Category Archives: Queensland

Israel must allow humanitarian relief to reach Gaza, Australia and UK say in new joint statement – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

As part of the latest Aukus developments, Australia will send A$4.6bn to the UK to clear bottlenecks at the Rolls-Royce nuclear reactor production line.

Richard Marles was asked why it costs so much, and why this component needs to be done in the UK. He told ABC News Breakfast:

We made clear a year ago that we wouldn’t be building the nuclear reactors in Australia. They will be built by Rolls Royce at its facility in Derby in the UK and once the sealed reactors are built, they will be taken here to the Osborne Naval ship yard and placed in the submarines which the rest of which will be built here at Osborne.

Building nuclear reactors is difficult to do and in order for this to play out, that facility in Derby, which is building nuclear reactors for Britain’s navy, that needs to be expanded and that is what this contribution is for.

Continue reading...

No new stadium to be built for 2032 Olympics as Queensland opposition leader reveals plan

Posted on by

David Crisafulli’s stance means the multi-billion dollar Victoria Park plan recommended by Graham Quirk on Monday is dead

Queensland’s 2032 Olympics will not be held in a brand-new stadium, with both major parties now ruling out the Victoria Park and Gabba rebuild options.

The opposition leader, David Crisafulli, broke his four-day silence on Thursday, promising there will be no new stadium. The LNP leader also ruled out cancelling the Games.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Delay in court case for man accused of vandalising Woolworths over Australia Day stance

Posted on by

Six-week adjournment granted for Travis Profke, 40, who is accused of spray-painting graffiti on Queensland Woolworths store

A man accused of an Australia Day-related graffiti attack on a Queensland Woolworths faces a six-week delay to the matter due to medical records and other information not being disclosed.

Travis Profke, of Ormiston, is accused of spray painting graffiti outside Woolworths Metro in Teneriffe on 15 January. The 40-year-old has also been charged with vandalising supermarkets at Victoria Point, Cleveland and Teneriffe on 13 January.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Queensland to become first state to introduce permanent pill-testing clinics

Posted on by

Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival will conduct testing onsite at the end of March and first fixed-site clinic will open in Bowen Hills in April

Queensland will establish the first of two fixed pill-testing clinics in Brisbane this year, the first Australian state to back the harm reduction strategy on an ongoing basis.

The Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival near Warwick will be the first to conduct pill testing on site, at the end of the month. In 2019 two people died after taking drugs at the festival.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Queensland farming lobby launches legal challenge against Great Artesian Basin carbon capture trial

Posted on by

AgForce is seeking a judicial review of a 2022 decision that found the project did not need to be assessed under federal environmental laws

Queensland farming body AgForce has launched legal action against the federal government in a bid to stop liquified carbon dioxide from being pumped into the Great Artesian Basin.

The Carbon Transport and Storage Corporation (CTSCo), a subsidiary of mining giant Glencore, is awaiting state government approval for a pilot scheme to inject Co2 emitted by a coal-fired power station in southern Queensland into underground water aquifers as part of a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project trial.

Sign up to receive Guardian Australia’s fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter

Sign up for the Rural Network email newsletter

Join the Rural Network group on Facebook to be part of the community

Continue reading...

Australia politics live: Steven Miles says Suncorp Stadium will host Brisbane Olympics opening and closing ceremonies

Posted on by

Follow the day’s news live

‘There’ll be a lot of people grieving today’

Both Barnaby Joyce and Tanya Plibersek were asked about soldier Jack Fitzgibbon, the son of former defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon.

The Fitzgibbon family are a family of honour. Jack died in service to our nation. Joel has served our nation. The family will be absolutely grieving. We hope and pray Jack is with our maker, give comfort to them. You’ve seen the Fitzgibbons, you’ve watched them on television. They’re a great family. He is also my mate. We’ll turn up and give what support we can to Jack’s family.

It’s just the worst thing that any parent can imagine and so our hearts go out to Joel and Diane and their family and the friends and comrades that Jack had in the service as well. We know there’ll be a lot of people grieving today.

Well, first of all, of course it’s not on government devices in Australia either. We’ve got a ban here in Australia on government devices. But there are 8.5 million Australians who are using it.

We’ll take the advice of our security and intelligence agencies on anything we need to do around TikTok. I think people should be careful of the data that they put online in general. Like I say, if the security and intelligence agencies give us advice on TikTok, we’ll take it.

Continue reading...

Tropical Cyclone Megan intensifies to a category-three storm as it bears down on Northern Territory and Queensland

Posted on by

Wind gusts of up to 220km/h expected to bring heavy rain and flooding to coastal communities

Top End communities are bracing for the crossing of severe Tropical Cyclone Megan, with destructive wind gusts of up to 220km/h expected to bring widespread damage, heavy rainfall and potential flooding to coastal communities into next week.

The cyclone formed over the Gulf of Carpentaria, east of Groote Eylandt, on Saturday afternoon and was moving south towards the Northern Territory and Queensland border as a category-two system on Sunday morning.

Continue reading...

The path to re-election for Queensland Labor looks like a narrowing goat track after its ‘Super Saturday’ losses

Posted on by

Steven Miles’s government is fighting battles on multiple fronts – and shifting right or left will only create new problems elsewhere

Seven months before Campbell Newman was tossed from office by angry Queensland voters, he called a press conference, flanked by members of his cabinet, and apologised.

“I just want to say I am sorry today if we have done things that have upset people,” Newman said, days after his government was humbled, with a 19% swing, at a Brisbane byelection. “We will be doing a lot better in the future.”

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Appeal for information after death of man found injured on Sydney road – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

Paterson blasts government’s immigration detention policy

Shadow home affairs minister James Paterson is now asked about immigration detention, given the government has been briefing that the high court is unlikely to allow indefinite detention to continue.

We have a risk now, that is that offenders, foreign offenders, are in the community reoffending against Australians. People are victims, who should haven’t been, because these people should not have been released. Once they were, they should have been taken off the streets.

All Australian politicians are active on the platform. I think that is OK as long as they follow the government’s national security advice about mitigating the risks. For example, it shouldn’t be on the same device they have their work or personal information on, on a stand alone.

Continue reading...

Shock losses to LNP and Greens in Queensland elections sound warning for Labor ahead of October poll

Posted on by

Premier Steven Miles says massive swing against ALP in two key byelections was ‘very bad’ for his government

Queensland premier Steven Miles concedes massive swings against his government at the Ipswich West and Inala byelections are “very bad” for the Labor party and could result in a wipeout at the October general election if it doesn’t acknowledge the message sent by voters.

Labor lost the safe seat of Ipswich West to the Liberal National party after a two-party swing of about 18%.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

‘Very lucky’: teenage girl survives suspected shark attack at Queensland beach

Posted on by

Girl, 13, taken to hospital with minor injuries after suspected shark attack at Bargara beach in Bundaberg

A teenage girl has been taken to hospital after being injured in a suspected shark attack in Queensland’s north.

Paramedics were called to Bargara beach in Bundaberg on Friday afternoon after reports of a shark attack.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Concerns raised over solitary confinement in Queensland youth detention after deaths of two First Nations boys

Posted on by

Government report says placing children in prison isolation can affect their health and wellbeing in ‘severe, long-term and irreversible ways’

A Queensland government report has raised concerns over the use of solitary confinement in youth detention, detailing the case of two First Nations children with disabilities who died after spending extensive time in isolation at overcrowded and understaffed youth detention centres.

The Child Death Review Board’s annual report, tabled in state parliament on Thursday, details the anonymised cases of two boys, Harry* and Jack*. The report does not explicitly state their cause of death but Guardian Australia understands it to be suicide.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Queensland Labor vulnerable on two fronts as Greens target Brisbane’s commuter belt

Posted on by

Housing pressures and the cost of living crisis mean Steven Miles’ government is under threat from the Greens in Brisbane and the LNP in the regions

The old Inala roller skating rink in Brisbane’s south-west has been vacant for more than 15 years. For many locals, it is a symbol that progress moves slower in the outer suburbs.

Earlier this month, the Greens’ campaign for the Brisbane city council election announced plans to buy the building and turn the site into a public pool.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Queensland man facing 116 charges against children after allegedly targeting minors online since August

Posted on by

Sunshine Coast man charged with offences including rape, stalking and making child exploitation material

Police allege a Sunshine Coast man groomed two girls aged between 12 and 14 online before sexually abusing them.

Dion Adam Lingard, 31, will face Maroochydore magistrates court again on 18 March on 116 charges including rape, indecent treatment and stalking.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

‘Poor taste’: Brisbane school holds nappy changing activity to mark International Women’s Day

Posted on by

Stretton State College shares photo of students with nappies and dolls among images of events to celebrate the day

A Brisbane school has been criticised for acting “in poor taste” after posting images of a nappy changing activity held on International Women’s Day on Facebook.

Stretton State College posted the photo of students with nappies and dolls among images of different events held to celebrate the day. They included selling cookies and a photo station with a border featuring the slogan “inspire inclusion”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Almost half of cane growers sceptical of science behind laws protecting Great Barrier Reef

Posted on by

Review found ongoing ‘mistrust’ among farmers, including many who remain unconvinced by need for pollution regulations

A review of the Queensland government’s Great Barrier Reef protection regulations has found that almost half the affected farmers still believe there is little or no scientific evidence to support pollution reduction rules.

The laws, passed in 2019, were based on scientific advice that limits on sediment and chemical runoff were needed in the reef catchment, amid concerns about water quality.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Person in custody after man fatally assaulted in Gold Coast car park

Posted on by

Emergency services called to the shopping centre car park in Hope Island found a man with life-threatening injuries

A 25-year-old man has been taken into custody in relation to a fatal assault in a Gold Coast shopping centre car park.

Emergency services were called to the car park along Santa Barbara Road in the suburb of Hope Island on Monday afternoon after reports a man had been seriously assaulted.

Continue reading...

US man linked to Wieambilla shootings claims right to own guns despite criminal history

Posted on by

Donald Day Jr, linked to fatal shooting of two Queensland police officers, claims his right to guns for self-defence has been violated

A US man linked to the fatal shooting of two Queensland police officers has claimed that his right to own guns for self-defence has been violated by charges of alleged firearms possession while a convicted felon.

Donald Day Jr, 58, was arrested in December 2023 by the FBI in Arizona on two counts of “interstate threats” 12 months after the fatal shootings at rural Wieambilla, west of Brisbane.

Continue reading...

Bus to undergo engineering investigation after woman killed in Brisbane city crash

Posted on by

Bus mounted a kerb and pinned the 18-year-old against wall near one of the city’s busiest intersections during peak hour

Authorities have pledged to find answers after an 18-year-old woman died when she was pinned between a bus and a building in Brisbane’s city centre on Friday evening.

And authorities have said the bus involved in the crash underwent routine testing last month, and will now undergo an engineering investigation to ensure there were no mechanical failures.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Woman charged with allegedly murdering baby girl more than 12 years ago in Queensland

Posted on by

Thirty-year-old arrested over death of three-month-old child in September 2011

A woman has been charged with the murder of a baby girl more than 12 years ago in Queensland.

The charge comes after police went to a home in Redland Bay, 35km south-east of Brisbane, on 2 September 2011 and found a three-month-old child who was not breathing.

Continue reading...