News

When Xanthe Campbell auditioned for The Voice, she never imagined she'd make it as far as the semi-finals. The Canberran's journey began when her performance in the blind audition prompted two of the judges to spin their chairs, leading to her being mentored by British singer-songwriter Rita Ora throughout the season. The 17-year-old has now been selected as one of Rita's...

Since the beginning of the year, 47 Canberrans have died 'with' COVID-19. To yesterday (17 May), there have been 59 deaths related to the virus since the beginning of the pandemic. They are sobering facts. And every time a death is reported, a question is raised: why do we report deaths 'with' COVID-19 and not deaths 'from' COVID-19? What's the...

If your car needs to be given a once over by a mechanic, better book it now. ACT Policing has announced officers will target vehicle roadworthiness on Canberra's roads in particular throughout May. Officers recently targeted ACT vehicles over the Mother's Day weekend, accompanied by vehicle inspectors from Access Canberra's Vehicle Safety Standards team. The joint operations across two days...

Peace in the normally quiet northern Canberra suburb of Taylor was broken when a father walked to a party down the street from his home and shot a reveller in the head with a nail gun. On Wednesday (18 May), 51-year-old Darko Felding pleaded guilty to charges of assault and possessing an offensive weapon with intent over the 21 November...

Two cats have been rescued after their two-storey townhouse caught fire in Moncrieff. Emergency services were called to the scene just after 1 pm today and extinguished a fire that started on a stovetop. Firefighters equipped with breathing gear managed to rescue the two cats, with the owners already outside. No injuries were reported. As of 2 pm Bernard Heinze...

The government paid "insufficient attention" to an economic analysis of Stage 2A of light rail and should now examine the route from the city to Woden as a whole to get a better picture of the costs, the Auditor-General has warned. ACT Auditor-General Michael Harris said he believed the total cost for the next stage to Commonwealth Park - $162...

A 40-year-old Canberra man appeared before a magistrate recently. He was charged with drug driving and driving with a suspended licence, but police may not have found him had he not attracted their attention for driving past a traffic stop at more than 40 km/h. ACT Policing has taken the opportunity to remind drivers of a law passed in 2018...

Although things looked a little different for the 1.2 million students who began NAPLAN testing this morning, familiar criticisms were levelled at the often controversial assessment tool. Instead of sharpening pencils, students and teachers plugged laptops in to charge as all schools and students across the country sat online versions of the numeracy and literacy tests for the first time....

Feel like your umbrella and raincoat were dragged out a little more than usual last month? Your suspicions were correct, with the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) confirming Canberra experienced a wetter-than-average April. The latest climate summary showed BOM sites across the Capital had around double their average total rainfall for the month. Canberra Airport recorded 81.4 mm, its wettest April...

Four vehicles have been confiscated by police following two separate street racing incidents in the Gungahlin area. ACT Policing said officers saw a grey Audi and black BMW speeding along Gundaroo Drive between the Barton Highway and Gungahlin Drive at about 4:25 pm on Sunday (8 May). Later that evening at about 10:15 pm, officers then saw a grey Kia...

A new report has found libraries and specialist spaces should not be included in school capacity calculations and the government should more carefully plan the construction of new schools to avoid construction in the first few years of their operation. The recommendations were among 35 made by the ACT Legislative Assembly's Standing Committee on Education and Community Inclusion following an...

Canberrans living on low incomes are the hardest hit in the country by the largest increase in cost of living in more than 20 years, according to a new report. The 2022 ACT Cost of Living Report, released today (6 May) by the ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) shows low income households in the Capital have been impacted the most...

The ACT Government will investigate how sick leave and carer's leave could be provided to the Territory's casual workforce who, under current arrangements, cannot access this leave. Labor backbencher Michael Pettersson, who raised the motion in the ACT Legislative Assembly on Tuesday (3 May), was clear that it is just a proposal at this stage, although he believed it would...