Australian Breaking News Headlines & World News Online | SMH.com.au

We’re sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later.

Advertisement
Newsletter use only: Homepage tile for Olympics newsletter

Olympics newsletter

Never miss a medal or great sporting moment with our morning email.

Please Explain CTA

Please Explain podcast

Expert daily insight into the stories that drive the nation.

Newsletter use: Good Weekend newsletter

Good Weekend newsletter

The best of Good Weekend delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning.


‘No sense this is heading towards zero’: Chief  medical officer says NSW needs circuit breaker

‘No sense this is heading towards zero’: Chief  medical officer says NSW needs circuit breaker

Professor Paul Kelly said there were “worrying signs” in terms of unlinked cases and new chains of transmission.

Exclusive
Vaccination

High risk businesses in COVID-19 hotspots to get mandatory vax backing

The industrial regulator is updating its guidance to employers over staff vaccination after previously advising the majority of businesses were unable to require employees to be vaccinated.

‘God is in control’: Hillsong comforts flock after founder charged by police

Hillsong pastor Brian Houston has been charged by NSW Police.

The board of the megachurch has offered comfort to members and criticised media coverage of Brian Houston’s handling of his late father’s sexual abuse of children. 

Man summonsed to appear over Brittany Higgins rape allegation

Man summonsed to appear over Brittany Higgins rape allegation

The lawyer for a 26-year-old man charged over an alleged rape in Parliament House says his client denies any sexual activity took place.

Exclusive
Arts

Art Gallery of NSW forecourt to be transformed with pools, removal of parking

Hoardings will go up within days at the Art Gallery of NSW as work begins on a new pedestrian plaza.

Australian diver within reach of semi-final

Australian diver within reach of semi-final

Australian diver Cassiel Rosseau has moved up to fifth position in the preliminary rounds of the men’s 10m platform event.

Harry Garside (right) takes on Cuban Andy Cruz.

Life on the Garside: Bronze, ballet and the big dance after Tokyo

Harry Garside’s determination to swim against the tide made him an important figure in the Olympic boxing tournament.

Hannah Green in medal position, but will she be able to play final round?

Hannah Green is in a share of third heading into the final round.

Tournament organisers have ordered the field back on course at dawn as they desperately try to avoid an approaching tropical storm in the final round.

I’m losing patience with the endless pandemic positivity

Knowing the constructive ways in which the pandemic has made people re-evaluate their priorities is not on my agenda.

Achievers who exceed the Recommended Daily Allowance of Smug really should be strung up by the nipples till, oh, about the start of the next millennium.

The Wallabies’ tactic to try to sink 35-year jinx

Jordan Petaia will start at Eden Park on Saturday.

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has gone about this year’s Bledisloe opener in Auckland a little differently.

‘Above and beyond anything seen’: Biggest rap yet for Turbo

Senior Manly players have delivered their highest and best praise yet for Tommy Trbojevic, who will try to end Melbourne’s white-hot run on Saturday night.

60+ Sydney takeaways to try (starring these next-level subs)

Harvey’s

Make lockdown more delicious with these takeaway and delivery options.

It’s a hard life when you’re in your 30s and things look good

Bridie Jabour’s account of life as a 30-something could inspire you or have you grinding your teeth in irritation.

Advertisement

Sydney

Students in Sydney hotspot areas will not return to school under new plan

Students in Sydney hotspot areas will not return to school under new plan

Students in Sydney’s eight LGAs of concern will not return to school and all HSC trials and assessments will be done at home under the government’s revised plan.

Updated
Crime

Hillsong pastor charged for allegedly concealing child sex abuse by father

Hillsong pastor charged for allegedly concealing child sex abuse by father

Brian Houston, who has been living in the US and recently travelled to preach in Mexico, says he will return to Australia and fight to clear his name.

Exclusive
Population

‘Echoes of the White Australia policy’: Minister wants discussion on population

NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes has called for a national population policy.

Planning Minister Rob Stokes said that, despite having policies on everything from fruit flies to mythical panthers, NSW had no “policy on people”.

Cases surge in under-40s as virus spills to the regions

Cases surge in under-40s as virus spills to the regions

More than two-thirds of new COVID-19 cases in Sydney in 24 hours were in people aged under 40, increasing concerns about the long-term health impact of the Delta strain.

Families fear students with disabilities left behind in switch to remote learning

Renae McNamara with her son at their south-east Sydney home.

Renae’s 11-year-old son has two learning disabilities, as well as ADHD, which places him four years behind his peers. Now she fears he’s slipping even further, as his usual supports have dwindled during lockdown.

From our partners

Loading 3rd party ad content
Loading 3rd party ad content
Loading 3rd party ad content
Loading 3rd party ad content
Loading 3rd party ad content
Loading 3rd party ad content

Politics

Business

Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe.

‘Half full’ Phil: RBA governor rebuffs recession fears

Governor Philip Lowe says the economy will shrink in the September quarter due to the latest lockdowns before rebounding in the final three months of the year, making a recession “quite unlikely”.

World

Advertisement

Opinion

Explore

Advertisement

Got a news tip?

Share information with our journalists securely and confidentially. Learn more

Property bydomain

Vaucluse house resold after one year for $15m, a $12,225 gain each day

Vaucluse house resold after one year for $15m, a $12,225 gain each day

The grand home was sold by the British Foreign Office a year ago for $10.66m, and if you were wondering how it is the rich are getting richer, read this.

Five lavish homes we'd rather spend lockdown in right now

Five lavish homes we'd rather spend lockdown in right now

Dreaming of a bigger abode? These are some of the bigger and better homes we wish we were spending lockdown in (if money wasn't an object).

Life & Culture

Sport

The AOC’s private gold medal target for Tokyo is said to have been around the 10 mark.

At end of a Games like no other, is it time to backpedal on the medals?

There are lots of reasons not to get sucked in by the medals table, a gimmick and guilty pleasure too often turned into a boast. It excludes too many successful achievements.

Malcolm Knox
Malcolm Knox

Journalist, author and columnist

Mariafe Artacho del Solar during the gold medal match.

Australia fall short of record gold in beach volleyball final

Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar were trying to win Australia’s first beach volleyball gold medal since Sydney 2000 - but were swept aside by the gun Americans.

Harry Garside (right) takes on Cuban Andy Cruz.

Life on the Garside: Bronze, ballet and the big dance after Tokyo

Harry Garside’s determination to swim against the tide made him an important figure in the Olympic boxing tournament.

Stewart McSweyn wants the pace to be on in the men’s 1500m final on Saturday night.

Life in the fast lane: McSweyn keen for a hot pace in 1500m final

Stewart McSweyn wants a fast final but he won’t need to take the lead to force the pace, believes Australia’s middle-distance coach Nic Bideau.

Jordan Petaia will start at Eden Park on Saturday.

The Wallabies tactic to try to sink jinx and blossom in garden of Eden

Whether it will help the Wallabies snap a 35-year losing run to New Zealand in Auckland, Dave Rennie has gone about this year’s Bledisloe opener a little differently.

Manly’s GOAT ... Tom Trbojevic

‘Above and beyond anything we’ve seen’: Biggest rap yet for Turbo

Senior Manly players have delivered their highest and best praise yet for Tommy Trbojevic, who will try to end Melbourne’s white-hot run on Saturday night.

Des Hasler and Craig Bellamy before the 2008 Grand Final.

Biff, beers and Brookvale: why Hasler and Bellamy are best of enemies

The intense rivalry between Manly and Melbourne has produced many famous - and infamous - moments. The one constant has been two coaches cut from the same cloth.

Racing

Advertisement

Most Viewed today

Loading