State of the Nation | Sunday, January 22, 2017

► TANUNDA: Hundreds turned out for Bedford Noodle Market’s return to Peter Lehmann Wines yesterday evening. See the photos.

► MOUNT ISA: The phasing out of Centrelink’s Schoolkids Bonus means single mothers have lost around 10 per cent of the money they received on welfare compared to last year, says Bob Katter. Read more.

► TAMWORTH: Take a look at some of the highlights from day 2 of the Tamworth Country Music Festival. See the photos.

► WA: Pauline Hanson’s much-publicised arrival in WA has descended into disarray, with the One Nation leader refusing to answer questions on her candidates’ pasts, as well as appearing confused over which electorates candidates will run for in the WA state election. Read more.

► MUSWELLBROOK: Gerry Loadsman’s HSC drama film was so outstanding it was selected to screen at the Board of Studies’ OnStage events in Sydney in February – until a 20-second version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow got in the way. Read more.

► WARRNAMBOOL: Hundreds of people - young and old - attended the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic fan appreciation day at the Flying Horse Inn Bar and Brewery on Saturday. See the photos.

► BALLARAT: The crowds loved it, the beer brewers hailed it and the organisers were thrilled as the fifth Ballarat Beer Festival took hold of the city on Saturday. Read more.​

► International passengers would be whisked through immigration and customs without stopping or even encountering humans, while passport scanners and paper cards would be a thing of the past, under a radical overhaul of Australia's airports due to start this year. Read more.

► James Ashby is the name on everyone's lips – as long as those lips aren't identified. Read more.

► A three-month-old boy has become the fifth person to die after Friday's Bourke Street car rampage. Read more.

► WASHINGTON: Donald Trump's ascendancy to the White House has been met with a tidal wave of protest across the country, with hundreds of thousands flooding Washington DC and huge crowds in other cities across the United States and the world. Read more.

► DUBAI: Do big investments in solar energy point to a different future for the oil-rich nations of the Middle East? Read more.

When Madonna and Lyle Connolly purchased Bonus Downs, south-west of Mitchell in 1990, everybody in the district thought they were mad.

The homestead was hidden behind a wall of overgrown grass and weeds and there were no steps to access the broken verandah and empty home.

No woman had lived at the home since 1957 and it had been completely empty in the years before their arrival. Read more.