Please Explain podcast
Expert daily insight into the stories that drive the nation.
What in the World newsletter
Our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world.
Daily Crosswords
Challenge yourself with today's quick and cryptic puzzles.
Victoria records no new local COVID cases as borders open
Victoria has recorded no new local coronavirus cases as New Zealand prepares to resume quarantine-free travel with the state.
Most new shots to go to GPs as state’s Pfizer allocation rises
Almost all the extra new supply will be for the state’s GPs, with little increase in the number of doses flowing to the mass vaccination clinics run by the Victorian government.
Breaking
Great Barrier Reef
Australia criticises United Nations warning that Great Barrier Reef is in danger
The announcement could be the first step in a process that results in the reef losings its status as a World Heritage site.
Enter if you dare, the haunted (doll) house of horror
Traditionally a symbol of innocence and childhood imagination, the doll house as a haunted space is the ultimate nightmare. Who could forget Chucky and Annabelle?
Hotpot to hot choc: the Melbourne good food guide for junior foodies
From fun restaurants that even grown-ups will love to a bunch of activities for littlies, we’ve got you covered during the winter school holidays and beyond.
Barnaby Joyce sworn in, will be a ‘voice’ for those who feel ignored: Canavan
Matt Canavan called the spill motion against former Nationals leader Michael McCormack yesterday and is Joyce’s former chief of staff.
Editorial
Nationals
Barnaby show’s back in town, but national interest must come first
We can expect things to get louder and more colourful now Barnaby Joyce is back as Nationals leader, and Scott Morrison can expect to feel more policy heat.
The Age's View
Editorial
Critical error opened door for Barnaby Joyce to unseat Michael McCormack
Nationals leader Michael McCormack thought a story about Barnaby Joyce challenging him again was just rabble-rousing. It wasn’t.
Nation has waited long enough for anti-corruption watchdog, former judges, politicians say
The group of eminent Australians has written an open letter to PM Scott Morrison calling for an end to delays in establishing a federal integrity commission.
Opinion
Charity
I did not dissuade Putin from his crackdown but now Australia is employing the same tactic
Targeting charities is a tried and true political tactic deployed by autocratic and authoritarian regimes to quash dissent and gag critics.
Tim Costello
Former CEO of World Vision Australia.
Opinion
China
The contradiction at the heart of China’s rise
We need to understand what Isaiah Berlin called “the most important, most inhuman and still the most imperfectly understood phenomenon of our times”.
Peter Hartcher
Political and international editor
Opinion
Real Footy Podcast
‘The numbers are damning’ at Carlton
This week on the Real Footy podcast, Michael Gleeson, Caroline Wilson and Jake Niall discuss the issues at Ikon Park.
Opinion
AFL 2021
It’s time Tassie got a bite of the AFL pie
The sell-out crowd at the Hawks versus Bombers game furthers the case for Tassie to get its own team.
Marnie Vinall
CORONAVIRUS CRISIS
‘Stop all this squabbling’: Polio survivor Geoff has no time for anti-vaxxers
Pakenham pensioner Geoff O’Brien had polio as a child. He wants the squabbling to stop and people to get their COVID-19 vaccinations.
Police sought access to QR check-in data intended for contact tracing
Police unsuccessfully requested on three occasions names and phone numbers volunteered to venues.
Local
‘Truly grateful’: Family thank searchers after police find body of missing woman
The body of an 84-year-old Timboon woman who went missing nearly a fortnight ago has been found next to a burnt-out car almost 100 kilometres from her home.
Actor Samuel Johnson in hospital after being struck by car
The Gold Logie winner was awake, talking but still recovering, sister Hilde Hinton said in a post published on the Love Your Sister charity Facebook page.
Opposition MP names Labor MP accused of having sex in parliamentary office
A Liberal MP used parliamentary privilege to name Dustin Halse as the Labor MP who allegedly had sex in his Spring Street office.
‘I know that I have done nothing wrong’: Stuart MacGill speaks out about alleged kidnapping
The former international cricketer has broken his silence about the kidnapping, revealing the heavy toll it’s taken on work, family and friends.
Thousands with no power but ‘hills are alive with sound of chainsaws’
More than 120 ADF troops hit the ground in the battered Dandenong Ranges on Monday, distributing generators to hundreds of people still without power.
AFL 2021
Analysis
Melbourne man mountain Gawn rising to new heights in Demons’ boom season
Max Gawn has taken 38 contested marks for the season - the most of any player in the competition and three more than noted aerial stars Aaron Naughton and Harry McKay.
Tigers premiership pair poised to return for clash with Saints
Richmond are likely to regain triple-premiership pair David Astbury and Dion Prestia for Friday night’s MCG clash against St Kilda as the Tigers seek to keep alive their flagging top-four chances.
Politics
Joyce sets up climate change policy clash after taking back leadership
Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce will demand security for regional jobs and industries in a policy clash on climate change after reclaiming the leadership.
Business
MYOB turns up the heat on Xero in small business lending
Accounting software firm MYOB is muscling into the small business loans space through a partnership with Valiant Finance in a bid to take on its major rival.
World
George Clooney, big stars to open film crew school aimed at LA’s Latino teens
Hollywood has sought to increase the number of people of colour in front of and behind the camera since the #OscarsSoWhite scandal in 2016.
Opinion
Iron fist losing its grip: Is China’s new crackdown destined to fail?
Stephen Bartholomeusz
Senior business columnist
Morrison needs to summon courage to act on Biloela family
Kevin Rudd
Former Australian prime minister
Explore
Got a news tip?
Share information with our journalists securely and confidentially. Learn more
Property bydomain
The desperate lengths buyers will go in a bid to snap up a home
With so many people trying to buy, and so little on the market, hopeful purchasers are coming up with inventive ideas to persuade people to sell to them.
Cool climate but some of Victoria's hottest real estate
For frustrated travellers who can't get overseas, this part of the state is firmly in their sights.
Life & Culture
Build a capsule wardrobe with six key pieces this winter
If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that we can get by - and thrive - with less.
Sport
Denmark win where Eriksen fell to advance at Euros, Dutch complete clean sweep
Meantime, a coronavirus infection created disruption for two teams after a positive test for Scotland midfielder Billy Gilmour also led to two England players having to self-isolate.
$15m at stake in fight for control of Collingwood board
To secure $15m in government funding, the Magpies will have to satisfy a recent Victorian government guideline that mandates that the organisation receiving the funding has a minimum of 40 per cent women on their board.
Analysis
Tokyo Olympics
Tokyo Olympics face their first gender test
As New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard becomes the first transgender Olympian, more work is needed to balance inclusion and integrity in women’s sport.
Star Magpie cleared to soar in Harvey’s first game
Collingwood star Brodie Grundy has been cleared to return as caretaker coach Robert Harvey takes the reins this week, albeit without two of the team’s biggest stars.
Updated
Tokyo Olympics
War of words breaks out over Simmons’ play-off exit, but Boomers campaign awaits
Ben Simmons has faced criticism from his highest-profile NBA teammate and an all-time great of the sport for his performances in the play-offs. But the star guard will be welcomed into the Australian Boomers’ fold this week.
Breaking
NFL 2021
Raiders’ Carl Nassib becomes first active gay NFL player
The five-year NFL veteran, who has also played with Cleveland and Tampa Bay, said he had been meaning to announce that he was finally “comfortable getting it off my chest.”
Tigers premiership pair poised to return
Richmond are likely to regain triple-premiership pair David Astbury and Dion Prestia for Friday night’s MCG clash against St Kilda as the Tigers seek to keep alive their flagging top-four chances.
Have Your Say
‘The numbers are damning’ at Carlton
This week on the Real Footy podcast, Michael Gleeson, Caroline Wilson and Jake Niall discuss the issues at Ikon Park.