Conservative Coalition MPs emboldened by strong support from religious voters at the election are pushing the Morrison government for more radical and far-reaching religious freedom provisions in forthcoming laws.

Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce wants laws to exempt religious beliefs from employment contracts .

Two of the biggest right-wing unions have swung their support behind Chris Minns for the NSW Labor leadership.

The Health Services Union  and the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees' Association  will back Mr Minns for the leadership over his contender Jodi McKay, believing he has the best chance of winning the election.

The move is seen as significant within the party's senior ranks, as Ms McKay is the preferred candidate of the party's Sussex Street head office, led by general secretary Kaila Murnain.

Millions of dollars of unused fares left on cancelled Go Cards will be taken by the government, unless it’s claimed by the rightful owners.

A right to information  has revealed nearly half a million Go Cards have been cancelled.

The cards, first introduced in 2005, are loaded by commuters and used to pay for train and bus transport across South East Queensland.

Brisbane woke up to its coldest May morning in more than a decade on Wednesday, with chilly temperatures expected to blast the south-east until the weekend.

The Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Adam Blazak said Wednesday had been Brisbane's coldest May morning since 2006, with the mercury plummeting to 7.7 degrees.

Cold temperatures records for May tumbled around the state on Wednesday, in particular Bundaberg, where it was 5.5 degrees – the coldest May day for more than 50 years.

At least seven people have died when a tourist boat with South Korean tourists on board capsized on the Danube river in Budapest, Hungary, with several others taken to hospital.

Local media reported approximately  14 people had been lifted from the river after Wednesday night's accident, seven of them dead.

The Danube is flooding, with strong currents, and there is heavy rain in Budapest which makes rescue efforts difficult.

Israel is heading to the polls for a second time this year after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to put together a ruling coalition.

In April Mr Netanyahu appeared set for a fifth term after his Likud Party won 35 of the Knesset's 120 seats, even though he faces possible indictment in three corruption cases.

But despite weeks of negotiations he failed to overcome divisions between secular and religious allies and in the early hours of Thursday, parliament voted by 74-45 to dissolve itself.

The law farm,Slater and Gordon is preparing a class action against bench-top manufacturers with an alarming number of workers developing potentially lung diseases from exposure to silica dust.

Slater and Gordon says companies that make artificial stone have failed to properly warn workers about the severe health risks their products pose and how it must be handled to avoid harm.

They are planning a national class action on behalf of affected workers, with at least 135 stonemasons diagnosed with silicosis in Victoria and Queensland alone.

Labor's Jim Chalmers is in line to become the party's next shadow treasurer when MPs meet for the first time since their federal election loss to elect a new frontbench.

The caucus gathering in Canberra on Thursday around noon will pick 30 members for the shadow ministry.

leaving incoming leader Anthony Albanese to allocate portfolios ahead of a public announcement on Sunday or Monday.

After more than 1 million rides through Brisbane streets, electric Lime scooters have been the subject of 427 complaints from residents to Brisbane City Council.

The council couldn't break down all of the complaints into particular topics other than "non-specific complaints", "safety of pedestrians" and "driver behaviour".

Nearly 80 complaints were made about pedestrian safety, and 28 about driver behaviour.