Flights have been booked for families linked to Islamic State fighters returning from Syria to Australia, with women in the group facing arrest and investigation when they touch down. The group of four women, along with nine children and grandchildren, left Syria’s Al Roj refugee camp in late April, but their path from Syria to Australia has remained uncertain. The …

Elevated interest rates have trimmed the borrowing capacity of prospective home buyers, as many agents report the housing market is beginning to level out. The Reserve Bank lifted interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to 4.35 per cent on Tuesday, leaving the cash rate at its highest level since February 2025. Property data firm Cotality shows demand is softening and growth is slowing …

The Reserve Bank has increased interest rates by 0.25 percentage points. The new cash rate target is 4.35 per cent, up from 4.1 per cent. Interest rates have now returned to the level they were in February 2025 before the RBA began its rate-cutting cycle last year, so last year’s policy easing has been fully unwound. Today’s decision follows last …

A secret series of police intelligence reports and internal emails have unravelled the inner workings of Australia’s most wanted alleged criminals on the run in Istanbul. The documents offer a never-before-seen insight into some of the most notorious underworld figures believed by police to be running Sydney’s drug trade from overseas. They have emerged as part of a wide-ranging subpoena …

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is preparing to break an election commitment and overhaul property tax perks in this month’s budget, to give younger Australians a “fair crack” at owning their own homes. In an interview with the ABC to mark one year since Labor’s landslide victory, Mr Albanese said he would “absolutely” lead Labor to a third election in 2028. …

Lord Howe Island lies in the middle of the ocean, about 700 kilometres northeast of Sydney. It’s covered in lush forest and fringed by the world’s most southerly coral reef ecosystem. This reef system isn’t as famous as its northern neighbour, the Great Barrier Reef. Our new research, in the Journal of Applied Ecology, shows it plays an outsized role in …

New research from property analytics firm Cotality appears to show that a federal government scheme intended to help first home buyers is fuelling a price surge at the lower end of the housing market, raising concerns it may be worsening entry level affordability. Since the Home Guarantee Scheme was expanded in October last year, price growth has been significantly stronger …

A plan to recover as much as $4.6 billion a year going out the door of the National Disability Insurance Scheme to criminal fraud, inflated invoices and incorrect payments could wipe out many NDIS providers unable to afford stricter compliance, the sector warns. NDIS Minister Mark Butler has announced reforms that will flip the current disability scheme on its head, …

Anthony Albanese has declared Brunei may be able to help Australia weather the economic chaos caused by the Iran war by sending additional supplies of fertiliser, as the two countries pledge to maintain open trade and protect energy supply chains. The Australian prime minister, who is in South-East Asia trying to shore up national energy supplies, met with Sultan Haji …

More than a day after Angus Taylor unveiled the first plank of the Coalition’s long-awaited migration policy and many media interviews later, there’s still little clarity about what it would change in practice. The policy’s top line is a plan to take the pre-existing Australian Values Statement and enshrine it in the Migration Act as a basis for deportation. The …