Brisbane’s last skate rink will close after being outbid in a lease contract to a major gym franchise. 

The iconic Stafford Skate Centre has been running for 40 years. The building was recently sold to a new owner, who chose not renew the skate centre’s lease.
In a statement posted on Facebook owner Rob Carter said, “We know many of you will be sad to see us hang up the skates but, this is the decision we have come to amicably with the new owners.”

Queensland’s Treasurer has ruled out any targeted support for businesses affected by Brisbane’s snap three-day lockdown before Easter.

The State government said that there was no need for new stimulus despite estimated losses of up to $65,000 in stock business owners purchased for the holiday period.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry policy manager Amanda Rohan had called on the state government to launch a relief package.

Cairns has been dumped with half a metre of rain in a week, with more heavy downfall  expected across Far North Queensland.

The Bruce Highway between Ingham and Cardwell and the Gillies Highway is currently cut off due to flooding. 

The Bureau of Meteorology expects heavy rain to continue in the region for the rest of the week. 

Weather journals dating back to 1830 could provide extensive details to better understand climate change.

The journals from Perth describe temperature, barometric pressure, wind, and rain are likely to be the oldest near-continuous record of daily weather observations in the southern hemisphere.

Climate History Australia is launching a citizen science project to secure help transcribing 60,000 journal entries.

The Victorian government has just announced that it’s providing 50 million dollars to "kickstart" domestic manufacturing of mRNA vaccine technology. This will be the first time the technology will be produced in Australia.

Acting Premier James Merlino says It will take at least 12 months for any of the vaccines to be made in the country. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use the mRNA technology, which had never been used for vaccinations before the COVID-19 pandemic.

A suspected Rhino poacher has been trampled to death in a south African Elephant stampede.

Authorities said that the suspected Rhino poachers were fleeing from rangers when they ran into a herd of breeding elephants.

One of the men was arrested while another was able to flee the rangers in Kruger National Park.

Australian trade unions are calling for the federal government to invest in local manufacturing of solar panels after concerns have been raised of forced labour in China's production of solar components.

Around 80 percent of Australia's solar power panels are sourced from China.

China has been accused of using the Muslim Uyghur population in forced labour camps in the Xinjiang province.

The federal government is proposing to spend an extra five hundred and thirty nine million dollars on new 'clean' energy projects.

$275 million towards developing hydrogen production hubs in regional areas and $263 million towards carbon capture and storage projects.

The Queensland town of Gladstone is one of the proposed project hubs, however, hydrogen can use a lot of energy to process into usable forms.

A rally is taking place in Brisbane this morning to urge decision makers to reject a proposal from a Clive Palmer owned company who want to build a coal mine just 10kms away from the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

Organisers of the event say Government-appointed scientists have warned of significant and irreversible damage to Reef ecosystems if this coal mine goes ahead. The event will be held outside Parliament House and starts at 9:30 this morning, one week before the Queensland Government decision is due to be announced.

The LNP opposition has made a failed bid to launch an official probe into Queensland’s corruption watchdog over abandoned fraud charges levelled at seven Logan city councillors. 

A lack of evidence led the Director of Public Prosecutions to drop charges against the former Logan councillors last week, almost two years after they were suspended for an alleged plot to oust the council’s then-chief executive.