How to deal with spring weeds before they take over your garden
As Australia faces the springtime sun, it is peak season for wildflowers, exotic annuals and native shrubs. It is also a great time for weeds.
Gavin McGrath
After more than a decade and a half working the beat as a newspaper reporter, Gavin McGrath brings an eye (and an ear) for what's newsworthy, interesting and just plain unusual in regional Australia to ABC Local Radio.
Growing up in regional South Australia and Victoria, Gavin was a relative latecomer to news journalism (he actually wanted to be a fighter pilot) but studied communications at Deakin University in Warrnambool and has since worked for the Herald Sun (five years) and The Courier in Ballarat (eight years). Prior to becoming a staff reporter, he worked within the motoring industry and as a motorsport scribe at racetracks around Australia.
Latest by Gavin McGrath
Who wins your vote for the 2026 ABC Australian Insect of the Year?
Experts have nominated two butterflies, a pair of beetles, a signal fly and a glow-worm as 2026 ABC Insect of the Year finalists. Now you get to help decide the winner.
Ten of the best waterfalls in Victoria to fall in love with
Victoria's recent wet weather and record rainfall have created the best conditions to check out some of the state's waterfalls.
Push to declare garden favourite sold at Bunnings a weed
The Invasive Species Council wants the common sweet pea plant, Polygala myrtifolia, with its pretty purple flowers recognised as a significant weed and removed from sale.
Community remembers those lost in one of Australia's worst mining disasters
A new memorial installed near an abandoned mine in central Victoria remembers the 22 men who died in one of Australia's worst mining disasters.
How brighter, safer headlights may cause problems for other drivers
Bright LED headlights improve visibility for motorists and make them significantly safer at night, but what about the driver coming the other way?
What Australia would have looked like when the dinosaurs roamed
Palaeontologists say evidence pointing to Australia's polar past shows that many dinosaurs roamed the country when the south east was still within the Antarctic Circle.
Shed weight, go slow and pump up your tyres to save on fuel
How to reduce your petrol bill by changing your driving technique and tinkering with your car.
Murray-Darling Basin's apex predator back from the brink
Murray cod numbers have bounced back across much of Victoria and NSW, and that's good news for the whole Murray-Darling Basin ecosystem.
Authors turn to self-publishing as big publishers look to cut costs
Is your dream to become the next JK Rowling or Stephanie Meyer? A new wave of writers is turning to self-publishing to turn fantasy into reality.
Earth's low orbit is becoming cluttered with high-velocity space junk
Thousands of satellites are being launched into space at low Earth orbit, joining hundreds of thousands of pieces of space junk, and it's becoming a real problem.
Survey shows successful reintroduction of eastern quolls to mainland Australia
Once dubbed the Australian "native cat", the eastern quoll was abundant before it was completely wiped out on mainland Australia.
Every old home tells a story. Here's how to find yours
When Billy Harraway-Jones dug into the history of his family home, he discovered a saga of courtship and marriage in a new world, and of life and death on the Australian goldfields.
The firefighting aircraft protecting you this bushfire season
They are an eclectic mix but this diverse fleet of helicopters, water bombers and planes is ready to protect south-eastern Australia.
Who's thriving? Who's barely surviving? A guide to Australia's native parrots
Australia is the land of the parrot — few places in the world have such a dazzling array of colourful and clever members of the psittacine family.
Insect of the year votes are in and bug lovers are all a-flutter
What flies like a helicopter and devours mosquitoes? Meet the 2025 ABC Australian Insect of the Year.
Bug Hunt calls on Australia's volunteer citizen scientists to join in
Australia's photographic natural database is about to get a big boost as citizen scientists are urged to join a national search.
Vote for your favourite Australian Insect of the Year
Whether you love beetles or the giant mantis it's time to cast your vote for Australia's top insect.
Australia's top rail journeys for tourists wanting to take it all in
Forget about being crammed on a suburban train, the real romance of rail is found through luxury long-distance inland trips or journeys back in time.
Back when even foreign luxury cars were Australian-made
Nearly a decade after the final Australian-made car rolled out of a factory in South Australia, many people remember that Holdens and Fords were built here. But did you know Renaults, Ramblers and other foreign cars were also put together by Australian workers?
Wonderland of native fungi springs to life during winter
A mysterious world of colourful toadstools, ghostly mushrooms and bizarre white "cages" has emerged from the gloom.
When Erika burns for the solstice these locals party like Vikings
Cape Clear is nowhere near the ocean, but it has a lighthouse and a "Viking longship" that residents plan to set alight for the winter solstice.
Harsh economic realities doomed these ghost towns
Once thriving with mining, farming or railways, it all came to an end in these places. Such is the history of Australia's many ghost towns.
There are trillions of them, and they're hard at work across Australia
Australia's native ants do an incredible amount of environmental and agricultural heavy lifting. Here are 10 of our mighty little workers.
Deep sea photos reveal the otherworldly creatures of Bass Canyon
Four kilometres below the surface of the Tasman Sea is a strange world inhabited by even stranger creatures. In its autumn voyage, the CSIRO's Research Vessel Investigator took a closer look.