Taxpayer investments and the water market are making irrigation more efficient and reducing Murray-Darling's base flow. Here's what needs to happen next, write Q J Wang and Avril Horne.

A three-way renewable energy partnership bringing together the traditional land owners, community, and government will deliver a sustainable income and clean energy.

As Australia's competition watchdog prepares to study the Murray-Darling Basin's $2 billion water trade, a trip up the river finds irrigators are worried about the market's "unintended" consequences.

A group of volunteers from Melbourne and Wodonga are back home after spending a week in the Philippines teaching children how to swim. They say the trip will save lives.

Australia's largest renewable biodiesel producer restarts operations at Barnawartha, in north-east Victoria, just three years after it was driven to closure.

High water prices in the Murray-Darling Basin are blamed on foreign investors and corporate speculators. The simple truth is they are caused mostly by lack of rain.

More than 700,000 people could lose their primary connection to the outside world as the NDIS rollout leaves Vision Australia Radio without essential government funding to stay on air.

Convicted murderer Michael Cardamone is appealing against the precedent-setting judgement that made him the first person in Victoria to be sentenced to life in prison with no parole after pleading guilty to a single murder.

A Murray-Darling Basin inspector-general will focus of water efficiency, compliance and theft under a proposal by Water Minister David Littleproud.

Consumers turn to goat meat as an alternative, but tough seasonal conditions, wild dogs, and destocking, see producers struggling to keep up with demand.

NSW and Victoria commit to an independent review of Murray-Darling water modelling, and Inspector-General Mick Keelty flags the possibility of unearthing more corruption.

As the northern hemisphere sweats through deadly heatwaves, experts warn Australia is unprepared to deal with soaring temperatures.

Farmers Stephen Black and Melissa Portingale were so desperate for water they put a rare ooshie up for sale. That's when the trouble started.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will investigate who actually owns Australia's water, in particular the Murray-Darling Basin's $2 billion water market.

Only containers purchased or collected in NSW are supposed to be retuned under the state's scheme.

Albury supermarket owner Bob Mathews says the scheme has cost his business.

Wodonga grandmother Janice Marcuzzi is among those residents crossing state borders to take advantage of container deposit schemes.

Emergency services are warning Victorians to brace for a cold snap and wind gusts of up to 130kph in parts of the south-east, while alpine areas may enjoy heavier snowfall.

The court heard the 67-year-old Victorian man, who carried out a series of "chilling and vile" sexual attacks on his granddaughter, also posed online as a female, teenage victim of child abuse.

Snowboarder Matt Golding was swept down 'Mary's Slide' after triggering an avalanche.

A care package for people diagnosed with cancer could be rolled out nationally after its success in a regional community.

Before he retires, Bishop John Parkes in north-east Victoria is pushing for same-sex marriages to be blessed by the Anglican Church.

Heavy snow, freezing temperatures and "treacherous driving conditions" close access to a popular snow resort as Victoria shivers through its third day of an extreme cold snap that's blanketing towns in snow.

New analysis of water prices in the southern Murray-Darling Basin finds water prices sitting at levels only previously seen during the Millennium Drought.

End-of-year formal costs can be huge and for many farming families, it's a cost they struggle to afford. So a NSW woman is doing something about it.

The Government believes the projects will create more than 600 jobs and generate enough clean energy to power more than 80,000 homes, while farmers have labelled the decision as "gutless".

The late deputy PM's fascination with trains was a lifelong obsession. So of course, his final public appearance had to include a rail journey. After profiling Tim Fischer four times over the past 27 years, Australian Story producer Ben Cheshire says his final goodbye.

Commemorating his love for trains, Tim Fischer's coffin was transported by rail to Albury where a state funeral will be held.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison pays tribute to Tim Fischer at his state funeral, saying the former deputy prime minister's political courage in advocating for stricter gun laws had made Australia safer.

A north-east Victorian Anglican diocese has voted to bless same-sex marriages, a move that may provoke a crisis in the church.

The parents of a teenage girl who died after falling off a horse say riders are subjected to avoidable risks when there is no way to trace an animal's history.

Victims of a bushfire almost a decade ago are set to receive millions of dollars in compensation following a ruling by the High Court.

Despite being seriously injured during a rally event in Greece last year, Albury-based Andrew Houlihan is on track to compete in the Dakar Rally in 2021.

The deadly march of pig-killing African swine fever is continuing, with one quarter of the world's pigs now dead, according to meat and livestock analysts.

Alpine real estate is getting more expensive at Australia's ski resorts, seemingly shrugging off concerns about the impact of climate change on natural snowfall.