The Palaszczuk Government has released a range of proposals to reform local government elections in Queensland.

The reforms follow the Crime and Corruption Commission’s Operation Belcarra probe into the 2016 elections.

Among the measures are the introduction of compulsory preferential voting, proportional representation and campaign spending caps.

Greg Hallam from the Local Government Association tells Mark the association has some concerns about the motivations behind a number of proposed changes.

In October 1,000 athletes from 80 countries will descend on Brisbane for the INAS Global Games.

The games are for athletes with an intellectual disability and Brisbane will mark the first time they include separate categories for Down Syndrome competitors.

It’s an exciting development for Brisbane’s Andre Rivett and his father and coach Steve tells Mark he’s looking forward to doing Australia proud.

An analysis of four of Australia’s most popular fast food chains has found kids meals are packed with salt.

The research found a wide variation across brands and individual menu items but a pack of six chicken nuggets at Hungry Jacks contains 108 per cent of child’s daily allowance.

Sian Armstrong from the Heart Foundation tells Marks it’s time to look at regulating salt content in kids meals.

A recent spate of videos showing people torturing and killing possums have sickened social media and are causing concerns for animal welfare groups.

In one video a man is seen taking a bite out of one animal, another shows a possum in a net being thrown to three dogs.

Michael Beattie from the RSPCA tells Mark that apart from unspeakable cruelty it is an offence to kill a native animal.

The Palaszczuk Government is seeking international expressions of interest in developing a second casino on the Gold Coast.

The government refers to it as a Global Tourism Hub and today announced that, like Brisbane’s Queens Wharf development, gaming would be restricted to 5 per cent of total floorspace.

A site has yet to be nominated and Daniel Gschwind from the Queensland Tourism Industry Council tells Mark he’s not sure the SEQ market is ready for three casinos.

Researchers at Queensland University have established that Humpback Whale numbers on the east coast have now fully recovered since the end of whaling in 1962.

It’s estimated the whales now number around 30,000 and the population is growing at more than 10 per cent a year.

Associate Professor Michael Noad tells Mark the fear is now that the population might outgrow the capacity of the whale’s changing environment to cope.

A Mitchelton family is appealing to thieves who broke into their home overnight to have a heart.

As the family slept the robbers took off with a range of things including two three week old Maltese puppies from a litter of five.

Their owner Lewis Davies tells Mark he doesn’t care about the goods taken he just wants to puppies returned, because they may not survive without their mother.

Since the 2nd Turnbull Ministry was sworn-in in July 2016 almost half of its ministers, assistant ministers and parliamentary secretaries are gone or are going at the next election.

In recent weeks a parade of Ministers have announced their leaving politics, including Defence Minister Christopher Pyne and Defence Industries Minister Steve Ciobo who confirmed their departures at the weekend.

Political scientist Dr Paul Williams tells Mark the high churn rate looks to be a feature of our politics into the future.

The Palaszczuk Government has announced it is now seeking national and international expressions of interest in buying the naming rights to The Gabba.

Finding a sponsor was a recommendation of last year’s Stadiums Queensland Taskforce Report.

Sports marketing expert Adam Hodge explains to Mark that the rights could be worth 10s of millions but getting people to call The Gabba something else will be the hard part.

Professor Lloyd Spencer has devoted 40 years of his life to studying penguins including 15 expeditions to Antarctica.

His dedication and his work has earned him the nickname ‘Professor Penguin’.

While Professor Spencer’s work appears widely in academic publications he tells Mark his latest effort Waddle is a bit of simple fun for everyone.