Experts are pleading with businesses to be vigilant in handling the threat of cyber crime following a breach of the Federal Parliaments computer network and a warning from one of Australia’s most senior military figures.

Security in Depth chief executive Michael Connory says on average, it takes companies 8 months to discover they’ve been hacked, and the most common method is through email.

The most common cyber attacks are in health and finance, which impacts organisations who lose the trust of their customers.

Queensland MP Bob Katter has recruited two union members against Labor in the federal election, seizing on a rupture over the Adani coal mine which has Opposition leader Bill shorten exposed.

Mr Katter believes the state Labor government is anti-coal mining, saying union members are unhappy because their money is going to Labor, and the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) is the biggest donor in Queensland.

The lawyer who defended Daniel Morcombe’s killer has been struck off the Queensland roll of solicitors accused of profound and protracted dishonesty.

Disgraced criminal lawyer Tim Meehan walked free from prison in December, desperate to “make a useful contribution to society” by returning to the law.

QCAT denied Meehan’s bid to return to law after he admitted encouraging his clients to pay their legal fees in cash; an act described by president Justice Martin Daubney as “the worst category of offending for a solicitor.

The growing problem of plastic pollution is being tackled by chemical engineers at The University of Queensland in conjunction with the government and industry.

UQ researchers will meet with industry representatives and Queensland Government stakeholders today, as part of a series of Challenging Plastics forums.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has allegedly blamed a administration error as the reason behind his family holiday flights being paid for by Helloworld.

Senator Cormann insists that there is no link between his flights and the booking company receiving a government contract, reporting that he had no intention to influence the outcome of the process.

Since the alleged error has come to public attention, Cormann has repaid the outstanding amount to the company and has been processed immediately.

Australian politicians want R. Kelly banned with the embattled singer’s possible entry being protested by a group of politicians.

Members of the Labor party released a statement to the BBC about Kelly, in which “labor strongly supports the refusal or cancellation of visa of non-citizens on character or criminal grounds.”

Kelly has consistently denied the allegations, some of which date back decades, and has never been convicted of a crime connected to them.