With the rising cost of living, historic rental shortages and booming house prices, the Labor government faces a tough task. Housing was a defining issue in the federal election, but according to Dr Heather Shearer, a researcher at Griffith University’s Cities Research Institute, there are no easy solutions. ‘Housing affordability, unfortunately, is what urban scholars […]

Angry residents gathered in front of a telco base station this week to voice their concerns at health risks from electromagnetic radiation. They expressed their worries to Newsbytes about unknown dangers from a new type of device – small cell base stations – being installed in the Sydney eastern suburb of Kingsford by telecommunications company […]

The first time I met Kate Pilcher we were sitting around a kids table doing readers with our young daughters. There’s no way I would have pinned her for a linguist who has spent more than two years living and working in Kenya as a horse guide. Fluent in Spanish and Swahili, Kate’s appearance captivated […]

You won’t find it on any top 10 list for the best avo on toast in Brisbane, but The Blue Poppy has to be a serious contender for that title. Maybe it’s being tucked away in the backstreets of suburban Morningside that stops this place getting the recognition it deserves. Still, despite its hidden location, […]

As someone who thoroughly enjoys being indoors, curled up under a blanket, watching trashy TV or a good crime documentary, I wasn’t overly excited when my fiancé presented me with the idea of a camping trip. “It’ll be freezing!” I gasped, with what I’m sure was a horrified look on my face. Winter not being […]

A scientist makes a discovery challenging the medical establishment, his research isn’t taken seriously by his peers and in desperation to prove he’s right he experiments on himself. Sounds like the plot from a campy sci fi movie, doesn’t it? Proving real life is stranger than fiction, Professor Barry Marshall got his Nobel Prize doing […]

Their eyes lit up and they started singing. No longer were they confused old folks. They were remembering a time when they were young. Leading them in song was a vibrant woman who sang and strummed guitar. And no singer could have a better audience – they were fully engaged with her facial expressions, singing […]

“It’s our day, today,” Vietnam veteran Ned Fisher said. Mr Fisher served in the second tour in the tracker platoon with labradors in Vietnam. “We were around the Long Tan rubber when they brought in the Long Tan Cross, that was in 1969, August 18th. The assault pioneers put the cross in the ground as […]

Stepping into the Relaxation Centre of Queensland is like driving along the highway and rising over a crest to see the wide expanse of beautiful blue ocean ahead of you. Another world opens that has the potential to unshackle, calm and free the mind, heart, body and soul from life’s burdens, tragedies and illnesses. The […]

Industry is the Gladstone Region’s life blood and has been considered for decades as the centre of Queensland’s sporadic industrial prosperity. But the intermittent cycle of industrial projects in Gladstone creates instability within the region’s economy and often leaves local businesses struggling to survive. The Gladstone Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) recently released their […]

I learnt the literal meaning of the term ‘take the road less travelled’ about half-way through our 12km walk to our host family’s house in Sapa, Vietnam. The quaint town is 350km northwest of Hanoi and borders China. After a windy five-hour taxi ride, our queasy group was eager to jump out to get some […]

One would think that after seven hours in the company of 50 sniffling noses, sore throats and tired heads there would not be much excitement in the air. However, even viewed through a bus window, Paris is magical. We had been travelling around Europe for 20 days together, hitting cities for two days at a […]

No hardship can crush the hopes of two million people. “Freezing winters, communism, war… all these we endure,” Ljubljana’s Helena said. The red-haired university lecturer stood and watched passers-by stroll through the the main square of Slovenia in southern central Europe. Despite a struggling economy and a ballooning refugee crisis, Helena is optimistic about the […]

Djelko starts his free walking tour atop a park bench beside a busy street in Belgrade. Behind him, expensive cars speed noisily by. Overhead, the sky is blue, cloudless. The young Serb is lanky, thin faced and bespectacled. He wears sneakers, baggy jeans and a green t-shirt that says ‘Save the Earth – it’s the […]

From civil war in Somalia to the lazy Central Coast suburb of Wyoming, Somali-born Khalid Ugaas’s life has been dramatically split between two continents, cultures and lifestyles. The softly-spoken 30-year-old business student has come through harsh circumstances to find peace in Australia. Finally, the skies look bright. Khalid, one of 11 children to Ogaden-born parents, […]

“How’s the serenity” Darryl Kerrigan from the ever so famous Australian flick, The Castle, said. And he was right, I don’t know about Bonnie Doon but I do know about the peacefulness of the Australian landscape. A visit to Lake Maroon Holiday Park near Boonah was a camping trip I will never forget. It was […]

Winning an Archibald prize is a dream of young artist who made her mark at 2015’s Adelaide Fringe Festival of the Arts. The very articulate and softly-spoken Tsering Hannaford, 27, whose ultimate goal is to develop a reputation and career in portraiture, has been working as a full-time professional artist since 2013. “I guess I […]

It was 1995 and Ellen Harper was out with a friend. They were having a coffee at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast. Ellen knows now she never should have driven home. On her way to Tallebudgera Valley the 18-year-old began to feel tired, so she wound down her window. Just under a kilometre from […]

Australia’s best known cities seem to have their own signature. Sydney – the music venture. Brisbane – a business kind of vibe, where even the Apple store looks like a colonial treasury. But Melbourne – an indulgence of art. Whether it’s the graffiti walls on Hosier and Rutledge Lane across from Federation Square or the […]

Supported from a rather fragile-looking euclupt hangs a rope from which adults and kids alike swing into the refreshing cool water of Wongi Waterhole. The deep waterhole is in a peaceful setting as campers hang their towels from the rustic wooden rails and day-tripping families spread picnics on tables and grass. A 25km drive from […]