Tens of thousands of pre-marked ballot papers were discovered in a Malaysian warehouse

Tens of thousands of pre-marked ballot papers were discovered in a Malaysian warehouse ahead of the Indonesian election.

Indonesia’s election supervisory body has recommended a rerun of 319,000 pre-poll postal votes cast during pre-polling in Kuala Lumpur.

Bawaslu officials also recommend the dismissal of two senior election officials in Malaysia over an undisclosed ‘conflict of interest’.

Dog found swimming more than 220 kilometres from shore has been saved

Workers on an oil rig in the Gulf of Thailand have saved a dog that was found swimming more than 220 kilometres from shore.

The crew on the Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production rig rescued the dog by putting a rope around its neck and hauling it up.

After giving it food and water, the crew draped flowers over the dog and named it “Boon Rod” which is a Thai phrase that means “Survivor”.

How the dog managed to end up so far out is unknown but the crew suspects it might have fallen off a fishing trawler.

100 firefighters aiming to beat bushfire burning out of control in Adelaide

100 firefighters are at the scene of a bushfire burning out of control east of Adelaide.

Gorge Road has been closed and warnings have been given to the suburbs of Paracombe, Athelstone, Castambul and Montacute.

“We've got about 100 firefighters on this fire at the moment, what we're concerned about is once the sun comes up and we get some heat,” Country Fire Service spokesperson Alison Martin says.

A Central Queensland woman rescues and cares for hundreds of bats

A bat carer in Central Queensland dedicates her time to rescuing, caring for, and rehabilitating hundreds of bats.

Rebecca Koller has almost 600 bats in her care in Kuranda and spends almost $1000 a week to maintain their care.

Around 23,000 spectacled flying foxes — about a third of the species' population in Australia — died in the Cairns area towards the end of last year during an extreme heatwave.

Eleven vegan activists have been charged with trespassing

Detectives have charged eleven activists with trespassing in two south east Queensland locations.

The protesters will face 18 charges including trespassing and drug offences.

Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner says animal activists could face fines over $650 issued on the spot or after evidence is reviewed.

Faster help for rural Aussies with RFDS drones

The Royal Flying Doctor Service is investigating the possibility of using drone technology to give people in remote Queensland quicker access to life-saving medical care.

The drones will be used to service vast areas of outback Queensland, that the RFDS would have trouble getting to.

The service would be used to deliver emergency supplies such as anti-venom or insulin.

QLD Government trials selling the pill without prescription

Queensland Health is set to roll out a statewide trial which will allow women to access the pill when their prescription runs out without going to the doctors.

The trial will allow pharmacists to provide once-off repeat prescriptions of the contraceptive pill as well as antibiotics for urinary tract infections.

Health Minister, Steven Miles says Queensland Health would work with industry stakeholders to develop a trial.

Education QLD reports 116 cases of fraud in 2018

Looking across the country, an investigation has revealed that in 2018 there were 116 cases of fraud and theft by the Queensland Department of Education staff.

115 of those cases were fraud and at least one was a case of theft.

Queensland’s Education Minister, Grace Grace, says “there were around 90,000 people employed in the Department of Education during 2018,” and “the overwhelming majority of these employees were honest and trustworthy in the use of departmental resources.

Melbourne comedy festival strips Humphries of award namesake

Historic Australian comedian Barry Humphries’ has had his name stripped from Melbourne comedy festival’s largest award following controversial transgender comments.

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival awards the most outstanding show ‘the Barry Award’, named after Mr Humphries in 2000, but have now renamed the award when the comedian came under fire for saying that being transgender is “a fashion”.