Mines Minister Dr Anthony Lynham flags a possible inquiry into Queensland mine safety after five workers sustained critical injuries during an explosion at Anglo American's Grosvenor coal mine at Moranbah yesterday.

When the coronavirus pandemic began, London-based events planner Ali Lord decided the best place to be was at her parents' cattle station, so she packed up her laptop and reconnected it 17 days later, after an epic commute.

As leaders prepare to ease coronavirus restrictions in their states, South Australia could be in the box seat to win the race to recovery by turning what might be regarded as weaknesses into strengths.

Power has been restored to most of the 55,000 homes and businesses in Western Australia that were plunged into darkness when a massive storm hit the southern part of the state.

The pub in South Australia's south-east allegedly served drinks to a number of customers in its front bar on Tuesday night.

It seems famed street artist Banksy is particularly inspired by the challenge the coronavirus pandemic has presented humanity as he gifts a new artwork honouring the live-saving efforts of medical professionals to a British hospital.

Coronavirus has been a catalyst for lots of Australians to speak up about their experiences of racism, but what happens when the attention fades away and people are left to deal with lasting psychological trauma?

When Lou Myers brings out the lead and harness, Kartika the Bengal cat knows fun times are ahead.

MORNING BRIEFING: The NSW Transport Minister will no longer serve as Leader of the House, the latest episode in a tumultuous week for Mr Constance in which he announced his bid for the federal seat of Eden-Monaro before withdrawing from the race 24 hours later.

Sydney silk Bret Walker SC, who is leading the special commission of inquiry into the Ruby Princess, says he did not take Scott Morrison's criticisms of his "aggressive" questioning of a teary witness as an attempt to interfere with the probe's independence.

Residents on the New South Wales south coast have rejected the finding from a Rural Fire Service investigation into the cause of a deadly fire at Lake Conjola.

The three-step plan might get Australia's downwardly spiralling economy off the critical list, but it will need to remain in intensive care for a long time to come.

Why are there so few antivirals? The answer boils down to biology, and specifically the fact viruses use our own cells to multiply. This makes it hard to kill viruses without killing our own cells in the process.

The parents of young children in Queensland will be fighting back the urge to jump for joy this weekend, but the little ones might be feeling a bit anxious about returning to school.

Tasmania's spaghetti soup of road shoulders, painted green lanes, shared-use paths and recreational tracks frustrates cyclists on a daily basis, but with usage on the rise advocates are hoping change is on the way.

A decision more than two decades ago to stop births at the hospital on Christmas Island has had significant financial and social effects on locals in the years since.

A boy who stole from a pizza delivery driver and caused $6,000 damage to a vehicle at a construction site was being given cannabis by his family at the time, a court has heard.

Drought sees Pilbara stations sell off their entire herds, but this manager says it's not the end.

While the cash economy is dwindling, small businesses still need somewhere to deposit their coins but where do you take them when your local bank branch closes?

An online petition and Facebook page to negotiate better deals on high-cost airfares for regional West Australians is gaining traction.

Six Malaysian men visit Perth seeking $1.5 million they lost when an alleged Ponzi property scheme masterminded by WA businesswoman Veronica Macpherson collapsed three years ago.

Polluting heavy metals may be leaking into an outback river system in WA's Pilbara and the problem has been made worse by the massive deluge that accompanied Tropical Cyclone Veronica in March.

Scientist Richard Connor has discovered that Monkey Mia's dolphins have the most complex non-human society on the planet.

Once the scene of entrenched, intergenerational alcohol abuse, a historical hotel in WA's remote Pilbara region is now a symbol of hope and cultural pride.

Kimberly De Pledge is found guilty of dangerous driving after his loaded cattle truck slammed into a caravan, killing two people on a remote WA highway.

A Pilbara man is granted bail after allegedly being found with more than 40,000 child exploitation images following a sting by authorities in the United States.

A 37-year-old woman is in custody on charges of murder and attempted murder after a fatal head-on collision in Western Australia's north-west.

A cattle station in outback Western Australia proves popular with stargazers and now hopes to become internationally recognised for its starry nights.

A well-known WA pastoralist is jailed for almost four years for causing a crash on a remote Pilbara highway that claimed the lives of a couple and left their two children orphaned.

The future of 100 workers at the first planned lithium processing facility in WA's north is uncertain after they were given two hours to pack their bags after the night shift.

Truck drivers are calling for an urgent overhaul of roadworks safety in the outback, saying the highways are littered with disused and seemingly forgotten roadworks signs.

Automation and outsourcing are dirty words for many people in Western countries worried about their future employment prospects. Developing countries are seen to be the major beneficiaries of off-shore labour, with multinationals hoovering up increased profits. But the reality is a lot more complex and even messy. Now, even developing countries are starting to feel the pain.

There’s a new emphasis on land reclamation and building floating structures for everything from accommodation to marine farming to energy generation. Re-defining the use of the ocean is part of the emerging “blue economy” – one that can be both economically beneficial and environmentally responsible. How well can these often contradictory goals be reconciled?

Desertification and land degradation affect the lives of around three billion people, according to UN estimates. Two ambitious projects aim at halting desertification and returning soil to productivity: the Great Green Wall project in northern Africa; and the Green Great Wall initiative in China.

Critics say that the proliferation of modern, wafer-thin skyscrapers are symbols of rising urban inequality. Also: Are levels of density in our cities making us ill? And what's the impact of short-term letting on urban affordability? 

Water banking involves the deliberate injection of surplus water into known aquifers. The idea is to repurpose the world’s many artesian basins as giant sustainable storage tanks - ones that can readily be drawn upon in times of drought. It’s just one of the ideas we explore in the second instalment of our two-part series on water conflict and management – the politics, the problems and the potential solutions.

Police search for a shooter after an 18-year-old man, who was standing on a unit balcony, is shot in the arm from a neighbouring apartment.

Elite women's tennis will return to WA at least one more time after Perth was chosen to host the final of the Fed Cup competition in November, beating bids from Melbourne and Brisbane.

MORNING BRIEFING: Many regional Tasmanian areas are in a population decline, and Hobart scores high on drug waste water testing.

A tiny number of performers worldwide stuff their adult frames into cannons, to be shot across an arena at 60 kilometres per hour. Queenslander Warren Brophy is one of them.

Sex workers say they are being harassed and intimidated by South Australian police, as figures show charges for sex-work offences have spiked in the past two years.

Police charge two brothers, aged 18 and 20, over an unprovoked attack on an off-duty senior Victorian police officer near a Melbourne train station.

Laurent Hayez, father of missing Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez, supported by his sons Godfather JP Hayez and cousin Lisa Hayez.