Chanel has become the first luxury fashion house to scrap using exotic animal pelts such as crocodile, lizard and snake skin – a move welcomed by animal rights groups on Tuesday.

Chanel said it’s taking the step for ethical and quality-control reasons.

However, Australian experts have warned this move could eventually harm Australia’s crocodile industry, valued at more than $100 million.

More than 52,000 hectares of bushland was burnt across central Queensland last week, but it may not be all bad news for the landscape.

Thanks to widespread rain, cooler conditions and fresh ash beds, native trees and other vegetation are set for a stable recovery.

Associate Professor Rod Fensham from the University of Queensland said the Australian bush is remarkably resilient to fire and the land can rejuvenate itself.

179 submissions have been submitted to Brisbane City Council on Tuesday about the six new ziplines proposed for Mount Coot-tha.

The council-funded project, spearheaded by urban planners Ethos Urban, opened to submissions on November 26, sparking criticism from some over the pre-Christmas launch and its 14-day submissions limit.

The main objections to the ziplines include potential damage to native flora and fauna, commercialisation of natural bushland, and an influx of bus traffic.

More than a dozen of Australia’s mining giants may have breached legal duties by refusing to consider financial risks posed by climate change.

Market Forces campaigner Rachel Dean says if directors don’t start taking climate risk seriously, it is likely we will see more cases of directors being sued.

Companies are required to include a discussion of climate risk in annual reports and it appears directors are admitting their breach and Australian Securities and Investments Commission are well aware of it.

24 hours worth of rain across the central Queensland coast has dampened more than 70 bushfires in the region, with all now considered under control.

Evacuated residents were allowed to return home to Deepwater, Baffle Creek, Rules Beach and Oyster Creek last night, and the last of the affected state schools were reopened this morning.

The Mackay area recorded approximately 30 millimetres of rain while Rockhampton received more than 40 millimetres.

Mexico’s new President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is honouring a pledge made on the campaign trail by selling the nations version of Air Force One, for US $200M.

More than 43% of Mexico’s 129 million population live in poverty, and Obrador says he would hang his head in shame to get on such a luxury jet in a country with so much poverty.

With the campaign slogan, “for the good of all, the poor must come first”, Mr Obrador won the election with the largest margin in Mexican history.