The clean-up has begun in the flood-ravaged Queensland towns of Charleville and Roma
as communities downstream brace for raging waters and the cost of a wet start to

Kevin Rudd says Australia's ailing hospitals are in need of serious surgery, and
he's planning to bribe the states to give him the power to get on with the job.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has been challenged over attacks on Indians while on
a goodwill visit to the subcontinent.

The last two of the big four banks have stepped into line with their peers and
matched the interest rate rise by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

They collected the wooden spoon and battled through a litany of off-field
controversies last season but the NRL's top players expect the Roosters to be
crowing once more in 2010.

Scrutinising Australian universities in the same way as schools could damage
smaller, poorer institutions, the nation's peak student union says.

Reds teenager Luke Morahan is set to start at fullback against the unbeaten Chiefs
after Queensland's Super 14 hopes were dealt a major blow with the loss of Wallabies

Record-breaking rain falling in Queensland's southwest could break the drought that
has affected some communities for almost a decade.

The Australian Defence Force says the new transport helicopters it is buying have
excellent potential despite a German report outlining a range of defects.

Two of Australia's biggest banks have announced 25 basis point interest rate
increases on home loans, moving in lock-step with the Reserve Bank of Australia's
(RBA) rate hike.