A national plan to rate Australia’s homes is accelerating as NatHERS expands, putting energy efficiency certificates within reach for buyers and renters.

Victoria will add a booking system and entry fee for the Twelve Apostles visitor centre on the Great Ocean Road, with locals and Eastern Maar exempt.

Pump prices climbed across Australia after higher international oil and refined petrol costs, prompting ACCC monitoring while national averages rose and remote areas faced steeper bills.

Australia’s business lobbies urge red tape cuts and tax changes after a new index ranked the country 21st of 42 for investment competitiveness.

Cisco and Sharon AI launched Australia’s first Cisco Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA in Sydney, offering 1,024 Blackwell Ultra GPUs for sovereign AI compute.

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off northern Vanuatu, near Port-Olry, USGS said; the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reported no tsunami threat at 10 km depth.

Australia consumer sentiment fell after the RBA lifted rates to 3.85%, Westpac MI showed while mortgage rate expectations rose and Dec spending dipped, ABS said.

Australia’s CEFC commits up to A$60m for discounted EV loans via Hyundai Capital Australia, cutting rates 0.5 to 1.0 points on new eligible Hyundai and Kia EVs.

Brooke Day, a 22-year-old Australian, died in hospital after a chairlift incident at Tsugaike Kogen Mountain Resort in Nagano, Japan. Police are examining safety.

Australia launched an Open Science Policy for health research, requiring immediate open access to funded papers, CC BY licensing and options including preprints.