New South Wales father-of-three Michael Lindquist thought he was coming down with a “simple flu”, but three days later he was in hospital in an induced coma. Unknowingly, the previously fit and healthy 37-year-old from Coffs Harbour had become infected with a flesh-eating bacteria, otherwise known as necrotising fasciitis.  While in hospital, the infection in his leg turned septic and doctors told his wife it…

Four people have been hospitalised after a miniature steam train at a popular Canberra tourist attraction derailed in the middle of school holidays. ACT Police said several passengers were injured when a train carriage at Cockington Green came off its tracks at about 10am on Thursday. “Four people were treated at the scene by ACT Ambulance Service paramedics and transported to hospital,” police said in…

Police are investigating a bizarre series of events involving a burnt-out car with a body inside, a second vehicle driven off a jetty and the detention of a naked man acting erratically on an allegedly stolen boat. The turmoil in the tiny fishing town about 180 kilometres north of Perth began early on Tuesday morning when police were called to a burning car on Indian…

Authorities are appealing for public help after an $80 million haul of cocaine hidden in the hull of a cargo ship was seized in Melbourne. More than 200kg of the illicit drug was discovered after an underwater remotely operated vehicle operated by Australian Border Force officers examined the vessel when it was docked in the Port of Melbourne last month. It was concealed in a…

Qantas has apologised after passengers on an international flight waited six hours for their plane to take off before it was eventually cancelled. Flight QF93 to Los Angeles sat on the tarmac at Melbourne Airport on Monday night before travellers were sent home. Passengers were told the flight was too heavy to take off due to the winds. READ MORE: Australian home builder collapses owing…

A man has died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, bringing to an end an hours-long police negotiation after he is believed to have killed a colleague at a grain silo in Western Australia. It was initially believed ambulance volunteer Lachlan Bowles, 25, suffered critical injuries as a result of the self-inflicted gunshot and had been flown to hospital. However, WA Police confirmed tonight that he…

A court has heard harrowing new details about the crash that killed two young boys when a car slammed into a tree in Sydney’s south. Police alleged in court that driver Jimmy Martin Brito, 33, was travelling at a minimum of 136km/h in a 60km/h zone before he crashed into a tree on The Grand Parade at Monterey just before 10pm on August 25. Two…

Australian music legend John Farnham is giving his hit song “You’re the Voice” to an advertising campaign for the Yes vote in the Voice to parliament referendum. The aptly named track is being used by the Uluru Dialogue campaign, the architects of the Uluru Statement, to gain support for a successful referendum. It’s the first time Farnham has ever granted permission for the anthem to…

A 20-year-old man has been arrested after a crash in Sydney‘s south-west, which killed a brother and sister. Emergency services were called to Sadleir Avenue in Heckenberg on Friday night after reports of a multi-car crash. Police said a black Mercedes and a Toyota Echo collided head-on, before the Mercedes hit a Toyota Rav4 and flipped on its side. READ MORE: Burger chain stores set…

It’s not often in any sport that the referee becomes the hero, but that was definitely the case in a football match in Adelaide when young player Nestory Irankunda swallowed his tongue after a heavy fall and the quick-thinking ref took potentially life-saving action. It was 2-1 Adelaide’s way in the final seconds of the Friday night match between Adelaide United and Campbelltown City at…

A cancer patient had her lease terminated by a “heartless realtor” while undergoing chemotherapy, a federal inquiry into Australia’s rental crisis has heard. The inquiry was in Brisbane today hearing personal stories from renters who are struggling to get by during the housing crisis. Brisbane doctor Catriona was issued a lease termination while undergoing chemotherapy treatment for stage-3 breast cancer, despite previously asking for an…

The heaviest snow since early July has fallen across the ski resorts of New South Wales and Victoria and the crowds didn’t miss it, with visitors turned away on the road to Australia’s largest ski resort Perisher on Saturday morning. Perisher has so far received 32 centimetres of fresh snow in this storm, the highest amount of any Aussie resort, with totals of around 10…

Victorian taxpayers will pay $380 million in costs after the state government decided to withdraw from hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games. The Victorian government has reached a settlement with the official bodies involved after deciding to withdraw from hosting the games in July. “The parties also agreed that the multi-hub regional model was more expensive to host than the traditional models,” the Victorian government said…

Professor Mary-Louise McLaws, a respected epidemiologist who became a familiar face on TV as she provided reliable advice to Australians during the COVID-19 pandemic, has died aged 70. The University of New South Wales health expert was diagnosed with a brain tumour last year, months before she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. On Sunday evening,…

Brittany Higgins says the police officers who handled her alleged rape complaint were “awful” and made her “feel violated at every turn”, the latest development to the ugly fallout from Walter Sofronoff’s inquiry into Bruce Lehrmann’s prosecution. The former Liberal staffer’s comments were made in response to an article in The Australian that claimed officers who investigated the complaint had their careers ruined by false…

An absence of protocol contributed to the derailment of an XPT passenger train in Melbourne’s north in 2020, a transport safety investigation report found. The train’s driver, John Kennedy, 54, and train pilot, Sam Meintanis, 49, were killed when the Sydney to Melbourne XPT diesel locomotive and five carriages came off tracks near Wallan Station. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s (ATSB) final report into the…

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned the following article contains images of deceased persons. Kumanjayi Dixon was walking down a highway to visit family when she was struck and killed by Joshua Mason’s car. In a panic, he called his mother Deborah Mason and enlisted her help to remove Dixon’s lifeless body from the road. But the pair left the dead Indigenous…

As the search continues for four army airmen missing off the North Queensland coast after their helicopter crashed on Friday night, it’s emerged that among those feared dead is the son of a senior NSW Police officer. Warrant Officer Joseph Laycock, known as Phil, is the son of a long serving NSW police superintendent. Australian Army Chief Lieutenant General Simon Stuart revealed those missing as…

Welfare payments are set to rise again in a much needed boost for the nation’s most vulnerable. The bi-annual rise will be on top of the extra money announced in the Federal budget, but still may not keep up with rising cost of many essentials. From September the Jobseeker rate that was due to jump $40 per fortnight will now grow by $56, matching the…

Tanveer Safdari didn’t leave the side of Massoud Massoud until he was reunited with his son on Monday evening. But just hours earlier, the pair had been involved in a road rage argument in Dandenong, in Melbourne’s south-east. As the pair exchanged words, Massoud’s car was allegedly stolen by a third man with his two-year-old son Mohammed inside. READ MORE: Resident dead after fire at…

Seamless travel between New Zealand and Australia is one step closer. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his New Zealand counterpart Chris Hipkins today announced they will create a 12-month expert group to explore easier travel across the Tasman Sea. That working group will report back by the end of June 2024.  READ MORE: Hannah was meant to be singing at Greek resort destroyed by…

The mother of a man bashed to death over a pair of AirPods is still asking how her son died over something so trivial. Janet Houllis faces another agonising wait before the second man who murdered her 28-year-old son Ross Houllis in February 2020 is sentenced on Monday afternoon. “Can we get this over and done with?” she asked the NSW Supreme Court on Friday,…

“If it goes on like this for another six or seven months like this, we’re going to close.” That’s the reality for Ashraf Saleh’s restaurant Coya in Sydney’s North Shore as the small business battles the dramatic reduction in consumer spending while cost of living pressures bite. Saleh opened the restaurant in Northern Beaches eight years ago and business was booming but in the last…

Pamphlets released today laying out the Yes and No cases for the Voice to parliament will pit an argument for recognition, listening and better results against concerns the change is legally risky, divisive and has unknown consequences. The long-awaited publication of each side’s official arguments ahead of the referendum gives Australians the clearest understanding yet of what they’ll be voting on later this year. Both…

A man accused of speeding through red lights, colliding with a family and killing a teenage girl has been denied bail. A Melbourne magistrate ruled Gulet Mohammed Ahmed would be a danger to the community if released, calling his alleged crimes “horrific”. The Essendon man is accused of being behind the wheel of a gold Volkswagen that collided with an Alfa Romeo in Carlton in…

Christopher Dawson is already expected to spend the rest of his life in jail for murdering his wife but a judge has now found him guilty of an unlawful relationship with one of his students too. Dawson will be sentenced in September. Judge Sarah Huggett delivered the guilty verdict on Wednesday following a NSW District Court trial of the former rugby league player and high…

NRL star Dylan Brown has pleaded guilty to sexually touching a woman without her consent at a Sydney hotel. The Parramatta Eels player appeared in the Downing Centre Local Court today after he was charged for repeatedly touching a young woman’s breasts at the The Golden Sheaf in Double Bay about 11.40pm on June 3. Brown, 23, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexually touching…

Katy Gallagher has once again denied misleading parliament over her knowledge of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations, while the Australian Federal Police is assesing a complaint over the leaking of text messages in the matter. In a statement to the Senate, the federal finance minister repeated her assertion that, while she knew about Higgins‘ rape allegations before they became public, she had not misled parliament by…

Brett Andrew Button, the driver of the bus which crashed in the Hunter Valley, killing 10 people, has just been released from custody after being granted bail earlier today. Button, 58, made a brief appearance before Cessnock Local Court this morning, where a magistrate imposed strict bail conditions on him after saying there was a strong prosecution case for the 10 counts of dangerous driving…