Just 1000 people have taken the Brisbane City Council up on their $100 Go Between Bridge vouchers since the scheme opened on January 1st.

The incentive aimed to draw people away from William Jolly Bridge, which has seen heavy congestion since Victoria Bridge closed to traffic as part of the council’s green initiative.

Local Infrastructure Committee chair Cr David McLachlan says the best way to reduce congestion will be by getting people on to public transport, which is still only at 70 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

Federal Parliament has backed a motion to open a royal commission into veteran suicide.

The government had previously opposed the move, instead establishing a permanent national commission for veteran suicides in February last year.

From 2001 to 2017, 419 ex-defence forces personnel committed suicide, more than seven times the number of combat deaths in the same period.

Senior Liberal cabinet minister Karen Andrews says that it’s time for the Liberal Party to consider introducing quotas to get more women into parliament. 

Ms Andrews says she’s ''had a gutful'' of the treatment of women in parliament as a male Coalition staffer was sacked last night due to allegedly performing a lewd sex act on the desk of a female Liberal MP. 

Labor and Greens staffers conducted a sit-in at parliament’s meditation room this morning arguing they wanted to send the message that they’ve had enough of the culture.

The United States, United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union have all imposed targeted sanctions on Chinese government officials over the treatment of the Muslim Uighur minority in the country’s western Xinjiang province. China retaliated to the move almost immediately, sanctioning 10 European officials and 4 entities. China has been internationally criticised for its treatment of the Uighurs, with the United Nations estimating that 1 million Uighurs are detained in detention camps or being used as slave labour across China.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says South East Queenslanders should avoid the roads unless absolutely necessary as heavy rains continue. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued flood warnings for rivers across the region and says conditions are unlikely to change until tomorrow at the earliest. SES first responders are being deployed across South East Queensland and can be reached at 132 500 if you are in need of assistance.

Queensland’s Olympics bid team intends to continue with its plans to build a high speed rail between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast despite Infrastructure Australia rejecting their recent $5.3 billion proposal. Infrastructure Australia said the plan, which would use trains travelling at 150 kilometres per hour to take passengers between Brisbane and Nambour in 45 minutes, was rejected as being costly and inefficient. The Fast Rail network is just one of several proposed developments on the Sunshine Coast in preparation for Brisbane to host the 2032 Olympic Games.

Torrential rain and flooding around Queensland is bringing a new threat to the public. Residents are now being warned about snakes, spiders and other animals looking for dry land. Gold Coast and Brisbane snake catcher, Tony Harrison says snakes are likely to come into people’s homes to escape the conditions. The warnings have been issued to advise people to be on the lookout for wildlife in and around their homes as well as ensuring pets are kept safe.

Extinction Rebellion protesters dressed in red and white pose as dead bodies on a Melbourne CBD intersection causing traffic chaos. This was day one as the protesters have pledged to wreak havoc each day of the week calling for climate intervention. These protests come after the arrests of 2 men who locked themselves to a truck roof last Friday. Police presence was strong and Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius says a direction to stop the obstruction will be issued. Failure to comply will result in arrests.