Tolls are to be removed on the Go Between Bridge when work begins to make the Victoria Bridge car-free in mid-2021.

The decision was announced as the state government finally reached an agreement with Brisbane City Council over the $1.2 billion Brisbane Metro busway project, with council and Transurban to foot the toll expenses. 

Tolls will be waived due to the Victoria Bridge construction diverting more motorists over to the Go Between bridge. 

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has sent an accidental email sharing the personal email addresses of over 1000 Australians who are still stuck overseas due to Covid-19.

DFAT officials have acknowledged the fault and recalled the original email while urging unintended recipients to delete it. 

The email had been issued to those wishing to apply for the Financial Hardship program however all recipients were not blind carbon copied, allowing the approximately 1200 email addresses to be visible to all who received it.

The Victorian Government is being called upon to offer their Vic Emergency app and its warnings in languages other than English as bushfire season approaches.

In the LOTE agency’s most recent study, significant failings were identified in the way bushfire information was delivered to people who did not speak or understand English well.

Emergency Management Victoria acknowledged that the Vic Emergency app is currently only available in English, with multicultural community leaders voluntarily stepping up to fill the gap until other languages are offered.

France’s environment minister has announced the gradual ban on using wild animals in travelling circuses, keeping dolphins and killer whales in marine park captivity and raising mink on fur farms.

The transition will be spread over several years with the French Government to offer an 8 million-euro package to assist people working in these industries in finding other jobs.

The new regulations will not apply to the use of wild animals in permanent shows or zoos. 

Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has urged his ‘friend’ Scott Morrison to promise greater action to limit Australia's carbon emissions. 

Earlier this month, Scott Morrison refused to commit to a target of zero net emissions by 2050 - a goal adopted by all Australian states and the federal opposition.

Mr Bainimarama said clear targets were essential and not aimless, and backed by science with Fiji being one of the first countries to agree to the Paris Agreement to combat climate change.

The European Union has issued advice to the nations to increase surveillance on potential outbreaks of bird flu, following outbreaks amongst migrating wild and domestic birds.

This warning comes in the midst of an already harrowing year due to COVID-19, and over a decade since the last outbreak of bird flu.

While risk of transmission from avians to humans is low, European Union nations are still advised to be cautious, by monitoring known outbreaks and by not handling wild or domestic birds without protective gear.