Australian universities RMIT and Murdoch have cut ties with Prince Andrew’s Pitch@Palace program following his disastrous BBC interview during which he was questioned about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

The Pitch@Palace competition aims to match young entrepreneurs with influential business leaders, and will not be continuing at the universities in 2020. 

Both institutes informed Buckingham Palace of their decisions to end the programs, stating their commitment to providing a safe and inclusive place to study.

Westpac’s failure to obey anti-money laundering and counter-terror finance laws allowed a customer to make payments to a person in the Philippines, who was later arrested for child sex trafficking and live-streaming child sex shows. 

The national bank has been accused of 23 million breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.

A group of 6800 Queenslanders is calling for New South Wales Supreme Court Justice Robert Beech-Jones to make a decision before Christmas on their almost nine-year class action for compensation from Seqwater for damage to their homes in the 2011 floods. 

Justice Beech-Jones retired in March 2019 to consider the evidence presented during the trial, which began in the NSW Supreme Court in December  2017.

Australia’s first national, not for profit legal watchdog for the environment, launches today to ensure Queensland’s environmental laws observed and enforced. 

CEO of the Environmental Defenders Office, David Morris, said the environmental problems facing Australia aren’t bound by state or territory lines.

US diplomat Ambassador Gordon Sondland has told the impeachment inquiry that he followed President Trump’s orders to put pressure on Ukraine to investigate his Democratic rival, Joe Biden. 

Mr Sondland, the US Ambassador to the EU, told the US House of Representatives the instruction came from Mr Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who also sought a public statement from Ukraine announcing a probe into “corruption issues”. 

A vegan Burger King customer, Philip Williams, is suing the fast-food chain after cooking its plant-based patties on the same grills it uses for meat.

Mr Williams claims the way the Impossible Whopper burger is cooked leaves it “coated in meat by-products”.

The lawsuit Mr Williams filed says Burger King does not clearly advertise their plant-based burgers are cooked with meat.

A spokeswoman from the supplier, Impossible Foods, says vegetarians and vegans are welcome to ask for their vegan burgers to be cooked in a microwave.

Cash payments provided to those most affected by the recent bushfires in Toowoomba and Coffs Harbour will be extended to $1000 per adult and $400 per child.

Minister for National Disaster and Emergency Management, David Littleproud, says these payments will be on top of the assistance already provided to people in affected areas.

Mr Littleproud says further support will be available for bushfire affected communities as needed.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are being encouraged to support efforts to reduce violence against women ahead of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on the 25th of November.

The Stop it at the Start campaign is designed to support communities to talk with young people about respect.

Nyawaygi woman Lani Brennan is a domestic violence survivor who believes the campaign is important to the community.

Queensland's combined dam level capacity has fallen to 60 per cent in the south-east of the state for the first time in 11 years. 

External relations manager Mike Foster said it was at the lowest level since the Millenium drought broke back in 2008 and the region's largest dam, Wivenhoe Dam north of Brisbane, has fallen below 50 per cent.

"We are certainly not in dire straits from a water supply perspective, but as of today, the first phase of our drought-response plan for the region is being implemented," Mr Foster said.