Rising floodwaters have turned the small New South Wales community of Wee-Waa into an island overnight.

The community may be cut off for the next ten days while floodwaters recede after the local Namoi river reached a height of 7.07 metres, 37 centimetres higher than predicted.

Greens MP and Housing spokesperson Jenny Leong MP introduced a bill in New South Wales Parliament yesterday designed to alleviate pressure on those living below the poverty line.

The Private Members Bill proposes the installment of free Wi-fi in public housing as an essential service and waivers on rent while approved property maintenance works remain uncompleted.

A newly identified COVID mutation in South Africa is being described by officials as the worst version of the virus yet.

The UK Health Security Agency said the variant, called B.1.1.529, was much more likely to evade the immune response generated both by prior COVID-19 infection and vaccination.

The Queensland Government says it is hesitant to announce a Gold Coast-Tweed border bubble due to new COVID-19 cases in Byron Bay. 

Frustration has been expressed by Tweed locals that the upcoming testing requirements upon entering the Queensland border would be impractical for residents living on the Southern side of the border. 

The Queensland Government has committed a $123,000 for the protection of Mount Etna’s ghost bats. 

The ghost bats are the largest microbat species in Australia and are listed as endangered under Queensland’s Nature Conservation Act. 

Australian Defence Force personnel will be deployed from Townsville to the Solomon Islands today to help quell political unrest.

This follows the deployment of 23 Federal Police members to the capital of Honiara yesterday, in a bid to bolster local law enforcement dealing with riots which have gripped the city since Tuesday.

Climate activist Sergeio was granted bail for an appeal of his twelve month sentence yesterday in the Newcastle local court. 

Sergeio was initially sentenced 12 months in prison and six months no parol for blocking a coal train as a part of Blockade Australia’s ongoing mobilisation against the Newcastle Coal Port.

A Chinese navy ship was recently spotted off the east coast of Australia.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government had been aware of the ship off the Australian coast, and no complaint would be made.