Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is asking Parliament for a "big stick" to threaten energy companies with. Here's how it could work.

Both Mr Albanese and Prime Minister Scott Morrison's speech were recorded this year, in a break from previous years.

Former Canberra taxi driver Neelander Sirohi loses a racial discrimination case he launched after he was expelled from a sex offender's course while serving time for raping a vulnerable woman in 2013.

Siobhan Sutton is an academically talented student but is proudly choosing to fail a test today, and she is not alone as thousands of students across the country take part in the the global School Strike for Climate.

Farmers say they should be able to make enough money to look after themselves. But as they contend with one of Australia's worst droughts, it's set to produce a billion-dollar welfare bill as taxpayers help keep them afloat.

The trial of two teenagers who rampaged through Queanbeyan and stabbed to death a service station attendant has been abandoned after the second of them pleaded guilty.

Raiders mentor Ricky Stuart has 196 wins, 196 losses and 2 draws in his 394-game coaching career. So is he a poor, average, good or even a great coach? Sunday's NRL grand final against the Roosters could be the decisive factor in moulding "Sticky's" legacy, writes Richard Hinds.

David Eastman spent 19 years in jail for the murder of senior Australian Federal Police officer Colin Winchester. He is now asking for almost $1 million for each year he was wrongfully imprisoned.

Sydney Roosters fans chant "back to back" as they focus on the positives of their team's controversial second NRL grand final victory in two years.

Robert Glen Sirl was caught having sex with a 15-year-old girl in foster care when police visited to talk to him about a separate rape. He has now been found guilty of both crimes. WARNING: This story contains graphic content.

Health Minister Greg Hunt says he has "serious concerns" and demands to see the "evidence" the ACT considered before deciding to legalise cannabis in Canberra from next year.

The Sydney and Melbourne buildings have served as the gateway to Canberra for decades. But time and neglect have taken their toll on the icons, which now form a crumbling entrance to the capital's lake and parliamentary precinct.

Canberra's youth detention centre issues an apology and an undisclosed financial settlement after an Indigenous teenager filed a lawsuit alleging her human rights had been violated when she was separated from her peers and her belongings for two months.

As it marks 90 years embedded in the Canberra community, the YWCA looks back on its role as an organisation aimed at empowering women, from early karate lessons that scandalised to advocating leadership roles for women today.

Canberra's very woolly sheep Chris made famous by his record-breaking 41.1-kilogram coat dies four years after he made headlines around the world.

A week ahead of the first hearings of the Disability Royal Commission in Townsville, a new survey of families of children with disability finds nearly no progress has been made on improving access to inclusive education.

Australian scientists have weighed Greenland's ice cap melt using satellite technology and their findings are not good.

If you've been avoiding your local library because you are yet to return that dog-eared book by your bedside, the ACT Government has good news for you.

The owner of Mitchell Mistresses, Bradley Lester Grey used job interviews with "young and naive" sex workers to sexually assault them. Today he was found guilty of 20 sexual offences against seven employees.

When Farishta Arzoo moved to Australia she had to overcome significant obstacles learning English, starting a TAFE course and setting up a new life. Now she's gearing up to face her greatest physical challenge yet running a marathon.

A hipster's heaven in regional Queensland is putting the sword to counterculture capitals such as Sydney and Melbourne by embracing its man buns, skinny jeans and coffee shops.

Farmers say the Queensland Government's decision to axe "vital" transport subsidies will take a further mental toll on already struggling graziers who have relied on the funding during severe drought periods.

The Great Barrier Reef has already been devastated by climate change, but one southern island is showing signs of recovery after cyclone damage

The Queensland Government plans to crackdown on the illegal dumping of commercial fishing nets, known as ghost nets.

MP Warren Entsch says the Queensland Government failed to honour a deal to help fund a Cairns Indigenous boarding facility for girls following the state election.

Letters of solidarity and more than 400 Aboriginal 'passports' will be delivered to Manus Island refugees as a group of boats set sail for Papua New Guinea.

David Glasheen was once a multi-millionaire living in Sydney. But that was a different life. For 22 years, the 76-year-old has been the sole resident of a remote Queensland island and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Queensland's Native Mounted Police massacred thousands of Indigenous people on the colonial frontier, and most of its troopers were Indigenous themselves. It's a difficult legacy for their descendants to come to terms with.

Running outside and swimming in the ocean is a rare luxury for eight students who lived through the terror of the tsunami that hit the Fukushima nuclear plant in 2011.

Workplace Health and Safety is investigating after a crane comes into contact with powerlines in Far North Queensland, injuring two people and killing one.

Two men are critically injured after a crane overturns near Mareeba in Far North Queensland this morning. The crash follows the death of a man in a separate crane incident on Sunday.

New laws are before Queensland Parliament to protect the Great Barrier Reef from harmful nutrient and sediment run-off, with a voluntary scheme not working fast enough according to the Environment Minister.

A 21-year-old woman suffers serious leg injuries in an attack by what is believed to be two sharks in Great Barrier Reef waters off Cape York Peninsula.

They travelled across the world in the 1950s and '60s to build a new life cutting cane in the steamy paddocks of north Queensland. Now Basques return to learn the story of their ancestors.

Researchers find a common disease in honey bees can be transmitted to native bees through flowers, causing them to die about three times the rate of the normal mortality.

Australias largest barramundi farm is calling for a halt in whole-fish imports from Asia not because around 60 per cent is imported, but for biosecurity reasons.

State and territory leaders have agreed to establish a timetable to work towards a waste export ban.

A North Queensland Cowboys feeder club hopes its American import is more than your average Joe when he trots out for his first QRL game this weekend.

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.

People in parts of tropical Far North Queensland wake to early-morning frost as the region experiences its coldest August night in more than 60 years.

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.

Cardwell residents band together to save a large tree that arborists have declared unsafe due to beach erosion during the recent heavy wet season.