How quickly do you think Australia could assemble more than 20,000 troops, 8,000 horses, and put them on to yet to-be-equipped navy ships to be sent to the battlefields of World War I?

University of Western Australia (UWA) researchers have warned of the potential for "very large extinction rates" among marine life unique to southern WA due to climate change.

The WA Local Government Association (WALGA) says it is hopeful regional councils which lost a combined $20 million in previously allocated funds will be given a State Government reprieve.

The Auditor General has found the Water Corporation is losing billions of litres of water more than it should each year, mainly due to leaking pipes. In his report, tabled in Parliament today, Colin Murphy says about 30 billion litres of water was lost each year, ten billion more than what is considered acceptable. The agency will also have to fork out tens of millions of dollars to replace ageing pipes in the network.

The Shire of Kojonup says its hopes of seeing a new medical centre built in the town could be revived if a State Government grant is reinstated.

How much training would you expect a soldier to receive before being sent to the frontline in the theatre of war?

A Western Australian Nationals' MP has labelled "ridiculous" a Liberal backbencher's call for the Royalties for Regions scheme to be abolished.

WA grain growers are being told they must take the initiative to market their own grain if the industry is to survive.

The Shire of Plantagenet is facing a shortfall of nearly $1 million in its funding for a major sporting precinct upgrade, after receiving a smaller than hoped for Western Australian Government grant.

A study shows the mining boom has generated up to 65 per cent more wealth for the top 20 per cent of West Australian households. But the research by Curtin University shows not all areas have reaped the rewards. It analysed the effects of the boom from 2003/04 to its peak in 2009/10 and found while those with higher incomes benefited substantially, other residents also benefited due to increased employment opportunities.

A group of men from the Military Brotherhood motorcycle club are riding from Brisbane to Perth, and back again, to raise money for a charity that supports the families of fallen veterans.

A Denmark man has pleaded guilty to more than 50 charges relating to filming, or attempting to film, his teenage step-daughter.

Several accommodation providers in Albany have expressed frustration at delays in finalising plans for the city's Anzac centenary commemorations.

An illness is rarely something that saves a life, but in the case of Tom Sharp, that is what is likely to have happened.

The Narrogin Town Council is calling on the Western Australian Government to support upgrades to a wastewater treatment system, which it says is costing nearly $100,000 annually to maintain.

What does it take to prepare for a pandemic? Many hospitals around the world are already overwhelmed by patients infected with COVID-19. Australian doctors and nurses are bracing for something most of them have never faced before. In our country hospitals, resources are already stretched: beds are in short supply and there’s a greater proportion of older people. Preparation will, in many cases, be the difference between life and death.
 ABC National Regional Reporter Jess Davis takes us inside the Wimmera Base Hospital in Horsham, Victoria, as the team tries to prepare for the unimaginable.

People experiencing homelessness are being moved from the street and shelters into four-star hotels. The radical plan is meant to protect them from the pandemic and it's temporary. But as Hagar Cohen discovers, there are questions about what happens once the virus crisis is over.

Queensland's cotton towns welcome Chinese investment in Cubbie Station and full irrigation dams.

Coolah and Dunedoo are neighbouring towns, both with no visible Aboriginal community, and the reason why is complex with reports of massacres, movements and missing pieces of history.

The names of towns, roads and localities of central and western NSW are a treasure trove of toponymy, or the study of name origins, but their meanings also provide powerful connection for people and the places they call home.

Wild donkeys are known as environmental pests in Australia, causing erosion and damaging vegetation, but there is growing interest in turning that pest into a profit.

Thousands of fish which became trapped in a NSW pond after flooding in 2016 have been returned to the Macquarie River after a painstaking effort to keep them alive.

Pat O'Sullivan took over the Hillston Spectator from his dad more than 60 years ago. But now, with his garden calling, the publication could be at risk of folding.

Shearers, labourers, chefs, farmers and lifeguards are among the workers who push through the heatwave.

A peaceful paradise known for its iconic pine trees and spectacular coastline, Norfolk Island is riddled with political tension and simmering social unrest.

It's hard to imagine a subtropical island struggling with drought, but Norfolk Island has had only 12mm of rain all summer and dams and water tanks are running dry.

Lucy Moss's boutique in Coonamble is bursting with colour, and her latest venture offers various shades of relief for drought-affected farmers.

The drought could have major implications for life-saving medical procedures, such as dialysis with patients needing up to 4,000 litres each week for treatment.

As the Cobar Endeavor Mine comes to the end of its lead and zinc reserves, CBH Resources announces it is cutting 130 jobs from the drought-stricken outback town.

Desalination is not just for coastal cities treating seawater. Drought-hit inland towns could use it where emergency bore water supplies are too salty.

The Federal Government has handed Norfolk Island a lifeline to save its tourism industry, but locals have railed against their offering saying it could turn tourists away.

This state-of-the-art shearing shed hopes to attract and retain good shearers in a safe environment.

Coonamble is suffering one of the worst droughts in living memory.

Hugh Bowman is one of the world's best jockeys and now he is set to be immortalised in art, in his home town of Dunedoo, alongside champion mare Winx.

Uncle Dick and Aunty Ruth Carney share how they built their own 'piece of heaven'.

Graham Morrison, 55, is given a three-and-a-half-year jail sentence after hitting a family car on the Newell Highway near the end of an 11-hour trip.

MORNING BRIEFING: Western Sydney residents concerned about the new 24/7 airport will have years to wait before they know proposed flight paths, while the enduring drought pushes Dubbo to cut water use even more.

MORNING BRIEFING: Firefighters say it could take weeks, potentially months, to contain about five fires burning around Armidale and Tenterfield, while a woman is injured and a firearm stolen during a break and enter in Orana.

The largest local council in New South Wales, whose patch includes the Darling River town that experienced mass fish kills, will spend another four years in administration.