The federal government says it will uncap its apprenticeship wage subsidy scheme and extend it for an additional 12 months.

The government says it will facilitate 70 000 new hires in the next year, taking the total number of new apprentices to 100 000.

The move will give at least $1.2 billion in assistance to employers as part of Australia’s COVID-19 recovery program.

Shepparton, a city in Victoria, has parents scared to send their children back to school after violence and racism at Greater Shepparton Secondary College. 

Koori and Ethnic community leaders are to meet this week to try to resolve the racial issues that have led to violence in the school against more than two thousand students.

Hundreds of activists have taken to the streets of Minneapolis demanding justice and the conviction of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer accused of murdering George Floyd. 

The trial was scheduled to begin on Monday but has been delayed for at least a day after the Minnesota Court of Appeals told the Judge to reconsider prosecutors’ request to reinstate an additional charge of third-degree murder.

Protestors in Lebanon are declaring a ‘day of rage’ against the government as the country’s economic crisis continues to deepen. President Michel Aoun has called on the military to prevent road blockages in anticipation of the protests today. Anti-government demonstrations have been ongoing in Lebanon since last year as a result of the Beirut port explosion in August and the country’s COVID-19-fuelled economic crisis. 

The military spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi rebels says the Houthis have conducted attacks deep in Saudi Arabian territory, including Aramco-owned oil facilities. Saudi Arabia claims its air defences stopped the Houthi drones before they could do any damage, but the alleged attack marks yet another escalation in the weeks long back-and-forth between Houthi and Saudi forces. The sides are currently engaged in a battle for the northern Marib province, which the Iran-backed Houthis see as a defining point in the Yemeni civil war.

State insurer icare has paid $235 million to a labour hire firm. New South Wales Treasurer Dominic Perrottet says he can’t explain why the payment was made. Mr Perrottet was unaware of allegations against icare and says he will seek an explanation for the payment to the labour hire firm. Daniel Mookhey, Labor’s finance spokesman says the arrangement appears as a convoluted scheme for icare to hide it’s spending through a major contractor.

A community Facebook group called 4069 Community and Surrounds is bringing group members together as several people are posting about Peacocks on the loose. The posts started in December last year when someone posted saying Peacock spotted on the loose if anyone’s missing theirs. Another member made a post saying anybody lost a peacock, it’s on my roof. The posts are continuing in the group as members say the peacocks are keeping them constantly entertained.    

QLD Chief Health Officer Jeanette Young says she is concerned that a large number of coronavirus cases continue to be detected among travelers from Papua New Guinea after another 5 cases were reported on Monday. The high rate of infections in Papua New Guinea has already been flagged as a risk to vulnerable communities in the Torres Strait where the vaccination rollout will be fast-tracked. Dr. Young said that the Astrazeneca jab would be prioritised to communities in Queensland’s far North due to the surge in cases from the neighbouring nation of Papua New Guinea.
 

State member for Whitsunday Amanda Camm has apologised after she failed to declare shares in several businesses run by her husband. Despite her claim that she was unaware she owned the shares in her husband’s companies, failure to register conflicts of interests makes Ms Camm liable to be called before the Parliamentary Ethics Committee. MPs are required by law to declare any potential conflicts of interest in an effort to maintain parliamentary transparency. At time of writing, Ms Camm’s shares are yet to be registered on the Members’ Register of Interests.