The Royal Australian Air Force and the Defence Department have collaborated to develop a large drone designed for electronic welfare which could eventually carry bombs.

The yet-to-be named unmanned system has the primary purpose of being used to conduct electronic warfare and missions where it is too unsafe to send a manned aircraft.

It is set to be publicly unveiled today at the Avalon aerospace trade show outside Melbourne by Defence Minister Christopher Pyne.

Looking across the nation, Prime Minister Scott Morrison will travel to Tasmania this week to bolster support for his “battery of the nation” proposal.

The trip to garner commonwealth support follows a promise of $56m earlier this week for a second interconnector to deliver Tasmania’s renewable energy to the mainland.

Morrison says the proposal will “help cut power prices and put an end to the sorts of recent blackouts that families and businesses have had to suffer through”.

A survey has revealed more than one third of school principals have been attacked by a student or parent in 2018.

The survey, run by the Australian Catholic University, has determined that in Queensland, violence against principals increased from 27.9 per cent in 2011 to 36 per cent in 2018.

ACU psychologist Associate Professor Philip Riley, says, “The steadily increasing levels of offensive behaviour in schools of all types is a disgrace and it needs to stop.”

A bauxite mine on the remote island of Rennell in the Solomon Islands had a major oil spill in early February when attempting to load the sedimentary rock on a bulk carrier ship.

Australia’s High Commissioner Rod Brazier is concerned about the scale of the disaster with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority estimating 60 tonnes of oil has been spilled and is not contained.

LNP members of Brisbane City Council have criticized a proposed state plan for compulsory preferential voting in local government elections.  

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said the reforms are not such, rather they are “election strategies”, criticising the state government for proposing reforms in a time of emergency for many local councils dealing with natural disasters.

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.”