The price of Tasmanian honey is set to soar after fires across the state resulted in the industry’s worst season in 35 years.

Large amounts of valuable leatherwood trees have been wiped out and are expected to take more than 100 years to recover, which is problematic in that they produce more than 70 per cent of the state’s honey.

Tasmanian Beekeepers Association vice president Peter Norris said production would be down 75 per cent, and the loss of leatherwood would impact generations of honey producers.

Hawaiian Democratic representative Richard Creagan has proposed a bill that would make it illegal to sell cigarettes to anyone under the age of 100.

The law would effectively amount to a cigarette ban by 2024, and according to Creagan, is structured to withstand any legal challenge.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States, accounting for nearly half a million deaths every year

Experts are calling for greater preparation from Australian authorities amid concerns the massive release of water from the Townsville Ross River dam has contributed to this week’s extensive flooding.

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the floodgates had to be opened “to make sure the water had somewhere to go” just before the dam level peaked at 42.97m, in line with a current management plan.

Residents have expressed anger that water was allowed to build for so long rather than be released steadily during the previous week of heavy rain.

A new report has found if you lined up all the trucks coming into Queensland to dump rubbish in 2018, they would stretch from Brisbane to Mackay.

This is an increase of 37% from 2017, mostly driven from construction and demolition waste, while Queensland’s own waste increased by 11%, despite the population only increasing by 1.6%.

Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch says the report demonstrates the urgency to improve Queensland’s waste management, but blamed the problem on the former LNP government’s action to scrap a waste levy, seven years ago.  

A British football fan has been arrested and detained in the United Arab Emirates after he wore a Qatar football shirt to a match.

The fan, Ali Issa Ahmad is said to have been unaware of a law in the UAE against “showing sympathy” for Qatar, which was brought in following a diplomatic dispute after they accused the state of supporting radical and Islamist groups.

One of Australia’s leading climate change experts says Queensland's recent extreme weather events show the state is experiencing climate change, and warns both the state and federal governments are not keeping pace with the changes.

Professor Ian Lowe, a member of the Queensland governments senior climate change body, claims you have to be in deep denial not to accept there are unmistakable signs of climate change, and there is no sense of urgency to mitigate these changes.

Victorian state schools will be banned from using facial recognition technology to monitor attendance without the consent of parents, students, and the Department of Education, after a trial of the new technology in independent schools.

The technology has been likened to “Big Brother” by the Victorian Education Minister James Merlino following concerns about the software recording and storing students biometric data.

A petition to “compulsorily” acquire Woolloongabba’s derelict Broadway Hotel has been discussed at this years first Brisbane city planning committee meeting, causing debate over its future.

Woolloongabba Green’s ward councillor, Jonathan Sri, lodged the petition last year, calling on the council to acquire the heritage listed building and transform the land into a community space.

Since becoming derelict in 2010, the building was burnt out for the third time in September last year, which sparked debate about it’s future and the cost of repairs on the building

The detection of blue-green algae in the Bray Park Weir has prompted Water New South Wales to issue a red alert for the area, as well as watering holes of the Tweed and Oxley Rivers.

The species of algae has been identified as potentially toxic, and may cause gastroenteritis if consumed as well as irritation to skin and eyes upon contact.

In a media release, Water New South Wales said “water users in the area should apply a high level of caution and consider alternate water supplies for stock and domestic purposes.”