Electoral roll information to be used to track COVID-19 contacts

Information from Queensland’s electoral roll could be used to locate and contact people about Covid-19 Vaccination arrangements.

The urgency of the vaccine rollout has prompted a request to amend the Electoral Regulation to allow the Electoral Commission to hand over details including voters name, address, occupation and date of birth to Queensland Health.

Ben Pennings continues in Adani court case

Environmental activist, Ben Pennings, will continue in Queensland's supreme court after yesterday’s appearance against Adani lawyers.

Mr. Pennings told 4ZZZ “I am very pleased with how my legal team handled an intense day in supreme court. 

The judge reserved her decision until a later date and I hope to be able to defend the case with all the evidence before me”

 

QLD Opposition leader calls for support in destroyed areas by grasshopper

Western Queensland farmers are destocking for the second year in a row after large numbers of grasshoppers destroyed their paddocks.

Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli says the state government must put the grasshopper affected areas in similar support structures to fire and drought.

He visited the northern part of Longreach, and walked paddocks where farmer’s are already struggling by severe drought. 

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young awarded compensation for defamation ruling

Former Senator David Leyonhjelm has lost his bid to overturn a ruling that he defamed Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

The Federal Court found Mr Leyonhjelm defamed Senator Hanson-Young by suggesting she was a misandrist and a hypocrite in Parliament and in media interviews in 2018.

Senator Hanson-Young was awarded one hundred and twenty thousand dollars in compensation, which she pledged would go to charity.

 

Michael Gudinski to receive a state funeral dies aged 68

Victoria will hold a state funeral for Australian music legend Michael Gudinski after his unexpected death this week.

Music producer Michael Gudinski began Mushroom records in 1972 and helped launch the careers of many Australian artists, including Archie Roach.

Mr Gudinski died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Melbourne, aged 68.

Private Healthcare company responsible for wrong vaccine dose previously failed to check employee's training and qualifications

The private healthcare company Healthcare Australia responsible for giving two elderly people the wrong vaccine dose in Carseldine last week previously failed to check its employees’ training and qualifications.

According to the Guardian, the company  failed to properly screen an employee who fraudulently claimed to be a nurse in the Northern Territory.

The Federal and State Government have condemned the company, however, it was still selected for the covid-19 vaccine rollout despite the previous case being revealed.

 

Racist Dr. Seuss books discontinued

Six Dr Seuss books will stop being published because of racist and insensitive imagery.

In a statement, Dr. Seuss Enterprises said it made the decision after consulting educators and reviewing its catalogue. 

The company stated it plans to ensure their books represent and support all communities and families.

 

Research finds new fish sounds

University of Queensland researchers designed a new speaker system with whole-brain imaging allowing them to observe how baby fish can hear a range of different sounds.

PhD candidate Rebecca Poulsen, who’s also DJ, says underwater acoustics is more complicated than air frequencies. 

The researchers are testing different sounds to see if the fish can discriminate between single frequencies, white noise, short sharp sounds and sound with a gradual crescendo of volume.

 

Environmental Activist and Adani face off in Supreme Court

Environmental activist, Ben Pennings, faced off against Adani lawyers yesterday at the Queensland supreme court.

Adani’s legal team applied to have information related to the case kept confidential from Mr Pennings.

They fear the environmental campaigner would use the information as a weapon against the company.