Melbourne's decision on whether to swoop on former St Kilda captain Luke Ball and
ruin his bid to join Collingwood will go down to the wire.

A federal election and rising interest rates will not stop the government delivering
a tough budget next May, Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner says.

A mansion in Melbourne's inner east has broken the city's record for a house price.
A Melbourne businessman bought Avon Court in Shakespeare Grove, Hawthorn, on Tuesday

Society's most vulnerable will suffer further disadvantage if the government pushes
ahead with the national rollout of compulsory income management, welfare groups
warn.

The Senate is burning the midnight oil as an end-of-week deadline looms for a vote
on the government's controversial emissions trading scheme.

Malcolm Turnbull has extended an olive branch to his detractors - promising to curb
his abrasive leadership style - after his opponents fell at the first hurdle in an

The prosecution called their story "a fairytale", the defence said it was
"hairbrained" but former NRL star Greg Bird has been made to wait to find out what
the judge thinks.

People are using roadkill to smuggle drugs and alcohol into remote indigenous
communities, the Northern Territory parliament has been told.

Premier Investments Ltd chairman Solomon Lew has hosed down Harvey Norman-driven
expectations of a bumper Christmas sales season while reassuring investors the group

Justin Smirk has been appointed chief economist at St George, the bank says.
Mr Smirk is succeeding St George Bank's current chief economist, Besa Deda, who has