Queensland Government said no to call to reopen Townsville nickel refinery

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has ruled out providing funds to help reopen the Yabula nickel refinery near Townsville.

Businessman Clive Palmer said the board of QNI Resources had voted to reopen the refinery but he would need to access the Port of Townsville with the government’s help.

The Port of Townsville said it was still owed about $1 million after Queensland Nickel collapsed in 2016.

The Gold Coast funeral insurance firm, the Aboriginal Community Benefit Fund is the latest company to come under scrutiny as the banking royal commission looks at how financial services interact with indigenous communities.

An aboriginal man from Katherine who lost his daughter to suicide was initially refused a payout by the company despite paying premiums for 23 years, as they claimed the policy did not cover suicide.

Anti-gambling advocates said that people signed up to a Crown Casino system designed to limit their losses are being given access to “dangerous” unrestricted features on poker machines.

Advocates have called on the Victorian Government to close a special exemption that allows Crown Casino to operate poker machines without the minimum spin rate.

Charles Livingstone, a gambling researcher with Monash University’s school of public health said machines without a spin limit were the most dangerous form of poker machine gambling

An extensive report prepared by the Fair Work Ombudsman detailing a three year investigation will review poor working conditions of backpackers on farms.

Australia has one of the worst regulated labour hire industries and concerns on the safety of foreign workers employed on farms have come to light after allegations of abuse, exploitation and sexual assault.

Thousands of protesters across the US marched under the banner Families Belong Together against the separation of immigrant families at the border.

Organiser Michelle Wentz said the marches were in opposition to the Trump administration’s barbaric and inhumane policy.

The family separation policy has been halted due to public pressure but around 2000 children are still being held with many families saying they don’t know how to locate them.

Iran has allowed private companies to export crude oil to push back against US efforts to block oil exports.

US President Donald Trump’s administration threatened to impose sanctions on Iran’s business partners if they do not cut oil imports to zero by November 4 to isolate Tehran politically and economically.

The US-led sanctions aim to pressure Iran to negotiate a follow-up agreement following Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal.

The highly destructive white spot virus has again been detected in supermarket prawns despite tightened import restrictions were introduced after a disease outbreak across south-east Queensland farming industry.

The results came as a Four Corners investigation also revealed how some seafood importers were deliberately evading Australia’s bio security defences.  

Testing conducted for the program found traces of the virus present in 30 percent of prawn samples purchased from a range of supermarket outlets in the south-east Queensland area.

Queensland grazers fear unexplained pasture dieback has become a ‘creeping cancer’ that is moving into some of the states best cattle country.

Researchers are unable to find what is causing the reduced pasture growth, or why the dieback makes grass unpalatable to cattle.

The first case was reported in 1993 but there has been a major increase in reported cases since 2016.