Category Archives: Queensland

Homeless people camping in Queensland park ‘not treated as humans’ during council evictions, court finds

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Moreton Bay council’s clearing of tent city breached human rights, supreme court rules

Homeless people living in tents in a park were “not treated as humans” while being evicted by a Queensland council, with the supreme court ruling it an unlawful breach of human rights.

A group of residents who had been living in a park off Goodfellows Road, Kallangur, challenged eviction notices issued against them by the City of Moreton Bay last year.

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Police told Kelly Wilkinson to ‘cool off’ and give estranged husband ‘a break’ days before he burned her to death, inquest hears

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Wilkinson was turned away by police while seeking help four days before she was murdered, Queensland coroner’s court told

Kelly Wilkinson was turned away from Southport police station and told to “cool off, give Brian a break” while seeking help just four days before her estranged husband, Brian Earl Johnston, burned her to death in 2021, an inquest has heard.

The allegation was made in an extraordinary 11th hour submission by the lawyer acting for her family as they successfully applied to adjourn the coronial inquiry to hear additional evidence about the allegation.

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Colander-wearing Pastafarian strains the rules with Queensland driver’s licence photo

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Syaban Shadikillah told to get new driver’s licence after being issued one using photo of him with colander on his head

A “Pastafarian” in rural Queensland has vowed to fight to keep his driver’s licence featuring a photo of him wearing a colander on his head, arguing it’s a matter of freedom of religion.

But the state government has told him he must hand it in and get a new one, as it was issued “in error”.

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Wieambilla police shootings property listed for sale for $190,000

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Son of Nathaniel and Stacey Train says he is ‘hoping for a quick sale to someone who will be respectful of the property, considering its history’

The site of the Wieambilla ambush, Queensland’s worst police shooting, is up for sale.

In 2022, conspiracy theorists Gareth, Stacey and Nathaniel Train killed constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow at their remote property at 251 Wains Road, about 300km west of Brisbane.

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Citizen scientists discover a Great Barrier Reef coral giant ‘like a rolling meadow’

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Volunteer group Citizens of the Reef made the find as part of the Great Reef Census

Citizen scientists have discovered what they believe is one of the largest coral colonies ever documented on the Great Barrier Reef.

The coral spans approximately 111 metres in maximum length and covers an estimated area of 3,973 sq m – about half the size of a soccer field.

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Man charged with hate crime after allegedly ramming gates of Brisbane synagogue with ute

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A 32-year-old has been charged with serious vilification or hate crime and other offences but police say it is not being considered a terrorist incident

Police have charged a man after a car was used to ram the gates of a synagogue in Brisbane.

Officers say the man was driving a Toyota Hilux utility when he knocked down the gates of the property in Margaret Street in Brisbane’s CBD shortly after 7pm on Friday.

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Sea World helicopter pilot ‘had a breakdown and took cocaine’ before crash, inquest told

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Ashley Jenkinson, who died in the crash on 2 January 2023, was seen inhaling a white powder at a New Year’s Eve party

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A helicopter pilot involved in one of Australia’s worst air disasters had a mental “breakdown” and used cocaine the day before making tourist joy flights, a coroner has heard.

Ashley Jenkinson, 40, was among four people who died when his Sea World chopper collided midair with another outside the Gold Coast theme park on 2 January 2023.

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‘Dangerous and undermines our systems’: Tanya Plibersek condemns serious police failures in Queensland DV deaths

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Plibersek said those victims – Hannah Clarke and her children, Kardell Lomas and her unborn child, and Gail Karran – ‘should have been kept safe’

The federal social services minister, Tanya Plibersek, says Guardian Australia’s “devastating” revelations of failures to protect women fleeing violence must prompt action from governments “at every level”.

Broken Trust, a two-year Guardian investigation, uncovered evidence and allegations of serious police and support service failures in multiple domestic violence homicides in Queensland.

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Statistically, there’s a reliable way to predict a domestic violence homicide like Hannah Clarke’s

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Queensland researchers studying intimate-partner killings found one thing common to more than half the cases

When researchers in Queensland catalogued data from seven years of intimate-partner killings, they found one thing common to more than half of those cases – a victim’s own sense of fear about their impending death.

Statistically, the most reliable way to predict a domestic violence homicide is to believe the victim.

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Former MP from Katter’s Australian party claims victory in Townsville mayoral race after swing against former leader

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Nick Dametto says he is proud to ‘build the capital of northern Australia’ after byelection triggered by resignation of controversial former mayor

Townsville has voted decisively against its former controversial mayor and instead looks likely to elect a bodybuilding, bull-riding former state MP from the populist right in what has been described as one of the biggest swings in Australian electoral history.

Nick Dametto, 42, who was the deputy leader of Katter’s Australian Party’s and a Queensland parliamentarian before resigning and handing in his membership last month to run as an independent in Saturday’s byelection, had received more than 61% of the vote as of Sunday, with just over 30% counted.

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Twice as effective as nets: shark-spotting drones to become ‘permanent fixture’ on Queensland beaches

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State government says expanded use of shark nets and drum lines will continue despite evidence of deadly impact on other marine life

Queensland will roll out shark-spotting drones to more beaches, after a major study found drones detected more than double the number of sharks caught in adjacent nets.

But while drones would become a “permanent fixture” of the state’s shark-control operations, the Department of Primary Industries said Queensland would continue to rely on “traditional measures like nets and drum lines”, despite evidence of their deadly impact on dolphins, whales, turtles and dugongs.

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Severe storms forecast for parts of NSW as Victoria and Queensland face wet weather

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BoM says destructive winds and ‘very dangerous thunderstorms’ are most likely across the Hunter, mid-north NSW coast and northern tablelands

Severe storms with the potential for destructive winds and large hail are expected to move across New South Wales on Saturday.

Storms were also expected in parts of Queensland and Victoria.

Sydney 32C with showers and then storms developing.

Melbourne 13C with rain increasing.

Brisbane 31C with a late shower or two.

Perth 28C and sunny.

Adelaide 18C and cloudy.

Hobart 15C and partly cloudy.

Canberra 26C with a shower or two and then becoming windy.

Darwin 34C and partly cloudy.

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Mother of transgender teen accuses Queensland government of privacy breach that could have ‘outed’ her child

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Revelation comes as LNP accused of ‘intimidation’ after demanding sensitive medical details from parents of transgender children

The Queensland government released private information about the mother of a transgender teenager – information she says potentially “outed” her child – to a stranger.

The revelation came as the state government was accused of “intimidation” and “an invasion of privacy” after demanding confidential medical information from parents of transgender children who are considering a further legal challenge to its controversial ban on puberty blockers.

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Luxury cruise cancelled after 80-year-old left behind on Lizard Island dies alone

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The Coral Adventurer will return to Cairns, as investigations into Suzanne Rees’ death continue

The luxury Coral Adventurer cruise has been cancelled in the wake of the death of passenger Suzanne Rees, who was left on the Great Barrier Reef’s Lizard Island and wasn’t found until the next day.

It will now return to Cairns, as investigations into Rees’ death continue.

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Queensland to create public register of sex offenders as Daniel Morcombe’s parents ‘hope it will go national’

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Bruce and Denise Morcombe call on other states to act as LNP passes ‘Daniel’s law’, allowing public naming of some child sexual abusers

Queensland parliament has passed laws to create the state’s first public register of some child sexual abusers, with the new legislation named in memory of child murder victim Daniel Morcombe.

The move adds momentum to a campaign by Daniel’s parents, Bruce and Denise Morcombe, for a national register. The couple founded the child safety education charity the Daniel Morcombe Foundation after the murder of their 13-year-old son in 2003 by paedophile Brett Peter Cowan.

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Woman who overturned Queensland’s puberty blocker ban ‘not backing away from the fight’ after LNP reinstates it

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Exclusive: Parent who successfully challenged previous ban on children being prescribed hormones for gender dysphoria considers new lawsuit

The mother of a transgender child who successfully sued to overturn Queensland’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone treatments for children with gender dysphoria says she is “not backing away from the fight” after the government reinstated the ban hours after her supreme court victory.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is considering launching another lawsuit to overturn the health minister’s decision on Tuesday evening to issue a new order preventing patients under 18 and not already on a treatment plan from accessing the drugs in the public system.

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Shark feeding frenzy spotted near shore at popular Australian surf beach

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‘Wonderful’ for people to see the predators so close and feasting on bait fish at the Gold Coast’s Rainbow Bay, near Snapper Rocks, expert says

A shiver of sharks has been spotted feeding close to shore near a popular surfing spot on the Gold Coast on Australia’s east coast.

The large group of predators surprised spectators on the southern end of Rainbow Bay on Tuesday, near the renowned Snapper Rocks surf break.

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All fail Caesar: students at eight schools taught wrong topic for final year 12 history exam

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Queensland checking all 172 schools sitting exam with pupils expected to claim special consideration after studying the wrong Roman emperor

Year 12 students from at least eight schools in Queensland were taught the wrong topic for their final history exams and authorities are now checking with 172 schools to see if any more were affected.

Students were meant to study Julius Caesar, but the affected pupils instead learned about his nephew Augustus, according to the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority.

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Queensland puberty blocker ban reinstated by health minister hours after supreme court overturned it

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Move comes after parent successfully challenged LNP’s previous ban on new patients under 18 accessing hormone treatments for gender dysphoria

The Queensland health minister has issued a new order banning the prescription of puberty blockers for transgender patients, just hours after the state’s supreme court ruled the government’s first attempt was unlawful.

On Tuesday, Justice Peter Callaghan ruled in favour of a challenge by the parent of a transgender child, judging that the January directive establishing the ban was made improperly and was unlawful.

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A year on as Queensland premier, will David Crisafulli’s small-target strategy prove his undoing?

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The LNP government has a firm stance on only one issue – youth crime – and is looking like it’s in need of an agenda

When David Crisafulli speaks to the Liberal National party faithful, his message tends to become a blunt warning to members and MPs to keep any unsavoury, unelectable tendencies out of sight.

“We don’t exist for culture wars,” the Queensland premier – who marks a year in office on Sunday – told the party’s state council just after the 2024 election.

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