Unemployment rate in QLD below 6%
An Australian Bureau of Statistics report has shown Queensland’s unemployment rate has fallen below 6% for the first time in two years. Acting Premier Jackie Trad said the two year low in unemployment rates shows the state government’s pro-business economics plan was working. Deputy opposition leader John-Paul Langbroek said while the lowered unemployment rate was good, it is only following a trend that is being reflected nationally.Up to 40 cases of Black Lung in QLD
The coal miners union said there could be up to 40 cases Black Lung in Queensland, with five cases of the disease confirmed so far. The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union’s predictions support those of the Natural Resources Minister, Doctor Anthony Lyneham, who said eight out of fourteen of Queensland’s underground coal mines operated at above maximum coal dust levels until 2015. CFMEU industry safety and health spokesman Jason Hill said the figures predicted by the union are shocking and that the mines have been operating above maximum dust levels for a long time.New mother's could lose $11,800 under new PPL scheme
An analysis by the University of Sydney’s Women and Work Research Group shows new mothers in low paying jobs could lose almost $12,000 under the Turnbull government’s planned changes to the paid parental leave scheme. The changes, announced late last year, would see a reduction in government assistance and an increase in workplace entitlements that would stop new mothers from accessing both government assistance and employer payments for more than eighteen weeks. Study co-author, Professor Marion Baird, said women will be forced to return to work too early or will decide not to return to work at all, with the labour market losing women’s expertise and skill. A spokesperson for Social Services Minister Christian Porter said the report’s findings were hypothetical and negotiations about the final policy were ongoing.Alcoa withholds $100,000 in wages, exploits workers
A delivery ship for aluminium giant Alcoa has withheld up to $100,000 in wages from its workers according to the International Transport Workers Federation. The claims emerge just days after armed security evicted workers from another ship working for Alcoa, the MV Portland, in a dawn raid that saw union labour replaced with non-union foreign workers following an industrial dispute. The ITF is accusing Alcoa of selecting ships with records of exploiting workers for less than $2 and hour to circumvent Australian labour laws.Seven dead in Jakarta attack
Seven people are confirmed dead and at least twenty people are injured following a wave of bombings and shootings in downtown Jakarta. The first explosion was set off in front of a Starbucks at the base of the Skyline building in Central Jakarta yesterday around 3pm Australia Eastern time, with a second explosion targeting a police traffic booth, and one police officer was shot in the stomach. Five of the dead are confirmed to have been attackers, with the other two being hostages who were executed during the attacks. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks.Three killed in French Alps avalanche
Three people have been killed and three more injured when an avalanche hit a group of schoolchildren in the French Alps yesterday. Two children were killed in the incident, a fourteen year old and a sixteen year old, who were part of a group of ten experienced young skiers on a high school trip from Lyon. The third person killed was a Ukrainian skier who was not linked to the group. A spokesperson from the Isère prefect’s office said the school should probably not have been on the closed area, but an investigation would have to take place to determine if sufficient warnings were given.