The Brisbane City Council is set to assess the increase in car and pedestrian traffic around the Story Bridge as a result of the opening of Howard Smith Wharves.

In order to ensure people can get to the new planned ferry wharves safely, a petition requesting a new footpath and kerb ramp on the northern side of Boundary Street was put forward by the council infrastructure committee.

The study is expected to take place in mid-2019 while the construction of a new ferry terminal at the wharves is set to begin at the end of this year.

The Government has approved and committed funding for Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s renewable energy plan, Snowy 2.0.

The project is expected to provide 175 hours of energy storage – enough to power 500 000 homes and create up to 2 400 jobs in construction and 5000 direct and indirect jobs across the region.

Morrison said, “Our Government is investing in world-class, renewable energy to deliver more affordable, reliable power to Australians with a $1.38 billion investment into the Snowy Hydro 2.0 project.”

In national news, a replica of the Fearless Girl statue has arrived in Melbourne ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8th.

The statue, which is a symbol for gender equality and female empowerment, has been replicated by US-based artist Kristen Visbal.

Victoria’s Minister for Women, Gabrielle Williams said, “She comes here at a time when the conversation both here and internationally around gender equality is reaching fever pitch.”

Theresa May has promised MPs a meaningful vote on her Brexit deal by the twelfth of March, after remain-supporting ministers threatened to revolt.

If the vote fails, two votes will follow. The first will be for a no-deal exit from the EU, but only with explicit consent in the house. The second vote will occur if the first fails, wherein MPs will vote by the 14th of March to request an extension from the EU to delay withdrawal beyond the 29th of March.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called the delay “grotesquely reckless”.

In local news, Brisbane ferry drivers have walked off the job this morning for the third time in three months, expressing their anger over the lack of job security and low wages.

Jason Miners of the Maritime Union of Australia says we want to deliver a pay rise to these workers and make their cost of living a bit easier.

Tilly Landsborough, Transdev’s Queensland managing director, says although CityCat services will still be running during the strike their frequency will be significantly reduced.

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei has told the BBC there is “no way the US can crush” his company, after US officials warned the tech giant’s equipment could be used for espionage.

The US, New Zealand and Australian governments have banned the use of Huawei equipment in the rollout of next generation 5G mobile networks, following pressure from the Trump administration.

The publisher of a New South Wales year 10 history textbook has rejected complaints from federal Liberal backbencher Craig Kelly that it misrepresents facts about climate change.

Kelly says the book’s description of Tony Abbott as a climate change denier is an offensive slur equal to holocaust deniers, adding natural disasters are nothing out of the ordinary.

A spokesperson for the publisher, Pearson, says they build textbooks to support the Australian curriculum, and stand by the book and its author.

Residents have demanded a stay of execution for a local Moreton Bay Fig Tree in Teneriffe, which is expected to be cut down by the council on Thursday.

Members of the Teneriffe Progress Association will stage a ‘tree sit’ in protest, and are urging local member Vicki Howard to reconsider the decision.

Councillor Howard maintains in this case it cannot be avoided and says, “the removal of trees is an issue Brisbane City Council takes very seriously.”

In international news, up to 90,000 bottles of Russian vodka have been confiscated en route to North Korea by Dutch authorities who found the haul aboard a Chinese ship.

Authorities suspect the container was heading for North Korea, where international sanctions are in place against the Kim Jong-un government.

International Trade Minister Sigrid Kaag says the sanctions include the import of luxury goods, so it’s entirely justified that this container was taken off the ship.