Good morning here’s your headlines from around regional Australia and beyond. Scroll down and refresh for weather, road reports and more.
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7.31am: That's a wrap for this morning. Remember to check in on your local paper's website for breaking news throughout the day.
7.29am: He is well known around Wollongong, having led the city as lord mayor for the past five years, but not even a person of Gordon Bradbery's stature could compete with the “powerful force” of the Labor Party. Read all about it.
8.22am: Confessed paedophile Maurice Van Ryn is set to be resentenced following a clerical error during the Director of Public Prosecutions’ appeal process in February this year. Full story.
8.15am: An ill-timed burnout in front of a police car at Shoalhaven Heads set off a pursuit of more than 45 kilometres to the southern Illawarra on Saturday afternoon. Full story.
7.50am: An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 struck the South Island of New Zealand, killing two and cutting power to some parts of the country. The quake triggering a tsunami warning along the entire east coast, which was later downgraded. More details.
7.42am: Narooma was the place to be on the weekend if you are into wooden boats. The annual Wooden Boat Festival was on again. Take a look.
7.30am: Police have located the body of a 23-year-old man who disappeared while swimming in the Shoalhaven River. Full story.
South Coast weather
Roads and rail
For those hitting the road this morning we’ve got a clear run so far. Good news for train commuters, there are no delays on the South Coast line.
What’s making national headlines
Photos: Australia vs South Africa, second test in Hobart
Science on ice
NATIONAL: About 550 people, 100 scientists, 86 projects, 23 nationalities, over 190 institutions, two ski planes, four helicopters and a hell of a lot of planning. Read more on what it's like to live on Antarctica.
Too late to leave Londoonderry
NSW: Hundreds of firefighters battled a blaze that threatened dozens of homes in Sydney's west on Sunday. Read on.
1000 words around the globe
GIBRALTAR:
WASHINGTON:
UNITED STATES:
Backpacker tax hits farmers
NSW: Riverina farmers have accused federal politicians of grandstanding at the expense of their livelihoods.
Labor wants the backpacker tax - first proposed at 32.5 per cent and then reduced to 19 per cent - to be dropped to 10.5 per cent, but the Coalition won’t budge. Read on.
Darwin tackling species extinction
NORTHERN TERRITORY: Charles Darwin’s great-great-grandson has an easy familiarity that finds you talking like old friends before you’ve finished your cup of tea. Read on.
Malcolm Turnbull 'confident' Donald Trump will honour new asylum seeker deal
NATIONAL: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he is confident a deal to resettle hundreds of asylum seekers in the United States will not be wound back by President-elect Donald Trump after he is inaugurated in January.
Mr Turnbull revealed that secret discussions on the deal, which was formally announced on Sunday, had been underway since January. Read on.
National weather outlook:
An intense low is causing strong, colder winds and showers in TAS, VIC and southern and central NSW. A trough in the east is taking showers and storms to the northern tropics. A trough in the west is drawing hot, dry winds across northern and western WA. A high is clearing SA.
On this day ...
In 1955, the actress, comedian and talk-show host Whoopi Goldberg is born in New York City. Goldberg earned an Oscar nomination for her Hollywood feature debut in Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple (1985) and went on become the first-ever solo female host of the Academy Awards.