There's been plenty of scrutiny over Daniel Andrews' previous dealings with Beijing, and now his successor is raising eyebrows with her visit to China.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has stressed her visit is solely to bolster ties that will increase investment in the state.

And now the prime minister has given his backing to Allan.

“It's probably a good idea that we talk to our major trading partner, because it’s about Australian jobs,” Anthony Albanese told reporters.

“And I’m sure the premier is there as the Victorian premier talking about jobs here in Victoria that are pretty important.”

Earlier this month, Andrews attended China's extravagant military parade where he posed for photos alongside Russia's Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong-un.

And Albanese himself was in China in July, meeting with President Xi Jinping, who heaped praise on his Australian counterpart.

Australia Post has announced it will allow customers to ship to the US earlier than expected, after the national courier paused services heading across the Pacific in the wake of the Trump administration's decision to impose tariffs on parcels.

Australia Post had thanked customers for their patience as it worked out how it would handle the change to import tariff rules. The recommencement date has been brought forward to Monday, and was initially pencilled in for Thursday.

Seven teens are being questioned after their arrest in dawn raids over the "senseless" stabbing murders of two boys.

Chol Achiek, 12, and Dau Akueng, 15, died after being attacked while walking home at Cobblebank, in Melbourne's outer northwest, on September 6.

The youths were ambushed by a group of masked males armed with machetes and other bladed weapons.

Another boy walking home from a basketball game with the slain pair managed to escape.

Police raided properties in seven suburbs, all in Melbourne's outer west, northwest or north, on Thursday morning.

Homicide Squad detectives arrested seven teenagers, including a 19-year-old Thornhill Park man, a 19-year-old Caroline Springs man and an 18-year-old Wollert man.

Three 16-year-old boys and a 15-year-old boy, all from the northwestern suburbs of Melbourne, were also arrested.

Charges are yet to be laid against any of the teens.

Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Martin O'Brien said the arrests were the result of almost two weeks of diligent and thorough police work after the tragic deaths.

"The word senseless has been used so many times already in relation to the deaths of Dau Akueng and Chol Achiek, because the reality is that it doesn't make sense," he said.

"Two children walking home after playing sport, who should have had decades of their lives ahead of them.

"Instead, their devastated families are grieving their loss and all the things they will never get to see two children grow up to achieve and experience."

Atlassian is making its biggest acquisition ever, buying an engineering intelligence platform to help clients understand whether they're getting the right bang for their AI buck.

Atlassian's $US1 billion ($1.5 billion) acquisition of the Salt Lake City, Utah-based DX will allow its more than 300,000 clients to measure and understand how AI tools support the work of their engineering teams.

"DX addresses this, helping them measure, benchmark, and improve developer productivity through data-informed decisions," CEO and co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes said on Friday.

"Using AI is easy, creating value is harder.

"We're helping engineering teams from some of the biggest enterprise companies move faster, more intentionally and with incredible impact."

DX will be integrated into Atlassian's suite of software development tools, including Rovo Dev, Jira, Bitbucket and Compass.

Nearly all of DX's customers are also Atlassian users.

Mr Cannon-Brookes said the acquisition would be "massive" for its customers, which include the likes of Pfixer, Pinterest and Xero.

Nasdaq-listed, Sydney-headquartered Atlassian is buying DX using a mix of cash and restricted stock.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2025/26.

It's Atlassian's second acquisition this month.

Earlier in September, Atlassian announced it was buying the Browser Company for $US610 million ($936 billion).

The startup makes two AI-powered internet browsers, Arc and Dia.

Plenty has been said about Sydney's rainfall in recent months, but it's been pretty wet on the other side of the country too.

For four months in a row, Perth has exceeded its average monthly rainfall – the first time this has happened in 18 years, Weatherzone reports.

And the city did so with nearly two weeks to spare in September, after well exceeding August's average.

"Perth’s recent rainy streak is obviously a good news story. The city receives the vast majority of its rainfall in the period from late autumn to early spring, so this is when locals hope for all the rain they can get," Weatherzone's Anthony Sharwood explained.

"But it’s worth remembering that the previous seven months from November 2024 to May 2025 all saw below-average rainfall totals. Indeed, most of WA’s South West Land Division has experienced ongoing rainfall deficits in recent years."

Australia’s Big Four banks expect the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will keep the cash rate on hold this month, with a November cut firmly on the cards. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2 per cent in August, but the “weaker-than-expected” figures are unlikely to speed up interest rate cuts.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data found employment fell by 5,400 in August, following a solid 26,500 gain in July. Full-time employment dropped by 40,900 during the month, while part-time employment grew by 35,500.

The jobs data was a “key” piece of information ahead of the RBA’s interest rate call this month. While it was weaker than anticipated, Westpac economist Ryan Well said it was “unlikely to shift the dial” at the September meeting.

Read more here.

Alleged cop killer Dezi Freeman has evaded detection for nearly four weeks, and with an unprecedented police search continuing, the question of how long can it continue is now being asked.

Macquarie University's Dr Vincent Hurley has explained the complexities facing police for The Conversation, and suggested there could be several months before the immediate search is pulled back.

"Given the rarity of similar fugitives hunts in Australia, that decision will be a complex and difficult one. Police will be loathe to put a time frame on “how long”," he said.

"However, police will constantly reflect on their tactics and searching methods from the air and on foot. They will have been using police dogs and possibly advanced military equipment (normally reserved for use in the battlefield) supplied by the Australian Defence Force.

"Police will want to ensure they’ve exhausted all possible hiding places and escape routes.

"Only once they are satisfied with the degree of their thoroughness, along with analysing all the accompanying information from public appeals, will police consider when and how to downgrade the search."

Read more about Dr Hurley's assessment of the situation here.

Phasing out coal is not a choice but an economic reality as key markets look to other energy sources to keep the lights on, Australia’s climate change agency chief says.

Coal is Australia’s second-largest export, raking in $91.4bn 2023-24 and supporting nearly 60,000 jobs, according to the Minerals Council of Australia.

But official figures project prices will fall as countries shift to renewables and eye up cleaner steelmaking methods, with earnings for thermal coal forecast to drop $6bn to $26bn in 2026-27 while metallurgical coal hovers at $40bn.

Climate Change Authority chair Matt Kean – whose advice ultimately set Australia’s 2035 emissions target – said on Friday that “no one’s phasing out coal exports” but that the “markets that have been taking our coal for generations” are “changing what they’re looking for from Australia”.

“Let me be very clear, 84 per cent of the world’s GDP has signed up to net zero emissions,” he told Sky News.

“So these global mega trends are happening in spite of what we’re doing here in Australia.

“The markets that have underwritten Australia’s prosperity are changing the types of goods and ways they’re looking to fuel their economies."

- NewsWire

The breastfeeding mum who says she was asked to leave a Virgin Australia lounge after she was seen using a breast pump says the airline's response to the matter has been "insulting".

Women's health specialist Dr Elise Turner says the airline has failed to take responsibility for the incident involving a member of staff in Melbourne, and she had yet to receive an apology directly from the Virgin Australia.

Virgin Australia did initially issue a media statement apologising for the incident, saying the encounter "fell short of the high standards of care and customer service our team strives to deliver".

However Dr Turner says a lack of information and action since from the airline has been "so disappointing".

The Gold Coast is famed for its long stretch of coastline, with densely-populated suburbs squeezed right up to the sand dunes.

But one expert says residents should rightly be "concerned" after little signs of recovery for the city's beaches after Cyclone Alfred six months ago.

University of the Sunshine Coast's Dr Javier Leon said while the Gold Coast is built to handle such events, the outlook is not looking good ahead of what will be a wet spring.

"If we do get a big storm this coming season, that's when we can see significant erosion," he said.

"No one wants to hear this, but eventually we need to talk about giving space to that coastal system because that’s what it needs."

Read more from Yahoo News Editor Courtney Greatrex here.

Well this is a pretty remarkable result.

A rare number plate in Victoria has reportedly sold for $10 million.

While the exact sale price of the plate remains undisclosed, The Herald Sun on Thursday reported the price of the state's sought-after '2' plate went for eight figures to luxury car dealer Nick Theodossi. The plate has since been mounted on a brand-new Ferrari Roma Spider, now on display at Theodossi’s Arden Street dealership.

Read more about the sale and upcoming plate auctions here.

Qantas is scrapping a new route it only introduced three months ago.

Australia's flag carrier recently launched the Perth to Busselton route but a lack of demand has seen it swiftly removed, the ABC reports.

The 45-minute flight, which connected the southwestern city to the state capital, struggled to attract travellers and on average had more than 80 per cent of seats still available.

A local travel agent told the ABC she was not optimistic about the route's success, saying many tourists enjoy driving the coastline instead. Busselton mayor Phill Cronin called the decision "unfortunate".

A 12-year-old boy has fronted court after he was charged over the alleged theft of an SUV before police were led on a high-speed pursuit through Perth's east.

WA Police say the vehicle, stolen from a High Wycombe home on Wednesday night, was being driven erratically, forcing police to twice abandon pursuits, before it was tracked by a police helicopter and stopped with a tyre deflation device.

The 12-year-old boy and another person fled on foot before the former was detained.

He was charged with failing to comply with a direction to stop, reckless driving to escape police pursuit, stealing a motor vehicle and driving recklessly and no authority to drive.

He appeared before Perth's Children's Court on Thursday.

It's becoming more and more common for lottery winners to not answer the phone when officials try and deliver the life-changing news.

The majority of people say scam calls is the reason for not picking up, but we haven't heard this explanation from a recent Melbourne winner before.

“I’ll be honest, I thought you were calling about my click and collect order the first time," she explained to The Lott.

"Then I listened to your voicemail, and I couldn’t believe I’d ignored a lottery official."

The Dandenong woman took home the top prize in Thursday's Lucky Lotteries Mega Jackpot draw, earning herself a rosy $200,000.

Remarkably, the win came from a free ticket she won in a previous draw.