Documents are revealing the state-owned company implementing the National Broadband Network paid its staff and executives tens of millions in personal bonuses last year. 

The NBN Co paid its 6000 staff and executives $77 million in bonuses from July to December last year with taxpayer money, including $4.3 million for top executives.

It is a massive increase from the previous financial year's bonus payments which reached just over $43 million. 

Residents in Brisbane south are protesting a plan to move a waste and recycling facility's driveway closer to a nearby school.

The Acacia Ridge Advocacy Group was created in 2018 to fight the development of the Watson Resource Recovery facility next to Watson Road State School.

The group argues the plan would lead to heavy vehicles using the same road as parents, students and staff and fears it could lead to dangerous accidents.

The development application for the facility is still under assessment.

Grasshoppers have eaten entire rural paddocks in western Queensland in a matter of weeks. 

This marks the third year in a row that the insects have decimated the area around Winton. 

Winton Shire Mayor Gavin Baskett called for a concerted effort between state and federal governments to "come up with a resolution", stating the issue is becoming wider each year.

A Brisbane beekeeper has created a map for the public to locate African tulip trees in an attempt to weed out the plant, which kills native bees.

African tulip trees are toxic to native stingless bees and crowd out native vegetation.

Hobbyist beekeeper Phil Baskerville says you can find the map on Google Maps under 'African Tulip Tree' and wants people to drop a pin on every tree they identify.

Although Brisbane City Council stopped planting the trees 20 years ago, Mr Baskerville says they are "quite prevalent across fairly Brisbane old suburbs".

Overcrowded prisons in the Northern Territory are at a “critical tipping point” says the head of the state’s parole board.

Prison numbers were more than 10 per cent above capacity for most of 2019, said chair of the NT Parole Board, Justice Southwood. 

Almost 85 per cent of the NT prison population is Aboriginal.

"The operation of the two correctional centres in the Northern Territory is reaching a critical tipping point," said Justice Southwood. 

Facebook has disabled vital pages, such as the Queensland Health page, alongside news giants in its Australian news takedown.

Facebook has blocked Australian users from posting or viewing news links on the platform, in response to the Government’s proposed news media bargaining code. 

The Brisbane City Council and Bureau of Meteorology pages have also been disabled for some, though state emergency services pages remain active.  
 

New laws are mandating vaccine providers record Australian’s COVID-19 vaccine status on the Australian Immunisation Register. 

The changes to immunisation laws mean vaccine providers, such as GPs, will report who has received the vaccine to the government.

Before these changes, the register was maintained on a voluntary basis. 

This personal information can be accessed through your myGov app or Medicare account, and by authorised government officials. 

The Federal Government will decide whether a quarantine facility will be built in Toowoomba, during a National Cabinet meeting today. 

The proposed 1000-bed facility would be built at the International Wellcamp Airport, west of Toowoomba’s CBD, and would take repatriated travellers to the site from the tarmac. 

The facility could house workers on-site on a 16-day rotation to mitigate health risks in the community, and would be similar to the successful Howard Springs facility in Darwin.

Homeless support services have placed people in motels and short term accommodation on the Gold Coast due to demand. 

A spokesperson from the Department of Housing said there were 332,000 people on the Gold Coast Housing Register Waitlist. 

Gold Coast Homeless Network Chair Maria Lee-Beek said placement in short term accommodation is very common, with only one third of people being placed in long term accommodation.