Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate confirmed that he understood that the newly-appointed CEO of the city, David Edwards, had been found to have committed misconduct before finalising his contract for the position.

The ABC reported Edwards had been found to have used staff to undertake errands and manage his personal affairs, and failed to declare conflicts of interest regarding his role in hiring for the Queensland Department of Innovation and Tourism Industry Development.

In a statement, Edwards says he rejects both the allegations and conduct of the investigation. 

The Biloela community held a dawn vigil this morning to mark three years since the Tamil family were taken by immigration authorities and transported to Christmas Island.  

The vigil took place at 5am in the morning, the same time the family were forcibly taken from their residence. 

Tamil born parents, Priya and Nades arrived in Australia by boat in fear of ethnic persecution in Sri Lanka. 

A Gold Coast nurse recovered after having an anaphylactic response to the Pfizer vaccine at Gold Coast University Hospital on Thursday. The nurse’s history of severe allergic reactions was known to the hospital, and the nurse was under observation at the time.

A spokesperson from the hospital said that the nurse had fully recovered.

"The response was prompt and effective and the patient received the appropriate treatment and has since recovered."

The spokesperson said that those with a history of anaphylaxis are warned not to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

A Hong Kong court has ordered 47 pro-democracy activists charged with conspiracy to commit subversion under its national security law be kept in custody after the Department of Justice appealed an initial decision to grant 15 of them bail.

Authorities say the activists were involved in a plot to paralyse Hong Kong’s government by participating in an unofficial primary election last year. 

Global police organisation Interpol said the recent seizures of thousands of fake COVID-19 vaccines in China and South Africa are just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ in vaccine-related crime.

Interpol said 2400 doses of the fake vaccine were found at a warehouse outside Johannesburg, leading to the arrest of three Chinese nationals, and one Zambian national.

Police in China raided the manufacturing premises of a network selling counterfeit vaccines, leading to the arrest of 80 suspects and the seizure of more than 3000 fake vaccines.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews plan to pressure the Prime Minister at the National Cabinet meeting today to approve two new quarantine centres in both states. 

Queensland’s intake is currently capped at 1,000 arrivals per week, while Victoria’s is 1,310. 

With the international border bans being extended to June, and around 40,000 Australians still stranded overseas, repatriation has become a mounting priority.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr. Jeannette Young says six passengers that arrived in Queensland on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha last month may have contracted the Russian variant of COVID-19 from a super-spreader.

While Dr. Young is not concerned that the Russian variant is more contagious or problematic than other strains, a super-spreader may have spread the virus to more passengers on the flight or in hotel quarantine.

Ipswich City Council has begun investigating the illegal dumping of construction waste on a main road in Redbank Plains.

Residents have been complaining about the large amount of waste on Austin street for some time, with locals taking matters into their own hands transporting the construction waste to the local dump themselves when the Council takes too long to respond to complaints.

Ipswich city council is urging anyone who has knowledge about illegal dumping in the area to come forward. 

The Australian Defence Department has released freedom of information documents regarding its involvement with the Myanmar military, which has been under fire in light of the recent coup.

The Australian government has maintained that Australian involvement is modest, largely providing disaster relief and human rights support. While the documents do not directly contradict this line, they also do not show Australian support slowing during the 2017 Rohingya genocide.