Writer Stuart Beattie wrote scripts for Johnny Depp, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman and Tom Cruise, but it's his newly released Vietnam War epic that he is most passionate about.

How do you fight fires in a state that is 98 per cent in drought and short on water? It's a question being pondered by firefighters on the verge of fire season.

Three quarters of a century after hundreds of Japanese prisoners of war escaped from a detention camp in Cowra, New South Wales, the town has forged a friendship with Japan centred on peace and respect.

Caroline Harte is mostly confined to her bed after a fall at work. While her insurer completes modifications to her home she sleeps next to a portable toilet and shower.

Golf clubs around the country are failing to meet the needs of modern consumers and as a result memberships are at an all-time low.

Towns in regional NSW experience snowfall for the first time in 20 years as a deep polar vortex, which battered south-east Australia yesterday, moves north.

The Tristar Medical Group's chain of 50 clinics across regional Australia has been under "significant financial stress for 18 months" resulting in doctors often not being paid for weeks or months.

Lambs have died of hypothermia and orchards are ready for a fruitful spring following a snow event in regional New South Wales.

Parents of children attending regional and rural schools are calling for a commonsense approach in the wake of the NSW Government's crackdown on school enrolment caps and out-of-area enrolments.

The death of one of the fiercest advocates for changing the name of the Mid Western Highway to Wiradjuri Way prompts renewed calls for change.

As the drought continues, water is being carted by train for the first time in decades to keep production on track at a NSW coal mine and secure 140 full-time jobs.

The wool market has plummeted a massive 163 cents a kilogram this week, or more than 10 per cent, prompting an industry leader to call for a halt to trading.

Very few young people think about the health risks of drinking but research is proving that alcohol is bad for your health.

Alcohol is linked to everything from cancers, liver and cardiovascular disease, stroke and depression.

Alcoholism is big problem in regional areas where health support is limited and the dangers of drink driving are made worse by distance.

She already had years of experience in humanitarian work, but Carly Learson describes her Myanmar role as "probably the toughest job I've ever had".

The NSW Nationals leader John Barilaro says "green tape" is standing in the way of long-term solutions to the drought crisis, and suggests the state could borrow money to reshape water infrastructure.

Connor Drum admits he steals food from the supermarket to supplement the Newstart payments he receives unable to find work, some in the Federal Government say he should leave the support networks he has in Canberra to search for a job in regional Australia.

The founder of an online discussion supporting hundreds trying to go dry believes drought, financial hardship, uncertainty, and isolation are causing more rural people to self-medicate with alcohol.

After four decades, a rural community farewells the family behind the town's first and only Chinese restaurant and celebrates their role in diversifying its culinary palate.

In 1969 a young Australian shearer travelled to Israel to orchestrate an arson attack he believed would prompt the return of Jesus and usher in the end of the world. The consequences still ring today.

Police ask for public help to identify a man caught on CCTV leaving crime scenes in a cape in central west New South Wales.

Despite prices in the overall wool market declining, non-mulesed wool is fetching premium prices due to the demand in Europe by retail brands looking for ethically produced wool.

For years Waryk Holmes was bullied while trying to be like his able-bodied classmates. Now he's teaching them a thing or two as a wheelchair racer.

What goes on inside a busy NSW local court from police pursuits to a letter from jail to a stolen vibrator.

MORNING BRIEFING: A new video of missing Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez is released as his family attempt to solve what happened to the 18-year-old, last seen in Byron Bay.

At least two houses and two businesses are destroyed in Tenterfield in northern NSW and a firefighter is suffering facial burns as crews brace for a long night ahead with four fires burning at emergency level across the state.

Women face a number of hurdles when it comes to working in manual trades, but overcoming the barriers as some have done could be the answer to the skills shortage.