Hundreds of thousands of people are on high alert as tropical cyclone Alfred heads towards Australia, putting coastal communities in the firing line.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday that his government would temporarily halt tax hikes on draught beer, amid sagging popularity for the governing Labor Party ahead of a general election due by May.

Thousands of households will endure a fourth night without power and communities are on the brink of isolation as a week of wild weather is declared a natural disaster.

Thousands are without power, communities are at the brink of isolation, and a tropical cyclone is looming as Australians battle a week of wild weather that has been declared a natural disaster.

Hospitals are planning to close several vital specialist mental health beds across a state as more than half of public psychiatrists prepare to resign.

A suspicious blaze has engulfed a Caulfield Racecourse grandstand, sparking a police investigation.

Australia’s southeast sweltered in a heat wave that raised the risk of bushfires and led authorities to issue fire bans for large parts of Victoria state.

Another year is ending and Australians are poised to ring in 2025 with typical style and fanfare.

Two men have been charged with drug trafficking at the first Victorian festival to trial pill testing, while one person has been treated for an overdose.

Drugs and greed are likely behind the shooting death of a man as he left his family home in what police believe is the latest targeted murder linked to organised crime.

Two men are accused of trafficking 200kg of cocaine into Australia in a clandestine plot involving a small aircraft, a remote airstrip and night-vision goggles.

Bushfire-hit workers and sole traders can apply for income support as the prime minister visits the area where a massive blaze has destroyed at least three homes.