The federal government is facing renewed calls to bring back the baby bonus to address tumbling fertility rates across the country. Former Prime Minister John Howard has urged Treasurer Jim Chalmers to re-introduce the scheme in Australia, which gave new parents an initial lump sum payment of $3000 per child born, rising to $5000 over time. The baby bonus policy was …

Coral cover in some areas of the Great Barrier Reef has declined by a third, new research shows. In the southern region of the reef, coral cover dropped to 26.9 per cent, whilst it has also dropped by a quarter in the northern region, according to recent data from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). It marks a sharp …

Aussies from all walks of life have seen their living costs rise in the last three months, according to new data. Those on pensions or government funding saw their living costs increase by 1 per cent in the June quarter. This came off the back of rises of up to 1.6 per cent earlier in the year. The data, which was …

More than one-third of Aussies believe they will never afford to buy a home, a new survey has revealed. House prices have boomed in the last two decades, with the gap between income and the price of property rising to an all-time high. New research from data comparison firm Finder showed 35 per cent of Australians – up to 9.5 …

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut the cash rate by 0.25 percentage points at the August monetary policy meeting. That means the RBA’s cash rate target is now 3.60 per cent. Here’s a breakdown of how Australia’s Big Four banks have responded to the decision. We’ll be updating this story as information comes through, so check back later if …

Australia’s Alexei Popyrin remains on track for back-to-back Canadian Open titles after fighting his way to a three-set win over fifth seed Holger Rune. For the second match in a row in Toronto, 18th-seeded Popyrin had to claw his way back after losing the first set, beating the talented Dane 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. It was just the second career meeting …

The Australian Council of Trade Unions will call for bold changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax at the government’s productivity roundtable this month, arguing the tax breaks be limited to one investment property. Under the proposal, the current arrangements would continue for five years to allow investors time to rethink their portfolios before the changes come into …

An estimated 90,000 pro-Palestinian protesters have marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge before police stopped the event “due to public safety”. A sea of people attended the rally, many holding Palestinian flags and protest signs in one hand and umbrellas in the other due to the blustery and wet conditions. There were similar scenes in central Melbourne, where police said …

The prospect of snow on the Northern Tablelands may have felt like wishful thinking for some. A promising weather forecast earlier in the week had seemed to have fizzled to drizzle by Friday, although weather-chasing social media identities disagreed. When Saturday morning arrived, news quickly spread of dustings in Guyra, Ben Lomond and surrounds. Snow carpeted Kindly Animal Sanctuary. Those …

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described recent actions by the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza as “completely indefensible” and says he told Israeli President Isaac Herzog directly that Israel was losing support by its own actions. In an interview with the ABC as he wrapped up his six-day visit to China, the prime minister was asked about the broader rapid …