Three passengers are dead and two have been rescued, after a boat capsized off the Newcastle coast.  

A sixteen year-old girl and her father were the sole survivors of the incident, while three other passengers, including the girl’s grandparents, drowned in the rough waters. 

The survivors were taken to John Hunter Hospital to be treated for hypothermia.

Liberal National Party Member Tim Mander sponsors a local petition to keep a green space area north of Brisbane.

The petition with over 1560 signatures aims to retain part of The Warner Investigation Area as rural residential land. 

Save Our Community Warner group says the environmental studies of the area are inaccurate and downplay how many animals are in the area.

Brisbane Police have cautioned frustrated drivers against abusing or attacking climate change activists during the week-long protests planned for next week.

On Thursday, over 40 activists were met with a chorus of car horns after blocking five intersections in Brisbane’s CBD during peak hour.

Inspector Steve Collins said potential vigilante reprisals were included in the police plans for managing the demonstrations.

Raids to arrest at least 2000 undocumented migrants are scheduled to begin on Sunday across the United States in an operation backed by US president Donald Trump. 

The raids will be conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and families who are arrested together will be detained in family detention centres in Texas and Pennsylvania.

According to Trump’s administration, the goal of the raid’s is to use the operation as a show of force to deter families from approaching the southwestern border. 

The United States is working on forming a military coalition to protect commercial shipping off the coast of Iran and Yemen, amid increasing tensions in the Gulf.

The US’ proposal would involve a coalition of nations patrolling strategic waters in the Gulf area and the sea between the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, according to the chairman of the US’ Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

A fifth of the globe’s oil exports pass through these waters, and the move presents the potential for conflict with Iran.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has been urged to rule out supporting the National Parties vow to de-gazette the Murray Valley National park, following the deputy premier's announcement. 

NSW Environment Minister, Matt Kean said the government was committed to protecting the national environment. 

The Labour party has demanded that Gladys Berejiklian rule out liberal party support for a national bill that would open the park to logging.

A class action is underway to recover stolen or missing wages of Indigenous workers in Western Australia. 

The WA government withheld up to three quarters of wages earned by Aboriginal workers until 1972. 

This news comes as Prime Minister, Scott Morrison announced the Queensland State Government will pay nearly $200 million to former Indigenous workers and their descendants to recover three decades of stolen wages.

A study conducted by researchers from QUT’s Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety has found nearly half the rides taken on hired e-scooters in Brisbane were illegal. 

The study conducted in February found 45 per cent of people using e-scooters were riding illegally, either because they weren’t wearing a helmet, they rode on the road or were carrying a passenger.

Study lead Professor Narelle Haworth says not wearing a helmet was the main form of illegal riding, with 39 per cent of those observed not wearing head protection. 

Facial recognition technology could be banned in Brisbane after lord mayor Adrian Schrinner announced his desire to investigate its use in the city.

Schrinner made the surprise announcement immediately after listening to a speech given by former Amazon chief scientist Andreas Weigend at the 2019 Asia Pacific Cities Summit in Brisbane on Tuesday morning.

Dr Weigend says San Francisco, California, has recently banned facial recognition technology in a bid to preserve citizen privacy.