Latest National news

Coles and Woolworths slammed for Christmas supply shortage

Eryk Bagshaw 5:55 PM   Coles and Woolworths slammed for Christmas supply shortage

Comments 207

Paramedics accuse each other of threats, bullying, rape

ambulance

Harriet Alexander 2:30 PM   Police have been swamped with allegations made by paramedics about their colleagues following the ambulance commissioner's invitation to staff to report criminal conduct to the police.

Ho no! How to avoid a Christmas wrapping disaster

Do your presents look like this?

Robyn Grace 10:30 AM   It's 10pm on Christmas Eve. Now it's time to sit back and ... Ha! As if. You're heading into the bedroom for several hours of what you've been putting off for weeks: gift wrapping.

'Now I feel sick to my stomach'

Whistleblower: Mitchell Broadstock.

Eryk Bagshaw 12:47 AM   Homeless and with a pregnant girlfriend, 19-year-old Mitchell Broadstock was looking for a chance when a private college network offered him a job in January.

Comments 115

Pell's former housemate 'sexually abused' teen

Father John Walshe was the subject of a historical sexual abuse claim.

Staff reporters   A Catholic priest who defended Cardinal George Pell at the child abuse royal commission last week was the subject of a historical sexual abuse claim.

Does wine differ according to the glass?

Dr Karl Kruszelnicki.

We humans have drunk alcohol for thousands of years. This means that we've had plenty of time to make many different shapes of glasses from which to drink alcohol.

Labor threatens inquiry into drug given to soldiers

Major Stuart McCarthy has raised concerns more veterans have been harmed by mefloquine than the ADF has disclosed.

Henry Belot   The federal opposition says it will launch a Senate inquiry unless ADF investigates the use of a drug linked to hallucinations, depression and suicidal thoughts.

Australian woman falls 300 metres to her death while climbing New Zealand mountain

Mount Sefton, left and The Footstool, right, in the Mt Cook National Park. Nicola Andrews found on the slopes of The Footstool has died.

Chris Hyde   An Australian woman has died after falling 300 metres off a mountain in New Zealand's Aoraki-Mt Cook National Park.

Too thin to work? Fashion models should be benched if they're underweight, US health experts say

A very thin model walks the runway at the Rosa Cha spring 2007 fashion show in New York.

Karen Kaplan   Following a law introduced in France, US health experts want to fine agents who use models with a BMI under 18.

Defence aware of drug's links to depression and nightmares

Major Stuart McCarthy has raised concerns more veterans have been harmed by mefloquine than the ADF has disclosed.

Henry Belot   Previously classified documents show the Australian Defence Force kept giving soldiers a harmful drug for at least 14 years after first becoming concerned about its serious side effects.

Immigration denied dying student a final visit from family

Hassan Asif came to Australia as a student before being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Kate Aubusson   A terminally ill student who wanted to see his family one last time has had his request rejected by Australia's immigration department.

Penalty rate row stirs strife at pharmacies

pics for know your local pharmacy 30.7
        
GENERIC PHARMACIST CHEMIST TELEPHONE
NArnold@illawarramercury.com.au

Nick Toscano   Pharmacists in Australia have voted to launch industrial action for the first time, starting on Christmas Eve, as a national outlet chain moves to slash their penalty rates.

8000 students in limbo as college's registration cancelled

The exterior of AIPE college on Sussex Street in Sydney.

Eryk Bagshaw   A college that cost taxpayers more than $1 million per graduate last year has had its registration cancelled by the federal government.

Jackson ordered to pay HSU a further $900,000

Former HSU head Kathy Jackson.

Nick Toscano   Disgraced former union secretary Kathy Jackson has been ordered to pay the Health Services Union another $900,000, bringing the amount owed to about $2.4 million.

Australian actress Eliza Szonert held in custody after snatching back her child from former partner

Eliza Szonert reunited with her child.

Rory Callinan   Australian actress Eliza Szonert who snatched her son from her former partner was being held in police custody in Malaysia last night but had not been officially arrested, her mother Kay confirmed.

Acquire Learning casts 'a very dark shadow' over its clients

Ben Mutch, at home in Warrnambool, is unemployed was pressured into signing up for a training course, with Aquired Learning.

Michael Bachelard   The desperate and jobless are sold hope, but all they are buying is debt

Play me a memory

"Eighteen-year-olds still come in asking for Rocket Man."

Peter Munro   John Watson has played piano at a Sydney bar every weekend since 1983. Musical tastes have changed little over that time, he says.

Australia lowers official travel warning for Iran

News spread quickly of Foreign Minister Julie Bishop's trip to a bazaar in Tehran in April, where western politicians are a rare sight.

Daniel Flitton   Australia has just lowered its travel warning for Iran - potentially putting a trip to the Islamic Republic on a holiday bucket list for keen travellers.

Centrelink's IT meltdown hits disability pension

More than 800,000 Australians are being paid disability pensions of about $800 a fortnight.

Noel Towell   Centrelink's tech woes disrupts Disability Pension medical crackdown.

'Fat but fit' counts for nothing scientists say – obesity is what drives early death

Funny sports man

Laura Donnelly   Obese people who regularly exercise are far more likely to die early, compared with slim people who are unfit, research suggests.

New ABC head commits to editorial independence but open to advertising

Newly appointed ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie in the ABC studios, Ultimo, Sydney.

Heath Aston, political correspondent   Incoming ABC boss, Michelle Guthrie, has pledged to protect the tradition of editorial independence at the national broadcaster but has also left the door open to advertising and digital paywalls.

'Cowering and weak': APS Commissioner hits back

Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd.

Noel Towell   APS commissioner John Lloyd hits back at claim that the public service has become 'weak' and 'lacking self-confidence'.

More APS pay offers voted down

ABS chief David Kalisch wants to know why his public servants rejected the pay deal they were offered.

Noel Towell   Thousands more public servants vote no as ABS boss orders investigation.

Doctors say raising legal age for smoking 'won't work'

 Studies showed most smokers began smoking before they turned 25, says Tasmanian Health Minister Michael Ferguson.

Jane Lee   Australia's two biggest states are not following Tasmania's plan to raise the legal smoking age to 21, and doctors warn it will not lower the number of smokers.

Stoner Sloth: It's now a joint attack on campaign

 My chat with Stoner Sloth.

Rachel Browne   The owner of the US medical marijuana website stonersloth.com has slammed the Australian campaign of the same name, describing it as "over dramatic".

Diabetes drug breakthrough for killer of pregnant women

Bianca Rotar with her baby Lexi who was born prematurely at nearly 28 weeks.

Julia Medew   Australian scientists are confident they have discovered a treatment for pre-eclampsia, a condition that kills 60,000 pregnant women each year.

The science of overeating at Christmas

The Christmas gorge-fest can stretch the stomach to its limits.

Bridie Smith   How much can you eat before that stomach-straining, nausea-inducing feeling strikes?

Car dealer investigated over wombat deaths

Tony Azzi with a dead wombat.

Kate McClymont   Multimillionaire car dealer Tony Azzi is being investigated over allegations that he used a high-powered rifle and semi-automatic pistols to kill wombats and other native fauna.

Royal Flying Doctors soar in Charity Reputation Index

The Royal Flying Doctor Service is Australia's top-ranked charity.

Rachel Browne   City-dwelling Australians may never need to call on the Royal Flying Doctor Service for help but they have shown their support for the group which provides health care for almost 300,000 people a year.