Toowoomba community leaders said they were kept in the dark about the Queensland Government's construction of a regional quarantine facility at Wellcamp Airport.

Toowoomba Regional Council Mayor Paul Antonio said he knew nothing of the plan and learned of it from a press conference he was not invited to, stating that he and the council were caught off guard and would like to have been consulted.

Construction is underway, with 500 beds available by the end of the year and a total capacity of 1,000 expected by March 2022.

Renovations on the Albany Creek Leisure Centre swimming pool are now completed, making it the first venue in the Moreton Bay Region to implement the ‘Changing Places’ scheme.

‘Changing Places’ is an amenities compliance upgrade designed to accommodate those with disabilities or high support needs, making venues fully inclusive and accessible for everyone.

The Liberal National Party is criticising the state government for the high ‘ramping’ rates in hospital emergency departments. 

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath defended the system and called it ‘one of the world’s best’, and that last financial year it was reported that all critical patients were seen within clinically recommended time frames.

The Senate has unanimously signed approval for an inquiry into Australia’s deployment in Afghanistan over the past twenty years and the subsequent military withdrawal.

Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie is responsible for pushing the investigation, and said that "while there’s lots to be proud about, we clearly didn’t achieve the outcome we wanted."

Lambie said she’s happy the senate unanimously voted in favour of the inquiry, which will examine all the procedures and objectives of Australia’s longest war.

New research by the University of Sydney shows under current settings and restrictions in NSW, the state could reach up to six thousand cases per day by October.

Research leader, Dr Mikhail Prokopenko said the data supports Gladys Berejiklian’s plans to keep some restrictions in place after lockdown is lifted  in November once eighty percent of Australia’s eligible population is vaccinated. 

If all restrictions are removed with the lift of lockdown, Dr Prokopenko warned infections could surge to forty thousand cases per day based on the research findings.

The Australian evacuation mission in Afghanistan has been suspended after two suicide bombers set off explosives outside Kabul airport, killing twelve US Marines and an estimated sixty civilians.

The Australian Joint Operations Command said in a Tweet that all assisting Australian personnel are safe.

The IS affiliated group in Afghanistan, ISIS-K, has claimed responsibility for the attacks, with the Taliban condemning their actions.

A woman that lost her silver watch on a Queensland beach has been reunited with the prized possession 44 years later.

Paula Wylde while on holiday at Surfers Paradise with her family in 1977 lost her precious watch at budds beach. Years later in 1984 the watch was rediscovered by a Melbourne woman named Nola Millar.

Upon finding the watch once more this year amongst household items Nola embarked on an intense investigation leading to its return to its rightful owner. 

Queenslander Emily Petricola has won gold in the Cycling Paralympics. 

The 41-year-old who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 14 years ago beat Shawn Morelli of the US to win the C4 3,000m pursuit gold-medal race

Australia has made the perfect start to the Tokyo Paralympics, winning the first two gold medals of the Games.

Qantas has made a massive multi-billion-dollar loss amid the ongoing travel ban and grounding of international flights. The national carrier says its underlying loss before tax for the last financial year was $1.83 billion and the statutory loss was $2.35 billion.

The airline estimated the revenue impact from the COVID-19 pandemic was $12 billion last financial year.

But in a statement, Qantas says it has started the new financial year "in a fundamentally better position to deal with uncertainty and manage its recovery compared with 12 months ago".