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 world record attempt will be made for the most people wearing koala ear visors in a beach walk in hopes to put a spotlight on the Gold Coast. Thousands are expected to take part in the walk in an attempt to raise funds for the 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.

The announcement is one of the most significant steps out of COVID-19 border restrictions so far, after nearly a year of hard closures to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Libyan Foreign Minister Najila al-Manqoush has called on Turkey to repatriate more than 20 000 foreign fighters from Libya in preparation for elections planned for December this year.

Turkish troops spent years supporting the previous UN-backed government as it weathered attacks from eastern Libyan general Khalifa Haftar and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan enjoys a close relationship with new Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles has left the crowd at a Labour Day event in laughter after seemingly calling Prime Minister Scott Morrison the C word in his speech. This comes after Mr Miles has already criticized the federal government. The word was allegedly an accident and was supposed to be contrast. Mr Miles says it was an honest mistake, he just stuttered and no matter what he thinks of the Prime Minister he would never use language like that. Scott Morrison will not be making any comments on the matter according to the Prime Minister’s office.

Queensland Premier Anastacia Palaszczuck has called on the national cabinet to expand the number of GPs who can deliver COVID-19 vaccines. Ms Palaszczuk said QLD was not receiving the volume of vaccines required to set up mass vaccination centres. The premier says that Queensland can expect to see more supply and a greater number of vaccination centers being opened towards the last quarter of the year.

An illegal yabby trap has caused the death of a Platypus in Queensland’s Broken River Campsite making the locals angry. The location is a known platypus habitat near Mackay. Mayor of Mackay Greg Williamson says the incident is disappointing as the region is built on experience for tourism about the platypus. The platypus was found in the trap by a family of campers. 2 other traps were found in the river but were luckily still empty. The Department of Environment and Science has also been made aware of the incident.

Defense minister Peter Dutton has confirmed the department of defense is reviewing the ownership by a Chinese company of a strategically important Port in Darwin. The port was leased by Landbridge in 2015 prompting security concerns about the $5 hundred million deal. A costing undertaken by the parliamentary budget office estimated that the federal government would have to pay $30 Million in compensation to Landbridge if it was required to give up the port.

The Human Rights Law centre has described the secret trial and imprisonment of a former Australian intelligence officer as ‘unprecedented’ and reminiscent of authoritarianism. The Independent National Security Legislation Monitor is currently reviewing the case of Witness J, a former military intelligence officer who was charged and imprisoned in 2018 without any public knowledge due to secrecy imposed by the NSI Act. The Human Rights Law Centre said the NSI Act should be reformed to ensure a minimum level of transparency.