Wednesday afternoon's news in under 5 minutes.

We’ve rounded up all the latest stories from Australia and around the world – so you don’t have to go searching.

1. Government unveils its new ice taskforce.

The Prime Minister has launched a national taskforce dedicated to tackling the nation’s growing ice epidemic.

The taskforce is to be headed up by former Victorian Police Comissioner Ken Lay, and will focus on the sale, manufacture and importation of the drug, the ABC reports.

It will develop a strategy to address the burgeoning use of crystal methamphetamine in Australia, and will deliver an interim report to Prime Minister Tony Abbott by mid-year.

The report will aim to address government efforts, law enforcement, as well as health and education strategies to tackle ice use.

Prime Minister Abbott said he was “appalled” by the expansive use of drugs.

“Ice is far more addictive than any other illicit drug. It does far more damage than any other illicit drug,” he told media.

“The propensity for violence, the propensity to subsequent, very serious mental illness, the propensity to disfigurement which ice produces means that this is a drug epidemic way beyond anything that we have seen before now.”

2.  QLD MP Billy Gordon will stay in parliament.

Disgraced Queensland MP Billy Gordon has announced he will not resign from parliament.

After recent revelations of Gordon’s lengthy criminal record, he resigned from the Labor Party but maintained his seat in the parliament.

Now acting as an Independent Gordon has resisted pressure to quit, but has stated he will continue to support the ALP.

3. Prosecutors seek to revoke bail for father of 12yo child bride.

Prosecutors are asking the New South Wales Supreme Court to revoke the bail of a man awaiting sentencing for procuring his 12-year-old daughter for sex with an older man she married in an Islamic ceremony.

The 63-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the girl’s identity, was found guilty by a judge in the District Court last week.

The girl was married by a local sheikh at her home in the Hunter Valley in January 2014.

Her ‘husband’, who was 26 at the time, is serving at least seven-and-a-half years’ jail for the persistent sexual abuse of a child.

Judge Deborah Sweeney found the girl’s father consented to the marriage and by his actions, intentionally brought about sexual activity between her and the older man.

The father was on bail throughout the trial and that was continued upon his conviction.

His barrister Mario Licha has told the Supreme Court, he was only made aware of the application to revoke bail yesterday and had not had time to prepare.

“The decision to grant bail was not adverse to the interests of the Crown, because they did not oppose it,” he said.

Prosecutor Siobhan Herbert confirmed that bail was not opposed at the time, but said the DPP was now seeking a detention order.

The application is expected to be heard some time today.

This article was originally published by the ABC.

4. Supermodel reveals Terry Richardson posted a video of her online without consent.

Model Kate Upton has said notorious photographer, Terry Richardson, posted a clip of her doing a dance called the “cat daddy” online without her permission.

Upton, who recently made her film debut in The Other Woman, told Vogue UK she had some words with Richardson after he failed to seek her consent before posting the risque clip.

The Sports Illustrated cover girl told the magazine:

“Yes, I did [take issue with Richardson]. I was like, ‘That was disrespectful, you could have told me!’”

The video has been attributed with “fast-tracking” Upton’s career, Jezabel reports.

5. ‘Big bogan’ statue proposed to boost tourism in Bogan Shire in western NSW

The Bogan Shire Council, in western New South Wales, wants to exploit its link to the often-derogatory label by building a “big bogan” statue.

Mayor Ray Donald said the 3.5-metre statue would depict a “bloke” wearing shorts and a singlet with a fishing rod and a tuckerbox, which people could sit on and take photographs.

“We intend to put it by the Bogan River at this stage, we haven’t got a definite site selected,” Cr Donald said.

“Bogan has a bit of a negative connotation at times, but we want to get the positive side of it and get any benefit we can out of it for local tourism.”

The statute would cost $8,000, but Cr Donald said work would not begin until the community gave it the green light.

“We need to consult the community and see how they feel about it.”

Local residents have expressed mixed feelings.

One said it was a great idea – but it could be improved

“One thing that’s missing is the stubby,” he said.

Another resident was less enthusiastic.

“I do not identify as a bogan – if you look up bogan, it’s very negative,” she said.

Cr Donald said, if the public approved, the statue could be built by the end of the year.

The rural shire has a population of about 3,000 which is based around the town of Nyngan.

6. Anti-vaccinations group stripped of charity status.

A Queensland-based group run by an anti-vaccination campaigner has had its charity status revoked.

The Get Rid of Sids Project is run by Stephanie Messenger — the author of a children’s book which promotes the “benefits of having measles”, the Brisbane Times reports.

Melanie’s Marvelous Measles claims to take “children on a journey to learn about the ineffectiveness of vaccinations.”

Now, her charity has been stripped of its charity status.

Effective from April 1, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) revoked Get Rid of Sids Project’s charity status after finding it was not entitled to be a charity.

An ACNC spokesman confirmed Ms Messenger was the “sole responsible person” for the charity, which can be someone sitting on the charity’s board or management committee.

This follows the revocation of charity status for a NSW-based anti-vaccination group last month.

What’s making news for you today?