Australia

The Australian Government has dismissed the Norfolk Island Regional Council, replacing it with an administrator for the next three years.

Norfolk Islanders with links to Pitcairn Island are angry at claims by the administrator, Eric Hutchinson, that they tampered with the locks to historic buildings on the island.

Virologist Sarah Palmer and her colleagues at Sydney's Westmead Institute virus research centre are working overtime to learn more about the Omicron variant.

Dog patrols to scare away seagulls swooping on Sydney restaurant diners have been a success, with the patrol winning a repeat contract.

NZ and other countries must combat rampant vaccine misinformation in the Pacific, which threatens the whole region, a researcher says. Audio

Medical regulators still reviewing the health and safety data for the paediatric vaccinations and unlikely to make a decision this year.

One of the country's biggest car dealers, Armstrong's, is considering listing on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges.

There is still no sign of a man believed to have been taken by a shark at Port Beach in Western Australia on Saturday morning.

The NSW government is bringing forward new freedoms for fully vaccinated people and delaying privileges for those who've shunned the Covid-19 vaccine.

Victoria has recorded more than 1400 new Covid-19 cases and four deaths, as quarantine-free international travel returns to Melbourne.

Nuclear proliferation risks in the Pacific could be heightened by a new security pact between the US, Britain and Australia, a regional watchdog says.