Nationals senator Bridget Mckenzie will be sworn in on Wednesday as Australia’s first female agriculture minister.
Whilst the National Party’s leader Michael McCormack plans to ‘pray for rain’ as one of his drought response policies, Senator McKenzie plans to take a more practical approach.
Her strategy will include working closely with the drought taskforce to gain ‘practical responses for those farmers doing it tough’.

Torres Strait Island communities have lodged a climate change case with the United Nations human Rights Committee against the Australian federal government.

A failure to take action against the climate crisis which is destroying Torres Strait homes, infrastructure and even cemeteries have lead the islanders to take action.

They argue that the coalition government has not only steered Australia off track in meeting globally agreed climate emission reductions, but has also set us on course for a climate catastrophe.

Thousands of protesters marched in central Hong Kong on Sunday as a part of annual demonstrations demanding that China be held accountable for the 1989 Tiananmen square Massacre.

The Tiananmen crackdown is a taboo subject in China with Chinese internet companies increasingly blocking content related to the event’s 30th anniversary.

The leader of the Hong Kong democratic party said China has tried and erase these memories but the Hong Kong people have not forgotten.

An Australian man was found unconscious on the Tibetan side of Mount Everest on Wednesday, at an Altitude of 7,500 metres.

The department of foreign affairs and trade said it was “providing consular assistance to the Australian man hospitalised in Kathmandu”. 

The man was reported to be in a critical condition, but has since been stabilised.

Queensland theatre has secured the rights for the popular novel Boy Swallow’s World, which is set to premier in 2020 as part of the Brisbane Festival.

It is the first time the novel has been adapted to stage despite selling over 160,000 copies in Australia alone.

The story line centres around Brisbane during the 1980's, with lots of references and nods to lesser known suburbs.  

Author Trent Dalton says he is looking forward to local audiences being able to see a portrayal of ‘their Brisbane’.

An audit of the Clean Energy Regulator found that there are thousands of potentially unsafe and poorly installed systems on rooftops that are also likely not producing clean energy.

The audit conducted by the Australian National Audit Office reveals one in five Australian homes has solar panels but investigations found that one in six solar installations was substandard and one in 30 is unsafe.

National Reconciliation week begins today and will run until the 3rd of June with the theme this year being “grounded in truth, walk together in courage.

This years campaign is focused around establishing a truth commission so that an accurate depiction of Australia’s colonial history is established.

Reconciliation Australia’s CEO Karen Mundine says there can be no trust to build reconciliation without an open and honest conversation about our history.

Adidas is taking a step further introducing 100% recyclable shoes without any waste after making strides to reduce the use of plastic.

After a decade of research, the company has refined the process to create a shoe that melts reusable components for new pairs of shoes instead of complex material mixes and gluing.

In 2019, adidas will produce 11 million pairs of shoes containing recycled ocean plastic through intercepting plastic waste on beaches and coastal communities.