There are calls for an independent body to investigate the operations at Latrobe Regional Hospital, following a string of preventable deaths and near misses. 

Coverage that provides news and analysis of national issues significant to regional Australians.

The salmon industry in south-east Tasmania is grappling with a widespread bacterial disease outbreak that is causing mass mortality events.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has told Whyalla steelworkers a $2.4 billion support package is an investment in a city whose "arteries spread out right around the country".

Premier Peter Malinauskas says he will announce "one of the most comprehensive industry support packages that this nation has ever seen" on Thursday.

Housing stress is most acute in country Australia, and regional electorates are some of the most effected by the issue. The Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to cut interest rates comes as a relief for those suffering mortgage stress. 

Closing submissions have wrapped up in the criminal hearing against the operator of a jumping castle at the centre of the Hillcrest Primary School tragedy that killed six children in the northern Tasmanian city of Devonport.

The Bureau of Meteorology has downgraded the intensity of TC Zelia to a category four now it's made landfall near the De Grey River mouth, northeast of Port Hedland.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Zelia has reached category five strength as it continues to track slowly towards Western Australia's Pilbara coast.

The federal government says it's open to buying collapsed regional carrier Rex Airlines to protect rural services.