A Melbourne youth church leader said he was possessed and couldn't control his "sexual demons" when he raped a 14-year-old girl, poured petrol on her and set her alight.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has appointed an expert panel to examine the introduction of recall elections so voters can dump "corrupt, incompetent governments".

It was all Greek for the judges who didn't have to say a word in the MasterChef kitchen, with Queenslander Adam Bowen eliminating himself from the competition, after cooking his heart out for Georg

A quick resumption of Australian live cattle exports to Indonesia appears unlikely as the countries are yet to reach agreement on animal welfare standards.

About 50 per cent of Australians think high school dropouts shouldn't be able to get their driver's licence, a new survey says.

A man has permanently lost the vision in his right eye after being glassed at a popular Brisbane hotel, a court has been told.

A late try from Kieran Foran has broken the hearts of a spirited Parramatta on Monday night, Manly registering a 22-18 win at Brookvale Oval to push them into second spot on the NRL ladder.

Five weeks into his reign at Penrith, the NRL club's new football supremo Phil Gould has stamped his authority, following up a move to have Matt Elliott step down with the sacking of Daine Laurie a

Penrith's new era has quickly been rocked by crisis, with coach Matt Elliott's departure followed by reports serial bad boy Daine Laurie has been sacked and star centre Michael Jennings fined.

Unheralded hooker Elvis Taione is poised to take a giant step up from club reserve grade to the injury-plagued NSW Waratahs bench for Friday's Super Rugby finals series qualifier against the Blues