Two people have shut down the Newcastle Coal Port on Awabakal and Worimi country in Mulubinba this morning, halting operations at a critical piece of Australia's economic infrastructure.

A community worker, 61 years of age, was locked onto a coal operating machine using a metal pipe and at the same time a law student, 23, entered the site and disabled operation of machines.

This is the 20th action to target the Port of Newcastle and surrounding railway in a series of disruptions over the last 11 days.

The Taliban has announced that it plans to ban the production of opium in Afghanistan but farmers and traders say they are not the only ones who depend on the drug to survive. 

The announcement immediately saw prices of opium almost double. 

Farmers say that the Taliban has benefited from opium production over the last 20 years and that there would be “backlash” from poppy farmers, drug lords and the public if the Taliban bans or restricts production. 

Only half the holiday vouchers handed out to winners of the Palaszczuk government competition designed to boost Queensland’s struggling tourism sector resulted in actual bookings, with 42,000 winners failing to redeem their vouchers. 

The Premier had hoped the Holiday Dollars travel vouchers would encourage Queenslanders to holiday at home after tourism suffered a $12 billion dollar blow in 2020 as domestic and international border closures shut out millions of potential visitors. 

Queensland is a few weeks away from hitting its vaccine target – but those hoping to cross the border should be prepared to “pay up.”

Even when the state hits the milestone 80 % double dose vaccination rate, a number of restrictions are expected to stay. 

All Australians, even those living in hotspots, will be able to cross the border on the condition that they’ve returned a negative COVID test within 72 hours of their flight into Queensland and are fully vaccinated. 

Legal experts are calling for rational debate of Victoria’s Pandemic Management Bill, as protests grow radical outside parliament. 

Chants during the protests called to “kill” and “hang” Premier Daniel Andrews over the controversial bill which would transfer the power to declare a state of emergency from the Chief Health Officer to the Health Minister and the Premier.

The Bill’s proponents say it reflects lessons the government has learned from dealing with the pandemic the past two years. 

Amnesty International is preparing to leave its local office in Hong Kong by the end of the month, while its regional headquarters will close by the end of the year, as China’s national security laws escalate. 

Amnesty says the laws have been used as a “pretext to restrict rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, as well as to repress dissent and political opposition especially from human rights groups.” 

Staff safety is said to be among the reasons for leaving the city without the human rights organisation’s presence for the first time in 40 years. 

Authorities are considering whether to ban politicians, staff and visitors who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 from the Queensland Parliament when new rules come into effect next month. 

More than 1000 people marched through the Brisbane CBD on Wednesday to William Street in protest against mandatory COVID-19 vaccines and rules. 

Protesters were met with a heavy police presence outside the Queensland government’s headquarters, including mounted officers, 4WDs and both uniformed and specially-equipped tactical police. 

The crowd held signs rejecting “medical apartheid” and “coercion.”