The Queensland Liberal Nationals have voted to place Senator James McGrath at the top of their senate ticket for next year’s elections in what is being seen as a snub for frontrunner Amanda Stoker.

An accident involving an industrial lawn mower in Hawkesbury north-west of Sydney has left a man with his leg amputated. The 56 old man suffered the lower leg amputation while operating the mower on a property.

The man was airlifted to hospital in a stable condition, placed in an induced coma and intubated.

Police in Tonga have charged a man for the killing of prominent LGBTQI activist Polikalepo Kefu, a lifelong advocate of the queer community across the pacific. 

Kefu was was chairman of the Pacific Protection Gender Inclusion network and president of the Tonga Leitis Association, an organisation providing support services, advocacy and education to the country’s LGBTQI communities. 

US President Joe Biden has raised the Trump-era refugee cap of 15, 000 to 62, 500 with plans to double that number to125, 000 refugees next year.

Trump had previously cut the Obama-era intake of one hundred and ten thousand refugees to fifteen thousand as part of his so-called America First policy, which human rights groups branded as racist.

Annual public reporting of school comparison tables showing Year 12 results has been stopped in Queensland. This decision coincides with transitioning Queensland Schools to the national ATAR system.

Education Minister Grace Grace says the move means it is no longer possible to publish league tables as the University Admissions Centre confirms ATAR results are not made public nationally. 

Beef Week is underway this week in Rockhampton and organiser Bryce Camm says this year’s edition of the event could surpass its previous record of 105 000 attendees, making it the largest event of its kind since COVID-19.

The large-scale attendance is just the latest boost in what Camm describes as a great season for eastern seaboard cattle farmers with both cattle and beef prices at record levels.

The Gold Coast Beach Parade is set to go ahead this month as a major community event to reunite the region after COVID-19 restrictions, floods and bushfires.

The event will be sponsored by Queensland businesses and brands and will be raising funds for the Currumbin Wildlife Hospital to save koalas. 

A single mother of three from Victoria who has been left permanently disabled following two strokes in 2017 claims she is living like a peasant since her Jobseeker payment was cut last month.

44 year-old Lisa from south-east Melbourne says she has been forced to steal food for her family. The loss of Jobseeker has put her weekly income back by $150. 

The European Union is proposing allowing vaccinated overseas travellers to enter its borders as early as June as part of its COVID-19 reopening scheme.

The plan would require travellers to have received their second dose of an EU-approved vaccine two weeks prior to their trip and would only be open to people from countries with low infection rates.