In short:

The future of BHP's Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter in Western Australia remains unclear, with a decision expected within the next six months.

WA Liberal MP Rick Wilson wants the federal government to provide financial support, just like it has for four other metal smelters elsewhere.

What's next?

BHP is expected to finish a review of its mothballed Nickel West operations by February 2027.

Shortlist:

Alstom/UGL Joint Venture: Alstom Transport Australia, UGL Engineering;

ARC Joint Venture: Siemens Mobility, Siemens Mobility GmbH, Mott MacDonald Australia;

Hitachi Rail STS Australia.

The Trains, Systems and System Integration contract package includes:

the supply of Australia’s first high speed trains

the design and delivery of rail systems, the depot and operations control centre;

the integration, testing and commissioning of the Newcastle to Sydney high speed rail system.

The proponents will also consider how advanced manufacturing can support the efficient delivery of High Speed Rail.

An Advanced Manufacturing Facility proposed by the Authority would use automation, robotics and precision manufacturing to deliver the railway more efficiently. This facility will create skilled jobs and more opportunities for Australian manufacturers and suppliers to help deliver Australia’s High Speed Rail.

Operation Amarok 14 was held from Friday 14 August 2026 to Sunday 16 August 2026 across the state, which focused on identifying domestic and family violence offenders who present an increased threat to victims because of their capability, intent and access.

Across the three days, 732 people were arrested and charged, with 228 arrest warrants executed.

Police laid 1,589 charges and conducted 1,497 bail compliance checks and 12,054 apprehended domestic violence order (ADVO) compliance checks with a total of 546 breaches identified.

The number of Queensland students enrolling in some STEM subjects, including physics and specialist mathematics, has jumped by almost 50 per cent in the last six years.

In total, enrolments in STEM subjects in Queensland increased by just over 17 per cent.

What's next?

Queensland's Department of Education said it "supports student engagement and achievement in STEM".

The Newcastle to Sydney High Speed Rail project has moved further into the Development Stage with three major construction consortia shortlisted for an Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) process following a competitive tender:

Acciona John Holland Joint Venture

Advanced Alliance Joint Venture: Gamuda Engineering, FCC Construction Australia, Samsung C&T Corporation;

GoFar Joint Venture: CPB Contractors, Ferrovial Construction (Australia), VINCI Construction Grands Projects Australia.

These groups will now compete with each other to develop plans for Area Package 1, which is the section of the Newcastle to Sydney route between Berowra and Ourimbah. This approach seeks to get the best outcome on construction costs and program timeframes:

About 35km of twin tunnels between Berowra and Ourimbah, delivered using tunnel boring machines;

Construction of the Central Coast High Speed Rail Station at Gosford; and nstallation of all rail and station systems and other structural and surface infrastructure works across the Berowra to Ourimbah section of the corridor

Commuters catching trains on Sydney’s $30 billion M1 metro rail line during the morning peak have surged over the past 12 months: two stations in the central city have easily exceeded forecasts made two years ago and some trains have been too packed for passengers to get on.

On the eve of the two-year anniversary of the opening of the line’s city section, new government figures show a 14 per cent rise in passengers filing through ticket gates at Martin Place metro station during the morning peak in May and June, compared to the same months a year earlier.

Martin Place station’s average patronage of 20,500 passengers on weekday mornings in May was almost a third higher than forecasts released in 2024, shortly before the section between Chatswood and Sydenham opened on August 19 of that year.

Gadigal station, near Town Hall, is also easily beating forecasts. About 10,700 commuters passed through its gates in the morning peak between 6.30 and 10 in May, up 8 per cent on the prior period, and 43 per cent higher than predictions made in 2024.

Victoria Cross station in North Sydney had a rise of more than 10 per cent during morning peaks in May and June, while Central Station’s metro platforms were up about 9 per cent, as commuters switched from heavy rail services to metro trains.

The number of commuters entering and exiting North Sydney station on a typical weekday has halved since the metro’s city-section opened two years ago and patronage for St Leonards station has fallen by a third. Both heavy rail stations are close to metro stations.

The growth in patronage on metro trains comes two months before the M1 line’s final stage between Sydenham and Bankstown is expected to open. Confidential government documents have slated a target date of mid-October, but the start of passenger services will hinge on approval by the national rail regulator.

Crows Nest resident Lucy Wang catches metro trains every weekday to travel to Martin Place for work because they are faster than double-decker services on the T1 North Shore heavy rail line.

Wang said it was always a case of squeezing into packed metro carriages or waiting for the next one if she could not get on during the morning peak. “I usually only wait for one, or squish [into a carriage],” she said. “I do wish it was less packed, but there’s really nothing you can do.”

After driving to Crows Nest to drop her daughter at day care, Norwest resident Ashley Felsman is used to being unable to get on a city-bound metro train during the morning peak. “I’m always having to wait for the next one because I can’t get on,” she said.

Trains run every four minutes in both directions on the M1 line during weekday peaks between about 7am and 10am, and from 3pm to 7pm. They operate every five minutes from 10am to 3pm, and every 10 minutes at other times.

Over the coming years, the two options for boosting passenger capacity on the M1 line are to lengthen trains from six to eight carriages, or to increase the frequency to a service every three minutes, which would require the NSW government to buy more trains.

Sydney Metro customer and planning executive director Samantha Phillips said the agency was keeping a close eye on crowding on city-bound trains departing Crows Nest, which was the “pinch point” on the network in the morning peak.

Phillips said the most likely option, if capacity was boosted, would be to increase train frequency to every three minutes. “Frequency matters. That’s what people really value,” she said.

“I want to make sure I’ve looked at all the different options before I’m saying to government or to the community we need to spend a lot more money on additional fleet. It is a big investment.”

Phillips said increased housing along the rail corridor and commuters’ willingness to give up seats on double-decker trains for a faster journey standing in metro carriages were key drivers of the patronage growth.

“I was always really a bit sceptical around people preferring to give up their seat to choose the metro, but the evidence is speaking for itself. People are choosing those faster journeys,” she said of commuters switching from heavy rail to metro services at stations such as Chatswood and Epping.

University of Technology transport researcher Mathew Hounsell said the metro line’s strong patronage growth demonstrated that modelling had underestimated passenger demand.

“It is the same all over the world – when you build an automated metro that is reliable and fast, people use it,” he said. “Buses are great for moving people around a local area but it’s trains that build a city.”

Hounsell said the government needed to improve feeder bus links to metro stations along the M1 line, especially in Sydney’s northwest. “Getting people to these stations now is the limiting factor in terms of [patronage] growth,” he said.

While Martin Place and Gadigal are easily beating expectations, Waterloo station continues to lag Sydney Metro’s patronage forecasts and Barangaroo’s figures were nearly flat year-on-year.

Phillips said Waterloo and other stations that had had slower patronage growth reflected a lag in proposed development around them.

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From: https://infrastructure.nt.gov.au/project/regional-logistics-hub

Sydney has spent the past decade building a world class metro and light rail network. Sydney Metro’s Northwest and City & Southwest lines, the Metro West and Western Sydney Airport lines now under construction, and the CBD and South East and Parramatta light rail all represent the largest public transport investment in the country’s history, and it is transforming how people move around the city.

With the exception of the Western Sydney Airport line, these new lines have largely reinforced the radial shape of Sydney’s network: fast lines running in and out of the CBD in Sydney’s east. What’s missing is the in-between connections – those linking lines and centres across central, western, northern and southern Sydney. Our public transport accessibility levels reflect this pattern, and so does something more troubling: our patterns of socio-economic inequality. Areas with poor access to frequent public transport are disproportionately the same areas experiencing entrenched disadvantage, particularly across Sydney’s west and south-west.

To fix this, Sydney needs to move from a hub-and-spoke model to a web of routes – a network that connects communities to each other, not just to the centre.

Rapid bus networks are how we build that web. They are fast to deliver, comparatively cheap to build, and proven: Sydney’s existing rapid routes – from the B-Line in the Northern Beaches to the T-Way connecting Parramatta north and south – already show what’s possible when buses get their own lane and their own priority at the lights.

The Committee for Sydney proposes a network of 18 rapid bus routes crisscrossing Sydney. Together, these routes would connect growing communities with metros, jobs, education opportunities and one another, transforming the transport network from a hub-and-spoke system to a web of rapid transport options.

Sydney’s Rapid Bus network would include:

Existing rapid routes

North-West T-Way (Rouse Hill & Blacktown to Parramatta)

Liverpool to Parramatta T-Way

Northern Beaches B-Line

Committed rapid routes

B30 Liverpool to Western Sydney Airport & Bradfield

B31 Campbelltown to Bradfield & Western Sydney Airport

B32 Penrith-Western Sydney Aiport & Bradfield

Identified priority corridors

St Marys to Rouse Hill

Campbelltown to Liverpool

Liverpool to Burwood via Bankstown

Parramatta to Sydney CBD via Victoria Road

Parramatta to Sydney CBD via Parramatta Road

Identified route upgrades

North-West T-way upgrade (Blacktown to Box Hill)

Liverpool to Parramatta T-way upgrade

Five new priority rapid routes

Liverpool to Blacktown (Direct)

Pennant Hills Road (Parramatta to Hornsby)

River Rail (Kogarah – Bankstown – Parramatta)

Macquarie Park to Burwood (via Top Ryde)

Brookvale to Chatswood (via Frenchs Forest)