There are fears Queensland’s Delta Outbreak has escaped south-east Queensland and spread north. 

Authorities are investigating a positive case in Cairns, at a childcare centre after a parent who was potentially infected with COVID-19 dropped their child off. 

The alert comes as Queensland recorded 16 new locally acquired cases of coronavirus yesterday, bringing the state's outbreak to 47.

Authorities are still investigating how the virus could have potentially spread north.

An independent investigation into the Mayor of Cairns, Bob Manning, conducted by the Corruption Watchdog has shown that an unpaid, interest-free loan of $150’000 was given to Manning from a Developer Lobbyist when facing bankruptcy.

Investigators believe the loan was provided over 18 months ago and stated that it had never been formally documented. 

Manning is also set to face the Councillor Conduct Tribunal after allegedly failing 24 times to declare conflicts of interest

16 new cases have been recorded in Queensland today, bringing the total for this cluster to 47 cases.

All of the new cases have been linked to exposure sites in the Indooroopilly area, including several primary schools.

Health minister Yvette D’Ath says that everyone in lockdown should continue to stay home, and she remains hopeful the lockdown can be lifted on Sunday.

Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate has called for the Gold Coast to be released from lockdown this afternoon.

This comment came despite a Thai restaurant in Southport being listed as an exposure site.

Mr Tate proposed a ‘ring of steel’ around Brisbane to prevent people travelling to the Gold Coast, saying “we did it 18 months ago.”

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner says that there is no precedent for internal borders within Queensland.

To fight the Sunshine Coast’s rental shortage, a new purpose-built backpacker resort named Bounce Noosa will offer affordable living to local hospitality workers. 

Property owner Mark Baldwin decided to take action against the deepening rental crisis by opening up a portion of the resort to 36 workers.

Mr Baldwin has been working closely with Tourism Noosa to help support the local community. Doors will soon open to the hostel and enquiries can be made to noosa@staybounce.com

Rio Tinto has allegedly underpaid traditional owners of West Australia’s Pilbarra region as much as $400 million over the course of its twenty-four year long agreement with the Gumala Aboriginal Corporation (GAC). The mining giant wrote to members of the GAC in July highlighting this oversight and included an enclosed cheque of only $40 million. 

The US State department will implement a refugee program for resettling Afghan refugees at risk from Taliban insurgents into American soil. 

The ‘Priority Two’ program will assist all Afghans who worked for US funded projects or for US based NGOs and media outlets. 

The United States said this program will help thousands ahead of the formal withdrawal later this month, while the Taliban fighting continues.

As Turkey battles its worst wildfires in over a decade, the European Union has come to its aid by sending three firefighter planes to battle the blazes. 

On Tuesday the fires had claimed eight lives and ravaged through Turkey’s Mediterranean and Aegean coastal resort regions.

More than four thousand Turkish firefighters have been deployed on the ground.