The members of Castlemaine Bowling Club in Victoria range in age from 11 through to 93. “The Castlemaine Bowling Club provides a really important function in our community,” club secretary Peter Williams told 7.30. “We have a number of people who are no longer playing who just love to come and have a cup of tea and enjoy the social …

A Melbourne mother who left her 14-month-old boy alone in a car in 38-degree heat last week has been allowed to see the child in hospital. The boy was rescued from a parked car outside The Brook Point Cook Hotel in Melbourne’s west about 3:15pm on Wednesday. He remains in a critical but stable condition at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital …

Three US crew members were killed when their Large Air Tanker crashed while fighting a bushfire in southern NSW this afternoon. Earlier this afternoon, the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) said it had “lost contact” with a Lockheed C-130 Hercules being used in water bombing operations in the Snowy Monaro area. Firefighters, emergency services and military personnel launched a search …

As you drive to the city from Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport, the giant billboards on the overpasses leave little doubt about who is the star attraction of this year’s Australian Open. If you have come from overseas and are keen to taste the local “delicacy”, you might find the contents of supermarket shelves confusing: Vegemite has been rebranded as Bartymite. You …

Deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie is facing calls to resign amid revelations a Federal Government pre-election cash splash was biased towards seats the Coalition wanted to win. A scathing audit report found a disproportionate number of grants were funnelled towards seats then-sports minister Senator McKenzie’s office had earmarked as “marginal” and “targeted” before last year’s federal election. The Coledale Waves …

Firefighters say they are becoming more traumatised on the frontline of the bushfire crisis knowing they could have saved more lives and homes had they been properly resourced. In a letter to the Morrison government, emergency chiefs claim some fire preparation works were being performed by crews two-thirds of the size than usual. The six emergency union chiefs who signed …

The resource giants who built the mining boom since 2000 earned $53.8 billion in revenues in the 2017-18 year without paying any tax, according to the Australian Taxation Office’s latest figures. Overall, one-third of companies with revenues over $100 million, or 710 firms, didn’t pay any tax at all. The 1504 companies that did pay tax sent $52.3 billion to the …

Rain falling across NSW is offering some relief for fire crews battling blazes, but there are concerns the wet weather could cause landslides, flash flooding and contaminate water. Cool, wet conditions are good news for firefighters who have been battling hundreds of blazes across the state since September. The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) predicted between 30 and 80 millimetres of rain would …

Less than four days after announcing his split from the Royal family, The Australian Republican Movement has announced Prince Harry as its new spokesperson. The 35 year old made a surprise visit down under as part of his new 2 year contract. “To be honest, the Royal family is a load of bollocks,” Prince Harry told thousands of fans welcoming …

A visibly agitated Rafael Nadal has delivered a backhander to ATP Cup organisers, complaining about scheduling after he suffered a rare singles defeat and Spain just scraped through to play Australia in the semi-finals of the men’s team event. The world number one was not at his best on Friday — and into the early hours of Saturday, losing in …