Children aged between 10 and 13 wanting   flashy items – and notoriety – are behind a worrying spike in robberies and thefts, police say.

Politicians from across Australia’s major parties have been accused of recklessly spending taxpayer dollars on chauffeur-driven cars with some MPs clocking $20,000 in just three months.

Australian Open tennis action will blast into life   almost a full week early in Melbourne with fans for the first time able to snap up bargain tickets to see the   world’s best tennis stars go head-to-head in charity matches.

The full scale of major road and rail project cost blowouts will be revealed to Queenslanders twice a year, in a dramatic repudiation of former transport minister Mark Bailey’s penchant for hiding billions of dollars in overruns.

A man accused of a horror stabbing attack on two women he did not know, killing one and leaving the other in critical condition, has flagged a potential mental health defence to the charges in his first court appearance. 

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