Good morning and welcome to the Morning Buzz for Monday, October 16. Get set for a partly cloudy day, with temperatures around 23 degrees in the city and 25 degrees out west. Enjoy your day!
Sydney commuters to benefit from new public transport services
Thousands of new services will be added to public transport timetables from late November, the NSW government has confirmed.
From November 26, new ferry services, extra weekly train services and thousands of new bus services will start running to reduce journey times for commuters.
Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance launched a campaign to raise awareness about the changes on Sunday and said it would help customers prepare for the changes and plan their new commutes ahead of time. Read more.
Man in critical condition after fall at Figure Eight Pools
A man is in a critical condition in hospital after falling from a rock ledge near the Figure Eight Pools in the Royal National Park on the weekend.
Emergency services were called to the remote site about 10.30am on Sunday, and found a man believed to be in his mid-20s with cuts to his chest and head injuries.
Paramedics first arrived on foot to treat the man, before an ambulance helicopter winched him aboard and flew him to St George Hospital, where he remained in a critical condition on Sunday afternoon. Read more.
Police rescue woman from sinking car in Georges River
Police have rescued a woman from a car a split second before it sank into the Georges River on Sunday afternoon.
Shortly after 2pm, police responded to a domestic violence incident involving the woman, who was known to be driving.
The car was spotted in Rabaul Road, Georges Hall, but as police arrived, the woman drove the car off a boat ramp and into the river. Read more.
Young people twice as likely to be on Centrelink benefits if their parents were
Children of parents on Centrelink benefits are almost twice as likely to be on benefits themselves by their early 20s as children who are not.
The world-first finding, culled from 18 years of Centrelink records, calls into question the conventional wisdom that it is easy for Australians to escape their upbringing.
The researchers from the Universities of Melbourne and Sydney were granted unprecedented access to the lifetime payment records of 124,285 young Australians born between October 1987 and March 1988. Read more.
Pressure to shut ATMs as digital payments boom gains pace
The boom in electronic payments is accelerating, with figures showing non-cash transactions are growing much faster in Australia than in other wealthy countries, a trend putting mounting pressure on banks to rationalise their ATM fleets.
Recent data from consultancy Capgemini showed the number of digital payments in the economy rising at almost 10 per cent a year, and there are predictions the pace of growth will lift further as more consumers move away from using cash for small payments. Read more.
Network costs the main driver of electricity prices, consumer watchdog finds
A huge increase in electricity network costs - driven by regulation and over investment - has been the number-one cause of rising household power bills over the last decade.
A lack of competition in both generation and electricity retail markets, the recent closures of coal-fired power stations and the growing cost of environmental schemes have also contributed to "severe" price rises since 2007 that have put homes and businesses under "unacceptable pressure". Read more.
Sydney retailers face yet another Christmas of rail disruption
Sydney retailers face their second – and some their third – Christmas of disruption from construction of the $2.1 billion light rail line.
And, near the two-year anniversary of the start of construction, they fear the disruption along much of George Street in the CBD, and other parts of the line, will extend well into next year.
Construction on a stretch of George street between King and Market streets was originally due to be finished in August last year but retailers, such as cosmetic store Jurlique, doubt it will be finished in time for Christmas, their most important trading period of the year. Read more.
NSW motorists will pocket a refund of as much as $125 on their green slips as part of the state government's overhaul of the compulsory car insurance scheme.
The partial refunds for Sydney motorists, who pay the highest prices for green slips, will average $70 while country drivers will pocket about $30. Read more.
Foxe to remain in charge of Western Sydney Wanderers for Sydney derby
Hayden Foxe will remain in charge of Western Sydney Wanderers for Saturday night's derby away to Sydney FC after the club's chairman confirmed a new head coach will not be appointed during the week.
The Wanderers have begun preliminary interviews with a number of prospective new coaches but are still no closer to deciding on the full-time replacement for Tony Popovic.
The club has been inundated with applications from all around the world and they are still going through resumes two weeks after Popovic's shock departure. Read more.
Sydney FC hold firm at Fortress Allianz
Allianz Stadium remains a fortress for Sydney FC but the Sky Blues will be spending the next week patching up their battle wounds before the derby after an unexpected onslaught from Wellington Phoenix.
The reigning champions extended their unbeaten run at home to at least 567 days and continued their perfect start to the A-League season after surviving a late scare to hold on for a 3-2 win over the New Zealanders. Read more.
NSW boss goes on attack after game cut short by unsafe pitch
Cricket NSW chief executive Andrew Jones on Sunday night argued against a decision by Cricket Australia to award victory to Victoria in a crucial JLT Cup match that was abandoned because of an unsafe wicket at North Sydney Oval.
Confusion reigned as CA officials scrambled to determine whether Victoria would be awarded a bonus point to elevate them above NSW and into the one-day competition finals. Read more.
Lisch injury sours Sydney Kings' opening victory of the season
The Sydney Kings will be without two-time NBL MVP Kevin Lisch for at least a month after he injured his calf in Sunday's 103-87 thrashing of NSW rivals Illawarra.
Lisch went down in the third quarter directly in front of the Sydney bench and played no further part in his team's first win of the 2017-18 season. Read more.
