Australia's public leaders are overwhelmingly white
Research has found that Australia’s political and business leaders are overwhelmingly Anglo-Celtic.
Australia’s leadership and executive culture is dominated by people of Anglo-Celtic backgrounds with only 4.7% of senior figures reporting from non-European heritage.
The research also found that only 0.4% were indigenous.
Mystery bird illness leaves them unresponsive and unable to stand
A mystery illness has been spreading through Perth’s bird population leaving magpies, mudlarks and crows paralysed, unresponsive and unable to stand.
Despite tests being conducted, the disease has left experts unsure of the cause.
Water bills set to increase
Water bills may rise by up to $38 a year under a new proposal from the Queensland Competition Authority.
The QCA chairman Professor Roy Green says that increase would account for about 30% of an average household’s water and sewerage bill.
The suggestion comes as a response to low-water availability and is the decision of the Queensland Government whether the recommendations are enforced.
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Paralympian Kurt Fearnley gives passionate speech for disability inclusion
Paralympian Kurt Fearnley has given a passionate address calling for Australians to embrace the inclusion of people with disabilities.
After winning silver in the T54 fifteen-hundred metres final, he met with the media to show how the Commonwealth Games is a great template for how that can be achieved.
There are thirty-eight medals on offer for para-athletes which is a 73 percent increase from what was up for grabs just four years ago.
Tensions continue in Myanmar after murder of ten Rohingya Muslims
Tensions in Myanmar continue as ten Rohingya Muslims were found murdered in a mass grave and seven military personnel were accused of being accomplices in their deaths.
In a Facebook statement, the Myanmar army chief said the men have been permanently expelled from duty and sentenced to ten years in prison and hard labour.
New Brisbane dump proposed, location to be announced later
The Brisbane City Council is refusing to reveal the proposed location of the new dump.
Lord Mayor Graham Quirk says the Rochedale landfill site will be full during the 2020’s and contracts have already been drafted for a new dump but refused to reveal its location.
Opposition leader Peter Cumming says residents deserved to know if they could end up living down the road from a dump.
The ATO is under fire for revenue targets and pursuing small businesses
The Australian Taxation Office has denied reports that staff are pressured to meet revenue targets and pursue small businesses.
The ATO spokesperson has stated that the highlighted cases are not “representative of today’s practices” and the ATO has done work over the last five years to reinvent the client experience.
Opposition leader, Bill Shorten said Labor would investigate the claims into the treatment of small businesses.
Former 7-Eleven operator fined for underpaying employees
A former 7-Eleven operator has been fined almost $200 000 for underpaying employees.
Jason Yuan ran two franchises in the Brisbane CBD and ripped off 21 employees of more than $30 000.
This comes after a joint Fairfax - Four Corners investigation revealed a systemic underpayment of wages and doctoring of payroll records throughout 7-Eleven stores.
Transphobia in Kyrgyzstan results in LGBT individuals seeking refuge in Russia
Violent transphobia in Kyrgyzstan is leading LGBT individuals to seek refuge in Russia.
The unlikely destination although not overtly accepting, is less dangerous than their home country where discriminatory legislation introduced in 2014 banned homosexual relations.
Social workers from Kyrgyz Indigo - a LGBT organisation and shelter - say corrective rape is common and especially prevalent in the transgender community where 84% of individuals have experienced physical violence and 35% are victims of sexual violence.