Warning: This article contains information about domestic violence and child abuse which may be distressing for some readers.
1. Queensland mum beaten senseless by her partner, who later dumped her naked body, all because of an empty bacon packet.
Leeann Lapham’s partner punched her so hard he felt the new mum’s “skull give way” during a row over an empty bacon packet.
The 30-year-old’s naked body was then discarded in dense north Queensland bushland, in the hope it would never be found, AAP reports.
Her tormented family has spent the past eight years wondering how she died.
On Wednesday they finally heard how her partner Graeme Colin Evans senselessly killed her.
Evans appeared in the Townsville Supreme Court where he was sentenced to nine years’ jail for manslaughter and interfering with the corpse.
He also became the first person in Australia to be affected by tough new “no body, no parole” laws, which were introduced in Queensland in August.
The 43-year-old was initially charged with the murder of Ms Lapham in February 2017, but little was known about her death.
A breakthrough came in February this year when Evans told police what happened and led them to Cowley Beach, where he dumped her body on the night of April 19, 2010.
The court heard Ms Lapham became annoyed at Evans after she arrived back at their Innisfail hotel room with their three-week-old son to find an empty bacon packet and knife in the kitchen sink.
An argument started before she came toward him with the two items and swung the knife in his direction, knocking a beer from his hand.
Justice David North said the physical altercation that followed could only be described as a “brutal bashing”.
He said Evans had told a psychologist he felt Ms Lapham’s “skull give way” when he punched her.
“You took your time after you beat her senseless, then gathered her body and disposed of her naked, depriving her of the opportunity of a funeral and a burial,” he said.
“You disposed of her clothes in a different position and then you set about telling the police and everyone else a lie about what had happened.”
The court heard Evans did not intend to kill Ms Lapham.
He went outside for a smoke after punching her repeatedly in the head, only to return 20 minutes later to find she had died.
It was then that he panicked.
Justice North described Ms Lapham’s death as senseless.
“It arose out of a trivial domestic argument that got out of hand and can only have done so because of an inability to step back and take account of or control your anger,” he said.
Despite the fact he lied for eight years, Justice North conceded Evans was remorseful.
Kerry Johnson told the court through a statement her daughter’s death had ruined her life.
“I’ve lost a part of my soul that can never be replaced and a part of my heart that will never recover,” she said.
Ms Lapham will finally be laid to rest in Innisfail, while Evans will be eligible for parole after he has served four years.
Justice North reduced the amount of time he had to spend in jail before he applied for release on account of his co-operation with police.
If you or someone you know is in need of help, please call the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800 RESPECT.
2. A pregnant mother-of-four has been charged over the January murder of a Sydney lawyer at a Bankstown cafe.
A 35-year-old woman has been charged with the shooting murder of Bankstown lawyer Ho Ledinh, AAP reports.
Mr Ledinh, 65, was shot three times through the back at point-blank range outside Happy Cup cafe at Bankstown City Plaza on January 23, in front of horrified witnesses.
Analosa Ah Keni appeared before Burwood Local Court on Wednesday, having been charged with murder earlier this month, police say.
Ah Keni, from Liverpool, was arrested on the Hume Highway at Marulan on March 8 and taken to Goulburn Police Station before being charged with murder.
Court documents obtained by 9 News allege Ah Keni conducted surveillance before the fatal shooting - which is believed to be a paid hit - driving past the victim as he sat in the cafe less than an hour before the shooting.
Police also allege she received a phone call shortly after Mr Ledinh was killed, returning to the van in which the gunman is believed to have escaped the scene in.
The documents also state Ah Keni told police she "couldn't remember" what she did on the day of Mr Ledinh's murder. She is currently four months pregnant and in a prison clinic experiencing difficulties.
Ah Keni's arrest came three weeks after Arthur Kelekolio, 38, was arrested at Sydney International Airport before he could board a flight to Bali.
Kelekolio was also charged with Mr Ledinh's murder and faced Sydney's Central Local Court on February 14. His lawyer, Adam Houda, didn't apply for bail for Kelekolio and it was formally refused by magistrate Les Mabbutt.
The matter was adjourned to April 11.
3. Good news: Childhood immunisation rates are rising across Australia.
Childhood immunisation rates have reached such high levels in Australia that 'herd immunity' would now be providing protection against a range of diseases for children who can't be immunised, says a leading expert.
New data released on Thursday by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) shows immunisation rates have continued to rise right across the country, AAP reports.
In 2016-17, 93.5 per cent of Australian five year olds were fully immunised, this is up from from 92.9 per cent in 2015-16 and 90.0 per cent in 2011-12. The national target is 95 per cent.
Professor Robert Booy, Head of the Clinical Research team at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS), described the figures as very encouraging.
"We're at a very high level which should be engendering a lot of herd immunity. Herd immunity doesn't start at 95 per cent it starts before that and we are doing extremely well right across the country," Professor Booy told AAP.
"There is a small amount of variability but not to the extent that is worrying," he added.
Herd immunity is a form of immunity that occurs when the vaccination of a significant portion of a population - or herd - provides a measure of protection for individuals who have not developed immunity.
When high levels of a population is protected through vaccination against a virus or bacteria, it becomes difficult for disease to spread because there are so few susceptible people left to infect.
Analysis of immunisation records across Australia's 31 Primary Health Networks (PHN) found the proportion of fully immunised five year olds was highest in Western NSW at 96.0 per cent.
The North Coast in NSW and Perth North had the lowest rates at 90.6 per cent.
"We're not surprised to see lower rates in places of like the North Coast of NSW and improvements are happening right across the board," said Prof Booy.
The number of teen girls to have received the HPV vaccination, ranged from 85.6 per cent fully immunised in Central and Eastern Sydney to 69.2 per cent in Tasmania.
For boys, rates ranged from 83.5 per cent in Murrumbidgee (NSW) to 62.5 per cent in Tasmania.
4. Queensland man Rick Thorburn has been charged with rape and indecent assault over incidents that occurred while he worked at a Brisbane childcare centre.
Rick Thorburn has been charged with rape and indecent assault over incidents that occurred a childcare centre south of Brisbane, according to ABC News.
Police are alleging the 57-year-old Queensland man raped a girl under the age of 12 while he worked at the childcare centre, warning her "don't tell anyone" after the alleged assault.
Thorburn is also facing charges of attempting to rape another girl, as well as seven indecent assault charges that occurred between 2015 and April 2016. It's believed most of the offences occurred at the Chambers Flat childcare centre operated by his wife, Julene Thorburn.
"Both the victims have disclosed numerous allegations of sexual abuse where the defendant has clearly taken advantage of his unsupervised access to children," Senior Constable Amarjeet Kumar wrote in a 2016 affidavit, reports ABC News.
"The defendant was in a position of authority being the carer for these children... the children felt helpless and defenceless to protect themselves."
Police claim one occasion of abuse occurred while Thorburn was dropping the girl off at school in a black van which had the words "Miss Julene's Family day care" written on the back.
The police affidavit also claims the 57-year-old attempted to force a second girl into performing oral sex on him in the daycare centre's toilet facilities.
Thorburn has been committed to stand trial for the charges, with a pre-trial set for April 20 at the Beenleigh District Court.
Thorburn's lawyer, Adam Guest, reportedly confirmed to Fairfax Media that he plans to contest the charges.
If you or someone you know is in need of help, please call the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800 RESPECT.
5. The Turnbull Government is very close to passing company tax cuts.
Crossbenchers are under pressure from the government to pass welfare reforms and corporate tax cuts through the Senate this week.
The controversial company tax cuts, which will reduce the rate to 25 per cent for all-sized businesses, are due to be debated in the upper house on Wednesday, AAP reports.
The Nick Xenophon Team says it will vote against the tax cuts because the coalition should take them to an election. But Australian Conservatives senator Cory Bernardi says he is backing the cuts, and so is Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm.
This comes as some of Australia's largest businesses are promising to "invest" and therefore lift wages if crossbench senators agree to pass company tax cuts.
The Business Council of Australia on Wednesday released a joint statement with the heads of large companies calling for the Senate to act.
"If the Senate passes this important legislation we, as some of the nation's largest employers, commit to invest more in Australia which will lead to employing more Australians and therefore stronger wage growth as the tax cut takes effect," the statement said.
But on Twitter, crossbench senator Derryn Hinch said the promise from the heads of BHP, Qantas, Fortescue, Wesfarmers and EnergyAustralia among others wasn't enough to secure his vote.
He said he worried that money from the tax cuts would be channeled into share-buybacks which happened in the US under the Trump administration's policy.
"What worries me is that it won't reflect in wage rises," he told ABC Radio.
The government is trying to get the crossbench numbers it needs to pass the bill, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull insisting the "vitally important" tax cuts would provide the incentive for businesses to invest and employ.
6. A new survey is revealing everything you ever wanted to know about the sex lives of your fellow Aussies.
Yep, it's that time of year again: the time when condom, sex toy and sex product brand Durex quizzes Aussies on the details of their sex lives.
And apparently, in 2018, we're more sexually satisfied than ever before, The Daily Telegraph reports.
The brand surveyed 1000 Aussies aged 16 and over on their sexual habits, and found 90 per cent of sexually active Australians were satisfied with their sex lives.
South Australians are leading the way when it comes to the frequency of their sexual encounters, with 52.1 per cent claiming they made time for sex at least once a week. Victorians report having the least amount of sex, with only 42.1 "getting it on" on a weekly basis.
Durex sexologist Juliet Allen says the differing stress levels between Australian cities might have something to do with how regularly people are able to make time to do the deed.
"I think that's definitely related to stress levels, if you look at SA they are perhaps living a more cruisier lifestyle, and more rural," she told The Daily Telegraph.
"Perhaps if those from New South Wales were from Sydney, they have more stress which equals lower libido.
"In this day and age we're all so busy because of our access to phones and social media, we can read emails from bed, so it's leading to less sex for some cities."