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A range of Queensland businesses including beef producers and beer makers are taking part in a trade mission to Hong Kong and China led by Queensland agriculture minister Mark Furner. Mr Furner said it was an important opportunity to explore and expand opportunities to export Queensland food products to Chinese markets.

Key events of the trade mission will include HOFEX, Asia’s leading food and hospitality trade show held this week at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. In Chongqing, China, the delegation will attend the official opening of the Chongqing-Australia Trade and Economic Forum.

“This trade mission is a massive opportunity for the Queensland food and beverage businesses who will take part,” Mr Furner said. Participating businesses include Game Meat Processing from Ipswich, Ballistic Beer Co from Brisbane, Gotzinger Smallgoods from Yatala, Proteco Oil from Kingaroy, Human Bean from Goondiwindi and Brisbane Valley Protein from the Scenic Rim, just to name a few.

Queensland’s total good exports reached more than $80 billion last year. This included significant exports from QLD’s $5.3 billion beef industry. Mr Furner said significant investments and strategic trade missions by the Palaszczuk Government had directly contributed to Queensland’s growing export industry.

A 45-year-old South African National has been arrested and charged after nearly 70kg of cocaine was found within a shipping container arriving to Sydney from South Africa.

Earlier last month a consignment carrying wooden furniture arrived in Sydney from South Africa. The container was taken to the Sydney Container Examination Facility for x-ray, and Australian Border Force (ABF) officers noted anomalies within the shipping crates. The contents of the consignment was deconstructed and 61 packages of a white powdery substance were found concealed within the base of the crate. Further analysis of the packages confirmed a total of 68kg of cocaine with a estimated street value of $34 million.

Detectives from the NSWPF Organised Crime Squad and ABF investigators, with assistance from the Australian Federal Police established Strike Force Warranbool to investigate the matter further. Following extensive inquiries, investigators conducted a controlled delivery of the goods to a storage facility at Campbelltown mid April. The South African National was then arrested after he allegedly accessed the consignment. Following the arrest, search warrants were executed throughout the Campbelltown area where items relevant to the investigation were seized.

The man faced court late last month where he was charged with importing and possessing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug and was refused bail.

An exciting but solemn discovery has been made. Maritime archaeologists from the CSIRO have discovered the resting place of the SS Iron Crown, an Australian freighter torpedoed by a Japanese subamarine during World War II.

The SS Iron Crown, a 100metre ore freighter, was sunk on 4 June 1942 while sailing through Bass Strait with a cargo of manganese ore. The ship went down in less than a minute with only 5 of the 43 crew surviving.

Maritime archaeologist with Heritage Victoria, Peter Harvey, said it was one of Victoria’s worst maritime disasters. “The Iron Crown is historically significant as one of only four World War II shipwrecks in Victorian waters and is the only ship to have been torpedoed by a submarine in Victorian waters,” Mr Harvey said. “There were 43 crew from the Australian Merchant Navy on board the ship and 38 lost their lives in the attack. Locating the wreck after 77 years of not knowing its final resting place will bring closure for relatives and family of those that were lost at sea, as well as for Australia’s maritime community.”

The Iron Crown II was found using multibeam sonar equipment and a special drop camera on research vessel Investigator. Voyage chief scientist Emily Jateff from the Australian National Maritime Museum led the search and said the wreck was located about 100km off the Victorian coastline south of the border with New South Wales.

“The wreck of Iron Crown appears to be relatively intact and the ship is sitting upright on the seafloor in about 700metres of water,” Ms Jateff said. "We have mapped the site and surrounding seafloor using sonar but have also taken a lot of close up vision of the ship structure using a drop camera. This will allow us to create a composite image of the whole site to assist in follow up surveys for its conservation and management.”

“This is an important discovery for Australia and all on board feel honoured to have been involved in this successful search,” she said.

A memorial service is planned for the site. CSIRO research vessel Investigator has discovered a number of historic shipwrecks in recent years, including finding the wreck of SS Macumba, an Australian merchant ship sunk in World War II during a Japanese air attack in Northern Territory waters.

A Japanese national has been arrested at Melbourne International Airport for allegedly attempting to smuggle 19 native reptiles out of Australia in her suitcase.

The 27-year-old woman was targeted by Australian Border Force (ABF) officers as she attempted to depart for Japan, after information was provided by ABF's international presence in Hong Kong. An x-ray of her suitcase showed anomalies and after further examination, 17 shingleback lizards and 2 blue tongue lizards were found tightly packed inside two mesh packages.

She was subsequently arrested and charged, with maximum penalties for these offences being 10 years imprisonment or a fine of $210,000.

The lizards were seized by ABF officers and referred to the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP).

DELWP Chief Conservation Regulator Kate Gavens said many of the seized reptiles had ticks attached to them, indicating they may have been wild caught animals. After legal processes and a vet check, the lizards will be donated to schools and other not-for-profit organisations if they cannot be returned to the wild.

“DELWP is continuing to liaise with the ABF and Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecution about additional wildlife and cruelty charges related to the alleged offences.

“Thanks to information provided by our international colleagues, we’ve now been able to foil three smuggling attempts across three states, all linked to the same syndicate,” said ABF Investigations Commander Grosse.