86 close contacts of the doctor who contracted COVID-19 while treating in the Princess Alexandra Hospital have returned negative results, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said this morning. 

Hundreds of further results are expected in the coming days, which will show whether the doctor spread the virus while he was infectious in the community before testing positive last week.

With less than two weeks to go until JobKeeper winds up, the Queensland Premier has renewed pleas for the Prime Minister to extend support for tourism operators hit worst by international border closures.

Ms Palaszczuk says “Without more targeted support for our tourism industry, we’ll see thousands of jobs lost in Cairns, the Whitsundays and the Gold Coast.”

The Queensland government says that the half price airfares announced by the PM last week were good but not enough and “won’t go to those who are most in need.”

Brisbane renewable energy company, RedEarth, has signed a contract with a housing developer to provide a “virtual” power plant for thousands of homes powered by the solar energy collected from their rooftops.

Co-founder Charles Walker said the internet of energy turns homes with solar panels and batteries into a network that optimises the generation, transmission and utilisation of electricity. 

Attorney-General Christian Porter has launched defamation proceedings against the ABC in the Federal Court today, alleging that an online story published by the Broadcaster portrays him as the perpetrator of a “brutal” rape that contributed to a woman taking her own life.

Mr Porter has engaged several high profile solicitors to represent him, including Bret Walker SC, who successfully acted in the appeal to the High Court of Australia of Cardinal George Pell.

Approved capacity for Melbourne’s leg of the March 4 Justice rally has been increased to 5,000 attendees this morning.

The permit comes at the same time a number of female Liberal politicians in Canberra have confirmed they will attend the March 4 Justice rally today, including Senators Sarah Henderson and Jane Hume, and MP Bridget Archer. 

National rallies are planned across the country today to protest against gendered violence, including in Brisbane’s King George Square.

Chinese leadership is drastically increasing control on the Hong Kong government by introducing a mechanism to vet candidates’ loyalty to Beijing and reducing the share of directly elected lawmakers. 

Zhang Xiaoming, a senior Chinese official, says even one “anti-China” person is too many for Hong Kong’s legislature.

According to the official proposal released on 11 March, an election committee filled with mostly Beijing loyalists will be empowered to nominate candidates for Hong Kong’s governor and legislators in the future.

Strawberry prices are expected to sky-rocket in Queensland amidst a shortage of pickers as a result of the international border closures.

Farmers have had to resort to limiting their strawberry crops or not planting at all from fear of the fruit rotting in the ground without enough people picking them.

Queensland Strawberry Growers Association president Adrian Schulz says holiday makers and backpackers normally pick up to 80 per cent of the fruit in Australia.

The Crime and Corruption Commission has released several of the Queensland Premier’s private emails after she was found to have been conducting government business through her private accounts. 

The Triple-C also revealed that other Queensland government ministers were conversing using their private emails. 

Queensland’s Shadow Integrity Minister Fiona Simpson says that the Triple-C revelations are “deeply concerning”.

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.