Brisbane house prices have soared by more than 60 per cent since the pandemic began – almost double the growth in Sydney – and the median price is now just over $200,000 less than Australia’s most expensive real estate market.  Victorians punters will no longer be able to place bets on some of the rising stars of Aussie sport, with tough new gambling restrictions introduced on sports betting.  A popular birthing unit in northern Sydney has been scrapped by the Minns government, in a move labelled by local families as a “disgrace”.  And in South Australia, Smoking and vaping in popular outdoor public spaces including jetties, parts of beaches and outside shops will be banned from today, with new fines to help enforce the law.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.