The Queensland government has spent more than $155,000 on legal experts over the sacking of the Ipswich and Logan councils.

Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchcliffe says they were obtaining legal advice over the sacking of 15 people from the Ipswich City Council who were charged with a combined total of 86 criminal offences. 

A further $10,000 was spent on advice relating to Logan City Council, where Logan mayor Luke Smith and seven councillors were charged over the dismissal of the council's chief executive officer Sharon Kelsey.

A circus in Adelaide has been shut down following two performers suffering serious injuries in separate incidents within a week.

Stunt bike rider Bentang Sejarah broke his back in three places and suffered serious facial injuries performing a jump, while earlier in the week aerial performer Gabby Souza fell 8.5m from a hoop to break her wrist and dislocate both elbows.

Australian mining giant BHP will spend $571 million to reduce carbon emissions in its own and their customer’s  operations in plans announced on Tuesday.

BHP CEO Andrew Mackenzie says the need for climate action is indisputable and carbon pricing is not enough, with a ‘coordinated global response’ required. 

Customers of BHP’s products produced 580 million tonnes of carbon between 2017 and 2018, with the company maintaining long-term goal of achieving net-zero emissions by mid-century.

Kenya’s Finance Minister Henry Rotich has pleaded not guilty to 10 charges of corruption over the awarding of $640 million worth of contracts to an Italian company for the construction of two dams in the country. 

Mr Rotich is among 28 officials charged by the country’s chief prosecutor over the scandal, with more than $300 million spent on two dams that are yet to begin construction. 

A study has found malaria parasites resistant to key drugs are spreading rapidly in South East Asia, with half of patients in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam not responding to first-choice treatment. 

Professor Olivo Miotto, from the University of Oxford, says the “resistant parasite strain is capable of invading new territories and acquiring new genetic properties.

A similar resistance to a long-time front-line malaria drug, chloroquine, contributed to millions of deaths across Africa in the 1980s.

Scissors, box cutters and a knife in a holster were among the dozens of weapons seized from visitors to the Queensland Parliament. 

In the past year at Parliament House, over 95,000 people were screened with 186 visitors surrendering banned items and seven security incidents requiring police to be called. 

Speaker of the Queensland Parliament Curtis Pitt says the quantity and nature of last year’s incidents is not abnormal.

South-East Queensland could be nominated to host the 2032 Olympic Games with the Queensland and federal governments joining forces to investigate the possibility.

Federal MP Ted O'Brien says the Brisbane and Gold Coast regions are tourism meccas that would appeal to the International Olympic Committee, who will make the final call.

Queensland Premier Anastacia Palaszczuk will chair a new taskforce that will use a $20 million budget to envisage and examine the costs of hosting the event.

A proposal to end a decade-long dispute over the radioactive contamination of properties on Sydney’s north shore has been rejected by residents and council. 

Council voted against a recommendation by its own consultants to “encapsulate” the low-level radioactive materials in cement “cells” and store it onsite. 

Nelson Parade Action Group member Philippa Clark says residents feel the plan would have made lives worse, with the proposed cells making stigma permanent and impacted houses unsellable.

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack says unemployed regional Australians should show some ‘innovative spirit’ and move towns to find a job. 

Responding to calls to raise the Newstart allowance, Mr McCormack says the payment was designed to be a safety net during transitions between jobs.

The Australian Council of Social Services has rejected the Deputy PM’s comments, with acting CEO Jacqueline Phillips saying many regional jobs are temporary, making moving a big gamble.