A lot of panic for a sensible budget? | The West Report
Jim Chalmers’ 2026 Budget has landed and, despite the pearl clutching from the Rich Boomers Lobby and Murdoch press, the sky has not fallen in. Westy looks at the modest…
In Stella Prize first, a graphic novel draws the win
The $60,000 Stella Prize has gone to a graphic novel for the first time, with Lee Lai taking out the award for her book Cannon. “This feels like quite a…
Rinehart legal saga reignites, Hancock lodges appeal
Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, will fight elements of a complex court ruling that found two rival mining dynasties were entitled to a share of the spoils from some of…
Up in smoke: budget loses $8b more to illicit tobacco
Australia’s growing tobacco black market has slashed billions more dollars from the federal budget bottom line as the treasurer remains steadfast against calls to lower the excise fuelling the illicit…
‘These geniuses’: PM’s generational housing gamble
Anthony Albanese is playing “gutsy” politics with sweeping changes to tax concessions for landlords but risks offending established investors who may not have expected the overhaul, an expert in politics…
The budget in seven graphs: no big surprises but this may be one of the most ambitious moves to fix Australia’s finances | Greg Jericho
With some long-awaited sanity on housing and taxes, including CGT and negative gearing changes, it’s one of the most important for good – but will still leave some out in…
Look up: Milky Way photographer of the year 2026 – in pictures
Photographers search for dark skies in the most remote landscapes to find places where the galaxy shines with extraordinary clarity. They share not only their breathtaking results but also their…
Sound baths are supposed to help relax and ‘soothe’ your nervous system. But do any of these claims ring true? | Antiviral
Social media is awash with clips of people paying to be ‘bathed’ in sound. But what’s the science behind the practice? Read more in the Antiviral series I, for one,…
Auschwitz survivor who returned to live in Germany dies aged 101
Albrecht Weinberg spent years teaching students about Nazi atrocities after being imprisoned at Auschwitz and Belsen Three Auschwitz survivors tell their stories Albrecht Weinberg, who survived a series of Nazi…
Tomorrow, When the War Began: a film made in a lab for 2010s Australian teens
It has heart-throbs and a classic soundtrack, but the true resonance of this John Marsden adaptation is its portrayal of growing up in a world rapidly destroyed before your eyes…