Ash Barty is set to follow her inspiration Evonne Goolagong Cawley and nourish her connections with Indigenous Australia following the retirement announcement that shocked the sporting world.

Thousands of Queensland aged-care workers are on the verge of going on strike in a bid for a pay bump, as the sector warns residents can’t get proper care when staff are being pushed to the brink of poverty. 

Mandatory mask-wearing at additional Queensland private schools has been enforced as Covid case numbers surge, with fears school camps are becoming super-spreading events.

And congestion on the Bruce Highway would be eased by a $400 million budget commitment to take trucks off the major road by upgrading the Inland Freight Route.

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