MP Warren Entsch says the Queensland Government failed to honour a deal to help fund a Cairns Indigenous boarding facility for girls following the state election.

A Cairns apprentice's charges are upgraded to unlawful striking causing death after a man he allegedly hit during a fight outside a bar on the weekend dies in hospital.

A remote Cape York community is in the fight of its life to save a unique rainforest that was devastated by a cyclone.

A leg wound that became infected after a fall eventually claimed the life of Bertha Aalberts, but her Melbourne nursing home had no record of the injury's severity, a Cairns hearing of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety is told.

Celebrity chef Maggie Beer says nothing can forgive the abysmal standard of meals given to some aged care residents as the royal commission into the sector hears people were served meals from trolleys near maggot-infested rubbish bins.

The standard of care provided to an elderly man, often found in soiled pants, at a regional Queensland aged care facility was so appalling even his own granddaughter was too distressed to visit, the royal commission into aged care hears.

In the depths of rural Queensland is a fossil deposit so amazing that Sir David Attenborough regards it as one of the most important palaeontological sites in the world.

A fossil sabre-toothed bandicoot skull from Riversleigh

David Glasheen was once a multi-millionaire living in Sydney. But that was a different life. For 22 years, the 76-year-old has been the sole resident of a remote Queensland island and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Queensland's Native Mounted Police massacred thousands of Indigenous people on the colonial frontier, and most of its troopers were Indigenous themselves. It's a difficult legacy for their descendants to come to terms with.

Polystyrene balls were strewn across three bays on a pristine north Queensland island after coming in with the tide from an unknown source, forcing locals into action with vacuums and dustpans.

New laws are before Queensland Parliament to protect the Great Barrier Reef from harmful nutrient and sediment run-off, with a voluntary scheme not working fast enough according to the Environment Minister.

Health authorities urge more than 500 patients of a dental clinic in Far North Queensland to be tested for HIV and hepatitis as the clinic is investigated over its infection control practices.

There are concerns, and equally hopes, that an extension to a ban on live sheep exports and cruelty charges against a live exporter are eroding the livestock exporting industry.

On a remote stretch of beach on the west coast of Cape York, rangers were stunned to see the extent of the rubbish strewn across an area used by turtles during nesting season.

The 7-metre boat left Badu Island on Wednesday afternoon bound for Dauan island, just south of Papua New Guinea, with two men, two women and a nine-year-old boy on board, but it never arrived.

Police call off the search for five people missing in the Torres Strait since Wednesday after they set off by boat from Badu Island to Dauan Island, prompting a large-scale operation.

For the first time in his life, Alistair Bowie, 26, doesn't have to share a home with up to a dozen extended family members and he helped to build the house himself.

The survival of a tourist allegedly stabbed in broad daylight at a busy backpacker hostel in Far North Queensland is a "pure fluke" after major arteries in her neck were missed by "mere millimetres", police say.

Ronald Shirley is jailed for ripping off an an intellectually impaired patient in north Queensland, leaving the client with so little money he can no longer go on a planned bucket-list trip.

Scientists are in a race against time to map "extraordinary and complex" ancient fish traps on one of Australia's most remote islands.

After staging an against-the-odds survival after a boat capsize in remote far north Queensland waters, one man is issuing a stern warning to fellow fishermen.

Dark-coloured jerseys could lead to poor performance, increased rates of injury, and even jeopardise the careers of young rugby league players, researchers say.

An ominous drone photo of sharks circling a whale beached near Albany in WA snaps top prize at this year's Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year awards, with the photographer saying the scene was "unreal".

A North Queensland Cowboys feeder club hopes its American import is more than your average Joe when he trots out for his first QRL game this weekend.

Matthew Ross White pleads not guilty to the murder of Donna Steele, as the Supreme Court in Cairns hears her killing occurred when she fought back during a botched extortion bid.

A man accused of murdering a woman in Far North Queensland changes his plea to guilty two days into his Supreme Court trial and will face sentencing this morning.

A court releases the video of a police interview that shows the murder confession of Matthew White, who strangled Cooktown woman Donna Steele in a botched extortion bid and has been sentenced to life in jail.

Three people killed in a "freak" skydiving accident in Far North Queensland died in mid-air when a solo sports jumper's parachute opened prematurely and caused them to collide, a coroner finds.

The supermarket giant is criticised in court for its "recalcitrant attitude" after being caught selling out-of-date baby formula for the second time at a Cairns store in Far North Queensland.

A potential vaccine for streptococcal infections is being tipped as a game changer in remote communities after a recent outbreak was detected in Cape York.

Farmers build bioreactors on their farms to reduce run-off of fertilisers that have been blamed for declining coral health.

Two teenagers who have recently sought help to stop chroming are speaking out about their addictions, which have led to the loss of friends and family members, in the hope of deterring others from heading down the same path.

A marine physicist, who was awarded more than $1.2 million for his wrongful sacking earlier this month, has now raised more than half a million dollars to fight an appeal by James Cook University.

Environmental groups say plans to save marine animals from harm and drowning in discarded fishing nets are not being implemented where it is needed the most.

The makers of Rexona, the deodorant identified by retailers and police as the product most misused by Queensland children, acknowledges its product was implicated in five deaths across two states through misuse but says there is "nothing that currently exists" to fix the problem.

Scientists say after running an eradication program for the past eight years, Far North Queensland can be declared free of dengue fever for the first time in more than 100 years.

As Queensland Opposition leader Deb Frecklington weighs in on the state's chroming crisis, BP recalls how it went about combatting misuse of its own product almost two decades ago.

It's estimated that African swine fever has killed 25 per cent of the world's pig population. The deadly disease has now reached Timor-Leste, about 650 kilometres from Darwin.

One squid, most likely the diamondback squid, lays an estimated 40,000 free-floating eggs into Great Barrier Reef waters, in an event for the species that experts say lives fast and dies young.

Stuart Morris initially kept walking when he first laid eyes on a massive snake skin in Cairns, but when he saw it a second time he decided to take it home and straighten it out all 7 metres of it.