The Queensland University of Technology has begun to issue redundancies 
in an effort to save $38 million by the end of next year as part of its COVID-19 recovery plan.

One hundred and seventy four positions will be made redundant with the majority affecting professional services and support staff, however one hundred and two new jobs will be created.

Vice-chancellor Professor Margaret Sheil issued a four-stage plan in a briefing earlier this week, notifying staff of the impending job cuts.
 

Mining company Anglo American has confirmed it will cut 100 jobs from its Grosvenor coal mine in central Queensland, with sacked mineworkers under casual employment potentially facing termination without redundancy packages.

Stephen Smyth of CMFEU’s mining branch said the union would consult with labour hire company One Key Resources and Anglo American next week.

The state health department confirms Victoria has recorded six new Coronavirus cases and zero deaths. 

The figures bring Melbourne’s rolling 14-day average of daily cases down to 8.9, with regional Victoria sitting at 0.6. 

Victorian Premier Dan Andrews’ Nobel Park electorate office has been vandalised overnight.

Vandals have targeted the office, spray painting the words ‘sack Dan’ across the front and throwing bricks at the glass windows.

Andrews is to announce updates to Melbourne’s strict Coronavirus restrictions this coming Sunday.

France has introduced tougher coronavirus regulations across the country, including a curfew on its capital Paris and eight other cities.

President Emmanuel Macron informed reporters that the 9pm to 6am shutdown will be in place for up to six weeks from Saturday.

Earlier this week, France’s government had stated it would extend the nation’s state of health emergency. 
 

Mining giant BHP has confirmed that its Chinese customers have deferred their coal orders for the time being.

The statement comes as commodity analyst S&P Global Platts reported Chinese steel producers and Chinese power firms were ordered to stop importing Australian coal.
 

Construction on the Neville Bonner Bridge has begun in Southbank, the planned bridge stretching 320 metres to connect Southbank with the CBD’s Queen’s Wharf precinct, also currently under construction.

Slated as the first new Brisbane bridge in over a decade, the bridge is named after late Indigenous Senator Neville Bonner, who was the first Aboriginal Australian to become a member of Parliament.

Filming for a new TV show based on Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s formative years has begun in Brisbane, with Bradley Constant starring as “The Rock” aged 15.

Filmed in Strathpine, the Moreton Bay Regional Council has taken care to inform locals about potential disruptions and restrictions due to filming.

Mayor Peter Flannery has fast-tracked film procedures and processes so that filming could start quickly, and is hopeful that this show will attract more Hollywood and film productions to the region.