermine the impact of the Queensland Government's policy to curb alcohol-fuelled violence, casinos will remain exempt from ID scanning and reduced hours. The move comes as the Government scales back the scheme in parts of Brisbane and Ipswich.

An endangered marsupial known for mating itself to death disappears from one of its most prominent Queensland habitats.

A Daly Cherry-Evans field goal late in extra time gives the Sea Eagles a pulsating 11-10 win over the Storm, after the Broncos beat the Titans 34-12 and the Eels get home 24-22 against the Warriors.

A club linked to a long-term business partner of the Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate may escape paying a $137,000 debt owed to the council.

Six people have now been charged over the 2012 murder of Jason De Ieso, who was shot dead in his Pooraka workshop in Adelaide's northern suburbs. Police say he was caught in a dispute between the Finks and Hells Angels.

Helicopter vision shows a catamaran burning and sinking off Main Beach on the Gold Coast after eight people are rescued while whale watching.

Gold Coast woman Theresa Dalton is sentenced to six years in jail for hiring a hitman to kill her husband during their divorce battle, telling a Brisbane court it is a "catastrophic miscarriage of justice" because she is innocent.

An elderly Australian war veteran remembers helping to clean up in Japan after the atomic bombs.

The pair continued south on the M1 before again confronting a driver of a vehicle near the Palm Beach exit.

Gold Coast police are searching for a man and woman after they stopped their car in the middle of the Pacific Motorway before attempting to hijack two vehicles.

Massive wins for Geelong and Brisbane over North Melbourne and Gold Coast respectively have them closing in on a top two finish, while the Bombers are completely dismantled by the Bulldogs.

The Broncos get the job done at Lang Park with a four tries to two win over Penrith, after the Eels crush the Titans at Robina.

Security vision reveals the moment a Gold Coast service station attendant is taken hostage by a man with a gun in what became a four-hour stand-off with police.

Richmond edges West Coast by a goal in a game for the ages, while the Bulldogs closed in on finals by thumping the Giants and Jarryd Roughead kicked six on his special night.

As the congestion issue in south-east Queensland brings traffic to a grinding halt on major roadways and a heightened scrutiny of the public transport system, the ABC takes a look at how commuters are being impacted across the region.

The Sea Eagles hang tough to defeat the Raiders 18-14 in a thrilling clash in Canberra, as the Storm consolidate top position on the ladder with a 24-8 win over the Titans.