Story Bridge is set to be repainted

The Story Bridge will be repainted, marking this as the first repaint since the 79-year-old bridge first opened.

Brisbane City Council will call for tenders for the city’s biggest paint jobs, covering the kilometre-long bridge which spans over the Brisbane river.

Its predicted that painting the bridge will take approximately five years to complete, and work will commence after Riverfire.

Bust water main on Sandgate road to cause delays

A burst water main at Sandgate road has caused delays for motorists, with lanes closed.

A spokesman for the Queensland Police Services says contraflow has been implemented on the road which would cause a traffic headache for city-bound motorists.

Meanwhile, Queensland Urban Utilities spokeswoman, Michelle Cull, says work would continue throughout the morning.

Indigenous Australians asked to develop their own Closing the Gap targets

Indigenous Australians will be asked to develop their own Closing the Gap targets as part of a refresh announcement made by Prime MInister Scott Morrison.

Just two of the seven Closing the Gap targets are on track to met, more than a decade after the original report.

Speaking about the failure of the original targets, Scott Morrison says “while it was guided by the best of intentions, the process has reflected something of what I believe is the hubris of this place - it did not truly seek to partner with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”

Murray-Darling Basin future is bleak

The future outlook for the Murray-Darling Basin environment is extremely challenging and their will be no scope for environmental flows for the remainder of 2019 unless it rains, according to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.

The Authority has cautioned there will focus on providing drought refuges and avoiding irreversible loss of species.

44 Indian soldiers killed in Kashmir

More than 44 Indian soldiers have been killed and many more injured in the deadliest attack in Kashmir in two decades

A suicide car bomb struck a convoy of police vehicles about 20 kilometres from the capital city.

Video of the attack showed the smouldering, wreck of a vehicle, and bodies thrown across the road.

Italy rejects record number of asylum applications

Italy has rejected a record number of asylum applications, with 24,800  refused in the last four months.

The rejections were up 25% on the previous four months, from June to September 2018, and coincide with the bringing into law of the Salvini decree on immigration.

This decree suspends the asylum application process for individuals considered to be “socially dangerous” and also removes permission to remain for some of those denied formal refugee status but who are unable to return home.

Greens MP ask Government to consider free public transport for children under 18-years-old

Greens MP Michael Berkman wants Queensland children to travel on public transport for free as an effort to bust congestion.

Berkman claims “free public transport for every kid in Queensland, from Brisbane to Cairns, would cost just $56 million per year; just for context, the government will spend $2.5 billion this year on roads.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey says the government already subsides public transport across south-east Queensland by more than $1.9 billion a year”.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will visit flood affected Queensland region

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will visit the regional Queensland town of Cloncurry today to see first hand the devastating flood damage.

The Prime Minister’s day is expected to start with a community breakfast before he flies out to drop fodder for surviving cattle.

North-Queensland’s floods have caused death, disease, and heartbreak for farmers and residents.

Two accounts of foot-and-mouth disease confirmed and seized at Australian airports

Agriculture minister, David Littleproud, says two accounts of foot-and-mouth disease were confirmed by Australian Animal Health Laboratory in meat products declared and seized at airports.

Biosecurity experts assert the break out of foot-and-mouth disease could cost Australia’s livestock industries $40 - $60 billion.

Australia currently remains free from foot-and-mouth disease but Victorian Farmers’ Federation president,, says the detection proved a greater investment was needed in biosecurity at all levels of government.