The Christmas Island Detention Centre that was reopened two months ago following the medical evacuation laws passed by Parliament has 148 extra staff at the facility, despite receiving no detainees.

“Since the passage of the medevac law no person from regional processing countries have been transferred there,” the department secretary, Michael Pezzullo, told a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday.

Senator Linda Reynolds says  the reopening of Christmas Island served as a “very successful” deterrent because no one had gotten on a boat.

Luxury hotels owned by the Kingdom of Brunei have hidden their social media accounts as the country comes under fire for the national gay sex death penalty of stoning.

Dorchester Collection, who operate the hotels, said the social media accounts were deactivated for the safety of their employees to whom they owe ‘a duty of care’.

The boycott is led by high-profile celebrities such as Ellen, Elton John and George Clooney who have actively tweeted about the new death penalty.

The orphaned children of notorious Islamic State terrorist Khaled Sharrouf could soon be granted travel documents to return to Australia after a plea for help was sent to the Australian Government.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he would not put lives at risk to extract them from the Syrian conflict zone, but if they can get to an Australian embassy they will likely be given passports to return.

The outback Territory town of Ali Curung is attempting to forge peace and heal community tensions after a violent riot broke out in November last year.

It was understood the fighting began as a result of the deaths of four young people after their vehicle broke down on an outback road, stirring up anger within the community.

The Federal Government has now provided $80,000 to hire a mediator and the Territory Government has committed an extra $25,000 to the cause if it is needed.

Four of Australia’s top 5 rooftop solar postcodes are in Queensland with Bundaberg at the top of the list.

Energy Minister Dr Anthony Lynham says Queensland has reaffirmed its reputation as the Sunshine State.

Referring to the Clean Energy Council report, released yesterday, Dr Lynham says Queensland fills six of the top 10 rooftop solar postcodes in Australia, by number of installations.

Sitting at the top is Bundaberg with 12,620 installations with a capacity of 47,500 KW.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced work on underground tunnels for the new Cross River Rail will begin at the end of this year.

Ms Palaszczuk recently awarded contracts of $5.4 billion to the project, becoming the state’s biggest single infrastructure investment.

The Premier said the project will create more than 7000 jobs in Queensland, and when finished, will cut travel times in half.

The infrastructure project is set to be finished by 2024.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange could be expelled from the Ecuadorian embassy within hours, more than six years after the first started living there.

This news comes after Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno said Mr Assange has "repeatedly violated" the conditions of his asylum at the country's embassy in London.

Mr Assange sought refuge there in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced accusations of sexual assault that prosecutors in Stockholm have since abandoned.

Leadership of the Mormon church announced on Thursday morning via their website that the church will allow children of LGBTQ+ couples to be baptised.

The decision reverses a 2015 policy that deemed same-sex couples ‘apostates of the faith’ but this new announcement does not change the Mormon decision to condemn same-sex marriage

The church said the change comes as a way ‘to reduce the hate and contention so common today’.