Indigenous community pushes for freehold land

The mayor of Indigenous community Woorabinda in central Queensland is pushing for their land to be converted from a government lease to freehold, and claims it's like still living on a mission’. 

Woorabinda Aboriginal Shire Council Mayor Cheyne Wilkie says little has changed as the land is still a reserve and residents can’t own land or by a house. 

"But as the mayor of the Woorabinda Shire Council, I need to start asking the questions of when they will release us from the shackles and chains,” Mr Wilkie said.

Man has 15-year-old tapeworm removed

Doctors were shocked to discover 12cm tapeworm had been eating away at a 36-year-old Chinese man’s brain for 15 years.

The man’s health quickly deteriorated, suffering regular seizures and muscle weakness before deciding to have brain surgery to have the tapeworm removed. 

Dr Gu Youming, a deputy director at Guangdong 999 Brain Hospital said he suspected Mr Wang had eaten snails or another exotic meat that had not been cooked properly.

Antarctic melting to drive rapid sea rise

Scientists from the Australian National University (ANU) analysed data from the last interglacial, to estimate what impact human-driven climate change will have. 

The study’s co-author Fiona Hibbert says, in today’s greenhouse-gas-driven climate change, rapid atmospheric and oceanic warming is happening in both polar regions at the same time and driving simultaneous ice-loss in Antarctica and Greenland. 

Underpaying company directors face bans

The federal government is considering implementing measures to ban directors of companies underpaying their employees, following a series of high profile cases. 

Attorney-General Christian Porter says he’s considering ‘beefing up’ the Fair Work Ombudsman’s power because “Corporate Australia has been asleep at the wheel.” 

"These organisations have a massive amount of time, energy and resources devoted to ensuring they don't pay a cent more tax than they have to," Mr Porter said.

Qantas plans redundancies amidst restructuring

Qantas confirmed it will be cutting jobs in head office, but hasn’t said how many people will be affected. 

The news comes after the head of human resources Lesley Grant, announced her retirement at the end of this year. 

Reports emerged that approximately 1200 jobs could be cut, however, a Qantas spokesperson confirmed these to be false. 

Teachers fail to cater to disabled students

After an array of disturbing evidence from parents who say their children were relentlessly bullied, the disability royal commission has been told some teachers are reportedly ‘resisting diversity’ in their classroom, yesterday. 

Loren Swancutt, regional head of the special education service, says at least one school in Queensland has not yet introduced disabled students in their classrooms. 

$80 million spent on Brisbane metro project

Figures released by the council reveal Brisbane City Council has spent 80$ million on its flagship Brisbane Metro public transport project, with the highest amounts dedicated to design and land purchases.

The Brisbane Metro project, announced in 2016, is still waiting for approval from the state government. 

Deputy mayor Krista Adams said costs to date would be "standard at this point for an almost-billion-dollar infrastructure project".

Syrup: The Sponge EP

- When Harry met Henry is not a sequel to, nor a parody of Rob Reiner’s 1989 classic When Harry Met Sally. Harry Pratt was creating synth-based melodies around mid-2018 in Brisbane though without a “voice” for the project he was formulating from his room. Connecting with childhood friend Henry Anderson added not only a dedicated guitarist but a vocalist with moody, baritone level vocals; and thus, Syrup was born.

Alcest: Spiritual Instinct

- Although French black metal band Alcest started out making suitably cold, abrasive music, it didn’t take long before dreamier soundscapes entered the picture. The result was an apparent contradiction, black metal dappled with sunlight and a sense of wonder – and it worked.