Category Archives: Queensland

Australia news live: Sydney pro-Palestine rally to go ahead without NSW police approval; Cheng Lei freed from China

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Heavy traffic near Sydney airport after truck crash and fluid spill

Traffic remains heavy near Sydney airport after a two-truck crash caused a fluid spill.

This is one of the most important priorities for us coming out of what’s occurred in the previous days.

Minister Wong is [working] really hard on that. The Australian government will do whatever is necessary to protect [its] citizens.

We’ll do whatever is necessary to make sure we can secure the safety of Australians … We’re working very hard to make sure we protect Australians not just overseas, but here at home.

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Queensland to make stealthing illegal under new affirmative consent laws

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Exclusive: removing a condom without consent will be considered rape and could attract a maximum penalty of life in prison

Removing a condom during sex without consent will be considered rape and attract a maximum penalty of life in prison under sweeping laws introduced to Queensland parliament on Wednesday.

The new laws, aimed at criminalising the tampering with or removal of a condom without consent – commonly referred to as stealthing – will be introduced into parliament as part of an affirmative consent model.

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Australia news live: Parliament House in Canberra to be lit up in blue and white in support of Israel

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AAP has the latest polling results ahead of the Indigenous voice referendum day this Saturday:

Two surveys show the no campaign is still ahead a week out from referendum day despite one poll indicating a slight late gain in support for the yes vote in the past month.

Not at all. It’s only done when people cast their ballots.

We’ll wait and see when they cast their vote. I’m not getting ahead of the Australian people.

I know there’s some arrogance has crept into the no side campaign, but it’s a campaign based upon fear and it’s similar to the sort of arguments that were put prior to the apology to stolen generations. And if people think about that … there weren’t any negative consequences for anyone.

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Fringe-right favourite Amanda Stoker returns to politics as LNP moderates worry about her Christian faction ties

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Former federal senator says her conservative views will take a back seat to kitchen table concerns during Queensland state parliament election

A few days after Amanda Stoker announced her run for Queensland state parliament in June, the former federal senator was due to appear at a panel discussion organised by the libertarian lobby group, the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance (ATA).

Stoker has built her reputation pitching herself to groups like the ATA, which exists in a political space that brings together folks from the Liberal National Party’s conservative fringe and the coterie of small freedom parties that have splintered to the right.

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Woman in spit hood told Queensland prison guards four times she couldn’t breathe before dying, inquest hears

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Selesa Tafaifa, 45, died in November 2021 after being restrained by staff at Townsville Women’s Correctional Centre

Selesa Tafaifa told Queensland prison guards four times that she couldn’t breathe and pleaded for her asthma medication six times before dying in custody, a coronial inquest has heard.

Tafaifa, a 45-year-old Samoan woman, died in November 2021 after being restrained by staff at the Townsville Women’s Correctional Centre and placed in a spit hood.

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Restrictions on gay men donating blood should be scrapped, Queensland health minister says

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Exclusive: Shannon Fentiman urges federal government to ‘expedite’ applying individual risk assessments to donors, in line with the UK, Canada and US

The Queensland health minister has called on the federal government to consider scrapping restrictions that prevent most gay and bisexual men from donating blood.

In Australia, sexually active gay men, bisexual men, transgender women and some non-binary people who have sex with men – including those in long-term relationships – are unable to donate blood unless they abstain from sex for three months.

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Alleged childcare paedophile Ashley Paul Griffith attacked in Queensland jail

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Gold Coast man, 45, reportedly had hot water thrown in his face by fellow prisoner on Friday and was taken to hospital for assessment

A man accused of being one of Australia’s worst paedophiles has been hospitalised after he was attacked inside a high-security Brisbane jail by a fellow prisoner.

Queensland police are investigating the alleged assault of Ashley Paul Griffith inside Wolston Correctional Centre on Friday. Griffith reportedly had scalding water thrown in his face and was taken to hospital suffering burns.

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‘Sovereign citizen’ conspiracists targeting Aboriginal Australians put native title claims at risk

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Anthropologist Pascale Taplin says native title being likened to ‘slave’s title’, as conspiracists exploit concept of Indigenous sovereignty

Indigenous Australians are backing out of participating in native title claims after being targeted by proponents of a racist conspiracy theory exported from the US, according to new research.

Senior anthropologist Pascale Taplin is the lead author of a new paper warning sovereign citizen conspiracists are exploiting the concept of Indigenous sovereignty to target Aboriginal communities, disrupting native title claims in the process.

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Brisbane man charged with murder after allegedly throwing elderly resident off balcony

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Police allege the accused was ‘aggressively seeking items’ from units before knocking on alleged victim’s door

A Brisbane man charged with murdering an elderly resident by allegedly throwing him off a balcony had been aggressively going door-to-door at the unit complex, police have alleged.

Officers attended the residence on School Road in the Brisbane suburb of Yeronga about 1.40pm on Sunday after reports of a disturbance.

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Australia news live: two die after reportedly attending music festival; bushfire evacuation warning for campers in eastern Victoria

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The two men in their 20s reportedly attended the Knockout music festival at Sydney Olympic Park. Follow the day’s news live

Reserve Bank not likely to move on interest rates

Australian borrowers are likely to be spared more interest rate pain this week, following the first Reserve Bank of Australia board meeting under its new governor.

Sydney: 594 auctions with a clearance rate of 71.7%

Melbourne: 159 auctions with a clearance rate of 66%

Brisbane: 82 auctions with a clearance rate of 70.7%

Adelaide: 58 auctions with a clearance rate of 79.3%

Canberra: 64 auctions with a clearance rate of 62.5%

Tasmania: No auctions held with two expected this weekend

Perth: Six of 13 auctions have been held

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Confused cows and more time after work: the pros and cons of daylight saving across Australia

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At 2am on Sunday the clocks roll forward an hour in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the ACT. So why aren’t Queensland, WA and the NT onboard?

Depending on who you ask, it’s either the most wonderful time of the year or the bane of their existence.

As most Australians sleep through Saturday night and into Sunday morning, time will skip ahead one hour – but only in some states and territories.

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Kenyan politician who said ‘the devil has gone now’ after bashing three-year-old son jailed for manslaughter

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Quincy Zuma Wambitta Timberlake, who ran for president in Kenya before moving to Brisbane, sentenced to 11 years

A refugee to Australia who had been a presidential candidate in Kenya said “the devil has gone now” after punching his son in the stomach and throwing the three-year-old against a bathroom wall.

Quincy Zuma Wambitta Timberlake was sentenced on Friday to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of Sinclair, who died on his bedroom floor at Kallangur, north of Brisbane, in June 2014.

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Queensland court awards temporary order prohibiting the naming of high-profile man accused of rape

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The man, facing two counts of rape in Toowoomba, was set to have been named under law changes due to take effect on Tuesday

A high-profile man accused of rape has been granted a temporary court order preventing him from being named when new Queensland laws come into effect next week.

In January the man was charged with two counts of raping a woman in Toowoomba in 2021, but he is yet to be committed to stand trial.

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This story was updated on 29 September 2023 after an earlier version said an interim order had been made by the court. A temporary order has been made.

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Locking up young people doesn’t create safer communities, Queensland children’s advocate says

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‘Compassion just dissipates’ among public when young victims of abuse become offenders, expert says

Locking up young people makes the community less safe, one of Queensland’s leading children’s advocates said, as police announced another crackdown on youth offenders in Cairns.

Guardian Australia reported on Monday that a significant number of alleged victims uncovered during a police investigation into the exploitation of vulnerable children in Cairns, are also the targets of a government crackdown on youth crime.

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‘Very little has shifted’: watch house case a major concern for First Nations group advising Queensland police

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Exclusive: Leadership needs to act with urgency to address ‘culture of racism’ instead of focusing on ‘performative’ elements, says adviser

A key adviser to the Queensland police on First Nations issues says more urgency is required to fix racism in the ranks, amid concerns the service has failed to address widespread cultural problems exposed by a commission of inquiry.

Christine Thomas, the co-chair of the QPS First Nations advisory group, said the group “holds great concern that little has changed” since last year’s inquiry found a “failure of leadership” had allowed a culture of sexism, racism, fear and silence to take hold unchecked. The government responded by giving police $100m to enact reforms.

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Queensland man who died after snake rescue on weekend did not have venom in system

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Family of Donald Morrison now believe he died of an underlying medical condition ‘he was unaware of’

A Queensland man who was thought to have died from a snake bite on the weekend when helping a friend did not have any venom in his body, a toxicology report has found.

Donald Morrison, who was in his 60s, was attending a reunion at Koumala state school in Queensland on Saturday when he was reportedly bitten on the arm and chest while removing the reptile that had coiled around his friend’s leg.

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High-profile man accused of rape could be named within weeks after change to Queensland law

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State parliament votes to bring laws governing the naming of alleged sexual offenders into line with other offences and other states

Lawyers for a high-profile man accused of rape have until 3 October to seek a non-publication order or see their client named under new laws passed by Queensland parliament on Wednesday.

The new laws, which were a recommendation of the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce in July 2022, bring Queensland into line with most other states and territories to allow the naming of accused sex offenders after they are charged. Previously, alleged offenders could only be named once they had been committed to stand trial.

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Queensland anti-corruption boss seeks ‘urgent’ legal change after high court curbs power to publish reports

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Ruling in favour of former public trustee Peter Carne is ‘clearly not in the public interest’ according to CCC chair Bruce Barbour

Queensland’s anti-corruption body has criticised a high court ruling limiting its ability to publish the results of its investigations as “clearly not in the public interest”, joining with the state opposition to demand “urgent” legislative reform.

In a milestone decision announced on Wednesday, the court refused an appeal by the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) to release its report on the state’s former public trustee Peter Carne.

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Queensland government urged to intervene after police staff in racist recordings go unpunished

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Retired officers say a lack of accountability within the Queensland Police Service has allowed racism to fester

Former Queensland police say a lack of accountability within the service has allowed racism to fester after revelations that officers who joked about “beating and burying black people” have not been punished.

On Tuesday there were calls for the state government to intervene in the case, as well as stamp out the process of police investigating police, after Guardian Australia revealed four officers recorded making racist comments had escaped sanction.

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‘It’s like they’re impervious’: fury at let off for Queensland police staff in racist recordings

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Exclusive: Lack of punishment follows repeated promises by police commissioner Katarina Carroll to crack down on racism and misogyny within service

Officers recorded making “sickening” racist comments while working inside a Brisbane watch house have escaped sanction, despite repeated promises by the police commissioner to crack down on racism and misogyny within the service.

Queensland’s police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, said at a press conference last year she believed officers making such comments “should not be in the organisation” after Guardian Australia exclusively published the leaked recordings.

The tapes revealed officers joking about beating and burying black people, referring to Nigerians as “jigaboos”, and raising fears of “outbreeding” by Muslim immigrants.

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