Good morning and welcome to your morning wrap of news, sport, and weather around Sydney for Thursday, January 4. It’ll be cloudy again today with a chance of showers in the morning and early afternoon. Temperatures are expected to reach 25 in the city and up to 31 in the city. Enjoy your day!
Seaplane 'destroyed', rebuilt following previous fatal crash
The seaplane that crashed north of Sydney killing six people on New Year's Eve had been "destroyed" in a fatal accident two decades ago, an investigation report shows.
Authorities are trying to determine what caused the plane to plunge into Jerusalem Bay, killing British executive Richard Cousins, 58; his two sons William, 25, and Edward Cousins, 23; his fiancee Emma Bowden, 48; her daughter Heather, 11; and pilot Gareth Morgan, 44.
The Sydney Seaplanes aircraft had flown thousands of trips around Sydney Harbour since the early 2000s. Read more
Windfall looms for new WestConnex owners from F6 Extension
The state's roads agency will receive no benefit from funnelling traffic from the proposed F6 Extension on to the soon-to-be-sold WestConnex toll road, an analysis of traffic modelling contained in a leaked government document shows.
The analysis contained in a business case for an extension of the F6 in Sydney's south shows the proposal is likely to increase traffic and revenue for each of the three stages of WestConnex, a majority stake in which the government is selling to private interests. Read more
Why brush turkeys are headed to a Sydney suburb near you
In the leafy northern suburbs of Sydney they chase each other down the street: the native brush turkey is out in force this summer.
Jessica Buchanan, who has lived in Marsfield for eight years, has witnessed it first hand. "We often see males engaged in fights," she said. "They will chase each other down the street in order to claim their territory. It's amazing to watch. Read more
'Throwaway attitude' leaves Lost Paradise festival grounds a mess
Tents, air mattresses, trestle tables, camp chairs, marquees, Eskies, Aerogard and sunscreen, torches, shoes and canned food.
These are among the thousands of good-quality items collected by 20 volunteers over two days after they were left behind by campers at the Lost Paradise music festival at Glenworth Valley in the Hawkesbury. Read more
Smith smackdown of Maxwell exposes story behind axing
Glenn Maxwell admits he can rub people up the wrong way and is not "everyone's cup of tea" and the disconnect between the maverick Victorian and Australian set-up has been laid bare by his shock axing from the one-day squad.
The selectors delivered their latest curveball of the summer by including Chris Lynn at the expense of Maxwell for five ODIs against England despite the Queenslander being unable to throw with his dominant hand due to a shoulder injury and battling a hamstring problem. Read more