A Western Australian country town is giving 16 per cent of its annual rates income to keep a local doctor. The Shire of Narembeen pays the local medical practice $370,000 a year and also provides a building, a car and a house. Shire President Holly Cusack says the arrangement is financially unsustainable but that losing the GP would mean a 120-kilometre round trip to the nearest doctor. In Kalbarri, a community group crowdfunded more than $70,000 to set up a not-for-profit, bulk-billing clinic after the town's only GP closed in June.
WA police will use a new drone program to gather real-time intelligence before officers reach emergencies. Drones will launch from docking stations in Kwinana, Rockingham and Baldivis and can operate beyond line of sight. They will be dispatched from a command centre in Perth. Police Minister Reece Whitby says the program is an Australian first. Targeted uses include family and domestic violence matters, missing persons, crimes in progress and stolen vehicles.
Woodside Energy's plan to drill for gas off Western Australia's north-west coast could significantly damage coral reefs and endangered turtles, according to a draft letter from the state's environmental watchdog. The letter, written in 2023 and seen by the Guardian, said the company's protections for turtles and blue whales near Scott Reef would be ineffective. In February 2024, the watchdog told Woodside it planned to reject the project. Woodside has since added shear rams to its drilling plans, a step it says would limit the length of any well blowout.
Xpeng Motors Australia expects to have 66 retail locations across every state and territory by the end of 2026. The mid-size L03 SUV, priced from $41,900 before on-road costs, is due in showrooms before year's end. The company says it has processed more than 1400 customer enquiries and resolved 250 cases linked to promotional offers from its former distributor, TrueEV. Customers who bought through TrueEV and were promised offers can contact Xpeng ANZ, which says it is backing its vehicles with seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranties.
BYD's premium brand Denza says the Z9 GT electric wagon will not reach Australia until the first half of 2027. A spokesperson said the company is juggling priorities and does not want to launch simply to meet a date. Denza had earlier planned a launch in the third quarter of 2026. The Z9 GT has a claimed 0-100km/h time of 2.7 seconds and a 1036km electric range under the CLTC cycle. Pricing for the Australian market has yet to be announced.
Porsche Cars Australia is recalling 77 of its 911 and 718 sports cars made in 2023 and 2024. A manufacturing defect in the centre-lock wheel nuts may cause a wheel to loosen and detach while driving. The recall covers several 911 and 718 models from the 992 and 982 generations. Porsche will contact owners and ask them to book a free repair at an authorised Porsche Centre. The 911 was previously recalled in March 2025 over a seatbelt issue.
Complaints about the Australian Taxation Office have risen sharply as the agency ramps up debt collection. The Tax Ombudsman received 2376 complaints in the six months to September, up 74 per cent on the same period last year. The office said it received 1358 complaints over that period, because the ombudsman's figures also included matters not involving the tax office. The ombudsman found the tax office acted reasonably in 63 per cent of debt collection complaints it investigated. Outstanding tax debt stood at $54.2 billion in 2024/25, with $35.9 billion owed by small businesses.
Electrical work in Western Australia must be carried out by licensed professionals, and checking a licence takes only a few minutes. Electrical worker and contractor licences can both be verified through the public online search run by Building and Energy, the state regulator. Customers should confirm the licence is current and the name matches. Unlicensed work can raise safety risks and may lead an home insurer to dispute a claim. Licensed contractors must also lodge a notice of completion after most work.
Lotus Australia has issued a nationwide safety recall for 114 Lotus Elise sports cars made between 2014 and 2021. A manufacturing defect may deform the low-pressure fuel pump impeller, causing the fuel pump to fail and the engine to stall. The company warns that a sudden loss of power while driving may increase the risk of an accident causing injury or death. Owners will be contacted by their Lotus dealer to book a free repair appointment. The Elise was last recalled in 2020 over a fuel rail issue.
US stocks closed higher on Monday after two weeks of declines, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq lifted by optimism around AI companies. Anthropic disclosed steep losses and rapid revenue growth in its filing for a US initial public offering. Semiconductor firms helped drive the gains, while Meta plans to raise up to $US95 billion in equity to fund its AI expansion. Investors are watching the Federal Reserve's policy statement on Wednesday and a busy week of earnings reports.
The Israeli military has said its decisions on attacks against Iran are based solely on security considerations, after reports of a feud with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Channel 12 reported the two were at odds, while CNN reported that military chief Eyal Zamir warned that strikes before the election would delay the vote. Analysts say tension between the government and the military has been common. Netanyahu has stressed the Iranian threat in the final days of the election campaign, and polling suggests Gadi Eisenkot's party could challenge his Likud for the most seats.
The cost of abandoning Snowy 2.0, Australia's largest renewable energy project, is still unknown. Snowy Hydro chief executive Dennis Barnes told a Senate estimates committee that the cost of ending the project has not been modelled. The company estimates completion will now cost between $22.2 billion and $25 billion, up from $12 billion in 2023. Barnes said replacing the project with batteries was modelled at $80 billion. Innovation Minister Tim Ayres said abandoning the project would be immensely costly and that the government would see it through.
Outdated technology and weak digital safety skills are the biggest threats to national cybersecurity, according to the latest Cyber Threat Report from the Australian Signals Directorate. The public sector recorded nearly half of the 1500 incidents reported to the Australian Cyber Security Centre in the past financial year. Director-general Abigail Bradshaw warned that service outages will likely become normal and urged companies to put security ahead of access. Medium-sized businesses reported a 45 per cent rise in cybercrime losses, with an average cost of $141,300.
