700 Australian high-school students have penned and signed an open letter calling on Immigration Minister Alex Hawke to protect their peers living under Taliban rule in Afghanistan. 

In the letter to the Minister, the students urged the Australian Government to provide an additional 20,000 humanitarian places, giving safety to young people facing persecution, discrimination and violence.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has estimated that 97% of the people in Afghanistan will fall below the poverty line by mid-2022. 

Four first nations women from Normanton in Queensland’s North have been honoured in the 2021 Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize, through a series depicting the life of indigenous stockwomen in outback Australia.

The series by Sydney photographer David Prichard took out the top spot from over five thousand submissions, and features Kurtijar elder Gloria Campbell, who recounts her early life as a cattle station cook as hard work from morning to night.

Community groups are calling for a grassroots approach to raise awareness of scams, as Indigenous Australians and those whose primary language is not English have lost tens of millions of dollars to scams over the past 10 months. 

New data from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s scam-reporting service, shows scammers stole a total of $36.2 million from people who spoke English as a second language, and $4.6 million from Indigenous Australians. 

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko is accused of using “gangster-style” tactics during an ongoing standoff at the Belarus/Poland border, resulting in the deaths of seven migrants. 

The European Union believes Belarus is encouraging migrants to illegally enter the EU in retaliation for sanctions put in place in Minsk amidst human rights abuse allegations. 

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced tough new restrictions in an effort to increase the state’s COVID-19 Vaccination numbers.
 

Mask mandates are set to lift in coming days as Queenslanders approach 80% having received at least one dose, however once the state reaches 80% double dose, only those fully vaccinated will be allowed to enter hospitality venues such as pubs and cafes, and entertainment venues including cinemas and concerts.

Queenslanders today are being encouraged to get on their bike for National Ride2work day.

 This movement organised by the Bicycle Network’s aims to incorporate regular physical activity into the lives of Australians, while also helping to reduce carbon emissions released from driving a car to work. 

This initiative follows a WeRide Australian Cycling Economy Report released this year that revealed that the cycling industry has contributed $6.3 billion to the Australian economy.

E-scooter company Neuron is set to face a new safety trial following an influx of injuries to both riders and pedestrians in Brisbane this year.

The trial will test the efficiency of three new technologies, including high accuracy location technology (HALT), rapid geofence detection, and dangerous riding detection, allowing the parent company to track scooters through sensors and implement restrictions if dangerous activity is detected. From there, the app can send riders warnings and information packages about their behaviour, and even ban repeat offenders.

Tasmania’s tourism lobby has ended its agreement with the forestry industry amid concerns from operators that logging is jeopardising the state’s ‘clean and green’ image. 

Chief executive of the Tourism industry council of Tasmania, Luke Martin, has agreed that although forestry is a major pillar of the tasmanian economy, the council understands the concerns of their own tourism operators around climate change and the role of forestry. 

Australia has received a score of zero on climate policy in the latest Climate Change Performance Index by German advocacy group Germanwatch.

Ranking sixty three countries and the European Union annually, the index analyses the performance of nations in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy productions, and climate policy, in which Australia was ranked the lowest of all. 

Australia finished in 55th place, with the index describing their performance as disappointing, and indicating a failure to take advantage of its potential