Telstra penalised for participating in unconscionable conduct
Telstra has been ordered to pay $50 million in penalties for unconscionable conduct after it was found 108 Indigenous customers were signed up to contracts under false pretences.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Rod Sims said the illegal practises included manipulating credit assessments to allow the customers to make purchases they were not eligible to make, and exploiting cultural and language barriers to misrepresent some products as free.
Queensland government calls for domestic vaccine production
The Palaszcuk government has called for the Sunshine State to take the lead in domestic vaccine manufacturing.
Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development Steven Miles said Queensland in particular could play a greater role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with supporting more long term biomedical research in the state.
Minister Miles hosted a Biomedical Industry Ministerial Round table at Parliament House, where vaccine production was on the agenda.
Queensland government and opposition in brawl over health system
State LNP leader David Crisafulli has demanded an apology from the state government after Education Minister Grace Grace claimed they were exaggerating stories of failures in the healthcare system for ‘political points’.
Patricia Clayton is one of two Queenslanders who appeared alongside Crisafulli to describe her experiences of failure in the public health system, citing the extreme pain she has been in while waiting 150 days for a double hip replacement.
Queensland Presbyterian Church entering receivership with PwC
The Queensland Presbyterian Church has entered a receivership in a move that has some worried for the future of its schools and aged-care facilities.
The receivers, PwC Australia, intend to continue the church’s operations while conducting a thorough review of the financial position and activities of the church.
Presbyterian Church Queensland’s moderator, Reverend Dr. Philip Strong, says that despite the unexpected announcement, the priority of the organisation will continue to be the wellbeing of those involved with the church.
The Chills: Scatterbrain
<p><span><span>- For more than forty years, <strong>Martin Phillips</strong> has been the leader of The Chills, the Dunedin band who quietly started a revolution with their game-changing jangle pop. </span></span></p>
Czarface & MF DOOM: Super What?
<p><span><span>- Czarface have made a splash in underground hip-hop for almost a decade with continual, almost yearly, solid albums. Consisting of rappers <strong>Inspectah Deck</strong> and <strong>Esoteric</strong> as well as producer <strong>7L</strong>, the group’s sound blends classic old-school rap elements with references to superhero cartoons and comic books.
Mess Esque: Dream #12
<p>- Mess Esque is the brand new project from songwriters <strong>Helen</strong> <strong>Franzmann</strong> (<strong>McKisko</strong>) and <strong>Mick Turner </strong>(<strong>Dirty Three</strong>). In the face of past prolificacy and melancholic mastery, their debut <em>Dream #12 </em>is buoyant - simultaneously a peek inward and a bold stride outward.</p>
Too Birds: Melbourne 2
<p><span><span>- Do Too Birds seem out of place in Melbourne? They’re brutally distinct from most other hip hop in Australia, for sure. Having said that, wherever you put Too Birds they’d almost certainly be out of place; it’s kind of their thing.</span></span></p>
11am Zedlines
Your 11am Zedlines with Tina and Teagan.
Image: Flickr/Pierre Pouliquin
U.S. climate change report released after 4-year delay
A major climate change report has been released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, after being delayed by the Trump administration since 2017.
The Climate Change Indicators Report found floods have become five times more likely in U.S. cities since 1950, and recorded a record low amount of sea ice last September.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan says climate change will now be addressed by the U.S. with a sense of urgency.
"Combatting climate change - it's not optional.