Mayo by-election candidate Rebekha Sharkie has called for an inquiry on the use of data mining software to target voters.

Sharkie’s comments come in the wake of comments from opponent Georgina Downer on the resettling of asylum seekers in New Zealand, a recently hot topic with only two weeks until the by-election.

The i360 information sourcing program used by the Liberal party in their Mayo campaign is an area of concern, being used to target voters in key seats, according to Sharkie.

The most recent CEO pay report from the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors demonstrates Australia’s company bosses are receiving the highest wages in 17 years.

Meanwhile, average wage growth is stagnant at 2.1 percent with the wage price index showing the growth is struggling to keep up with inflation.

The peak in CEO pay is being attributed to continually escalating bonus payments, with one in three ASX100 CEOs receiving 80 percent of their maximum bonus.

United States officials have announced plans to talk directly with the Taliban on the issue of ending the war in Afghanistan.

The Taliban have demanded direct talks with the US for some time, viewing the Afghan government as illegitimate.

No dates have been set for a meeting, however, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Kabul last week and is believed to have met with diplomats to lay groundwork for future talks.

A senior New Zealand minister have criticised Australia’s deportation laws, after a rise in deportations of New Zealand citizens on grounds of character.

New Zealand Justice Minister Andrew Little says the deportations have a venal, political strain and are not consistent with any humanitarian ideals he thought both countries shared.  

In the past three years, 1,300 New Zealanders have been deported, despite many of them living in Australia for decades and without criminal records.

An in-depth session will take place today at the International Great Barrier Reef Restoration Symposium in Cairns.

Experts will be providing information into the restoration of the reef, with the investigation aiming to preserve and restore the reef.

It is believed that sunlight reflecting clouds and mass produced baby corals are some of the proposed solutions.

Four of Queensland’s high security prisons were reported to have gone into lockdown on Sunday night as drones were illegally flown over head.

Brisbane Correctional Centre, Brisbane Women's Correctional centre, Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre and Wolston Correctional Centre were the four forced into lockdown.

QLD police are now investigating why the drones were flown over and the prisons have now been returned to normal after it was ensured that no goods had been dropped in.

Drought conditions in New South Wales and Victoria has lead to an increase in the price of hay, with fodder being sourced from as far away as Western Australia.

One farmer, Michael Sweeney, has begun feeding his cattle watermelons to supplement their diet, as watermelons cost around a quarter of other feeding options.

Kat Gration, a Victorian transport service owner, says because many hay merchants have tripled their price, she decided to provide watermelons as an alternative, charging only the cost of freight.

Studies from the CSIRO have shined a light on the potential for a new battery recycling industry in Australia, to address the waste currently growing at 20 percent per year.

Australia currently produces 33,000 tonnes of lithium-ion waste with only 2 percent being recycled, CSIRO believe there is capability to recycle 95 percent of waste in the future.

CSIRO currently support recycling efforts, conducting research into new processes to recover materials from batteries and develop new products.

Haitian Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant announced his resignation on Saturday, following days of violent protests which killed at least seven people.

The protests broke out when the government revealed a plan to eliminate fuel subsidies which would have resulted in a steep increase of price.

Following Lafontant’s resignation, President Jovenel Moïse and two heads of parliament must chose a new prime minister, as otherwise Haiti will have no functioning government.