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.” 

With federal parliament returning next week, First Nations advocates are lobbying the senate to block controversial legislation that would require voters to show ID at the polling booth.

Under the proposed legislation, identification includes things like a drivers license, passport or medicare card. 

Groups including the Northern Land Council and Aboriginal Peak Organisations of the Northern Territory say the legislation would disproportionately affect First Nations voters living in remote communities. 

Schools in Delhi are closing indefinitely as the Indian capital grapples with a toxic smog. 

Diwali celebrations, along with seasonal crop burnings, have seen levels of the dangerous PM2.5 particles exceed the World Health Organisation’s safety guidelines.

PM2.5 is an air pollutant that is a concern for people's health when levels in the air are high.

On the air quality index, PM2.5 levels under one hundred are considered “acceptable,” however Delhi is experiencing levels just under 400 which is considered “severe.”

Maps sent to north Brisbane residents have confirmed the development of an alternative highway west to the Bruce Highway. 

The Department of Transport and Main Roads has told residents most likely affected by the development that the future 55 kilometre highway would set a 90-metre wide corridor between Petrie and Beerburrum. 

The project also aims to boost the Caboolture West development however Moreton Bay Regional Council Mayor Peter Flannery has complained that this population growth planning is five years behind where it should be. 

A Queensland Police taskforce investigating how women are treated in the criminal justice system has found victims of sexual assault often have to wait days for forensic testing.

Senior Sergeant Simon Kinbacher outlined issues with the criminal code, saying that it fails to uphold the human rights of survivors, in a letter to the Women’s safety and Justice taskforce.