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The Australian Automobile Association has found some SUVs use up to 20% more fuel on the road than reported in laboratory tests. Is your vehicle underperforming?The Crunch: what Australia’s love for SUVs means for emissions and safety – videoFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails,free app or daily news podcastA real-world testing program at the Australian...

Exclusive: Manufacturers retest contaminated soil fill until it ‘complies’ with regulations and can then be used at childcare centres, schools or parksMap and full list of locations where asbestos mulch has been foundGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastA testing regime meant to stop toxic chemicals going into landscaping products in New South Wales has been gamed by...

Environment minister says ‘overwhelming majority’ oppose offshore mining and proposed reforms reflect these concerns Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe controversial Pep-11 project would be killed off along with all offshore gas and mineral exploration projects in waters off New South Wales under new laws proposed by the state government.Penny Sharpe, the NSW environment minister, on Monday...

Coalition-led scare campaign predicted for plan to place yearly cap on emissions for new cars sold in AustraliaFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe Albanese government has unveiled its long-awaited plan for fuel efficiency standards for new cars while highlighting potential savings of $1,000 a year and predicting a Coalition-led...

Wilson’s Promontory beach is the first Victorian site to top Tourism Australia’s list, which celebrates coastal spotsGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastIt’s not the famous sands of Bondi, the surf mecca of Bells, or the pristine white stretches along the Great Barrier Reef – but Squeaky beach in Victoria has been named the best in Australia.Named for...

‘Baffled’ MPs express alarm at ‘captain’s call’ while premier Jacinta Allan says cabinet followed ‘normal process’ in a ‘consensus decision’Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastSome Victorian Labor MPs were “shocked and disappointed” by the decision to continue to allow duck hunting in the state, despite a recommendation from a government-initiated inquiry.After a marathon three-hour meeting on Monday,...

Experts call for review after two sets of water samples from the Darling-Baaka River reported by the state’s top scientific bodies contained different resultsSign up for the Rural Network email newsletterJoin the Rural Network group on Facebook to be part of the communityExperts are calling for more sensitive water-quality testing in the Darling-Baaka River amid concerns that pesticides could be contributing to poor conditions,...

Hazardous material found in mulch at railway substations in Dulwich Hill, Canterbury and Campsie and alongside Prospect Highway, authorities sayFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastAsbestos has been found in garden mulch at new locations in Sydney’s inner-west and west after the discovery of contamination at the Rozelle parklands earlier...

NSW authorities are working to determine how long the pest has been in the area and how they arrivedGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastInvasive fire ants are continuing their march south, prompting a plea for vigilance, after a nest was detected at Wardell, south of Byron Bay, the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries says.A gardener...

Court ruling is challenging for the Tiwi Islanders who fought the case and likely to prompt a rethink about how Indigenous cultural heritage matters are runGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s environment movement and fossil fuel interests are weighing the significance of a sharp judicial slapdown delivered in the federal court.In a judgment on Monday, Justice Natalie...

Exclusive: Greenlife Resource Recovery co-director says company is cooperating with environmental watchdog’s garden mulch investigationFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe construction boss who runs the company that supplied garden mulch containing asbestos to Sydney’s Rozelle parklands says an explanation for the contamination will “come out in due course” as...

Experts say short-term frustration for car buyers is preferable to the risk of a biosecurity breachGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastAustralia has missed a major electric vehicle milestone partly thanks to an unexpected bug in the system.Sales of low-emission vehicles had been tipped to top 100,000 for the first time in 2023.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free...

Three additional mulch samples from park above Rozelle interchange tested positive for bonded asbestos, NSW government saysGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastAsbestos has been found in additional samples of garden mulch taken from the Rozelle parklands in Sydney’s inner west, with the state government still unable to say where else in the city the contaminated material may...

Government analysis finds climate change could see a quarter of Port Philip council area facing inundation from a 1.1-metre sea level rise and one-in-100-chance stormGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastMore than 4.7 sq km of inner-Melbourne and swathes of Port Phillip Bay could face the threat of rising sea levels and storm tides fuelled by climate change...

Footage of a tiger shark caught in drum lines being euthanised renews debate about shark control measures used since the 1960sFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastMore than 700 marine animals – including nine dolphins – were killed by shark nets and drum lines off Queensland’s coast last year, according...

The fish deaths on Plantation Point near Jervis Bay come less than a week after another man was caught spearing a blue groper at CronullaGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastA man is under investigation by New South Wales state officials after he was allegedly caught illegally spearfishing three blue groper in an incident that has prompted calls...

Man jumped into rushing flood waters and tied 74-year-old woman to a tree after she was swept 100 metres downstreamGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastA man jumped into rushing flood waters to save a woman swept away into Bendigo Creek, risking his own life to secure her with ratchet straps to a tree, as Victorian towns braced...

Race organisers say former war crimes investigator suffered a heart attack while skippering a boat from the Canary Islands to AntiguaA former Australian spy and war crimes investigator has died skippering a rowing boat in a race across the Atlantic Ocean.Alisdair Putt, who had planned to spend his 62nd birthday on the boat, suffered a heart attack while competing in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic...

Expert says if you see a snake you should leave it alone and call for a professional catcherWhen Tennille Bankes walked into a toilet cubicle in Goondiwindi, Queensland, she was greeted by the scaly tail of a spotted black snake peaking out beneath a closed lid.The wildlife carer and snake catcher was called by police to the public bathroom after a local, surprised by...

Data shows 2023 had second-highest record of rooftop solar installations as small-scale solar continues to growQuarterly installations of new solar panels reached a record at the end of 2023, with Australian households more than three times as likely to have a photovoltaic system as a back yard swimming pool.Households and businesses added 921 megawatts of solar photovoltaic capacity in the December quarter, according to...