PM backs calls for QLD bushfire inquiry
The Prime Minister has backed calls for an investigation into whether Queensland's land-clearing laws fuelled the state's bushfire crisis.
Scott Morrison has accused Queensland's Labor government of negligence, and has called the state's vegetation management laws 'outrageous'.
Morrison has backed calls by Northern Australia Minister Matt Canavan for an independent judicial inquiry into the two-week bushfire crisis and what role Queensland's land-clearing laws may have played in it.
New Queensland technology helps the visually impaired reach for the stars
An app developed by a University of Queensland student is assisting the visually impaired to navigate the stars and planets in our solar system.
Student Yuma Decaux fell in love with space at the age of seven; however, he lost his sight in 2009.
The app was created so other blind users who share the same interest and curiosity for space are able to learn more about the solar system.
Mr Decaux and his team won the Brisbane leg of the Nasa Space App Challenge with the app concept.
Rare truffle-eating marsupial crucial to Queensland’s ecosystem declines by 70 per cent
A rare native marsupial crucial to the survival of Queensland’s tropical ecosystem is facing a deadly decline, a new study reveals.
The five-year World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-Australia-funded project which tracked the northern bettong found a 70 per cent decline in the marsupial’s population in the past 30 years.
Predators such as poor land management, feral cats, and fire, are known threats to the approximately 2,500 northern bettongs left in the wild.
Government MPs call for mandatory voter ID
Government MPs have told Prime Minister Scott Morrison to change electoral laws and force Australians to show identification before voting in federal elections.
Recommendations from Coalition members of a parliamentary committee would also make it harder for minor parties to register and clamp down on cyber security risks.
Labor has opposed the idea and attacked it as a vehicle for voter suppression, saying that it is a concerning attack on the capacity of all Australians to participate in the electoral process.
Government MPs call for mandatory voter ID
Source Image: Australian Electoral Commission
Greenland’s ice sheet melting at accelerated rate
The UN Environment and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns the dire climate trajectory the world is heading toward, while highlighting the enormous effort needed to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius.
In June, research showed a tripling of the rate of melting of the Antarctic ice sheet over the last five years, with recent research showing a similar trend occurring in the Greenland ice sheet.
The Greenland ice sheet holds enough water to raise sea levels by seven metres.
Australian scientists develop ‘10-minute’ cancer test
Researchers at the University of Queensland have developed a new test that can detect the presence of cancer cells in the body.
The 10-minute test can determine whether a tumour is present in the human body by identifying a unique DNA nanostructure that is common to all types of cancer.
According to researchers, the new diagnostic test demonstrated an accuracy of up to 90 per cent when tested on 200 human cancer samples and normal DNA.
Hospitals struggle to keep up with demands as elective surgery waiting lists continue to grow
About 874,000 patients were added to the public hospital elective surgery waiting list in 2017 and 2018, an increase of 70,000 people since 2013.
The figures in the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report have also revealed it took, on average, 268 days for 90 per cent of patients to undergo surgery in the last financial year, a 10-day increase on the previous year.
Indigenous Australians waited longer, on average, than non-Indigenous people for surgery, with half seen within 48 days.
Queensland drivers less patient with tailgating
Research conducted by insurance company, AAMI, shows Queensland drivers will happily give way to allow another in but are less patient when it comes to tailgating.
Studying crashes in Queensland occurring from July 2017 to June 2018, researchers found Queenslanders were more likely to collide with a stationary object compared with the rest of Australia.
An AAMI spokesperson says the high number of nose-to-tail crashes could be linked to the tailgating habits of Queenslanders.
Brisbane ferry strike to affect thousands of commuters
Thousands of Brisbane commuters will be affected today as the city’s ferry drivers begin a two-day strike.
The strike began at 4 am today and will last until the end of Friday as workers express their anger over what they claim is a lack of job security and low wages, as well as eroding maintenance and safety standards.
Brisbane River commuters are warned there will be no ferry services during the strike action, and to arrange alternative transport.