More Aussies leaving cities for regional towns
Australians would be leaving capital cities in greater numbers if infrastructure was improved in regional cities and towns – that’s the finding of a new report by the Regional Australia Institute.
More than 400,000 people have moved from Australian capital cities to regional areas in the five years to 2016.
The regional Australia Institute said this size of the migration shows the federal government doesn't need to coax new Australians to move to regional areas.
Media icon Ita Buttrose to be named new ABC Chair
The ABC is set to appoint media veteran Ita Buttrose as the new Chairperson of its board.
Ms Buttrose was not originally shortlisted during the five-month-long selection process by a panel which cost the government at least $160,000.
ABC acting Managing Director David Anderson welcomed her leadership, while Prime Minister Scott Morrison described the former news editor and Australian of the Year recipient as ‘extraordinary’.
Qld’s Police Commissioner’s wife has infringement notice for running stop sign torn up
The wife of Queensland's Police Commissioner had her infringement notice for running a stop sign torn up after appealing to the officer in charge of the local station.
Carol Stewart was booked in the Sandgate police district, with the officer who issued the ticket now understood to be on leave.
The Queensland Police Service has not responded to questions about why the ticket had been withdrawn, while Police Minister Mark Ryan said he "had no prior knowledge of this matter".
Anti-Hooning trials for Brisbane Roads
Image source: Kgbo
Anti-Hooning trials for Brisbane Roads
Hooning is the new focus of a Brisbane City Council trial to implement more safety features on roads.
Industrial estates and wide stretches of road have become the target of a specially-designed seal treatment that damages the tires of hooning motorists.
Infrastructure committee chairperson Amanda Cooper said the seal will make no impact on vehicles using the road in normal driving conditions.
Sites for the trial are being decided by council currently with dates to follow.
Deafheaven, Divide And Dissolve at Crowbar
I’m a little amazed that Deafheaven have managed to stay so relevant and vital in the little corner of heavy music they’ve cordoned off, but they really have. The black metal fusionists surprised me completely with last year’s Ordinary Corrupt Human Love, which turned away from their former flirtations with shoegaze and post-rock to lavish their affections instead, on prog. It was a pretty self-indulgent move and one which they made shamelessly.
11AM ZEDLINES
Good morning this is Georgie and Maddie with your 11am Zedlines.
UQ set to introduce a major in Western Civilisation
In local news, the University of Queensland are continuing negotiations with the Ramsey Centre to introduce a major in Western Civilisation.
There are also staff concerns including academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and a potential clash with the Reconciliation Action Plan.
Academics have rejected the framing of the program, saying it is an “explicitly elitist venture, which will disproportionately confer benefits on a small and privileged group of students”.
Virgin Galactic turning test flights to scheduled services before year is out
Space tourism company Virgin Galactic hopes to send tourists to space as early as the end of this year, after SpaceShipTwo reached space for the second time in three months last Friday.
The spaceship can carry six passengers up to 100 kilometres above sea level, where they experience weightlessness, at the price of $350 000 per passenger.
"New York, New York": Mammoth iceberg breaks off Antarctic mainland
Now in international news, NASA is currently monitoring an iceberg roughly the size of New York City that is set to break away from an Antarctic ice shelf.
The iceberg is at least 660 square miles and expected to breakaway sometime within the next couple of weeks.
If the melting of Antarctic ice sheets continue at the current record-breaking rate, scientists estimate the global sea level will rise by over 25 centimetres by the year 2070.