New Tourism Industry Codes of Practice mean ‘at risk’ tourists on the Great Barrier Reef will be forced to wear life jackets and must swim with a partner.

The new industry code also requires all reef-bound tourist boats to carry an automatic external defibrillator.

The policy changes come after a horror 2016 for tourism operators, with a total of 10 deaths on the Great Barrier Reef through the year.

Buckle your seatbelts, the world’s first passenger drone has made its maiden voyage, taking off from a South China City.

Being able to carry one passenger weighing up to one hundred kilograms, the electric powered EHang 184 drone can fly for 23-minutes at sea level at a speed of 100 kilometres per hour.

Before making its first public flight, the entirely automated machine was tested one thousand times.

Banishing any reference to “Polish Death Camps”, Poland’s President has signed off on a new law banning the perceived mislabelling of historical holocaust sites.

Because of the new law, the commonly used term will be outlawed, and it will be made illegal to accuse Poland of any involvement with the Holocaust.

But many people disagree with the law as it will mean it will be illegal for Holocaust survivors to give evidence that includes Polish citizens.

Breeding hookworms in their own bodies, Cairns based researchers are seeking out a new treatment for coeliac disease.

Based on the premise that the hookworm parasite secretes an anti-inflammatory protein, the study proposes that the protein could be harvested into a pill or gluten-intolerant patients could be intentionally infected with the worms.

Big grid-scale batteries will be installed in South Australia’s mid-north in the same region as the Tesla and Neona batteries at Jamestown.

Battery and solar systems will be connected by Tilt Renewable to their existing wind farms, who will also place a pumped-hydro storage project in a disused quarry at Highbury in Adelaide’s north-east.

Besides only being about one fifth as powerful as the existing big batteries in the region, experts say the new additions of renewable energy storage will still help drive down energy prices.

Budget airline Tigerair will no longer fly from Brisbane to Perth or the Whitsundays, as of March 1st.

Badly affected customers will be notified directly by the airline and placed on another service as close to the original departure time as possible, or receive a refund.

Brisbane Airport spokesperson said Tigerair still provides flights to six destinations across the country, equating to 29,000 seats per week.

Brisbane’s inner-city streets could become parked following the introduction of several new parking permits for residents.

Bringing change to the 22-year old Regulated Parking Permit Local Law, the Brisbane City Council proposes to introduce new permit types, restrictions, and completely phase out parking permit stickers.

Beyond applying to only specific inner-city streets there is discussion that the new permit system could apply to entire suburbs.