The Watchlist
Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees.
Please Explain podcast
Expert daily insight into the stories that drive the nation.
Interactive: Search for uni courses
Search for courses across Australia with Campus, your essential education guide.
Exclusive
Development
Big build or housing crisis? Victoria has to choose, industry says
Victoria’s goal of 80,000 new homes a year won’t be achieved while the state’s Big Build projects are driving up the cost of materials and workers, industry figures warn.
Exclusive
Gig economy
Hundreds of delivery riders injured as food app boom creates ‘deadly cocktail’
Victoria Police statistics have given a rare insight into how often delivery workers are hurt on the job, sparking calls for tougher laws on the gig economy.
Opinion
Religious freedom
We’re facing a debate as divisive as the Voice. Can we keep this one civil?
Next year, the Albanese government will have to make good on its election promise to legislate a religious discrimination framework, an issue that pits LGBTQ rights against those of people of faith.
Lisa Visentin
Federal Political Reporter
The best value suburbs for university students to live in
How much does it cost to get a rental in a convenient location these days and where can you get a better deal by sharing with friends?
Exclusive
Australian economy
Tough months ahead for households, but reprieve coming in 2024
One of Australia’s top economists says the first half of next year will remain tough.
Updated
Vale
Iconic Melbourne furniture salesman Franco Cozzo dies
Cozzo, known for his “grand sale, grand sale, grand sale!” TV ad catchphrase, which became ingrained in the city’s popular culture, was 88.
★★★★
Review
Emma Stone’s feminist ‘Frankenstein’s monster’ is extraordinary
Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos is so at ease with the language of cinema that he can produce wonders with it.
Sky-high viewing: The films and TV we watched the most on planes in 2023
The Barbie movie can add another feather to its pink cap after claiming the title of this year’s most-watched inflight film.
How to end an argument (even when you really don’t want to)
In a perfect world, nobody would fight at Christmas. But just in case, experts have some advice.
Explainer
US Votes 2024
Can Trump run for president at all? What the Colorado decision means and what happens next
The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that Donald Trump is not eligible to run for office. What are the implications?
Reynolds’ lawyers ready freezing orders as Higgins, Sharaz move to France
WA Liberal senator Linda Reynolds’ lawyers are set to pursue freezing orders in the defamation suit against her former staffer Brittany Higgins amid reports she and partner David Sharaz had moved to France.
Exclusive
China relations
Australia urged to back Pacific neighbour’s independence to ward off China
Bougainville’s renewed push for independence comes amid global concerns about China’s encroachment on Pacific nations such as the neighbouring Solomon Islands.
ABC radio presenter axed after Israel-Hamas conflict posts
Journalist Antoinette Lattouf was told on Wednesday not to show up the next day to present for ABC Radio Sydney after her posts on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hamas leader visits Cairo as Gaza ceasefire talks gather pace
Hamas’ top leader has travelled to Cairo for talks on the war in Gaza, part of a flurry of diplomacy aimed at securing another ceasefire and swap of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
From planting trees to sowing seeds of doubt in batters: Meet cricket’s overnight millionaire
As Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc reaped eye-boggling sums in the IPL player auction, it was another express-paced bowler whose life has been suddenly changed by T20 riches.
Recipe collection
Best of
Keep calm and curry on: Good Food’s 50 most popular recipes of 2023
It was a year of winning midweek chicken dinners, speedy stir-fries and creamy comfort food classics.
Renewables cheaper than nuclear, coal now and into the future: CSIRO
The nation’s top science agency concludes that fossil fuels and emerging nuclear technology cannot produce electricity as cheaply as wind and solar farms.
Watchdog findings fail to dent big banks’ deposit power
The competition watchdog’s inquiry findings will bring some benefits for consumers, but Australia’s banking giants are likely to keep their pricing power.
CHRISTMAS 2023
Opinion
Ten overseas Christmas traditions Australia should adopt
We have Carols by Candlelight; cold prawns on a hot Christmas Day; the Boxing Day Test – but surely we could use a few more?
Ben Groundwater
Travel writer
Visual story
Can you identify the locations of these holiday light displays?
From Wyndham Vale to Pakenham to Coburg, here are ten of the best Christmas light shows to visit across the city.
Victoria
‘Heartbreaking’: Student’s death after school trip a ‘preventable tragedy’
A coroner found the failures of Melbourne’s Kilvington Grammar school and World Challenge Expeditions contributed to the death of 16-year-old Lachlan Cook in 2019.
The moment actor Madeleine West confronted her abuser in court
Former plumber Peter Vincent White, 73, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison over the depraved sexual abuse of seven children dating back to the 1970s.
A Murray River fossil rewrites the history of earth’s biggest creatures
The pale-white slab was locked away for a century. New analysis has redefined the history of the ocean and all the creatures that depend on it – including humans.
He’s the little brother of crime boss George Marrogi. And there are fears for his safety
Jesse Marrogi, 27, has narrowly avoided spending Christmas behind bars with his murderous sibling after being bailed while he appeals a seven-month jail term.
Search for teen swept out to sea by ‘surprise’ wave paused for night
Two teenagers were snorkelling at a swimming hole in rock pools near Cape Bridgewater about 7pm on Tuesday when they were swept into the ocean.
See & Do
Marcia Hines’ epiphany after family tragedy
On a gruelling flight home to bury her brother, the pop queen wanted to scream. Then she had an insight.
Kids used to throw stones at me: Grammy winner Angelique Kidjo
The world-renowned singer grew up under Benin’s repressive communist dictatorship, but when the government demanded she write and perform propaganda, she slipped out of the country and reinvented herself.
Politics
‘Press releases don’t shoot down drones’: Coalition criticises Labor on Red Sea response
The opposition says the government’s reaction to a “modest request” from the US to help to stop rebels attacking commercial ships is a weak one.
Business
Why your coffee is going to get more bitter and expensive
For coffee lovers, the brew of the future is shaping up to be bitter and pricey, as climate change scorches the world’s key growing regions.
World
In 1924, a cat was used to test TV transmission. Almost 100 years later, Taters stars in a video from deep, deep space
If humans are to go to Mars, the need exists for larger amounts of data to be transmitted over a longer distance. This demonstration marked another step toward such a possibility.
Opinion
A terrorist threat? Possibly, but Benbrika was rightly freed
Rodger Shanahan
Middle East and security analyst
The global economy already had a big problem. It just got much worse
Stephen Bartholomeusz
Senior business columnist
Explore
Got a news tip?
Share information with our journalists securely and confidentially. Learn more
Property
Exclusive
Melbourne luxury property
Fixer-upper fetches $40 million-plus, smashing the bayside house price record
A new trophy home or stunning project could be in the making after a beachfront block with views for days and scope to rebuild found a buyer.
Chris Hemsworth’s trainer makes fresh bid to sell luxury Byron home
Personal trainer to the stars James Duigan has relisted his glamorous coastal estate that was passed in for $14.8 million earlier this year.
Good Food
Lifestyle
It’s never too late to lift: Older people can still build muscle mass
A new study shows that older bodies can still increase muscle size, strength and mobility.
Culture
Portraits plastered on ABC Melbourne offices in Gaza protest
Forty artworks were created by 40 local artists, each depicting a journalist who has died in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza.
Traveller
Drivedrive
From Our Partners
Sport
From planting trees to sowing seeds of doubt in batters: Meet Australian cricket’s overnight millionaire
As Pat Cummins ($3.67 million) and Mitchell Starc ($4.43 million) reaped eye-boggling sums in the IPL player auction, it was another express-paced bowler whose life has been suddenly changed by T20 riches.
Christmas comes early: Why a rare India Test tour has Australia’s spinners licking their lips
Alyssa Healy’s team are the first Australian team to tour over Christmas since 1969, and the chance to play red-ball cricket on a spinning Mumbai pitch has Australia’s bowlers feeling festive.
Exclusive
Australian cricket
‘Us versus them’: The states winning the battle for the baggy green
Twenty years ago, David Hookes made a famous quip about NSW and brown paper bags. But do the Blues still dominate national selection? We’ve crunched the numbers to find out.
Rebels give assurances over 2024 amid revelations of millions of dollars of debt
The Melbourne Rebels have written to players and staff to assure their jobs will be safe for next year, amid revelations the Super Rugby club is millions of dollars in debt.
Luongo makes shock Socceroos retirement call to focus on Premier League push
Ange Postecoglou’s diamond-in-the-rough find who starred at the 2015 Asian Cup won’t be part of next month’s tournament in Qatar after calling a premature end to his international career.
Exclusive
AFL 2024
AFL gives Pies star all-clear to resume playing career
The AFL has cleared Collingwood key defender Nathan Murphy to resume his playing career after an examination by the league’s concussion panel.
‘I’m no different from the girl next to me on the tram’: The private world of Mary Fowler
The Matildas megastar is one of Australia’s most recognised athletes and airport paparazzi fodder, yet she’s still barely 20 and happiest when side-stepping the spotlight.
Have Your Say
Why CA dropped Mitchell Johnson from speaking gigs at Perth Test
There was more fallout during the Perth Test over Mitchell Johnson’s spicy column attacking his former teammate David Warner.
