NSW senior government water officials admitted in a meeting on the 10th of January that unregulated floodplain harvesting by irrigators in the Northern part of the drought-stricken Murray Darling river basin was illegal. 
 
In minutes obtained by the NSW Shooters, fishers and farmers party, water officials outlined the legality of harvesting floodwaters, a common practice in the region which accounts for a significant portion of the water used by mostly cotton farmers in the northern part of the basin. 
 

In wake of the death of a 4-year-old girl at Cannon Hill and the alleged neglect of two youths, 17 and 19 years at Stafford.  The Minister for Child Safety Di Farmer yesterday announced an independent investigation into the alleged neglect of three this week in Brisbane.
 
Ms Farmer said she had asked for an investigation into the incidents to be carried out by Cheryl Vardon, the Chief Executive and Principal Commissioner of the Queensland Family and Child Commission
 

It is estimated that two-thirds of News Corp journalists have been made redundant, after the restructuring of 100 regional and community newspapers. 

Jumping to twitter, many posted about how these newspapers, trained some of Australia’s now-senior Journalists. 

The decision to move to purely digital has proved to be the biggest disturbance to Queensland regional newspapers in over a century
 

Researchers at France's National Institute for agricultural research have discovered some interesting behaviours of bees.

Pollen deprived bumble bees have been observed nipping the leaves of plants in crops, which sees flowers from the damaged plants, moving up to 30 days earlier than their usual cycle.

Researchers are still unsure about how biting the leaves of these plants speeds up the blooming process.

The behaviour is believed to be the bees response to a shortage of pollen. 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned the coronavirus pandemic has not subsided and is still in its first wave.

The statement came in as social distancing restrictions in Brazil subside despite the country having nearly 350,000 coronavirus infections - second only to the U.S.

The country has counted only 23,000 deaths, but many fear the actual number is a lot higher.

The Cross River Rail Development is soon reaching its peak construction point and is expected to support around 3000 jobs through contracting.

State Development Minister, Kate Jones, says the cross river rail development will deliver many local benefits for Queensland companies and for local companies.

Their projects’ infrastructure, including 10.2 kilometres of rail, is expected to be completed by 2024.

Local contractors who wish to contribute to the project should apply at https://crossriverrail.qld.gov.au/

A Sydney delivery rider has gone to the Fair Work Commission to sue delivery giant, Deliveroo, on the grounds of unfair dismissal.

Deliveroo stated Diego Franco frequently took significantly longer to complete a high number of deliveries, and issued him with a dismissal on 23 April.

Diego Franco, who moved to Sydney from Brazil three years ago, contends that his deliveries were slow and that he did not receive any notification before his contract was terminated.

Brisbane band Powderfinger's online reunion concert has raised almost $500 000 for charity support in the music and art industries affected by COVID-19.

The band, reunited after ten years, delighted fans with a video receiving over 500 000 views.

The band was supporting charity Support Act, which provides mental health support to people in the music industry, and the national hotline for anxiety, depression, and suicide - Beyond Blue.

The RNA Beef Committee has announced the return of its prime beef competition, following the cancellation of this year’s Ekka show due to COVID-19 social distancing and public gathering restrictions.

The competition will now take place at Silverdale Saleyards in Queensland’s Scenic Rim on Thursday 6 August.

Located an hour away from the Ekka’s original location in Brisbane, entries for the competition are now open and will close on Friday 26th of June. Enter by visiting the website at ekka.com.au/competitions.