A 62 hectare block of land in Birkdale is set to be turned into a major community precinct as Redland City Council asks residents for input on the site. The land on Old Cleveland Road holds heritage listed buildings dating back to World War 2 and was previously owned by the Federal Government. Karen Williams, Redland Mayor says she has been lobbying to buy the land for a decade. 

In the last year women with disability were more than twice as likely to report sexual violence compared to women without disability. Little to no data has been collected on Issues of neglect and exploitation until now. These statistics come from the ‘Nature and extent of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation against people with disability in Australia’ report published today. 64% of people with disability report experiencing various types of violence over their lifetime compared to 45% of people without disability.

The ACT Ombudsman has recommended cultural training and increased community consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in a report released today. The Ombudsman investigation follows a number of complaints made by Indigenous Australians about treatment from ACT police, as well as their continued over-representation in Australia’s prison system. While making recommendations regarding overall police culture towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the report did not consider interaction at an individual level, meaning specific instances of police brutality wer

Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine is in detention again after being arrested while leading a protest last night. Wine has only been free for a short while after being arrested during the January presidential election which he has denounced as being illegitimate. Long-time president Yoweri Museveni won the January elections amid accusations of voter fraud, intimidation and suppression of opposition, extending his 35 year regime for another 5 years.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has suggested that Australia assist Papua New Guinea with its COVID-19 vaccine roll-out amid a recent virus outbreak. Palaszczuk says the assistance would not only help to prevent a potentially devastating outbreak in the Torres Strait Islands, but also protect mainland Queenslanders as many Papuans fly in and out of mining jobs in North Queensland. The Queensland government is prioritising vaccination in the Torres Strait Islands, citing low health outcomes in the region, with the first vaccines expected to be administered in the Torres Strait this weekend.

Gautum Adani’s wealth has jumped to $16 billion u.s to $50 billion u.s. This has proved more valuable than Elon Musk’s Tesla and Jeff Bezos’s Amazon this year. Adani plans to go ahead with the Carmichael thermal coal project in central Queensland under the new company name of Bravus.The businessman’s workers made complaints of poor conditions and food poisoning leading to sickness while Bravus says we do our best to cater for the dietary requirements of the people at the camp.

Agrobusiness financial house Rabobank says confidence among Queensland farmers is at one of the highest levels it has been in two decades. The optimism comes amid strong commodity prices, low interest rates and a positive economic outlook. However, farmers say a bit of rain would do even more to boost their confidence after a largely dry summer across the state.

Dutch logistics company Vanderlande, plan to make waiting at luggage carousels a thing of the past at a new airport in Badgerys Creek a suburb in Sydney. Vanderlande has won the right to operate the baggage services at the new airport and plan to use an app that will tell people when their bags are going to turn up. Federal Minister Paul Fletcher says this will end one of travels biggest stresses. Bags will be digitally traced and tagged from check in to baggage claim once the airport is operational. Simon Hickey, Western Sydney AIrport CEO says this really brings us into a modern era.

A Medecins Sans Frontieres report says barely one in ten health facilities in Ethiopia’s Tigray region are functional as the region grapples with a worsening humanitarian crisis. Of the one hundred and six facilities MSF visited, it says one in five was occupied by armed soldiers, with one being used as an army base. Tigray has been in crisis since November when the Ethiopian national army invaded the region over a disputed election.