Adani's proposed Carmichael coal mine has been dealt another setback, after Queensland's Environment Department rejected the mining hopeful's management plan for the black-throated finch.

The management plan is one of two approvals that need to be cleared by the State Government before work can begin on constructing the mine in the Galilee Basin.

A debate over artificial turf and its contribution to urban heat is warming up after an Adelaide council removed a ban on residents laying it on the road verge.

City of Marion councillors last week voted against staff guidelines to allow fake grass on the verge as an alternative to lawn — a practice popular across the country during the millennium drought when strict water restrictions were in place.

Another $50 will be wiped off 1.9 million household power bills as Queenslanders again enjoy the dividends from their own electricity assets.

Energy Minister Dr Anthony Lynham says the second annual $50 dividend would start to appear this week on power bills, as part of the Palasczuk Government’s Affordable Energy Plan.

Dr Lynham says this dividend, and all of the government initiatives to put downward pressure on electricity prices, are only possible because we own our electricity assets – the generation, the poles and the wires.

Public transport patronage in the south east is on track for its second year of record growth, new data has revealed.

The Queensland Government’s latest TransLink Tracker Report shows more than 45 million trips were recorded on buses, trains, light rail and ferries during the second quarter of 2018/19 being a five per cent increase compared to last year.

Indian and Bangladesh authorities have raced to complete the evacuation of more than one million people out of the path of an extreme cyclone.

The cyclone is currently heading towards the Bay of Bengal coast with winds of up to 200 kilometres per hour.

Major airports were closed in India's eastern states of Odisha and West Bengal and the railway network virtually closed down ahead of the arrival of Extremely Severe Cyclone Fani - expected to be the biggest storm to hit the region in more than two decades - on Friday morning.

A Polish tourist has been jailed for five years in Indonesia after being convicted of plotting with rebels in the east of the country.

Jakub Skrzypski, 39, was arrested in Papua province last August and accused of treason after allegedly making contacts with separatists there.

In a statement made to the BBC, skrzypski texted "I didn't have the opportunity to speak in my defence or to present any favourable evidence. I reject the trial as well as the verdict.”

A federal election candidate for the United Australia Party is in hot water for racist and sexist comments posted on social media.

United party candidate Tony Hanley, who is running for the seat of Bean in the ACT, called Saudi Arabians ‘tea towel heads’ and referred to lesbians as ‘dykes’ and ‘big fat fugly chicks’.

The posts were made to a Facebook page under Mr. Hanley’s name which have since been deleted.

Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths are facing pressure from the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) to sever their business ties to suppliers that do not comply with fair work laws.

The ACCR’s Director of Workers Rights Katie Hepworth points to the two companies consistent failure to pay their supply workers the correct amount under the law.

Woolworths has stated it has since introduced ‘targeted requirements that would only include certified labour providers in its’ supply chain.

Two koalas have been released back into the wild yesterday by Queensland researchers for a project aimed to tackle koala extinction due to habitat loss and diseases.

Amelia and El Yungo the two koalas were released through the Living Koala Genome Bank project which was designed to use proven breeding strategies to protect koalas.

Dreamworld Wildlife Foundation general manager Al Mucci says the two animals have been cleaned, treated for chlamydia and vaccinated for future infections.