The Queensland Government has extended the deadline for a royalties agreement with Adani, which was due yesterday.

The government and the Adani coal mine have now mutually agreed to push back the deadline to November 30.

However, Adani says that construction is not dependent on the Royalty Deferral and Repayment Agreement, meaning construction may begin before the new deadline.

Image: Brisbane Times

The Morrison government has announced more than 300 sites, including churches, schools and community groups, have joined the national redress scheme for victims of child sex abuse.

Social Services Minister Anne Ruston said she “expect[s] all relevant institutions to join the scheme as quickly as possible so that survivors can access the redress”.

“It is completely unacceptable for any institution where child sexual abuse has occurred to shirk their responsibilities,” she said.

More than 500,000 Australians will have access to cheaper treatment from today, as medicines for lung cancer, leukaemia, seizures or nerve pain and high cholesterol levels are added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Professor Stephen Clarke from the Northern Cancer Institute said the addition of lung cancer treatments to the PBS will help close the treatment access gap.

“We are still seeing unacceptable differences in lung cancer survival rates depending on postcode,” Professor Clarke said.

Forever 21, the teenage clothing emporium in the US shopping center has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday.

The chain said it plans to overhaul its global operations and close some stores in the United States and withdraw from “most of its international locations in Asia and Europe.” The company has 800 stores worldwide and will continue to operate in Mexico and Latin America.

On Friday, the United States issued several reports, and US President Donald Trump is considering delisting Chinese companies from the American Stock Exchange.

According to reports, the move will be part of a broader effort to limit US investment in Chinese companies, in part because of security concerns.

Gregori Volokhine, the financial services strategist told the news agency AFP that the threat is aimed at increasing the pressure on Beijing to ask for bargaining.

Doctors and nurses are demanding immediate action from the government in what they describe as a crisis in aged care.

The Australian Medical Association and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation are demanding mandatory minimums for staff-to-resident ratios, greater investment in home care and increased Medicare rebates for GPs working in aged care.

AMA president Tony Bartone said 16,000 Australians died while waiting for a home care package last year, while nearly 120,000 were waiting for a package that would meet their needs.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says her government will look at scrapping lockout laws in the Sydney CBD.

A report by the Joint Select Committee on Sydney’s Night-time Economy says while the laws have worked effectively to reduce alcohol-fuelled violence, they have damaged Sydney’s night-time business and culture.

“We always need to find the right balance between community safety and boosting the night-time economy,” Ms Berejiklian said.

South-East Queensland is turning to urban agriculture to grow food for the area and create a more green city. 

Taking advantage of Brisbane’s unused urban estate areas, farms such as Millen Farm are equipping locals with the skills to produce food on a small scale.

Millen Farm was built on an old CSIRO research station four years ago, and after gradual rehabilitation of the soil, it operates as a not-for-profit business and commercial  organic farm.

A court has heard that Clive Palmer’s nickel refinery was trading insolvently until administrators were called in to assist. 

An insolvency expert told the Brisbane Supreme Court that Queensland Nickel, which has now collapsed, was incurring losses as early as October 2015.

Justice Debra Mullins said that proving that the refinery was still insolvent in January 2016 was the main purpose of the trial, which continues today.

Image: Katherine Times