Disgraced Victorian Liberal MP Tim Smith’s future career in politics is in doubt as Liberal leader Matthew Guy has publicly urged him not to contest the next election.

Guy’s request comes after Smith crashed his car while driving with a blood alcohol reading of 0.131, which is more than twice the legal limit. 

Smith says he is currently reflecting on his current position, however he has not ruled out running for preselection.

The Federal Government’s proposed voter ID laws have been criticised by human rights advocates and political opponents describing them as a hindrance to democracy. 

The Morrison government’s legislation would require voters to present a form of ID at polling stations,  in an attempt to crack down on voter fraud to improve the integrity of the electoral system. 

However human rights and social justice advocates are concerned the move will disenfranchise some voters including indigenous people and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. 

US President Joe Biden has accused China for failing to show leadership on climate change by criticising the leaders for not attending the COP26 summit in Glasgow.

Speaking at the UN summit, Mr Biden has aimed to forge a new climate agreement and left to question China on what value they are providing on the issue. 

With China currently the world’s largest producer of carbon emissions responsible for climate change, Xi Jinping has not travelled outside of china since early 2020 at the start of the pandemic.

Israel’s energy minister Karine Elharrar was unable to participate in the first full day of the United Nations COP26 summit because the venue was not accessible by wheelchair. 

Ms Elharra who has muscular dystrophy says she was taken to several entrances but could not gain access to the conference grounds. 

The UN’s lack of accessibility options has been criticised by Israeli ambassadors saying it is impossible to safeguard our future and address the climate crisis, without first and foremost caring for the people involved. 

The Queensland Government’s four hundred million dollar  program to eradicate  fire ants has failed to deliver its goal in stopping the march of pests in areas of the State’s southeast. 

Minister for Agriculture David Littleproud says we are halfway through the ten-year national program lead by the Queensland Government, and it is not on target or budget. 

An independent review into the program is being undertaken and aims to improve results.

The Queensland Human Rights Commission is struggling to deal with the ongoing influx of enquiries regarding public health directives amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The state’s top human rights body which normally deals with complaints surrounding discrimination and harassment have been overwhelmed with calls about the ever-changing restrictions facing Queenslanders, so much so that they have released an FAQ sheet. 

An English backpacker who worked as a waitress in Sydney has won her battle with the Australian Tax Office over the so-called backpacker tax in the High Court..

The woman claimed she had been discriminated against because of her nationality when she was made to pay tax at a different rate to Australian residents. 

Under the agreement between Britain and Australia backpackers paid a flat rate of 15% without the benefit of the tax free threshold.

Other backpackers caught by the same rule have been waiting on today’s decision. 

Migration lawyers have expressed concerns over the Administrative Appeals Tribunals Latest report, which revealed the tribunal is under-resourced to process the immense backlog of visa applications, despite the number of new applications being reduced due to COVID-19 related border closures.

AAT president David Thomas says the tribunal is not sufficiently resourced to substantially reduce their on hand caseload. 

Migration issues currently take up 86 per cent of cases with the tribunal, which also deals with disability and pension support.

Facebook will shut down its facial recognition system and delete the face print data of 1 billion users after growing concerns about the technology and its misuse.

Facebook’s new parent company Meta has announced the change will represent one of the largest shifts in facial recognition usage in the technology’s history. 

It is believed the company was trying to weigh the positive use of facial recognition, against social concerns and unclear rules from regulators.