Category Archives: Queensland

Human rights report lashes Australia’s ‘diabolical’ asylum seeker treatment and ‘appalling’ youth crime laws

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Latest world report by Human Rights Watch describes Australia as a ‘vibrant democracy … marred by some key human rights concerns’

Australia’s “diabolical” treatment of asylum seekers and youth crime has worsened, a global human rights advocacy body has warned, urging voters to push back on leaders politicising the issue for gain.

Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) latest world report has lashed Australia for going backwards on children in the criminal justice system in 2024, referencing the Northern Territory’s decision to reintroduce spit hoods for youth detainees and the continued use of watch houses to detain children in Queensland.

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New weather system to strike eastern Australia with strong winds and rain

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Eastern NSW, particularly northern rivers, and Gold Coast at high risk for severe thunderstorms and winds on Thursday, BoM forecasts

Persistent rain and strong winds will sweep across New South Wales into the weekend, the Bureau of Meteorology predicts, with parts of Victoria and south-east Queensland also likely to be affected.

Angus Hines, a senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, said Sydney’s weather could shift from storms to a “dreary” mix of wind, rain and cloud. It would be “persistently windy” and “quite chilly”, he said.

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Accused Queensland torturer allegedly poisoned one-year-old and posted videos seeking donations

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Police allege woman, 34, filmed girl in ‘immense distress’ and used videos to ‘entice monetary donations and online followers’

A 34-year-old Queensland woman has been arrested and charged after allegedly poisoning a one-year-old girl and posting videos of her in what police describe as “immense distress and pain” in order to solicit donations and build an online following.

Police laid charges, including torture, against the Sunshine Coast woman on Thursday, on the back of what they said were extensive investigations after concerns were raised by medical staff from a hospital in Brisbane’s south while the child was admitted.

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Queensland paedophile Ashley Paul Griffith to appeal against life sentence

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Former childcare worker, 46, given a non-parole period of 27 years in October after pleading guilty to hundreds of sexual offences, will argue jail time is ‘manifestly excessive’

One of Australia’s worst paedophiles is appealing against his life sentence on the grounds that it is “manifestly excessive”.

Ashley Paul Griffith, a former childcare worker, was given a non-parole period of 27 years in October after pleading guilty to hundreds of sexual offences spanning almost 20 years.

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In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. The crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In an emergency, call 000. International helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org

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Coles to stop selling kitchen knives in supermarkets across Australia after Ipswich worker stabbed

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Decision comes after alleged assault on 63-year-old Claudia Campomayor Watt on Monday

Coles will stop selling kitchen knives after the stabbing of one its employees in a south-east Queensland supermarket – an alleged assault that prompted the state’s premier to promise further crackdowns on youth crime.

Claudia Campomayor Watt, 63, was allegedly stabbed in the back on Monday while working at a Coles in Ipswich’s Yamanto Central shopping centre. The knife was taken from the supermarket’s shelves.

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Australia news live: delays up to 70 minutes on Sydney trains as industrial action begins; Hume says Coalition would cut ‘bloated bureaucracy’

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‘Passengers should expect delays, service cancellations and large service gaps’ across Sydney today, NSW TrainLink warns. Follow today’s news live

Wong ‘absolutely confident’ government can work with Trump as US president

Moving to another topic, Penny Wong was asked about her invite to Donald Trump’s inauguration in the US, and responded:

Donald Trump has been elected President of the United States, and I’m honoured, on behalf of the country, to have been invited to his inauguration.

This includes humane treatment and the right to a fair trial. So that is their obligation, [and] we will look at the facts when they have been ascertained.

But I want to be clear, all options are on the table. Those options include expelling the ambassador and recalling Australia’s ambassador in Russia … I need, as the foreign minister, to identify and ascertain the facts beforehand.

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Australia news live: SpaceX debris disrupts Qantas flights from Sydney to South Africa

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Rowland reacts to number of women preselected by Liberal party to replace retiring MPs

Michelle Rowland was also asked about the fact just one woman has been preselected to replace eight Liberal MPs who are retiring at the next election. Is she disappointed by this?

Clearly, Peter Dutton talks a big game when it comes to these issues, but the reality is borne out by the fact that they continue to overlook women for public office … For my mind, that says everything about Peter Dutton being stuck in the past, just as he’s stuck in the past around the national broadband network, his response to this announcement is to call it a joke, which is an insult to regional communities.

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Boy, 13, charged with attempted murder as Coles worker fights for life after alleged Queensland stabbing

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Woman, 63, allegedly stabbed in the back while working at supermarket in Ipswich’s Yamanto Central shopping centre

A 13-year-old boy has been charged with attempted murder after an alleged stabbing of a Coles employee.

Police allege the teenager approached the 63-year-old woman while she was working at the supermarket in Ipswich’s Yamanto Shopping Centre, south-west of Brisbane, and stabbed her in the back with a knife before attempting to flee the scene.

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Mystery syndrome killing rainbow lorikeets and flying foxes leaves scientists baffled

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‘The animals that don’t die need total nursing care,’ wildlife rescuer says, ahead of a potential spike in cases in coming weeks

Thousands of rainbow lorikeets and hundreds of flying foxes have been hospitalised in Queensland in the past year with a mysterious paralysis that can affect the animals’ ability to fly, swallow and even breathe.

Lorikeet paralysis syndrome has struck birds in Queensland and New South Wales since at least 2012, and a similar syndrome was identified in flying foxes five years ago.

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Stormy, hot weather forecast for most of Australia with flash flooding risk in NSW and Queensland

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BoM says expected storms in Brisbane and severe thunderstorms and heavy rain in Sydney due to lingering north-easterly winds

A stormy and hot weekend is in store for most of Australia with tempestuous weather continuing in the north and along the east coast, while some parts of the country swelter through dry conditions and severe heatwaves.

Central and south-east Queenslanders were warned that widespread severe thunderstorms on Saturday may bring large hail, damaging winds and heavy rainfall with the threat of flash flooding, while temperatures were expected to climb into the mid-40s in the west of the state.

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‘We want the whole truth’: residents of Queensland city plagued by foul odours fear inquiry won’t clear the air

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After years of enduring fetid smells from waste plants, some in Ipswich are sceptical of a freshly announced inquiry into the health impacts

Residents of a city who have endured years of noxious odours from waste plants are divided over the announcement of an inquiry into the health impacts.

For the last six years, residents of Ipswich, southwest of Brisbane, have been complaining of smells they described as raw sewage, ammonia, ethanol, rotting compost, sour milk and decaying animal bodies.

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Australia weather: rainy week forecast for Sydney and Brisbane – but BoM says summer isn’t over yet

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Bureau of Meteorology says showers and storms a regular feature of Australian summer but warm and dry periods still to come

Showers are expected to continue for Sydney and Brisbane throughout much of the coming week but summer isn’t over yet, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

In fact, the senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said showers and storm activity were a regular feature of the Australian summer, especially for northern Australia, as well as south-east Queensland and eastern New South Wales.

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Man extradited to Queensland from NSW over alleged 1997 murder of former partner initially ruled as suicide

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Keith Lees charged with murdering Meaghan Rose whose body was found at the base of cliffs at Mooloolaba

A 72-year-old man has been extradited to Queensland and charged with the alleged murder of his former partner almost 28 years ago.

Keith Lees was arrested in Dural, in Sydney’s north-west, last week after spending about 18 months on the run and was handed over to Queensland police on Thursday.

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Number of children under 14 in adult watch houses in Queensland rises 50% in 12 months

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Report to parliament states watch houses are an ‘inadequate place to keep young people overnight’ and are ‘harmful and traumatising’

The number of children aged 13 or under in Queensland’s adult watch houses has increased by 50% in 12 months, according to new statistics.

The statistics – which were included in a paper tabled by the Office of the Public Guardian in Queensland parliament on Tuesday – showed 120 children aged between 10 and 13 spent at least one night in a police watch house in 2023–24.

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Australia news live: Dreyfus to spend a week in Israel, PM says; SA police shoot man dead during mental health incident

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The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, says “the firing gun has started” for this year’s federal election, which he predicts will be in March or April.

Speaking to ABC News Breakfast just earlier, he said he doesn’t think the government will deliver a budget this year:

I think we’re all ready for it. I think it will be in March, April, I don’t think they’ll do a budget, they don’t want to remind the Australian people with the sea of red ink in the budget. That’s my punt.

This road is of national significance but it’s also one of the most dangerous in our country. And I think it just needs a commitment, and we’re glad to see the government has finally adopted that, one we had, and one the state government can now get on with the job of delivering.

Labor can make up all the nonsense they like. They’re desperate. I mean, this is a government that’s been on the back foot, that got things wrong, that is sending Australians on a pathway to poverty, not a pathway to prosperity. And so they’re in a state of desperation, saying these sorts of things.

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Two men charged after young woman allegedly shot and killed in Brisbane

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The pair each face one count of murder after Chloe Mason was found dying in the street in Caboolture on 22 December

Queensland police have arrested and charged two suspects wanted for an alleged murder after a woman was chased and fatally shot in a Brisbane suburban street.

A 29-year-old Marsden man, Codye Thomson, and a 32-year-old Caboolture man, Kaine Thomson-Gleeson, were arrested without incident in Logan on Monday.

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Anthony Albanese announces $7.2bn in funding for Queensland’s Bruce Highway in first major election promise

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Federal government to fund 80% of upgrades with state paying for 20%, despite previously vowing to split infrastructure projects 50-50

In the first major promise of the election year, Anthony Albanese has announced $7.2bn in funding for Queensland’s Bruce Highway.

The federal government will fund 80% of the upgrades, with the state funding 20%.

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Skull of child or small person may have been deliberately placed in Gold Coast park, police say

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Bushwalker’s discovery in Springbrook national park leaves Queensland police with ‘a lot of questions we need answers for’

A skull found in a national park may belong to a child and appears to have been deliberately placed in the rainforest.

Police are investigating after a bushwalker made the gruesome discovery about 10 metres from a track in Springbrook national park on the Gold Coast on Friday morning.

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Southern Ocean winds to break stifling heatwave baking Australia’s south-east

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Front dragging warm air from the Pilbara brings ‘particularly hot’ weather to SA, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania

Winds from the Southern Ocean will bring relief on Monday to parts of south-eastern Australia sweltering through a three-day heatwave.

A heatwave warning for South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania was issued by the Bureau of Meteorology for the weekend as temperatures were expected to spike in some parts to 40C.

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Suspected human bones found in Queensland national park

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Crime scene set up in Springbrook national park after a person discovered what police believe could be a set of human bones

Suspected human bones have been found in a popular Queensland national park, sparking a wider search of the area.

The bones were found by a member of the public in Springbrook national park in the Gold Coast hinterland at about 11.35am on Friday.

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