The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has granted approval to a company co-owned by Gina Rinehart to develop and operate up to 151 new coal seam gas wells in inland Queensland. The Atlas stage 3 project proposed by Senex Energy, which is jointly owned by South Korea’s steel giant Posco and Rinehart, aims to primarily contribute to domestic gas supply for households and Australian manufacturing, including glass, bricks, cement, and food packaging.

Police have discovered three firearms at the residence of Ryan Cole, the alleged gunman accused of shooting and killing Natalie Frahm in Mackay, Queensland. Among the firearms found was a handgun believed to have been used in the fatal shooting of Frahm in front of two children. Ryan Geoffrey Cole, 31, has been charged with the murder of his neighbor, Natalie Frahm, who was shot while sitting in a car with two children in the driveway of her Mackay home on June 19. The police seized the alleged murder weapon from Cole's home as part of their investigation into the tragic incident.