With towns facing "zero day" water crises National Party MPs are frustrated not enough dams are being built, but states are spending billions to fix a system ill-prepared for crisis.

Whitehaven's Maules Creek coal mine is being investigated for allegedly unlawfully taking water, after farmers say their groundwater is drying up. The company has already been found to have allegedly unlawfully taken surface water by the NSW regulator.

As Tasmania brings in tough new controls to limit coronavirus infections, tourism and hospitality industries are "hanging on by a thread" and operators are urging locals to support them.

If you are hoping to be buried in Launceston's main cemetery, you'll need deep pockets, with the cost of a single plot "skyrocketing" more than 225 per cent in recent years, and it's set to go up again. Why does it cost so much?

The number of people who have tested positive for coronavirus in Tasmania jumps to 16, with five cases being diagnosed on Saturday, the director of public health says.

Rowena has been in and out of jail a handful of times — she says she is doing her best to stay out, but adds "when something bad happens on the outside, you just want to run back to jail and be safe".

There are now 22 people in Tasmania who have tested positive for coronavirus, with five people being diagnosed today, the director of public health says.

Tasmanian public schools will remain open "for the time being", while pubs, clubs, sporting venues and churches close from midday.

The Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein says public schools will remain open, but parents who wish to keep children home may do so.

Gaming business Federal Group says it will not have jobs for about 1,500 of its 1,930 Tasmanian workers because of restrictions on the operation of hotels and casinos introduced to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Tasmania records six new cases of coronavirus, with four of those infected being passengers who returned to the state after disembarking the Ruby Princess cruise ship.

Gambling giant Federal Group is demanding Tasmanian pub owners continue paying rent on leased poker machines, even while hoteliers have been forced to close due to coronavirus — a move blasted by Senator Jacqui Lambie as "trying to make a quid" during a "wartime scenario".

Authorities say Tasmania is one of the last remaining jurisdictions in the country not to record any confirmed cases of coronavirus via community transmission. Has the state been spared and will it remain that way?

Tasmania confirms eight more cases of coronavirus, bringing the state's tally to 36, as another college ends classroom teaching, citing "mixed and uncertain medical health advice within the community and from various public health authorities".

Health authorities say a person in their 20s is among the latest positive cases of coronavirus detected in Tasmania taking the state tally to 42.

Authorities say two children are confirmed amongst the latest coronavirus cases in Tasmania, as the Government confirms it will refund public school levies, freeze water prices and cap electricity prices as part of the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Australians are being urged to roll up their sleeves and give blood and plasma despite stricter measures on social interactions in the coronavirus pandemic.

Public health officials are investigating the recent movements of a worker at Latrobe's Mersey Community Hospital, in the state's north, who has caught coronavirus.

With many Australians facing the prospect of long-term unemployment, many have found themselves in a situation they never thought they would be in — applying for Centrelink.

Tasmania's economy was just picking up as coronavirus restrictions sent thousands of people out of work — but some help is out there.

Once a destination for grey nomads and bus tours, Australia's island state has built its brand into something clean, green and edgy. With 10 per cent of its economy hinging on tourism, Tasmania has a lot to lose.

All non-essential travellers who arrive in Tasmania after midnight on Sunday will be placed into a Government-operated facility, Premier Peter Gutwein announces.

A continuing investigation into an infectious health worker at the Mersey Hospital in Tasmania's north-west reveals the person was only at work for 30 minutes before they felt unwell and went home.

As Tasmanian health authorities say they are yet to learn how two people in the state's north-west contracted coronavirus, four new cases are confirmed.

A young Tasmanian father is dead and five people are in custody after police are called to an altercation in Ritchie Avenue in Burnie early on Sunday morning.

The former Children's Commissioner is calling for school-based care services to stay open for vulnerable students, even if tougher lockdown measures are introduced.

Tasmania records its first coronavirus death after a woman in her 80s dies in hospital in the state's north-west, with the state's case tally rising by three to 69.

Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein has announced the state's first coronavirus related death.

Defence force personnel will help Tasmanian Police conduct spot checks to ensure people are observing new rules restricting their movements for at least the next four weeks.

No new cases are identified on the day Tasmania records its second coronavirus death, an elderly man in southern Tasmania who was a passenger on the Ruby Princess cruise ship.

Campbell Remess has been making teddy bears for sick children since he was nine, now in isolation due to coronavirus, the teen is streaming lessons online.

A new coronavirus case diagnosed overnight takes Tasmania's tally to 72, as authorities release a list of destinations visited by two interstate travellers who later tested positive for COVID-19.

If an animal is declared extinct more than 80 years ago, most people would assume it no longer exists — but Neil Waters is not one of those people. Now, documentary filmmakers are interested in his quest.

Six new cases of coronavirus confirmed in the last 24 hours has pushed Tasmania's COVID-19 tally to 80, as police warn the public they will on patrol to ensure strict measures are followed.

If you see a Tasmanian devil this week, remember to wish it happy birthday. They've earned it, after a "brutal" natural selection process in which a maximum of four joeys — out of a litter of 40 — survive.

An investigation is underway after two staff members of the North West Regional Hospital in Tasmania test positive for coronavirus.

The Tasmanian hospital where two staff members have tested positive to coronavirus will remain open, authorities say, assuring the public they can be "confident about the care they receive".

One of the two coronavirus cases confirmed in Tasmania is a staff member from the North West Regional Hospital, a day after two other staff cases were revealed.

A ship that sank in 1852 off Rye in Victoria has given archaeologists new insights into early Australian boatbuilding.

Four new cases of coronavirus are confirmed in Tasmania, taking the state's total to 86, after Burnie's hospital shuts two wards to new admissions following staff becoming infected.

Backpackers sacked after bars and restaurants closed down due to coronavirus are flocking back to previous farm jobs, but employers want details on Government help with quarantine measures.

Two more staff at the North West Regional Hospital test positive to coronavirus, taking the total to six, prompting a ban on visitors to the facility as well as the Mersey Community Hospital.

The Tasmanian Government bans visits to all of the state's hospitals, with some exceptions for parents and on compassionate grounds, under new social distancing measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

A Tasmanian man who was a passenger on the Ruby Princess cruise ship dies in the North West Regional Hospital from coronavirus.

Authorities reveal eight of the nine new cases of coronavirus confirmed in Tasmania are linked to the North West Regional Hospital, as the state records its third death.

A coronavirus outbreak at Burnie's hospital has prompted a plea for Tasmania's north-west residents to do the right thing over the Easter break, as a drive-through testing station opens in Hobart.

On the day Tasmanian's north-west coast residents are warned their behaviour will be monitored in the midst of a local coronavirus outbreak, the state's confirmed cases rise by nine to 107.

The Tasmanian man was trying to get home in a yacht when he hit rocks near Portsea on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula.