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

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.

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.

A 10-year-old boy writes to Queensland's Environment Minister pleading with authorities not to remove a giant crocodile that has been sunning itself on a creek bank.

Hundreds of farmers have rallied in Queensland to protest against proposed new laws to protect the Great Barrier Reef, saying they are being treated as "guilty until proven innocent".

The supermarket giant is criticised in court for its "recalcitrant attitude" after being caught selling out-of-date baby formula for the second time at a Cairns store in Far North Queensland.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 woman is recovering in hospital after a wild dog, believed to be a dingo, burst into her Cape York house and attacked her while she was cooking dinner.

Scientists fear Cape York's Iron Range (Kutini-Payamu) National Park could take decades to recover after weekend fires.

Passengers on a regional Queensland flight describe the moment one of the propellers on a twin-engine plane stopped in mid-air.

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.

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.

The world's second-deadliest fungus, the poison fire coral, is found in Far North Queensland for the first time, a long way from its usual home in the mountains of Japan and Korea, and can cause a "horrifying array of symptoms".

Queenslanders who are visually impaired say they're at risk of serious injury in busy carparks and on roads because they don't have the right to use disability parking spaces.

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.

A report by Human Rights Watch says new regulations to tighten the use of chemical restraints on dementia patients has actually normalised the treatment to the detriment of patients.

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.

A man is dead and a woman seriously injured after falling more than 10 metres from a zipline in the Daintree rainforest in Far North Queensland, police say.

Mardi Liebelt was next in line to take a flying fox through the rainforest canopy when the zip-line snapped, watching in horror as a 50-year-old South Australian man fall to his death and his wife writhed in pain.

The family of the man who died while zip-lining in Far North Queensland has described him as a "loving husband, father, son, brother and friend to all".

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 innocuous Facebook post has spurred about 40 people to carry a north Queensland grandmother with multiple sclerosis up a steep mountain so she could fulfil a childhood wish.

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.

Witnesses say it was "pandemonium" when a Gold Coast nursing home shut down yesterday after paramedics attended the village to help find emergency accommodation for 70 residents. The closure is believed to be over a contract dispute.

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.

Former Commonwealth Games competitor Matthew Levings trained for years alongside Sun Yang. Now the Gold Coast tradie says China's Australian coach, Denis Cotterell, would never train swimmers he knew to be doping.

Despite warnings it could undermine the impact of the Queensland Government's policy to curb alcohol-fuelled violence, casinos will remain exempt from ID scanning and reduced hours. The move comes as the Government scales back the scheme in parts of Brisbane and Ipswich.

An endangered marsupial known for mating itself to death disappears from one of its most prominent Queensland habitats.

Six people have now been charged over the 2012 murder of Jason De Ieso, who was shot dead in his Pooraka workshop in Adelaide's northern suburbs. Police say he was caught in a dispute between the Finks and Hells Angels.

Helicopter vision shows a catamaran burning and sinking off Main Beach on the Gold Coast after eight people are rescued while whale watching.

Half of the residents of troubled Gold Coast nursing home Earle Haven were being physically restrained, and 71 per cent received medical restraint, in the weeks before it abruptly closed its doors last month, the aged care Royal Commission hears.

Gold Coast woman Theresa Dalton is sentenced to six years in jail for hiring a hitman to kill her husband during their divorce battle, telling a Brisbane court it is a "catastrophic miscarriage of justice" because she is innocent.

The Bulldogs held on to beat the Wests Tigers at the Olympic stadium, after the Dragons broke their losing streak with a win over the Titans and the Eels pipped the Knights.

A woman who says her daughter has been denied a wheelchair asks her local MP who's also the Minister for the NDIS to sit in on a meeting about the girl's needs.

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.

As the congestion issue in south-east Queensland brings traffic to a grinding halt on major roadways and a heightened scrutiny of the public transport system, the ABC takes a look at how commuters are being impacted across the region.

The Sea Eagles hang tough to defeat the Raiders 18-14 in a thrilling clash in Canberra, as the Storm consolidate top position on the ladder with a 24-8 win over the Titans.

The Adelaide Crows fan favourite says other clubs have shown interest in him, but he has not been offered a contract from a rival team, as the club continues to search for answers after missing the finals for a second year in a row.

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.

A novel idea to paint stairs the colours of a rainbow at Queensland's Rainbow Beach is at the centre of a two-year dispute after four words were added to the artwork.

The Raiders miss the chance to move up into third place by narrowly losing to the Warriors, while the Bulldogs knock off the Broncos and the Dragons pile even more pain on the Titans.

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.