Labor leader Bill Shorten is promising bigger tax cuts for those earning less than $40,000 a year, adding that his party will add billions in health spending if they win the May election.

Mr Shorten will use his budget reply speech on Thursday night to lay the foundation for an election campaign fought on fairness and Medicare.

Labor has already promised to match the government's plan to provide taxpayers earning up to $125,000 with an offset worth up to $1080 per week.

Sick Queenslanders will find it easier to gain access to medicinal cannabis after the government dismissed state-based approvals.

According to Health Minister Steven Miles, the law aims to streamline the prescription process, enabling patients to acquire their treatment sooner.

He added that medicinal cannabis will now be treated like any other prescription drug.

Britain’s parliament has approved legislation that forces Prime Minister Theresa May to try and further delay Brexit to avoid leaving the EU without a deal on April 12.

Opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn, criticised May’s efforts, saying that the Prime Minister had not done enough in negotiations aimed at breaking the deadlock over Britain’s exit.

The two party leaders met on Wednesday to try and come up with a solution, of which Mr Corbyn said the meeting was “useful but inconclusive.”

Researchers have said that health damage caused by air pollution can reduce the average life expectancy of a child born today by 20 months.

The Annual State of Global Air Report, published by US-based non-profit research group Health Effects Institute, found that air pollution is now the fifth-leading cause of death, killing more people annually than car accidents and malaria.

Health Effects Institute president, Dan Greenbaum said that in much of the world, “breathing in an average city is the health equivalent to being a heavy smoker.”

Law Council president Arthur Moses advised politicians not to rush through legislation that seeks to crack down on social media broadcasts of violence.

The Law Council president said legislation implemented as a “knee-jerk reaction” to a tragic event is not equivalent to good legislation and could result in unintended consequences.

The legislation cleared the Senate on Wednesday night, leaving the government one day for the legislation to make its way through the House of Representatives before next month's election.

Australians with medical implants like plates, stents and pelvic mesh could soon have their devices tracked with a barcode system under a new plan.

Federal regulators have acknowledged that patient safety needed to be boosted after an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the ABC found severe problems with a range of medical devices, including pelvic mesh and breast implants.

One year on from the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, the Queensland Government has released new economic modelling showing the Gold Coast will generate $61 million from investment into Gold Coast venues for the Games.

Games Minister Kate Jones said the 50 events the Gold Coast City Council has booked for 2020 would not have been possible without the government’s $1.5 billion investment into infrastructure.

The Queensland Government has named Pulse Consortia as the winning bid who will build the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail project, with tunnelling now expected to begin late next year once financial closure is secured with successful bidders.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk also announced Hitachi Rail will provide a $634 million European Train Control System, while a group of entities named Unity will deliver and install the supporting rail system.