Australia

European nations lifting defence spending to five per cent of GDP won't convince Australia to do the same, despite threats of trade repercussions for laggards.

NICOLA SMITH: Opposition Leader Sussan Ley promised a radical overhaul of the Coalition but stopped short of committing to the steps needed to achieve her goal.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has set herself apart from Peter Dutton’s leadership and vowed to be a ‘zealot’ about recruiting more women into Liberal Party ranks.

Garbage bins in one of Australia’s major council areas may soon need to be registered and stickered, after a pitch for a new bin rule passed unanimously through council.

An 18-year-old man ‘shrivelled up’ inside himself when he was being indecently assaulted by a state MP, a jury has been told.

Australia had the sixth highest number of unvaccinated children among high-income countries in 2023, according to alarming new data released on Wednesday. 

NICOLA SMITH: Ripple effects of America’s involvement in the Middle East conflict are already being felt across the Indo-Pacific.

The partner of a former state premier attempted to mislead a corruption probe stating that he had ‘never asked for a dollar’ from a $48 million property sale.

Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, said Iran had ‘completely violated’ the ceasefire, brokered by US President Donald Trump on Tuesday morning, AEST, and Israel in response would ‘respond forcefully’. 

NICOLA SMITH: The seismic events reshaping the Middle East have unleashed many unknowns for an anxious Australian public, and Anthony Albanese has been short on answers to reassure them.

Mr Albanese refused to say whether Australia had received advance notice like the United Kingdom had, saying Australia was ‘not a central player in this conflict’.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has finally confirmed the Australian Government’s stance on the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.