Brisbane City Council will celebrate Riverstage’s 30th birthday during the Brisbane Festival this year by putting a call out to the public to share their favourite memories of the outdoor music venue in the city’s Botanic Gardens.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner says the council is asking for everything from ticket stubs, set lists, and posters to photos and videos, which will create a Digital Memory Box serving as an archive of Brisbane’s social history and live music culture.

Gold Coast tourism hub operators who have faced a drop in visitors since the Commonwealth Games are now looking at a boost in bookings thanks to an influx over the school holidays.

Surfers Paradise Alliance CEO Mike Winlaw says healthy accommodation occupancy in the precinct, which makes up for half the city’s hotel rooms, is now over 90 per cent.

The figure compares to an average of 86.9 per cent a year ago during the Commonwealth Games when many residents left town amid traffic gridlock fears.

The EU has decided at an emergency summit to grant the UK a 6-month extension on Brexit.

The emergency summit was held on Wednesday to discuss how much longer to give the UK before leaving the EU – saving the continent from a no-deal departure, previously due to happen at the end of this week.

If the extension is accepted by British Prime Minister Theresa May, and the UK remains in the EU after the 22 May, British voters will have to take part in European parliamentary elections.

The people of India are heading to the polls today in the first phase of India’s general election, with 543 seats in the lower house up for contest.

The election is both the largest and most expensive in the world, with almost $10 billion dollars spent in advertising to 900 million eligible voters, and with 11 million election officials to be deployed at polling stations.

More than 100 000 people have taken to Melbourne streets as a part of a union rally, calling for a “fair go”.

The march on Wednesday shut down multiple city streets, going from Union headquarters to parliament house.

Unions say the largest decline in living standards in 30 years has been seen by the federal government, and that low-paid workers are demonstrating in 14 locations across the nation.

A former Newman government minister will be among three new Brisbane councillors to be sworn in within the next few weeks, as several LNP councillors prepare to depart City Hall.

Former child safety minister Tracy Davis has received the LNP endorsement to replace outgoing McDowall Ward councillor Norm Wyndham when he retires next month.

Ms Davis said it was an exciting time to start work as a councillor, following the appointment of Adrian Schrinner as mayor.

A concerned group of Gold Coast residents on Hope Island are establishing Neighbourhood Watch groups with Coomera police in light of a growing population in the Coomera police district.

Hope Island resident Diane Woods believes growing housing development is bringing more petty crime to the area, and says Hope Island is one of the suburbs furthest away from both Coomera and Runaway police precincts, which increases time to callouts to crime incidents.

The Federal Government has launched an urgent investigation into a remote work for the dole provider who is facing claims of repeated safety breaches.

The investigation was ordered after the ABC acquired images raising questions about some work practices in a West Australian community.

In a photo obtained by the ABC, a participant appeared to be preparing to operate a saw without any shoes, eye protection, or hearing protection.