Brisbane City Council has opened a public consultation for a new Brisbane park set to become the city’s largest public park in nearly half a century.

Some residents have suggested including an old-school fountain or other water feature in the park, similar to the popular Trevi Fountain in Rome.

Brisbane lord mayor Adrian Schrinner says he wants the park to be for the people and will consider any idea no matter how ambitious it seems.

The mid-range missiles proposed by the United States for the Asia-Pacific region will not be positioned in Australia, Defence Minister Linda Reynolds says.

Senator Reynolds said the US has not requested Australia to host the missiles, and they are not expecting to receive one.

US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said the missiles are designed to deter China’s military presence which is expanding in the region.

A new survey report has found only one in three families have benefited from reduced childcare costs since a major overhaul was introduced in July last year.

Education Minister Dan Tehan said there is no doubt that the majority of families are better off, but Head of Advocacy at Goodstart says said had spiked in some rural and regional areas.

The new child care subsidies were designed so parents can find more daywork, but only one in four parents surveyed said their workload had changed.

The United States has officially pulled out of a three-decade-long nuclear missile treaty with Russia over allegations that Russia had deployed missiles that violated the agreement.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States will not observe the treaty if others violate it.

Russian officials said the range of the missiles did not violate any restrictions, and say the US is using a ploy to abandon the treaty and develop their own missiles.

The head of Brazil's national space agency has been sacked weeks after Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro accused the agency of lying about deforestation reports.

Agency chief Ricardo Galvao said his mandate was terminated early due to an “unsustainable situation” following a meeting with Brazil’s Minister of Science.

The space agency had reported a nearly 90 per cent hike in forest clearing in the Amazon since President Bolsonaro took office, with multiple science organisations backing the data.

The Queensland government has agreed to fund a new dam in the Granite Belt, home to the drought-ravaged towns of Stanthorpe and Warwick.

Granite Belt secretary Amanda Harrold said Emu Swamp dam would be relatively small, but would be life-changing for locals who are currently on extreme water restrictions. 

The project is expected to be completed by 2022 and will be the first new Queensland dam in a decade.