The Queensland Government has passed a law banning single-use plastic and polystyrene takeaway containers.

From 1 September, single-use plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery, plates and expanded polystyrene products will join single-use plastic shopping bags on the banned list in Queensland.

The laws include exemptions allowing the sale or supply of plastic straws at healthcare businesses or schools, so people with a disability or medical condition can still access them.

The exact results of the Western Australian state election could take longer than normal after a large uptake of early and post-in votes.

The WA Electoral Commission says that the official results may not be known for some weeks.

Despite the delay, Mark McGowan of the Labour Party has taken the win in what has been a landslide victory, so far securing 50 of the 59 seats in the Legislative Assembly.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has said Queensland's tourism troubles are "entirely self-inflicted" as controversy over the Commonwealth's $1.2 billion travel stimulus package continues.

She mentioned in hope of seeing more people to spend money in the Sydney CBD.

The travel stimulus package is also criticised the stimulus package by The Queensland Government, saying Queenslanders will not be supported to travel within their own state.

Prime Minister Morrison joined his United States, Indian and Japanese counterparts in the first leadership meeting of “the Quad” over the weekend, with the US President hosting the video link-up.

The Heads of States gathered to discuss a broad purpose of "practical solutions and concrete results" to global problems including COVID-19, climate change and cyber security.

Experts are expecting that the meeting may again disrupt the relationship between Canberra and Beijing.

A LGBTQIA+ event on the Gold Coast has been making waves after their launch in January, with the self-described “Queens of Paradise” creating the event as a safe space to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community.

The event, Flamboyance, runs each Sunday at the Pink Flamingo in Broachbeach and the event on Facebook boasts it’s a “stunning drag show taking you on a journey from the deepest parts of space to the camp side of air travel.”

The Brisbane Gallery is set to be added to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Memory of the World Register. 

The owners Brian and Marjorie Johnson ran operations from 1950 to 1970 as The Johnstone Gallery in the basement of Brisbane Arcade in Queen Street, later moving to Bowen Hills. 

University of Queensland Vice-Chancellor Deborah Terry yesterday insisted higher education is on a clear path after weathering the pandemic. 

She mentioned the University’s responsibility to be an active part of the community, as well as providing a pipeline for research translation to industry.

The offshore, online learning like many other universities providing to students would be a model to consider in post-pandemic life, she said. 

Content Warning: This story mentions the death of Indigenous people. 

In another shocking week, three Indigenous people died while in custody across Australia in a period of just six days. 

Federal Greens Senator and proud Aboriginal woman Lidia Thorpe has written on Twitter, “The system is broken. Thirty years on since the Royal Commission, how is it possible that our people are still dying in custody and not a single person or institution has been held to account?”

A report commissioned by the Australian Conservation Foundation has reported that Australian cities are at risk of being ‘unliveable’ after a significant decline in green spaces across  all major cities. 

The report, titled Temperature Check: Greening Australia’s Warming Cities published on 11 March, warns that most major cities will be far hotter than forecasted as a lack of vegetation creates “heat islands”.