9AM Zedlines
Glenda and Tash present Monday's 9AM Zedlines
Lord mayor wants Brisbane Metro to extend to airport
Brisbane lord mayor Adrian Schrinner has proposed expanding the Brisbane Metro project to Brisbane Airport, despite the first stage of the $944 million dollar project not yet having broken ground.
The exact design of the metro vehicles has not yet been finalised nor a successful tenderer announced, but Counsellor Schrinner on Sunday said he wanted them to run all the way to the airport.
Queensland Police carrying acetone to remove climate protesters who glue themselves to roads
Queensland Police officers can now carry bottles of nail polish remover to deal with environmental protesters following a recent surge in demonstrators gluing themselves to roads.
Last Friday, Connor James Brooks, 18, received a stern warning in a Brisbane Court after he was arrested for supergluing himself and a friend to the Victoria Bridge and disrupting CBD traffic as part of an "Extinction Rebellion" demonstration.
Dozens of climate change protesters arrested over Melbourne bridge blockade
Victoria Police have arrested 36 people after they refused to end their blockade of a bridge in central Melbourne.
Dozens of climate protesters on a mission to shut down a bridge in Melbourne's CBD have been arrested while the rest have since packed up and left.
"A number of protestors complied but police had to arrest 36 protestors who refused to leave the roadway," said a spokesperson from Victoria Police.
Plans to tighten character test wins Senate committee approval despite deportation concerns
A parliamentary committee has recommended that a bill on a strengthened character test for visa applicants be passed in the Senate.
The measures would widen the grounds for visa cancellation and refusal; and make it easier to deport tens of thousands of migrants.
Under the proposed changes to Section 501 of the Migration Act 1958, visa-holders who have committed a crime that carries a maximum sentence of at least two years, such as common assault, will automatically fail the character test, even if they are not sentenced to jail.
US Effort Increases to Counter China’s Increasing Military Power
An American warship approached the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea on Friday to assert the nation's freedom of navigation in these international waters.
This was a strategic move by the Pentagon to counter the Chinese government's claim to the seas around the island chain- amidst Beijing's increasing military power that is seen as a growing threat.
The Chinese government’s claim states that it is "not permitted by international law" for other countries to make "innocent passage" through the seas around this region.
Trump Comes to Kavanaugh's Defence in New Sexual Misconduct Allegation
US President Donald Trump took to Twitter to defend Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Sunday, as a response to an inflammatory tweet made by the "New York Times" regarding another sexual misconduct allegation.
The President staunchly refuted the allegations by claiming that the emerging evidence was another dishonest attempt by "Radical Left Democrats" at launching Kavanaugh's impeachment.
8AM Zedlines
Hugh and Tash present Monday's 8AM Zedlines
Sampa The Great - 'The Return'
Zambian-born, Botswana-raised and now Melbourne-based artist, MC and poet Sampa The Great reveals her highly anticipated album The Return, out today via Ninja Tune. A culmination of self rediscovery & spiritual recharge, The Return arrives ahead of Sampa’s Australian tour this October, where she will bare her most authentic and affirming body of work across the country’s most iconic stages.
A 19-track tribute, The Return sees Sampa delve into conversations of freedom, expression, heritage and displacement that have filled a four year journey towards finding home within herself. It is a walk beyond journeying to self-discovery, rather a formative climb to enlightenment and contentment fuelled by her experiences as an artist in Australia and the physical, spiritual and cultural influences of her ancestors and birthplace in Zambia. Described by Sampa herself as a series of wake up calls, the road to forging a sense of place and peace came in both re-telling her return to home and the realisation of her final form, while accomplished sound, poignant lyricism and Sampa’s unmistakable rhymes underscore the steps between that lead us to The Return.
LNP loses final legal bid to keep donations up to $13,500 secret
Queensland's Liberal National Party has lost its final legal bid to keep political donations less than $13,500 off the official register.
In Queensland, every donation to a political party exceeding $1000 has to be made public but under federal law only donations over $13,500 must be disclosed.
The former Newman government had raised the donation declaration threshold from $1000 to $12,400 in 2012, arguing it made the two thresholds consistent, but the Palaszczuk (PAL-uh-shay) government changed it back to $1000 in 2015.