Note from Editor
An exclusive newsletter for subscribers from Lisa Davies.
What in the World newsletter
Our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world.
Live Well newsletter
Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition.
Exclusive
Coronavirus pandemic
Outbreak in Australia ‘just a matter of time’
Epidemiologist and mathematical biologist James McCaw, who is leading a research team providing modelling on the pandemic to the federal government, said it was “absolutely inevitable” that the virus would spread within Australia.
Exclusive
Vaccination
Fully vaccinated travellers test positive in Sydney hotel quarantine
This comes as the mystery of how an eastern suburbs couple caught a COVID-19 infection brought into hotel quarantine by a US traveller remains unsolved.
First-home buyers get budget help to enter skyrocketing market
Australians will be given more help to buy their first homes in a budget boost that offers loan guarantees and more scope for people to use superannuation to save a deposit.
Opinion
Federal politics
Voters driven to distraction by Morrison’s short-term splurge
Peter Hartcher
Political and international editor
‘Choke point’: Second harbour tunnel crossing deemed a national priority
The Western Harbour Tunnel is needed to avoid traffic delays worsening along Sydney’s key north-south road corridor, the nation’s infrastructure advisor says.
Exclusive
Cycling
Pop-up bike paths prove to be the wheel deal
Sydney’s pop-up inner-city cycleways installed to help commuters return to work during the pandemic have become so popular that they occasionally overtake the city’s busiest bike paths, furthering calls to make them a permanent fixture.
‘No regrets’: The heartbreaking rise and fall of Jack Bird
Doctors said he would never set foot on a football field. He then became the best young player in the game, until it all unravelled when he arrived in Brisbane.
Opinion
The Fitz Files
‘Brotherhood’ that rallies in support of Hayne is the domain of disgraceful cowards
Jarryd Hayne is in prison where he belongs, but there’s something we need to discuss.
Peter FitzSimons
Columnist and author
McLachlan takes on court of public opinion with explosive video diaries
The actor was acquitted of indecent assault and assault charges in December and now appears determined to win over the court of public opinion.
NSW students lag Australia and world in learning second language: teachers
Public primary schools are only given funding for a language teacher if there are a significant number of speakers of a particular language in their local community.
Cruel game: Former gymnasts open up on culture of fear and control
A letter written to a gymnast by former national women’s coach Peggy Liddick shows how teenage girls were treated in the pursuit of Olympic glory.
Lost cultural treasures find their way home to Indigenous owners at last
Nearly 2000 artefacts have been repatriated from overseas galleries, museums and universities after a call out for the return of objects significant to Australia’s cultural heritage.
Bank boom: Big four profits snap back from COVID-19 threat
This time last year, NAB chief executive Ross McEwan was bracing for what many thought would be the worst economic crisis since the 1930s Great Depression.
Where’s my overpriced nuts? Minibars disappear from hotels
Once an essential item of most hotel rooms, the minibar may be finally reaching its shelf life.
NRL 2021
Eels 31 Roosters 18
Robinson fumes at ‘incompetent’ officials after horror Hutchison injury
Panthers 48 Sharks 0
Panthers purring as premiership favourites despite Chambers sledge
Will Chambers’ Cronulla were thumped 48-0, but that didn’t stop him sledging the Panthers for losing last year’s grand final.
‘I gave him permission to get into me’: How Farah fired up Doueihi
The on-field return of Wests Tigers favourite Robbie Farah immediately improved the performance of his “Lebo mate” Adam Doueihi.
Sydney
Mass evacuations after Bondi Beach apartment fire
Six people were treated for smoke inhalation as more than 35 firefighters and eight fire trucks worked to extinguish the blaze.
ABC claims there were ‘reasonable grounds’ for suspecting Porter of rape
The ABC says it did not defame the former attorney-general but it can prove there were reasonable grounds for suspecting him of raping a woman in the 1980s when he was a teenager.
Exclusive
Biodiversity
Mission to save Sydney’s rarest eucalyptus species from extinction
The fate of a rare species of eucalyptus has taken a few twists down the years, offering insights into the management of rare plants and animals and how at-risk species can be held back from the brink of extinction.
‘Misguided loyalty’: Quinn avoids jail for hiding with boyfriend after killing
Hannah Quinn has avoided jail after she provided assistance to her boyfriend in the days after he fatally struck an armed intruder in the head with a samurai sword in Sydney’s inner west.
Safety fear for Afghan villagers raised in Ben Roberts-Smith case
Four villagers who allege the decorated former Australian soldier was involved in an Afghan farmer death faced the risk of repercussions from the Taliban if details about them were disclosed, a court has heard.
WEEKEND READS
‘Andrea was the only person who truly understood the pain’
Andrea Shoesmith and Allison Rees have become sisters in the fight to raise awareness of the dangers of button batteries following the deaths in 2013 and 2015 respectively of their daughters, Summer, 4, and Bella, 14 months.
Hunter Biden: ‘I come from a family forged by tragedies’
US President Joe Biden’s younger – and sole surviving – son battled alcoholism and drug addiction in the wake of losing his brother, Beau, to brain cancer in 2015. Here, he reveals the genesis of his demons and how he came back from the brink.
Politics
How a system quirk stopped Jenna’s family getting paid parental leave
A new parent is usually entitled to up to 18 weeks of paid parental leave, but qualification is based on the mother’s income.
Business
Bitcoin’s dirty little secret: It’s not easy being green
Bitcoin provokes intense debate but one thing everyone agrees on is that it has become a staggering producer of climate wrecking carbon dioxide.
World
Four ex-police officers indicted for violating George Floyd’s civil rights
A federal grand jury has indicted the former Minneapolis police officers, accusing them of willfully violating Floyd’s constitutional rights as he was restrained face-down on the pavement.
Opinion
Ill-disciplined chest-thumping puts us at risk
Kevin Rudd
Former Australian prime minister
The three issues to decide NSW byelection – and next federal poll too
Parnell Palme McGuinness
Columnist and communications adviser
Explore
Got a news tip?
Share information with our journalists securely and confidentially. Learn more
Property bydomain
The Sydney neighbourhoods where it's hardest, and easiest, to upsize
The price gap between units and houses in Sydney is at a record high, with freestanding homes in some pockets costing quadruple apartments.
Options trader buys himself a 36th birthday present: A luxury Palm Beach pad
Sources suggest he paid a little more than what the property passed in for at auction last month. Elsewhere, local bank boss buys new digs.
Life & Culture
Suzi Taylor’s ‘sad’ spiral from TV stardom to solitary confinement
The former “Block” contestant vowed to “start afresh” and savour some “clean air” after 202 days in custody, including a month in solitary.
Sport
‘There’s no regrets’: The heartbreaking rise and fall of Jack Bird
Doctors said he would never set foot on a football field. He then became the best young player in the game, until it all unravelled when he arrived in Brisbane.
Eels 31 Roosters 18
Match report
Robinson fumes at ‘incompetent’ officials after horror Hutchison injury
The three-time premiership-winning Roosters coach pulled no punches after the club’s injury crisis deepened when their five-eighth was clattered by Dylan Brown’s knees.
‘Sonny, look at your little chest mate’: SBW sees lighter side to Thorn identity
Sonny Bill Williams is one of the greatest cross-code players of all time, but even he looks up to Brad Thorn and can see why his Reds team have been so successful.
Panthers 48 Sharks 0
Match report
Panthers purring as premiership favourites despite Chambers sledge
Will Chambers’ Cronulla were thumped 48-0, but that didn’t stop him sledging the Panthers for losing last year’s grand final.
Inside the NRL’s match review committee and why they don’t even agree with each other
They’re a favourite punching bag of coaches, players and fans, but how do the NRL’s match review committee actually come up with those calls which spark outrage?
Updated
2021 Tokyo Olympics
‘Wake up’: Cambage slams lack of diversity in Australia, threatens Olympic boycott
Basketball star Liz Cambage has doubled down in her criticism of the Australian Olympic Committee for not using a racially diverse selection of athletes in promotions.
National cricketers in line for vaccinations as Hussey tests negative
On the back of Australia’s Olympians beginning their vaccination program ion Monday, National Cabinet ruled other sportsmen and women can now join the queue.
Have Your Say
‘Brotherhood’ that rallies in support of Hayne is the domain of disgraceful cowards
Jarryd Hayne is in prison where he belongs, but there’s something we need to discuss.
Peter FitzSimons
Columnist and author
