New South Wales Treasurer Dominic Perrottet calls for the blame game over COVID-19 vaccines to stop. Saying ‘We have one job, and that’s to fight the virus, not each other’. $240 million was expected to be spent by the New South Wales government to administer thirty seven per cent of the states vaccines. Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s offer for the state’s public health teams to help means those figures will increase significantly.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is set to announce the start date for a Trans-Tasman travel bubble this afternoon following a cabinet meeting this morning. While the announcement is not scheduled until 2P.M Brisbane time, Air New Zealand have already drastically increased the number of quarantine-free Trans-Tasman flights from April nineteenth onwards. The bubble was agreed in principle last May but has experienced continual setbacks as cases of COVID-19 community transmission persists in both Australia and New Zealand.

The US State Department is calling on Russia to explain what it calls “provocations” on the Ukrainian border. Video footage emerged last week of large troop movements heading towards Russia’s border with Ukraine, sparking fears of renewed fighting in Ukraine’s Donbass region. US President Joe Biden called his Ukrainian counterpart Vlodymyr Zelensky on Friday to discuss the Kremlin’s actions and reaffirm America’s support for Ukraine.    

Central Queensland University in Rockhampton was greatly affected by border closures due to COVID-19 last year as more than 30% of its 27,000 enrolments were international students. The university calculated it could face a $100 million loss each year if the borders remained closed before taking action to find ongoing cost savings. Cutting executive salaries and freezing pay for senior staff are just some of the ways money is being saved. Despite the ongoing challenges, the 2020 annual report from CQU is staying positive.

Queensland farmers are taking insurance company IAG to court in an attempt to overturn the company's decision to withhold public liability cover from farmers with coal seam gas equipment on their properties. Farmers say the decision is a risk to their livelihoods as without the insurance they risk going under if visitors or contractors get injured on their property. Farmers are a key component to Queensland’s booming coal seam gas industry as they provide access to underground gas through drilling sites on their paddocks.

Severe weather conditions have left hundreds of Gold Coast homes without power. At least 238 homes are still waiting for power as technicians work on at least 60 streets this morning. 1500 homes were without power at the peak of the outage before the problems were able to be fixed. Warnings have been raised for the rain and strong winds that are set to continue for at least one more day as residents of the affected areas hope for some better conditions.

A woman in Adelaide was seen reading a book while driving at high speed on Port Wakefield Road, where the speed limit varies between 80 and 90 kilometres an hour, with children in the car, Police are trying to identify the woman urging anyone who recognises her to come forward after footage emerged of her swerving across the road. A South Australian spokesperson says officers will be continuing to investigate the video of the woman.

Mozambican authorities say they have regained complete control of the northern town of Palma after Islamist militants seized it over a week ago. The seizure of Palma was the latest incident in a years-long struggle between the Mozambican government and Al-Shabaab militants. While communications with the town remain cut, reports suggest some of the 11,000 people displaced by the fighting are beginning to return to their homes.

Jordanian Prince Hamza bin Hussein says he will remain defiant of the Jordanian army and continue to communicate with the outside world after being placed under house arrest. The half-brother of Jordan’s King Adbullah was placed under house arrest last week as the military claimed he was plotting to destabilise the country’s regime. King Abdullah and Prince Hamzah have long had a strained relationship, with Abdullah removing Hamzah as heir to the throne in two thousand and four in order to consolidate his own power.