Category Archives: Queensland

‘Farm animals with better legal protection’: Queensland’s new child watch house laws pilloried

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Palaszczuk government overriding state’s Human Rights Act to allow for imprisoning children as young as 10 in adult watch houses

Queensland’s human rights commissioner has accused the government of setting a “dangerous precedent” after it overrode the Human Rights Act to allow children to be detained at adult watch houses and prisons.

In a surprise move, the Palaszczuk government introduced legislation on Wednesday to allow it to imprison children in adult watch houses “even if it would not be compatible with human rights”.

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‘Absolute dog act’: Queensland Labor pilloried for shock move to override state’s Human Rights Act

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Proposed law changes include allowing children to be detained in adult watch houses for the next three years

The Queensland government has introduced legislation to allow it to imprison children in police watch houses for adults “even if it would not be compatible with human rights”.

Police minister Mark Ryan introduced the amendment as part of a swathe of changes to an unrelated bill in state parliament this afternoon. It will require a suspension of the state Human Rights Act.

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Australian police rejected Fifa requests for Gianni Infantino to be escorted during World Cup travel

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Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria police turned down request for escort for Fifa president, which is normally reserved for foreign heads of state

Fifa asked Australian police in multiple jurisdictions to provide escorts for president Gianni Infantino during his travel for the Women’s World Cup, but was turned down.

Infantino asked Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales police to provide him with escorts, the Guardian has confirmed.

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Opposition refers minister to Ibac – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Warren Mundine said he has kicked two people off his no campaign group Recognise a Better Way, one of which for allegedly making an antisemitic comment.

I’ve actually kicked several people off our campaign in regard to their comments and I intend to keep on doing that.

That’s just between us and the couple of people we had sent off. I don’t appreciate racist comments … All they know is I got rid of them and I don’t accept any racial comments from anyone in regard to these issues.

… It wasn’t particularly about Aboriginals, one was a very antisemitic comment and I’m not gonna wear that crap.

When I talk about treaties, when I talk about constitutional recognition, it is in regard to treaties that are signed between the commonwealth government and First Nations peoples.

… I believe in treaties between the First Nations and the commonwealth and at that, and I put it in that context.

I was involved in the beginning … and then after it got further down the track in regard to [what] it was looking at, [then I said] I don’t support that.

It has to be the First Nations, it has to be the traditional owners who make those agreements. I can’t speak for other people’s country, and they can’t speak for my country.

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Brisbane woman whose body was found hidden in a wall identified by police

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Homicide detectives say skeletal remains partially buried at Alderley apartment block belonged to Tanya Lee Glover

The remains of a woman whose body was hidden in the wall of a Brisbane apartment block for about 13 years have been identified by police, who are investigating why anyone would target “a vulnerable single female in this way”.

Homicide detectives announced the breakthrough in the “jigsaw puzzle” investigation eight months after cleaners discovered her skeletal remains, tightly wrapped and partially buried in a locked area behind the wall in the building at Alderley.

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Woman and baby found dead in Rockhampton home

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Police say they are investigating ‘sudden death’ of two people after bodies discovered at central Queensland house

Police have launched an investigation into the “sudden death” of a woman and a baby in a central Queensland house.

They discovered the bodies after being called to a house in Bean Street in Rockhampton about 10.502am on Thursday.

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Queensland man who says schools should reconsider the cane joins government’s youth justice group

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‘If the parents of kids aren’t able to exercise discipline … then the state needs to be disciplining these kids’, says victims’ advocate

On a Toowoomba Facebook group, frustrated residents share regular updates about vehicles stolen, shops robbed and homes burgled. Some post photos of children accused of crimes; the “bleeding hearts” are shouted down.

Amid the emotion, Ken Cunliffe calls for calm and for the community to focus on solutions rather than politics.

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High-profile man accused of Toowoomba rape to find out if he can access alleged victim’s old phone data

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Prosecutors to consider request from man’s lawyer to access six months of data, despite pair not knowing each other until date of alleged offence

Prosecutors in the case of a high-profile man accused of rape will decide within a week how much data from the alleged victim’s mobile phone can be disclosed to the defence.

The crown had sought an explanation from the defence about its request for a data download and has now been provided with an answer.

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Russell Island community shaken by fire that killed father and his five sons

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Queensland police launch investigation, saying they are keeping an ‘open mind’ over fatal blaze

Everyone who saw the fire talks about how quickly it spread.

“Straight away there was black smoke everywhere,” says Brad Groat, a neighbour who saw the flames take hold of the old timber and tin Queenslander home on Russell Island in Redland Bay, near Brisbane.

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Russell Island fire: police giving ‘closer scrutiny’ to fire at Queensland home which killed five young boys and their father

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The father was reportedly trying to rescue his children when he succumbed to the fire

A crime scene has been established at the site of a deadly Queensland house fire that claimed the lives of five young boys and their father on an island near Brisbane, as Queensland police said the fire required “closer scrutiny”.

The man, named by multiple media outlets as 34-year-old Wayne Godinet, was reportedly trying to rescue his children when he succumbed to the blaze.

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Australian effort to contain fire ants hampered by funding shortfall, documents show

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Invasive Species Council releases material showing contrast between original $133m plan to fully eradicate the ants and $89m ‘revised work plan’

Lack of proper funding is hindering efforts to contain the spread of invasive fire ants by Australian authorities, according to documents obtained by the Invasive Species Council.

The documents show a stark contrast between the original $133m plan to fully eradicate the ants and an $89m “revised work plan” to continue for the next 12 months. This revised plan would only treat half the area needed, even as the ants continue their southward march towards New South Wales.

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Investor linked to Stuart Robert is still a director of 10 companies despite ‘severing ties’ with Australia

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Despite claiming he lives overseas and can’t testify at a parliamentary hearing, John Margerison still has a role in at least 10 firms according to Asic records

A Gold Coast businessman with ties to former Liberal MP Stuart Robert remains listed as a director in at least 10 Australian companies despite “severing ties” and living abroad.

John Margerison had been called as a key witness for a parliamentary hearing in July into contracts awarded by Services Australia and the National Disability Insurance Agency.

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Australia news live: pre-emptive release of Sofronoff report ‘denied me procedural fairness’, Shane Drumgold says

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ACT director of public prosecutions steps down after agreeing with ACT attorney-general Shane Rattenbury his position was ‘no longer tenable’. Follow live news updates today

PM urges people to look at the yes and no pamphlets

Albanese is asked about the word “Makarrata”, which has been subject to attack by the no campaign.

Why would someone disagree with the idea of Makarrata, with which is a Yolngu word for coming together after conflict - what that is about is just advancing reconciliation.

What the no campaign insists on doing is talking about anything but what is in the question before the Australian people. I would say to your listeners, have a look at what the question is, have a look at the yesand the no pamphlets. The yes pamphlet with its optimistic appeal for hope and a vision for the future, and the no campaign quoting people, misquoting people who are not actually supporting it.

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Fears for father and five children after fire off coast of Brisbane

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Police say brothers – aged 11, 10, four-year-old twins and a three year old – and their 34-year-old father unaccounted following fire on Russell Island

Five young boys aged between three and 11 years and their father, 34, are feared dead after a fire broke out in a home on an island off the coast of Brisbane.

The blaze started at the Todman Street house on Russell Island just after 6am on Sunday and spread to other premises, razing three.

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PM accuses Coalition of ‘creating noise and confusion’ over voice – as it happened

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Australia has ‘nothing to fear and everything to gain’ from a yes vote, Anthony Albanese says. This blog is now closed

Albanese says he won’t announce date of voice vote at Garma

Albanese will not announce at Garma what date the voice to parliament referendum will be held on:

I’ve made it clear a year ago what the timetable would look like, that it would be in the last quarter of this year. Obviously when we get into December, you are into the rainy season, so that gets knocked out. September, it could be held then except we have the footy finals.

We’ll make an announcement soon. We’ll talk through with the Australian Electoral Commission and make sure it’s an appropriate date, one that doesn’t clash with other events.

What is occurring with this referendum is it’s a clear proposition … the words are clear that have been put forward, they’ve been passed by the parliament, overwhelmingly by the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Indeed, across the parliament, both sides say they support constitutional recognition. Both sides say that you need to legislate the voice. The only difference is that Peter Dutton is saying that if you actually … enshrine it in the constitution, that that is something that they oppose.

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Queensland police declare crime scene after body found in burnt-out camper trailer

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Emergency services were called to the fire at a Teviotville property in the Scenic Rim region during the early hours of Friday morning

A body has been discovered after a camper trailer was destroyed in a blaze in south-east Queensland.

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How a picture of bedsheets from dark web led police to Brisbane childcare centre and man’s arrest

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Tiny traces from videos and images drew detectives to a childcare worker accused of being Australia’s worst serial paedophile

In 2014, detectives from a specialist Queensland police unit came across a small number of videos and images posted online, depicting the abuse of two girls but containing few clues as to where in the world they had been made.

After the discovery by taskforce Argos, the Australia federal police (AFP) and other agencies began an international search for the victims. This included uploading the material to a database that could be searched by other law enforcement agencies.

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News live: economists wary ahead of RBA rates decision; agriculture minister says Australia is free of lumpy skin disease

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Anthony Albanese says increasing the income-free area for jobseeker would have ‘unintended consequences’. Follow live news updates today

PM says he would ‘rather not have’ double dissolution trigger as housing bill to be reintroduced

Anthony Albanese has spoken to ABC Sydney and FiveAA about Labor’s $10bn housing Australia future fund bill, which is going to be reintroduced to parliament, possibly providing a trigger for a double dissolution election.

That doesn’t necessarily provide for an early election, it could go into 2025 – but what it does is mean that can be a focus and you have a joint sitting after a double dissolution is held, but I just want this legislation to be passed … Their spokesperson [Max Chandler Mather] put this in writing in an opinion piece in a magazine, essentially saying that if this is just waved through and happens we won’t be able to continue to door knock and campaign on it. Well, I don’t want to play politics with this – I want to get this done. We have a mandate for it, and the Senate should pass it.

The truth is you do need appropriate development, particularly along public transport corridors … But it’s true sometimes local government can get in the way because people want to oppose anything at all that looks like development. But the truth is we do need to increase housing supply, that’s the key.

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Missing ADF personnel involved in Queensland helicopter crash identified – As it happened

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Families grant permission to name the four service members who went missing during military exercises off the coast of Whitsundays on Friday – this blog is now closed

Asked about the surplus the government now finds itself overseeing, Rishworth is asked whether there will be any further assistance in the next budget.

Of course, the changes we’re making - whether it’s to rent assistance, jobseeker - are structural changes. They’re ongoing increases that will be applied. So when you talk about the surplus from last year, that’s a very different circumstance to the reforms that we’ve made which are ongoing and structural. We have calibrated these to be responsible to help people that are doing it tough. But also, that they’re sustainable into the long-term.

The economic inclusion committee was providing a very specific advice on the level of jobseeker to inform the budget process. Of course, the budget process has to take in a range of different factors, including a responsible structural adjustment. But also, of course, as the treasurer has said, making sure that we’re not adding to inflation. So there is a lot of issues that we do have to weigh up in a budget process.

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Unseasonably warm winter weather sweeps eastern Australia as Sydney reaches 25C

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One of the main factors contributing to the unusually high temperatures is the warm ocean conditions, a BoM meteorologist says

Unseasonably warm weather swept across the eastern states this weekend, with Sydney hitting 25.2C on Sunday, with high temperatures set to continue.

Parts of the country were expected to reach temperatures about 8C above normal for July on Sunday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

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