The head of Queensland’s peak medical body has welcomed moves away from using the quarantine hotel system after continual breaches.

Dr Perry says there is a real problem with quarantine as exemplified by the recent lockdown protests in Brisbane over the past weekend.

Perry says vaccinations are the solution and that only 3.6 million Australians have been fully vaccinated, approximately 14.2 per cent of the total population.

National COVID roundup:

Queensland has reported 1 locally acquired case

NSW has reported 239 cases

Victoria has reported 2 cases

This comes with at least 66 of those NSW cases infections in the community.

Australian Defence Force personnel will be out in force across all eight hotspot LGAs enforcing stay at home orders and making sure close contacts of positive cases are adhering to mandatory isolation.

A Canberra Lawyer has turned into a health and wellbeing guru, encouraging his Tongan community to stop the cycle of over-eating through his Brumby Fitness group.

Toni Tu’ulakitau said the formation of the Brumby Fitness group was purely accidental when he and 5 others made the lifestyle change after he experienced his own health scare earlier this year. 

Toni said the group isn’t only about physical fitness but also about encouraging social engagement to improve a sense of community and mental health.  

The International Space Station is stable and astronauts on board are safe after a new Russian module began firing its engines without prompting, causing the station to shift in space said NASA officials.

The space station flies at a certain altitude for several reasons, including communications with satellites in order to talk to the crew and to direct sunlight to the solar arrays that power the space station.

As part of the rehabilitation and conservation of the Caboolture Riverbank, a team in North Harbour aims to plant 1000 native trees on August first, the nation’s tree planting day.  

The riverbank was previously eroded and degraded by invasive native plants.

Project director Bryan Finney said events like tree planting days not only show the community how a sustainable ecosystem is being achieved but also bring families together to plant a tree that they can visit together in the future.

Since 2006, 10,000 trees have been planted on National Tree Day.

Descendants of the South Sea Islanders forced or duped into a form of slavery on Australian plantations hope a historic apology from the mayor of Bundaberg will set a national precedent and provide the catalyst for atonement at the highest reaches of government.

This will be especially welcomed after  Prime Minister Scott Morrison last year dismissed the notion of slavery ever existing in Australia.

The Crime and Corruption Commission has confirmed former Education Department deputy director-general Jeff Hunt was on paid leave during his 14 month suspension after being stood down for corruption.

Hunt was paid his salary of $334,000 during the ongoing investigation into the controversial hiring of a Brisbane school principal.

The triple C found that former Deputy Premier and Treasurer Jackie Trad who was initially investigated and stood down from the cabinet for this incident did not commit a crime or show “dishonest or corrupt intent”.

High numbers of wild lorikeets in South East QLD and Northern NSW have fallen victim to the seasonal Lorikeet Paralysis Syndrome in recent summers. 

Affected birds are unable to fly and in severe cases unable to blink or swallow. 

There is an investigation underway by wildlife disease experts to find the cause of the syndrome, however, so far there has been no evidence of an infectious disease being the cause and is likely an unknown plant toxin.

China dispatched a veteran diplomat known for pushing back against Western criticism to serve as its next ambassador to the U.S., an appointment that suggests Beijing is bracing for a period of prolonged tension with Washington.

Qin Gang, who most recently served as vice foreign minister, arrived in the U.S. Wednesday to fill the post vacated last month by long-time ambassador, Cui Tiankai, according to a statement from the Chinese Embassy.