The federal government is rejecting Queensland’s calls for additional hospital funding, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison, arguing the responsibility of hospital funding lies with the State government.

The request for funding comes after Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said local hospitals needed to increase potential capacity should the state experience another COVID-19 outbreak.

Aldermen with the Darwin Council are calling for urgent action to protect a large area of threatened cycad species from Urban development.

The Northern Territory Government plans to build eight hundred homes for Defence Housing in Lee Point, North of Darwin, despite pushback from the local community. 

Darwin Alderman Rebecca Want de Rowe described the destruction as "mindless," and emphasised the importance of green spaces for a cleaner city.

Three scientists have won the Nobel prize for their groundbreaking work in the fight against climate change. 

Japanese-born American Syukuro Manabe, German Klaus Hasselmann and Italian Giorgio Parisi shared the joint prize in Physics, with the acknowledgement being hailed as a sign of a consensus forming around man-made global warming by the UN Weather Agency.

Mr Parisi is known for his earlier climate studies on patterns in gasses and liquids, which he believes can also lead to further developments in neuroscience and machine learning.

Noosa’s 24/7 dementia café is connecting friends and families to form a community

According to research from Dementia Australia, Without medical intervention, dementia rates are set to increase to almost 1.1 million people in less than 40 years.

Noosa’s dementia café is a low-key fortnightly gathering for people affected by dementia within the community.

The not-for-profit group Noosa Care started the café in 2018 with a grant from Dementia Australia in order to ignite a sense of belonging within the community.

New data reveals ambulance ramping is soaring across Queensland.

The amount of ambulances and paramedics that have been forced to stay with patients as they wait to be admitted has risen by over 60%. These new figures show over 60% of patients are waiting in excess of 30 minutes in an ambulance bay prior to being admitted. 

Leader of the opposition David Crisafully says the new data is “deeply concerning.”

New data has revealed the number of Queensland doctors seeking help for mental health is higher than pre-COVID levels.

The Queensland Doctor’s Health Programme helpline is receiving calls from doctors regarding mental health and physical concerns.

During 2020, caller’s concerns about physical health increased and reports of mental health issues or chronic stress doubled.

In 2021, concerns over physical health reduced to pre-pandemic levels, however, mental health concerns are still 50% greater than before the pandemic.

Native bees in regional New South Wales are now deemed endangered after the 2019/2020 bushfires in the area. 

The Flinders University study found 50 to 80% of the bees' habitat had been destroyed. As a result two species have been listed as endangered with another nine as vulnerable. PhD candidate James Dorey says, “It's shocking because this is caused by a single fire event.” 

Mr Dorey says this will continue unless climate change is properly addressed.

Remote Indigenous communities in WA may reopen later than the rest of the state. WA health minister, Roger Cook says he understands not all aboriginal communities in the state are on board with the vaccine strategy.

Mr Cook says, “There are some [regions] where quite simply we will not get vaccines into those communities.” 

He says as a result these regions in WA may continue to be locked down as a preventative measure.