The federal opposition said many people were already wishing for a return to the Howard era, in a spirited defence of the former government's economic legacy.

Central Coast Mariners midfielder Ahmad Elrich's A-League season is over after scans confirmed a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

Economists, analysts and other financial market players are set to feel the impact of the Rudd razor gang first-hand with data on retail trade to be cut back.

The opposition has failed in a bid to block the federal government's luxury car tax increase in the Senate after a coalition senator failed to show up to vote.

Newcastle hooker Matt Hilder is free to play in Friday night's vital clash with Brisbane after beating a spitting charge at the NRL judiciary.

A mining company that won a court victory over Steve Irwin's widow Terri has accused her of having a secret agenda to expand cattle farming on a Cape York property set aside as a wildlife reserve.<

An Australian man has been arrested in Thailand for allegedly committing crimes against the country's royal family, authorities say.

Police are questioning a youth over the shooting death of a 15-year-old boy on the NSW mid-north coast.

Federal Labor MP Belinda Neal has been put on notice that her future in politics depends on her capacity to behave.

(AAP) Michael Pate, the Australian actor who played an Aussie country cop, a British spy and a slew of American Indians over a career spanning seven decades, has died aged 88.