Queensland drivers distracted by mobile phones

New data reveals 75 percent of Queensland drivers admit to using mobile phones behind the wheel.

Bicycle Queensland CEO, Anne Savage, says more needs to be done to protect vulnerable road users.

27 road fatalities were caused by driver distraction last year, as such Bicycle Queensland wants the Queensland Government to introduce Presumed Liability Laws.  

 

Plans to improve the Brisbane CBD are under application

Proposals have been submitted to the Brisbane City Council to demolish the Suncorp Plaza tower on Albert St and replace it with a 30-storey commercial tower.

The development application includes over 75,000 square metres of office space.

Other major infrastructure projects are set to increase the desire to live, work and invest in the CBD.

Europe temperatures plummet, colder than the Arctic

An unexpected temperature rise around the North Pole combined with a freak winter storm has caused Europe to be colder than the Arctic.

Greenland has recorded sixty-one hours of temperatures above freezing in 2018 as a result of the retreat of sea ice.

Rome and Brussels were hit with a rare snow storm that could result in temperatures falling as low as minus 10 degrees.

Scientists say that climate change is the cause for the wacky weather.

Woman mauled to death by Lioness in South Africa

A lioness has mauled a twenty two year old woman to death at Dinokeng Game Reserve in South Africa.

 

Netcare911 spokesperson Nick Dollan, says paramedics were called to the private reserve, but bystanders had already begun CPR.

 

The woman’s injuries were to severe and she died at the scene, police are now investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.   

7.5 magnitude earthquake hits Papua New Guinea

At least eleven people are dead after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake shook Papua New Guinea, early on Monday morning.

 

The death toll is expected to rise as residents are still trying to recover the bodies of family and loved ones buried in landslides.

 

Authorities are trying to assess the full extent of damages, but their efforts have been hindered by road blockages and bad weather as more aftershocks hit the small island nation.

Recycling war causes conflict between Queensland and NSW Environment ministers

Thousands of tonnes of New South Wales recycling is being sent to Queensland as landfill and is causing controversy between Environment Ministers.

 

Queensland Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch states that Queensland will not become a dumping ground for interstate rubbish.

 

Queensland does not have a waste levy, so many companies are sending their waste to the Sunshine State to avoid the one hundred and thirty-eight dollar per tonne levy enforced in New South Wales.

 

Labor party promises to provoke Adani licence

The Labor party promises to harden its opposition to the Adani coal mine and revoke the licence for the project.

 

Businessmen and Environmentalist, Geoff Cousins, says Bill Shorten met some resistance within the party, but he has taken steps towards creating a new policy.

 

A Labor spokesperson says the party was deeply sceptical of the Adani mine project, saying “Labor doesn’t rip up contracts and we don’t create sovereign risk.”

Queensland Government Partnering with YouTube to prevent Cyberbullying

The Queensland Government is partnering with YouTube  to crackdown on cyberbullying.

 

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk visited the YouTube Space Hub in LA to establish a partnership for her new Anti-Cyber Bullying Task Force.

 

Ms Palaszczuk says that working with YouTube content can be used to develop “tools to combat harassment and peer pressure.”

Over two million cars being recalled for faulty airbags

The Federal Government is expected to announce a compulsory recall of more than two million cars affected by a defective Takata airbag.

The defect causes the airbag inflators to explode and propel shrapnel into drivers and passengers, with the airbags being held responsible for the death of twenty people and more than one hundred and eighty injuries globally.

The airbags are fitted into more than sixty types of cars sold in Australia, including Toyota, Mazda, Honda and several other major car brands.