A number of residents in Saphire in Central Queensland have been rescued from flood waters today after a severe thunderstorm hit the area early this morning. 

The State Emergency Service has rescued people from floodwaters, roofs of homes and tops of cars. 

An emergency warning was issued by the Bureau of Meteorology at 5am this morning, calling for residents to evacuate the area.

Deputy Premier, Steven Miles, announced the Queensland Government would provide $30 million from the Building Acceleration Fund to two infrastructure projects.

The Palaszczuk Government is providing $15 million, with Lendlease co-investing $9.8 million, to unlock the next phase of the Yarrabilba development, increasing residential land supply and enabling planning to commence for community and health services.

He says the possible Olympics games in 2032 give a chance to keep selling the region and the state to the world for more than 10 years.

The Queensland Government is being urged to fund more mental health positions as a 90 per cent increase in emergency department presentations have been reported.

Queensland doctors are also reporting a 30 per cent spike in people seeing their GPs for mental health problems.

Queensland Health says it will be providing $46.5 million as part of a Mental Health and Wellbeing Community Package.

However, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists' Queensland branch chair Professor Brett Emmerson says it is a drop in the ocean of what was needed.

Allegations of sexual and physical assault within the New South Wales Rural Fire Service ranks have been referred to police.

More than a dozen RFS volunteers made claims on facebook of sexual assault, bullying, harassment and physical violence within RFS ranks.

RFS Commissioner Rob Roger says these matters have been referred to NSW Police for their attention.

The population of the critically endangered regent honeyeater bird has dropped so low that  experts say young birds are failing to learn their own bird song.

Research from the Australian National University (ANU) says with no adult birds around to teach them, some juvenile regent honeyeaters had taken to copying the songs of other species.

Regent honeyeaters are found from northern Victoria to southern Queensland.

Congresswoman Deb Haaland has won Senate confirmation to lead President Biden’s Interior Department, making her the first Native American cabinet official in history.

As Interior secretary, Haaland will be tasked with overseeing nearly 500 million acres of federal lands, including regulating drilling and other fossil fuel activities on them. 

Congresswoman Haaland is a member of the Laguna Pueblo Native American tribe in new Mexico.

A turtle first documented by Steve Irwin could be facing extinction due to plans to build a dam. 

The Urannah Dam, proposed by the federal government, will flood the Urannah and Massey Creeks and will destroy the turtle’s habitat. 

The species, named Elseya irwini, was photographed by Steve and his father, Bob Irwin in 1990 during a fishing trip and  confirmed as a new species three years later.

Round 6 of the Queensland Feral Pest Initiative is set to go ahead with 1.4 million dollars worth of grants being given to rural pest control programs.

Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner said “there is also funding to continue coordinated ten eighty baiting programs.”

Ten eighty baits are specifically used to kill wild dogs. However, a 2019 study by the University of New South Wales found that almost all wild dogs in NSW are dingoes or dingo-dominant hybrids.

PM Scott Morrison announces the distribution of eight thousands doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Papua New Guinea while the government will suspend flights between Port Moresby and Cairns.

PNG records about a hundred cases a day and a half of the 500 tests conducted by Queensland facilities for PNG on Monday came back positive.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne says the 8000 vaccine doses will fill a critical gap in PNG’s vaccine program which awaits delivery of further vaccines through COVAX.

Australia’s Race Discrimination Comissioner is calling the federal government to back an anti-racism framework to be implemented nationally. 

Chin Tan says he is deeply troubled by a recent resurgence in racism both in Australia and nationally and it's time to approach the problem in the same way we look at issues like domestic violence. 

The federal government has not funded a national anti-racism campaign since 2015.