Category Archives: Queensland

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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Follow today’s news live

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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Man arrested over alleged 1997 murder of Meaghan Rose on Sunshine Coast denied bail

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Keith Lees, 72, evaded warrant for almost 18 months in relation to alleged murder, and is accused of trying to bite police

A man is behind bars and will likely face extradition after his arrest over a woman’s alleged murder more than two decades ago.

Keith Lees, 72, remains in custody after spending about 18 months evading an arrest warrant over the death of his former partner, 25-year-old Meaghan Louise Rose, who was discovered at the base of Point Cartwright Cliffs on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in 1997.

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Brothers wanted over alleged Queensland shooting murder of Chloe Mason believed to be camping in NSW

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Warrants for the arrest of Codye Thomson and Kaine Thomson-Gleeson have been issued over the killing of 23-year-old in Caboolture

Two brothers wanted for an alleged shooting murder north of Brisbane last month are now on the run after they were released after being questioned last month, according to Queensland police.

Police named 29-year-old Codye Thomson and 32-year-old Kaine Thomson-Gleeson as wanted for the alleged offence, on Friday.

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Man dead and woman in hospital after jetski crash north of Cairns

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Investigations under way after jetski crashed into mangroves on the Barron River north of the Stratford Boat Ramp in far north Queensland

A 56-year-old man has died in a jetski accident north of Cairns, after crashing into mangroves.

The man and a 60-year-old woman were riding on a jetski on Friday on the Barron River when they crashed north of the Stratford Boat Ramp at about 10am, police say.

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Two dead in accidents at popular Queensland swimming spots over new year period

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Woman dies in tubing accident near Toowomba, while another drowns scuba diving near Wave Break Island on the Gold Coast

A woman has died in a New Year’s Day scuba diving accident at a popular Gold Coast swimming spot.

Meanwhile, another woman was found dead on Wednesday after an extensive search following a water tubing accident north-west of Brisbane on New Year’s Eve.

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Police praise mostly well-behaved NYE revellers despite firework-related blazes

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Melbourne and Sydney fires brought under control, including in Tempe, and stabbings reported in Guildford and the Mornington Peninsula

New Year’s Eve revellers have largely been praised for their behaviour at Australia’s biggest fireworks shows, while officers were kept busy with outbursts of trouble around local fireworks.

More than a million people swarmed the main vantage points around Sydney harbour and hundreds of thousands of Melbourne partygoers were treated to a fireworks and laser spectacular.

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All the 1 January changes in Australia: Centrelink increases, import bans and pay rises

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Bigger Austudy and carer allowance payments, higher Medicare safety net thresholds and mandatory corporate reporting on climate also in 1 Jan changes

With the new year comes new policies, laws, taxes and reforms. Here’s everything to know about changes on 1 January, 2025 that could affect you.

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All the 1 January changes coming to Australia in 2025: Centrelink increases, import bans and pay rises

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Bigger Austudy and carer allowance payments, higher Medicare safety net thresholds and mandatory corporate reporting on climate also ahead

With the new year comes new policies, laws, taxes and reforms. Here’s everything to know about changes on 1 January, 2025 that could affect you.

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Man dies in Canberra river as life savers warn of elevated drowning risk over summer holidays

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The country has recorded more than 30 drowning deaths in December, including multiple fatalities over the weekend

A 21-year-old man has died while swimming in a river on Canberra’s southern edge, bringing the number of drowning deaths around Australia in December alone to more than 30.

The man was swimming in the Murrumbidgee River at Pine Island reserve, near Tuggeranong, with family and friends on Sunday afternoon but failed to resurface.

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Youth pastor identified as man who died after shark bite off Queensland coast

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The 40-year-old school chaplain was bitten by the shark while fishing with family in waters off Keppel Islands on Saturday

A youth pastor and school chaplain described as an inspirational leader has been identified as the man who died after being bitten by a shark while on holiday with his family in Queensland.

Emergency services were called to Humpy Island in the Keppel Bay Islands national park, about 18km off the central Queensland coast, on Saturday after reports a man had been attacked.

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Mild weekend weather brings relief to firefighters after homes lost in Grampians bushfire

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Victorian temperatures to rise from Monday, with fire warnings also in place in NSW and Western Australia

Milder conditions across the weekend will bring temporary relief to firefighters who continue to battle an out-of-control bushfire in Victoria’s Grampians.

But the forecast rain was not expected to extinguish the fires and hot weather was expected to ramp up again from Monday.

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Birdsville notches up another temperature record as Australia faces more heat before New Year’s Eve

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The town hit 47.2C by mid afternoon, but locals are already well-versed in the art of staying cool

It might have been the hottest place in the country on Boxing Day, but when the tiny outback town of Birdsville hit 47.2C by mid-afternoon, locals were already well-versed in the art of staying cool.

Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist, Dean Narramore, said Birdsville was “looking like it’s going to be the hottest in the country,” even though places across the Northern Territory, Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales had reached the mid 40s.

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