Queensland Health authorities are on high alert after a Sydney man, who was infected with COVID-19, travelled into Brisbane just days before the hard border closure.

The flight attendant who picked the man up from Ballina airport, in New South Wales, has since become infected, however, initial fears that she spread the virus to regional communities while infectious have now been dismissed.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is again under fire for her hotel quarantine stay, after arriving from Tokyo after a successful Olympics 2032 bid.

She is being accused of having organised a stay in an upgraded suite at one of Brisbane’s quarantine hotels, however her office denied those claims.

Former Queensland Premier and Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Campbell Newman, has resigned from the Liberal National Party.

The reason is being cited as the failure of the political wing to stand up for the party’s core values.

Demonstrations have taken place in Sydney, with smaller protests held in Melbourne and in Brisbane at the Botanic Gardens, against tight restrictions imposed to tackle a rise in Covid cases.

People chanted "freedom" as they marched through the centre of Sydney.

Officers say they have made 57 arrests.

Australia, on Friday, avoided having the Great Barrier Reef listed as an endangered world heritage site by UNESCO, despite extensive climate change-spurred damage to the ecosystem’s corals.

Climate Council spokesman Will Steffen says Australia must stop censoring science, and start taking the steps required to help protect the reef.

Thousands of people marched through the capital city of Hungary, Budapest, to defend the rights of the LGBTQI+ community.

It comes after the government tried to limit discussion of homosexuality and transgender issues in schools.