Regional New South Wales locals express mixed emotions ahead of reopening to tourists. 

One local, Clark Webb from Coffs Creek on the NSW north coast says he has lost essentially 100 percent of trade for his stand up paddle board business. 

Despite the loss in revenue, Mr Webb says he remains “apprehensive and nervous” about reopening.

On the contrary, Coffs Harbour City Mayor Denise Knight says, “The Businesses are screaming out, we need the tourists here, we need the visitors.” 

Democrats are pressing Biden admin to lift the embassy ban on discussing gay marriage.  

Over 60 house Democrats are calling on secretary of State, Anthony Blinken to lift the state department’s ban on US diplomats lobbying for gay marriage in an official capacity.

This comes after testimony from Scott Busby, acting principal deputy assistant secretary, revealing the department’s official policy is to not advocate for or against same-sex marriage overseas.

A group of lawmakers said the policy was outdated and should be “rescinded as a matter of urgency.”

The Gold Coast death tolls are reaching tragic highs.

The Gold Coast highways have seen 18 traffic accident deaths so far in 2021.

These figures are just short of 2020’s total of 22 deaths, which proved to be the worst year on record. This data shows the Gold Coast featuring in the top ten most dangerous regions in Australia.

With the busy Christmas period coming up, Queensland Police acting inspector Sonna Stewart pleads drivers to make better decisions behind the wheel.

Palm beach residents are urging local councils to introduce better bollards to prevent hoons from whizzing down the beachfront pathway.

A slew of cars are mounting footpaths which teem with families and toddlers.

Despite temporary blocks being installed, local resident Bradley Daley says, “The temporary bollards in place at each end of the section of pathway won’t stop vehicles from accessing it for long.”

The bollards are a series of concrete blocks and are set to be installed this month along the stretch of Palm Beach Oceanway.

Barnaby Joyce and the Nationals are staying silent on the net zero emissions deal

The prospect of the Nationals signing up to net zero has been a subject of internal division within the coalition with concerns over how the transition would impact regional Australia.

However, Deputy Prime Minister Joyce admitted he was in support of the decision of the party room. He said quote “The decision was going to be made, either with us or without us. I believed it was best for regional Australia.”

Protesters took to the streets of St Kilda in Melbourne over the weekend to protest against the introduction of vaccine passports. 

Large parts of Aceland Street were blocked off by protesters having a picnic in the street. There were police patrolling the area and no arrests were made. 

One user took to twitter to compare this protest to one in Carlton. He says people were protesting in “Carlton in support of refugees who have been locked in a hotel with a COVID outbreak and have been denied help,” something which he points out is “actual discrimination”. 

Eleven Picasso artworks have been auctioned off in Las Vegas fetching a total of 100 million US dollars. 

The auction held on the weekend was part of a bid from Casino and hotel giant MGM to diversify its art collection. The move aims to include more art from women and people of colour, as well as artists from the LGBTQIA+ community and artists with disabilities.

UQ researchers behind a world-first study of the impact Covid-19 has had on mental health, hopes it will encourage authorities to boost support services. 

The study has found depressive and anxiety disorders have increased by over 25% worldwide. Dr Damian Santomauro, who’s leading the research, says countries hit hardest by the pandemic will have the greatest rise in depression and anxiety disorders.