The Newcastle bishop who took on sexual abuse in the church

When Greg Thompson became the bishop of Newcastle, he refused to turn a blind eye to the decades-long child sex abuse scandals in the diocese. For him, it was personal. He was himself a sexual abuse survivor. But speaking out came at a huge cost.

Five men Hunter are charged after police allegedly found more than 1,000 bricks of cocaine, weighing just over a tonne in total, on a boat off the coast of Nambucca Heads.

Supreme Court documents allege a fatal stabbing attack involving a pack of seven people in Newcastle was coordinated and planned.

Court documents have revealed a young woman's terrifying experience in 1980 in a suburb south of Newcastle. The man responsible was due to face trial before he made the admission.

A vigil for domestic violence murder victims in Newcastle has paid tribute to Mackenzie Anderson on the day her mother met Chris Minns over her killer's sentence.

A jury has found a Hunter Valley man guilty of covering up the murder of Carly McBride, whose remains were discovered by bushwalkers in 2016 — two years after she was killed.

Supporters of large-scale renewable energy projects are urging Labor to get on with the job of assessing offshore wind options in New South Wales after the landslide election victory.

Cash-strapped NSW councils are struggling to keep local road networks up to scratch as natural disasters take their toll.

Police say the death of a woman, 43, who suffered serious burns on a property near Newcastle, is not being treated as suspicious.

The school’s grounds hold a range of gardens, from those providing bush tucker to a space for commemoration.

Australia shows fight but is outclassed by world champions New Zealand 38-12 in their Pacific Four Series opener in Newcastle.

Sea slugs close ocean baths: Sea hares took over Merewether Ocean Baths last week, forcing its closure to the public. Hundreds of sea hares gathered in the baths as part of seasonal spawning. The soft-bodied marine molluscs are usually found in rock pools and seagrass beds and feed mainly on algae and during spawning they produce long strands of yellowy-orange egg masses. Once spawning was complete council staff removed the sea hares so the baths could be cleaned and reopened.

Image credit: City of Newcastle

New federal cabinet: Shortland federal MP Pat Conroy has retained his portfolios as Defence Industry and Pacific Island Affairs Minister in the prime minister's new cabinet. Anthony Albanese revealed his new-look frontbench this week, as part of what he calls the largest ALP caucus since federation. Hunter MP Dan Repacholi has been appointed to a newly established role as the Special Envoy for Men's Health.

Bats causing power outages: Ausgrid is installing temporary insulation on power lines throughout parts of Muswellbrook and Aberdeen in a bid to stop outages caused by bats. There have been 13 outages in the past month caused by bats becoming caught in the electrical wires. Last week more than 900 customers were without power in the Muswellbrook CBD for around two hours after a bat became trapped in wires.

Respected architect farewelled: Hundreds turned out for the funeral service of highly respected Newcastle architect Brian Suters, whose visionary designs helped shape the city's modern landscape. Mr Suters was a major influence on the architectural identity of Newcastle. He's best known for his work designing the old Newcastle City Administration Centre, now known as the Roundhouse in the city's CBD, as well as work on the Newcastle Conservatorium of Music, the iconic fountain at Newcastle Civic Park and numerous houses across the city. Born in Sydney in 1933, Mr Suters moved to Newcastle during World War II and later studied architecture at the Newcastle Technical College. Mr Suters died in late April at the age of 88.

Local koala survey: A campaign to help identify koala populations has been launched by the Lake Macquarie Council. The council will roll out surveys during the next 18 months, using detection dogs to help identify koala populations around Lake Macquarie. Council says there's never been a systematic survey for koalas in the Lake Macquarie area and hopes it will provide a better understanding of where koala populations are in the local government area and how long they've been there.

Knights' 'embarrassing' loss: The Knights bombed a 20-point lead against the Gold Coast at Hunter Stadium last weekend to notch up the team's sixth loss in nine games. The Knights scored three tries in the first 30 minutes but failed to score a point in the second half, the Gold Coast finishing 24 to 20 winners. Newcastle coach Adam O'Brien says the team's completion rate and ill-discipline in defence produced an "embarrassing" performance in the second half. The Knights will look to bounce back against Parramatta on Friday night at home.

A creamy, cheesy mac and cheese with a hint of curry, topped with crispy panko and served with a tangy miso sesame slaw.

ABC Newcastle acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work.