A $300 million expansion of the Sun Metals Zinc Refinery is set to bring hundreds of more jobs to the Townsville region. 

The announcement was made today by premier Annastacia Palaszczuk alongside Sun Metals Chief   Financial Officer Kathy Danaher.

The expansion is expected to commence immediately and will likely be completed by 2021. 
 

Wildlife rescuers have recorded a spike in calls to help Queensland koalas as recent bushfires and heatwaves are putting them at risk of death or injury. 

Jacqui Webb of Fauna Rescue Whitsundays, said local wildlife carers have had 11 calls in 48 hours to tend to distressed Koalas. 

Usually the service would receive 1-2 calls per month but recent history has shown that the Koala population struggle in these kinds of conditions. 
 

The Country Fire Service is preparing for another day of extreme heat in South Australia as it continues to battle and contain a fire on Kangaroo Island.

Yesterday the CFS declared an emergency warning for a bushfire on Kangaroo Island; the warning was then downgraded to a 'watch and act' message in the evening.

An ACFS spokesperson today warned there was still a risk to communities in the area.
 

A 38-year-old Hobart man has pleaded guilty to using a semi-automatic rifle to shoot at a city nightclub earlier this year.

The man admitted to the Supreme Court to shooting using a semi-automatic rifle at the door at Pablo’s Cocktails and Dreams in June.  

No one was hurt in the incident and the man has asked the court to give him a drug treatment order.

Peru has joined the club of countries cracking down on plastic.

A new law in the South American nation of 32 million people outlaws the manufacturing, importation, distribution and consumption of single-use plastic bags within three years. 

More than 60 countries now have bans or taxes on single-use plastics, according to the United Nations, which has called for such measures to stem the tide of pollution.
 

Italy’s Supreme Court has ruled that the Getty Museum in Los Angeles must return a 2,000-year-old bronze statue it bought for almost $4m in 1977.

The bronze statue was discovered by fishermen off Pesaro, on Italy’s Adriatic coast, in 1964, sold several times, and eventually bought by the American museum over 40 years ago.

But Italy has always maintained that it was smuggled out of the country and acquired illegally, making its first formal request for its return from the US in 1989.
 

Safety upgrades have been completed on a 2.3 kilometre section of the Bruce Highway at Monduran, about 21 kilometres north of Gin Gin.

The $9.8 million safety upgrades were funded under the Caboolture to St Lawrence Pavement Widening package and is set to provide safer roads and better traffic conditions between Gin Gin and Mariam Vale. 

Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads Mark Bailey thanked motorists for their patience and understanding while the works were completed.
 

Queensland retailers have experienced a record October in sales, with a 1.1 per cent jump registering a record 5.37 billion dollars, seasonally adjusted.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland said supermarket, apparel and hardware led October's sales and suggested the state's economy was finally picking up.

NSW, in contrast, dropped 0.4 per cent over the month, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Recent data by the University of News South Wales’ Kirby Institute shows that HIV infection rates in indigenous communities have risen by 41% between 2013 and 2016. 

Despite a 12% decline in non-Indigenous population during the same period, 

Dr Haire, a doctoral research fellow, says there are three main factors affecting Indigenous people with HIV: (1) people do not recognize that they’re at risk; (2) not knowing what HIV prevention methods are: and (3) lack of access to health clinics.