Council and state government orders to preserve the Broadway Hotel are under appeal.

Despite the owner claiming the hotel was damaged beyond repair by several fires, including the first in 2010, engineering inspectors have confirmed that the hotel is capable of repair.

Authorities have issued an order for the owner to install a support system by the end of this month, however the council is not currently aware of any work being done to repair the building.

Brisbane City Council’s plans to introduce more ‘green bridges’ has left Transport Minister Mark Bailey questioning why the Walter Taylor Bridge in Indooroopilly was overlooked.

The new $550 million commitment for the green bridges did not mention any plans to help the gridlocked motorists in the western suburbs, vying for access at the one-lane bridge.

Helensvale State School on the Gold Coast has gone into lockdown for the second time in two months after threats were left on an answering machine.

Police were called to the school after 8.30am yesterday morning and remained at the scene for 90 minutes before verifying at 10:05am that the threat was a hoax.

The police said the threat was similar to the previous incident on February 19.

In an Australian first, global IT company International Business Machines will hire roughly 10 employees with autism at its Client Innovation Centre in Ballarat, joining the growing trend of neurodiversity programs in the workplace.

Around 15 candidates commenced IBM’s pre-employment training and assessment program last week that connects autistic applicants with employers.

Australian apple growers are watching closely as a world first commercial harvesting of apples using robotic machinery goes underway at an orchard in New Zealand.

A similar prototype robot has been trialled in an orchard in Victoria, and Australian fruit growers are keen to see how the robot performs.

One of Tasmania’s largest apple growers, Howard Hansen, said while the development is exciting, he believes the project has a way to go and requires more refinement before it becomes a reality in Tasmanian orchards.

It is suspected that 23 Chinese kindergarten students have been deliberately poisoned by their teacher.

The teacher, who can be identified by the surname Wang, has been arrested in eastern China after it is believed he adulterated the children’s food with sodium nitrate, according to the Jiaozuo city police.

The children were served rice porridge for breakfast at the kindergarten and after eating it they began vomiting and fainting, with one parent saying their child was taken to hospital where their stomach was pumped.

Ahead of the birth of their first child, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have launched their own official Instagram page and already have more than 920,000 followers in just 12 hours since becoming active.

Their first post features numerous photos including them meeting fans, doing conservation work, and sailing on the Sydney Harbour.

"Welcome to our official Instagram,” the post read, “we look forward to sharing the work that drives us, the causes we support, important announcements, and the opportunity to shine a light on key issues.”

A tiny flying fox listed as vulnerable in NSW has been found in a rainforest on the Sunshine Coast during a four-day scientific survey.

The blossom bat was first recorded on the Sunshine Coast at Buderim in 2015, but this is the first time it has been recorded in the 55-hectare Mary Cairncross rainforest reserve.