South Australia Police says "relentless" pursuing of repeat offenders has seen the number of break-ins significantly reduce across the state.

Acting Assistant Commissioner John De Candia said proactive policing strategies had resulted in some significant clear-ups of recent crime sprees.

“In some cases the alleged offenders have been responsible for many incidents that have distressed homeowners or financially impacted multiple businesses that have been targeted,’’ he said.

“We will continue to identify, target and arrest those we believe are responsible for a significant proportion of crime that impacts the community.’’

The June rolling year figures show house break-ins recorded a 10 per cent decline in the period – from 5,773 to 5,220 offences, SA Police said. Shop theft and car theft also dropped.

A leading scientist has warned that it’s a matter of “when not if” the highly contagious H5 strain of bird reaches Australian shores, with experts wargaming worst-case scenarios and potential impacts on the country’s food security.

Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands are the three remaining areas in the world untouched by H5 bird flu, with Threatened Species Commissioner Fiona Fraser saying Australia is “essentially surrounded” ahead of the spring migratory bird season.

“We literally have millions of either sea birds and shore birds reaching Australia’s shores, and they essentially land all around Australia, along our wetlands (and on coastal) areas to breed,” she said.

“So the risk of incursion is all around Australia at any point of time.”

The grim prognosis comes as the government has committed an extra $12m to bolster Australia’s response to an outbreak, bringing total funding to $100m.

Dr Fraser said the disease would “almost certainly” reach Australia’s shores, as it had in North America and even in Antarctica.

“Once it reaches here, we will not be able to prevent its spread in nature, and we will not be able to eradicate it in nature, but what we can do is build the resilience of our native populations to better withstand this disease and take important efforts for our captive species,” she said.

Read more here.

While it was all joy for Aussie Jordan Thompson who advanced to the second round of the US Open on Sunday (local time), it was anguish for what appeared to be a fellow compatriot in the crowd.

The man wearing a 2018 Australian soccer jersey was ejected from the crowd for attempts to unsettle Thompson's French opponent Corentin Moutet.

The fan appeared to be heckling Moutet and after complaints, the umpire eventually kicked the man out, to the delight of surrounding fans, the ABC reported.

Thompson won the match in four sets 6-2, 6-4, 1-6 and 6-3.

A plane departing Perth was forced to turn back on Sunday evening after experiencing engine issues.

The AirAsia flight was heading to Bali but imagery from FlightRadar 24 shows it circled several times off of Perth's coast before returning to Perth Airport an hour later.

“The plane took off with an engine issue, which is why it was forced to turn around,” a Perth Airport spokesman said.

Australia's biggest alcohol retailer has reported a drop in profit after subdued sales amid ongoing cost of living pressures, particularly in poorer outer suburban areas, as it waits for new leadership after recent management turmoil.

Dan Murphy's and BWS owner Endeavour Group on Monday said it would cut its dividend after making just $426 million in net profit after tax in the 52 weeks to June 29, down 15.8 per cent from 2023/24.

Beyond the poor financial showing there have been leadership challenges since Steve Donohue announced his retirement in 2024 after 30 years with the company.

Former chairman Ari Mervis had been serving temporarily as executive chairman but quit effective immediately three weeks ago, citing disagreements with the board regarding strategy.

Former Virgin Australia and a2 Milk CEO Jayne Hrdlicka is set to take over as chief executive and managing director on January 1, pending receipt of regulatory approvals.

For now she's consulting to the board the equivalent of two days a week.

"As a board, we recognise that F25 was a challenging year, marked by movements within both the Executive Leadership Team and the Board," said chairman Duncan Makeig.

The company is also undertaking a portfolio-wide review of its business after the sub-par year that reportedly could result in a split-up of its pubs business from its liquor stores.

Endeavour Group said that in 2024/25, retail sales fell by 1.2 per cent to $10 billion, due to the softer consumer spending in retail liquor as well as the industrial action by Woolworths warehouse workers late last year.

The strike prevented stock from reaching Endeavour's stores in the crucial lead-up to Christmas, costing Endeavour an estimated $40 million to $50 million in lost sales.

The company's 1444 BWS and 278 Dan Murphy's liquor stores saw solid trading around key reasons to celebrate, including Christmas, New Year and Easter, but outside of those areas consumer spending remained subdued, the group said.

That's a trend that has continued into the new financial year, with Dan Murphy's and BWS sales down 1.3 per cent in its first seven weeks, compared to the same period a year ago.

Mushroom lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson has begun his victim impact statement by detailing his relationship with wife Heather Wilkinson, one of the three people to die from the meal.

On several occasions his voice began to falter as he stood at the bar table speaking.

Heather was described as “compassionate, brave and witty” saying the biggest impact for him was her untimely death.

“It’s a truly horrible thought to live with that someone would decide to take her life — I only feel half alive without her,” he said.

“So much attention is showered on those who do evil and so little on those who do good.”

Ian describes Heather as a wonderful wife, with whom he spent 44 years.

“Heather was always supportive and encouraging to me, she was wise and had skills that made up for my shortcomings,” he said.

“Heather was a great mother to our four children, we decided together she would be a stay at home mum.

“I think that the way our children conducted themselves through the crisis of our illness and the subsequent legal proceedings was testament to her mothering skills.”

- NewsWire

NSW Premier Chris Minns finally announced over the weekend his government plans to open the Woollahra ghost station in Sydney's east in a bid to add up to 10,000 new homes in the suburb.

While he hailed it as a big step in tackling the housing crisis, the station happens to be in one of the most expensive suburbs in Australia. And while any development would require a percentage of affordable homes, it's unclear what that actually means.

Maiy Azize, national spokesperson for Everybody's Home, said the definition of affordable remains "vague".

"This is good news, well located housing developments are a good thing. Denser cities are a good thing and more housing in the right places is a good thing," she told the ABC News Channel on Monday.

"The question is how many of those homes will be affordable? Right now across the country there isn't a definition that governments are using that is meaningful. Affordable can mean slightly less than market rent.

"If you are living in Sydney and somewhere like Woollahra, we can expect those to be pretty expensive."

Mushroom cook Erin Patterson will face members of her husband’s family for the first time after a jury found she murdered three people with a poisoned beef Wellington.

Patterson, 50, was found guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder last month relating to a fatal lunch she hosted in the county Victorian town of Leongatha more than two years ago.

She was seen arriving at the Victorian Supreme Court shortly after 9am on Monday for the first day of a two-day plea hearing, ahead of her sentencing later this year.

Patterson was led by custody officers from a prison van into the courthouse after the half-hour drive from the maximum-security Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Ravenhall.

More than a dozen members of her victims’ families have also arrived to the CBD courthouse, before being whisked away to a private meeting space with police.

At the hearing, lawyers from the prosecution and defence will make submissions they want the judge to consider when deciding Patterson’s sentence.

It will also give members of her victims’ families the opportunity to deliver statements outlining the impact of her crimes.

Earlier this month, prosecutor Jane Warren flagged that it was expected two days would be needed for the hearing because much of the first day would be spent hearing “a lot” of victim impact statements.

These would likely include Patterson’s husband, Simon Patterson, and lunch survivor Ian Wilkinson.

- NewsWire

A man has died after falling from a balcony during a police pursuit in Sydney's inner city.

NSW Police say it attended a unit in Surry Hills' Belvoir Street on Sunday evening investigating an alleged robbery at a nearby grocery store.

"When police entered the unit block a man – believed to be involved in the earlier alleged armed robbery – ran from police towards a unit balcony before jumping and falling five stories," police said in a statement on Monday.

He was rushed to hospital where he later died.

A 21-year-old woman, who police allege was involved in the robbery, allegedly tried to close the door on police as they arrived. She has been charged over both alleged incidents and will front court today.

Australia Post is looking for 3,500 workers across Australia as it prepares for what it says will be a record-breaking festive period.

The national courier is looking for forklift operators, van and truck drivers as well as parcel sorters to ensure it can handle more than 100 million parcels in the lead up to Christmas.

"These roles offer a good opportunity to earn money in the holiday period and the chance to be part of a supportive and inclusive team where every contribution makes a difference," Australia Post's Sue Davies said.

“Seasonal roles can also open the door to longer-term opportunities beyond the end of the year. Many of our team members began their journey with us during the Christmas period and have gone on to build lasting careers at Australia Post."

Roles are open for applications now with the highest demand in NSW, Victoria and Queensland.

How's this for a Father's Day gift?

A NSW dad is set to land $1 million on September 7 as he enjoys Father's Day with his family. But it's not a present from them, with the man's life-changing sum coming from the Saturday Lotto.

That's the date he'll receive his winnings from Saturday's draw, following the two-week provisional period for division one prizes.

“It still seems like it hasn’t happened,” the Hunter region man told lottery officials.

“Once I see the prize in my account on Father’s Day, then it will be real.”