Queensland will be given a loan of $175 million to a $900 million coal mine project that will clear koala and glider habitat in central Queensland.

This has been criticised by environmental groups as there's already been loans to Adani and other mining corporations in this era of climate change.

The government responded with Mr Pitt saying “in Queensland’s Bowen Basin, it would support up to 700 jobs during construction and create more than 500 new jobs when fully operational.”

Queensland Premier Anastacia Palaszczuk said her key agenda item at today’s National Cabinet Meeting is reducing international arrivals by fifty percent.

Currently Queensland accepts a maximum of 1,300 international arrivals each week, but the Premier said the quarantine hubs are stretched and down to their final beds.

There are sixteen quarantine hotels across the state all operating at full capacity; however, these hotels were initially meant to be used as a temporary hub if needed.

Backbone a prominent youth arts organisation which is known for promoting alternative, queer and POC music and performances, may have to relocate from its long-term home in Mowbray Park after Brisbane City Council announced a proposal to demolish its leased building.

The East Brisbane Bowls club forms part of the council's draft for a heritage - listed riverside park and stated that the club site was “under-utilised”. This has been met with large community opposition with Labor deputy leader Kara Cook launching a petition to keep the Backbone in East Brisbane.

SBS News has released statistical information from the Department of Home Affairs which details data on outgoing international flights during Covid. 

The data spans from August last year to April 2021 and found that the top three travel destinations for Australian’s were India, China, and the United Kingdom.

The data shows a correspondence between the most flights occurring to each country when they were going through their respective drastic Covid waves.

Content warning for this next story on euthenasia.

Assisted dying laws have come into effect in Western Australia, bringing relief for terminally ill individuals.

Western Australia and Victoria now have active voluntary assisted dying laws, with Tasmania and South Australia on the way.

About 60 terminally-ill West Australians are expected to peacefully end their own lives within the next 12 months.

Undocumented migrants in Belgium have sewn their lips closed in protest of their rights.

Hundreds of undocumented workers have been hunger striking for weeks to stress their demands for legal recognition and access to work and social services.

This week, four men have stitched their lips shut to emphasise the strike, but the Belgian government says it will not negotiate with the hunger strikers over their plea to be granted formal residency.

Brisbane and Moreton Bay regions will remain in lockdown for a further 24 hours.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuck made the announcement in a press conference today as three new locally-acquired cases have been recorded overnight.

Areas across Queensland will have the lockdown lifted in Noosa, Sunshine Coast, Ipswich, Logan, Redlands, Gold Coast, Scenic Rim, Lockyer Valley, Somerset and Townsville.

The Rail, Train, and Bus Union says that the Brisbane City Council are forcing bus drivers to work through the three-day lockdown or face getting stood down.

RTBU Assistant State Secretary Tom Brown says that two hundred and fifty bus drivers that are part of the union know at least six hundred other council workers who were sent home with full pay.

Councillor Ryan Murphy responds that all employees are essential workers and that sick bus drivers should seek to obtain a medical certificate or access leave.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she will travel to Tokyo and quarantine for fourteen days afterwards despite her government’s harsh criticism of international business trips during Covid.

State Deputy Premier Steven Miles the day before the Premier’s announcement said that people who can afford to charter flights for international business meetings were breaching international border restrictions and risking the health of the country.