The south-west metro extension will open on Friday 30 October, more than two years after the former T3 heavy rail line closed

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A long-awaited extension to Sydney’s metro line will open next week, bringing an end to more than two years of replacement buses for residents in the city’s south-west.

In a video shared on Instagram on Thursday morning, the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, announced that the south-west metro extension would open on Friday 30 October. In a statement, the government said the first service would commence at 4.31am.

Australia-first laws provide a third legal option other than burial and cremation for the treatment of bodies

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Several New South Wales MPs say they want their own bodies turned into “human compost” after Australian-first laws were passed allowing the unusual practice.

The laws, passed on Wednesday, provide a third legal option other than burial and cremation for the treatment of bodies.