Newcastle, the world's biggest coal export hub once known as Australia's "steel city," is a growing gem of a metropolis on Australia's eastern coast. Its million-dollar ocean views come with a sprinkle of the 4,400 ships that deliver millions of tons of the black stuff to customers across the globe every year. The port's operator, however, believes the future is green and does not want to be left behind.

Almost eight months after he miraculously survived a fall of 10,000 feet in a horrific skydiving accident, Christopher Rantall says not a day goes by when he doesn’t think about the man who saved his life. When his parachute malfunctioned in the air on July 30 last year, Christopher prepared for the worst and turned to God.

Keeping their eyes closed, students await the next command from the martial arts teacher. They've come to the Museum of Chinese Australian History in Melbourne to learn knowledge and skills for responding to racism. "Take a deep breath and say: 'I won't let this affect me today," the instructor, Sifu Damien Chauremootoo, advises.

Australian states' tough internal border policies to fight COVID-19 have, at times, arguably split the nation into multiple mini-countries. They have blocked a fully vaccinated Sydney woman from visiting her cancer-ridden daughter in the state of Victoria. They stopped a New South Wales baby from entering Queensland for a crucial brain scan. Starting Monday, Australians will be able to fly to places like London and Singapore as international travel gradually resumes, but east coast residents still cannot enter their own westernmost state even on compassionate grounds.

EXCLUSIVE: More than 600 Victoria Police employees who were sexually assaulted or harassed in the workplace have accessed a scheme that has paid out $11 million in redress payments. The Saturday Herald Sun can reveal the Restorative Engagement and Redress Scheme, which was launched in December 2019, has supported hundreds of former and current Victoria Police employees with counselling, case management and compensation.

Papua New Guinea long appeared to have escaped the worst of the coronavirus crisis. But a surge in cases since February has brought the remote Pacific island's largest hospital to the brink of collapse. For the nation's much larger neighbor, Australia, the outbreak is considered a serious threat as well as a critical moment in a broader "vaccine diplomacy" campaign.

Swirling scandals over alleged sexual assaults and toxic politics brought tens of thousands of protesters into Australia's streets on Monday, cranking up pressure on Prime Minister Scott Morrison's government. "I'm really angry about the injustice; I am so pissed off that we have to do this," said Dianne, who joined the "March 4 Justice" rallies in Sydney.

Matt Quinn was once a youth leader with a passion for tackling injustice -- an unlikely candidate, perhaps, to form a white supremacist gang. But the Australian says he was also bullied as a teenager. "I just kept getting beaten up," recalled Quinn, now 40. "Having this group was like protection for me, nobody would touch me."

After a year of steadily worsening relations with China, it was a tweet that seemed to really get under Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's skin. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian earlier this month posted a doctored image of an Australian soldier holding a knife to the throat of an Afghan child, trolling Canberra over alleged war crimes by its soldiers. Morrison called the tweet "repugnant" and demanded an apology. One has not been forthcoming.

It is the kiss of death for Australia's political class -- contributing to the demise of three prime ministers over the last 10 years. Now a fresh row is heating up over climate and energy policy, testing the leadership of the country's two main political parties.

EXCLUSIVE: Australia's former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is sounding the alarm about U.S.-China tensions over Taiwan, warning a full-blown crisis is an all too real possibility -- especially during a potentially rocky period following Tuesday's American presidential election. Friction between the two superpowers continued to escalate this week after the U.S. approved a $2.37 billion missile sale to Taiwan. Rudd, in an interview with Nikkei Asia, said he is hopeful that "calmer heads will prevail" but remains wary of Washington's and Beijing's tit-for-tat moves.

In one of the most remote corners of Australia, the Wintawari Guruma people are fighting to save heritage sites that date back thousands of years. They are in a David vs. Goliath battle with one of the world's largest miners, Fortescue Metals Group -- a familiar story, after rival Rio Tinto caused a similar stir earlier this year.

David Bell, jobless with a wife and two teenagers, was just scraping by on government aid and assistance from a local food bank before the coronavirus hit Australia. But a major expansion in benefits to help citizens cope with the pandemic's blow to the economy has proven a godsend for the 59-year old former police liaison officer, who volunteers at several charities in Sydney and has found his age an impediment to re-entering the workforce.

Today, The Salvation Army launches its fifth consecutive Economic Social Impact Survey (ESIS), a report exploring the levels of deprivation and disadvantage experienced by those who access our emergency relief services. ESIS is essentially a snapshot of the daily realities of life for those living on the margins and the results in this year’s survey are startling.