After pleading guilty to drug possession and admitting he uses steroids, Afghanistan veteran and former Invictus Games competitor Tyrone Gawthorne is handed a suspended sentence for steroid and cocaine possession.

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.

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.

Australias largest barramundi farm is calling for a halt in whole-fish imports from Asia not because around 60 per cent is imported, but for biosecurity reasons.

People who experience homelessness are more likely to be exposed to trauma, but experts say creative therapies could help them heal.

The massive yacht crushed several smaller boats as it came to a juddering halt at the Cairns Marlin Marina in Queensland.

A luxury superyacht has crashed while attempting to moor at a Cairns marina, narrowly avoiding a potential disaster on the busy tourist strip.

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.

TV personality Ernie Dingo is travelling around Australia to improve Indigenous men's health by taking them camping in the bush.

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.

Witnesses say neighbours tried in vain to rescue a man from a burning vehicle after the ute exploded on a Cairns street, describing the scene as "horrific".

More dead wallabies have been found on a Cairns sporting field, taking the total number of carcasses in the past week to more than 30.

Drought has collided with high demand for soybeans, lifting prices by around $500 a tonne, prompting warnings of a price hike for soymilk, tofu and tempeh.

The supermarket giant is criticised in court for its "recalcitrant attitude" after being caught selling out-of-date baby formula for the second time at a Cairns store in Far North Queensland.

Stakeholders call for an overhaul of the government's $5 billion fund that promised to turn northern Australia into an economic powerhouse.

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.

Health professionals who say they have seen an increase in the number of "very young children" under the influence of solvents and inhalants warn the consequences of their actions are irreversible.

Mango fans get ready, because the season is ramping up in the Northern Territory with more than 200,000 trays picked last week.

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.

The Mornington Island Raiders love their footy, but the remote community team are paying exorbitant costs in flights, fuel and accommodation just to attend their matches.

A year after her murder, Toyah Cordingley's name still hangs in shop windows, on posters strung up on trees, and stickers on car bumpers in nearly every street in Cairns.

Robyn Hausler continued paying her mortgage and rates for six years, not realising the house she'd lived in for 20 years wasn't hers anymore. Now a court has ruled she can have her property back.

An estimated 75,000 backpackers working, or that have worked in Australia, could be back-paid hundreds of millions of dollars after the Federal Court ruled the so-called backpacker tax invalid.

A fast-moving bushfire is contained after burning down a property and threatening several more in a rural area west of Cooktown in Cape York.

The Saints fall to the ladder-leading Cats in Geelong, the Crows humiliate the Suns by almost 100 points, the Bombers pipped the Kangaroos, while the Hawks and Blues also posted wins.

A cold dry air mass moving through the state is causing cool mornings in Queensland, with temperatures dropping as low as -4.8 degrees Celsius, and it's forecast to continue throughout the week.

He's a top fighter who made international headlines during the 2018 Commonwealth Games because he fled the athletes' village, and now he wants to fight for Australia.

Manly sends fans home happy with a win over the Eels at Brookvale after the high-flying Storm down the Titans at Robina.

A Daly Cherry-Evans field goal late in extra time gives the Sea Eagles a pulsating 11-10 win over the Storm, after the Broncos beat the Titans 34-12 and the Eels get home 24-22 against the Warriors.

The Cats rebound to beat the Swans in Sydney, while the Bombers edge out the Suns in a pulsating finish on the Gold Coast and the Bulldogs trump the Dockers.

Fire ants are spreading into new areas across south-east Queensland according to a Biosecurity Queensland insider who says the war to eradicate the potential killers is all but lost, a claim vehemently denied by the man tasked with stopping the spread.

Richmond edges West Coast by a goal in a game for the ages, while the Bulldogs closed in on finals by thumping the Giants and Jarryd Roughead kicked six on his special night.

One of the longest serving and most colourful local government councillors in Australia, Dawn Crichlow is retiring after nearly 30 years serving her community.

Hawthorn keeps its finals hopes alive by beating premiers West Coast, Geelong remains a chance of claiming the minor premiership, while the Giants, Swans and Kangaroos enjoy victories.

Melbourne Storm claim the minor premiership and bragging rights over Manly Sea Eagles, while the Sydney Roosters tune up with victory over Penrith and the Knights get a feel-good win over the Titans.

The Queensland Rural Fire Service says weather conditions indicate there will be an extreme to locally catastrophic fire danger in the Darling Downs, Granite Belt, Maranoa and Warrego today, as thick smoke hangs over the Gold Coast hinterland.

A research team is deployed in response to persistent smoke from a bushfire that has been burning for nearly two months in underground peat on the NSW Mid North Coast.

More than 50 bushfires are burning in Queensland amid potentially catastrophic, hot and windy conditions. Emergency warnings are in place for fires near Stanthorpe in the state's south.

Acting Queensland Premier Jackie Trad says the Gold Coast hinterland fire that swept through the area over the weekend included areas of rainforest a highly unusual event, but one that experts say is occurring more frequently in recent times.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is returning early from a trip to Switzerland because of the ongoing bushfire threat, with more than 80 fires burning across the state and a blaze at Peregian on the Sunshine Coast that is still out of control.