Residents of Australia's cyclone-battered tropical north east have emerged from their homes to find roofs lying in their yards, boats flung on to rocks and roads blocked by tangles of fallen trees and power lines.

Two powerful cyclones have hit northern Australia, knocking out power to thousands, tearing roofs off houses and prompting coastal residents to flee their homes.

An Australian politician whose father was held in a German labour camp during the Second World War says he plans to renounce his allegiance to the Queen after seeing a photo of Prince Harry wearing a Nazi swastika.

A shark attacked and killed an 84-year-old swimmer in a lake near Australia’s east coast today, police said.

Australian farmers are running out of cows because demand has risen sharply due to diseases in European livestock.