The World Today

Dairy farmers have been shaken by another industry downturn after one of Australia's largest dairy company's announced a substantial loss. Milk suppliers have been struggling to make ends meet after processor Murray Goulburn cut the price it pays farmers last year. The processor has been trying to win back the confidence of suppliers but its latest financial results have left a sour taste.

All but two electorates have changed boundaries in the largest shake-up of Queensland's electoral map for almost 30 years. There are now 93 seats, with four new electorates added to the 89 MP's sitting currently. One rural electorate in northern Queensland was eliminated altogether. With speculation mounting on when the next election could be called, politicians are now scrambling to decide whether to stay in their electorate or move given the sweeping changes.

Many retail and fast food workers are expected to be significantly worse off by yesterday's Fair Work decision cut to Sunday penalty rates. But what you may not know is that more than a quarter of all employed women under 25 work in retail. Advocates are worried that female workers will be especially hard hit by the cuts.

Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party says it's had at least 30 inquiries about running as upper and lower house candidates in the South Australian election. The party is yet to register to be eligible to run candidates in the March 2018 poll, but is confident it'll be a main player, with disaffected voters looking for change. But cutting through for One Nation will be tough, says a political expert, who predicts the pending poll will be a very 'crowded house' including candidates from NXT and Corey Bernardi's Australian Conservatives.

Five of Australia's Catholic Archbishops have told the child sexual abuse Royal Commission mandatory celibacy has possibly been a contributing factor in clerical sexual abuse. They agreed the church must improve its selection and training processes for seminarians to ensure the mistakes of the past aren't repeated.

A new project in Melbourne is trying to reach sex workers in illegal brothels, who have received virtually no support services until now. Authorities estimate there are 500 illegal brothels operating in the city, compared with just 87 properly licenced brothels. The number of illegal brothels is thought to be growing and helping the women involved is extremely difficult.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo will make his first state visit to Australia this weekend to meet with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and business leaders within the local Indonesian community. His visit comes at a high point in bilateral relations, with Australian attitudes toward Indonesia more positive than they ever have been. Aaron Connelly of the Lowy Institute says that, while the two countries have different viewpoints and assumptions about each other, their strategic interests have much in common, which allows them to overcome short-term frictions such as the recent partial suspension of military exercises and the hard-line scepticism of figures such as military chief Gatot Nurmantyo.

Angry protests have broken out in Mexico City as US cabinet members arrived to discuss two policies that have derailed cross border relations since Donald Trump took office. The US is preparing to deport thousands of illegal immigrants who've come through Mexico - if they've committed even minor crimes. Mexico has expressed its fury at the plan, with its Foreign Minister refusing to comply with US demands.

FEATURED:

The botanical equivalent of Noah's Ark has been updated to include tens of thousands more plant species. The Global Seed Vault on the Arctic Island of Svalbard in Norway was established almost 10 years ago to safeguard the world's crops. Fifty thousand new samples have recently been added to the collection. Former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer, a board member of the trust that runs the vault, says that over the last century both India and the United States have lost 90 per cent of valued crop varieties.

Australia Post’s Managing Director and group CEO Ahmen Fahour has quit. He was in the spotlight earlier this month over the size of his salary at a government owned company.