Category Archives: Queensland

Anti-aircraft noise campaigners to target shareholders in bid for Brisbane airport curfew

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Independent review recommends moving flight paths to alleviate noise concerns but disgruntled residents want solutions sooner

Anti-aircraft noise campaigners say they will target investors in Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) as they threaten to ramp up efforts to force a curfew and cap on flights over the city.

Aircraft noise was the defining local issue at the federal election for many who live under flight paths that emerged when the Brisbane airport opened its second runway in mid-2020, playing a role in the election of Greens MPs in three inner-city seats.

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Cost of abortions causing Queensland women to consider self-harm, study reveals

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More than 40% of women seeking help from pregnancy counselling service had exposure to family or intimate partner violence

Queensland women are self-harming and searching for pills on the black market to induce abortions as they face chronic delays, financial pressures and a lack of support from healthcare providers, a new study has found.

The University of Queensland study published in the CSIRO’s Sexual Health journal analysed almost 2,000 anonymous client records from the pregnancy counselling service Children by Choice between December 2018 and June 2020.

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Australia news live: Greens seek to reconvene Senate committee into former Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate’s dismissal

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Departments – not politicians – should decide government grant recipients, Grattan Institute recommends

The Grattan Institute has a very timely report out today with a plan to end pork barrelling, which calls for departments rather than ministers to make the call on who receives grants.

Ministers should be able to establish grant programs and define the selection criteria, but they should not be involved in choosing grant recipients.

Shortlisting and selecting grant recipients is an administrative function for the relevant department or agency. Ministers should have bigger fish to fry.

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Queensland police commissioner’s evidence to inquiry sparks new call for submissions

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Commission examining responses to domestic violence says Katarina Carroll’s appearance led to ‘further communications’ from officers

Queensland’s commission of inquiry into police responses to domestic violence has unexpectedly reopened submissions to the public, citing the reaction to evidence given by the state’s police commissioner as a driver for the decision.

Queensland’s police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, was interrogated for more than eight hours at a public hearing in Brisbane last week after she initially declined an invitation to attend.

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Brisbane man shot twice by officers as children hid in bushes, police say

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The 43-year-old was allegedly armed with a sharpening file when he was shot outside home

A man will undergo surgery after being shot twice by a Queensland police officer he had allegedly lunged at with a large metal sharpening file during a “horrible incident” at a house in Brisbane’s south.

Queensland police said the 43-year-old’s wife and four sons – aged seven to 14 – were at home during the confrontation on Sunday night.

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Advocates angered by news Queensland police boss declined request to appear at inquiry

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Katarina Carroll declined invitation on same day police said they will ‘fully cooperate’ with domestic violence inquiry

Advocates say it was “disingenuous” for Queensland police to claim the commissioner would “fully cooperate” with a domestic violence inquiry when she had declined an initial invitation to attend.

The Queensland police service’s (QPS) commissioner, Katarina Carroll, told the inquiry on Thursday that she initially rejected an invitation to appear at a public hearing on 5 August.

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Queensland police deputy commissioner resigns over ‘vagina whisperer’ comment

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Paul Taylor apologises for remark at policing conference, which was aired at domestic violence inquiry

A senior police officer has announced his immediate resignation after an inquiry into Queensland police responses to domestic violence heard he had referred to his friend as a “vagina whisperer” at a policing conference.

The deputy commissioner, Paul Taylor, who has been a police officer for 45 years, said he was “deeply apologetic” for the harm his comments had caused and it was never his “intention” to offend anyone.

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Australia news live: John Howard criticises lack of detail on voice to parliament as Anthony Albanese arrives in Torres Strait

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The former prime minister has spoken at a National Press Club event at the Canberra Writers Festival

‘Cringeworthy’: energy minister says Morrison’s media conference was embarrassing

Circling back to Chris Bowen’s interview on ABC Radio, where the discussion on climate policy was followed by questions on the biggest story in Canberra – Scott Morrison’s secret appointment to five additional ministries.

I think to be fair that the governor general was in a difficult position, he has to accept the advice of the government or the PM of the day.

It was pretty pathetic, embarrassing and cringeworthy to be honest.

He should call Andrews.

The right thing to do would be to call all ministers concerned.

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Queensland’s police commissioner declined an initial invitation to appear at domestic violence inquiry

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Inquiry hears Katarina Carroll was asked if summons was needed for her to appear

Queensland’s police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, rejected an invitation to appear at an inquiry into police responses to domestic violence, prompting the commission to ask if they needed to issue a summons for her to attend.

During a hearing on Thursday, counsel assisting the inquiry, Ruth O’Gorman, said the commission first asked Carroll to give evidence on 4 August after they “formed concerns about lack of resourcing” after the testimony of assistant police commissioner Brian Codd.

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Hurley says he had ‘no reason to believe’ extra ministries would be kept secret – as it happened

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Victoria’s opposition has pledged to scrap the suburban rail loop, described as the biggest transport project in the state’s history, with “every cent” of the $34.5bn saved to be invested in the health system if elected in November.

The commitment, made 101 days before voters go to the polls, sets the stage for another election turned referendum on infrastructure.

This November, Victorians face a clear choice. A choice between immediately rebuilding Victoria’s broken health system, or a train line in 13 years’ time.

As premier, my first priority will be to fix the health crisis.

So I think he himself, in reflecting on it, he has to come to the opinion that it probably wasn’t a good move. And, and on that issue, I agree with him.

If he did do something illegal, if he received some form of pecuniary benefit, if someone closely related to you get some for of pecuniary benefit, they failed to disclose, then yeah, you can pack up your bongos and get out of there.

But if something is legal, and you complied with the law even though people might not agree with that mightn’t be basically customary, or, as you would say, something you’ve done it in a way that’s annoying, you’ve done it in a way that has got people off side, but it’s not illegal. It’s not illegal.

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Eastern Australia faces wet weather and flooding with 70% chance of third consecutive La Niña

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Bureau of Meteorology forecasts heavy rain in spring driven by negative Indian Ocean Dipole and warm waters in the north

Australia could be lashed with more rain and possible floods for the next three months with La Niña conditions predicted to return for a rare third consecutive year.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology raised the El Niño-Southern Oscillation La Niña outlook from “watch” to “alert” on Tuesday afternoon.

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Australia news live: Karen Andrews leads calls for Scott Morrison to resign over secret ministries as former PM defends ‘belts and braces’ approach

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Morrison issued a lengthy apology on Facebook after the former home affairs minister called his secret swearing-in to her portfolio ‘unacceptable’

The former prime minister Scott Morrison is appearing on 2GB after revelations he appointed himself to several ministries in secret while in government.

Morrison says his appointments to three cabinet roles were “safeguards” during “unprecedented” times.

All ministers know their direct powers are matter between the prime minister and them not the cabinet.

These were not issues that were subject to cabinet.

It is the secrecy that is astonishing and we must get an explanation from the former prime minister about his actions.

One could understand how the prime minister may have wished to ensure that there was a safety net, particularly around the role of the health minister. We had no vaccines for Covid at the time.

But the fact that he chose not to tell anyone about this, the fact that his cabinet – many members of his cabinet – didn’t know about this – the prime minister has a responsibility to inform the parliament, the public and to inform his cabinet. It is a most extraordinary and alarming set of circumstances, I believe.

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Queensland police commissioner to front extra hearing of domestic violence inquiry

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Katarina Carroll will discuss the force’s capability and culture after critics questioned why she had not been called to appear

Queensland’s police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, will front a domestic violence hearing this week after the state’s commission of inquiry backflipped on a previous decision not to call her to give evidence.

Carroll will appear at the inquiry’s final public hearing on Thursday to discuss the organisation’s capability, capacity and structure to respond to domestic violence, as well as cultural issues within the force.

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Dutton says he was not aware of Morrison’s secret ministries – as it happened

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Ed Husic pushes for ‘brain regain’

Industry minister Ed Husic will this week host a series of five roundtable meetings with science and technology leaders in the lead-up to the federal government’s jobs summit, in a bid to kickstart what he called “brain regain” – attracting Australia’s bright minds working overseas to return home, to combat the so-called “brain drain”.

These discussions will also include ways to increase the representation of women and people of diverse backgrounds in skilled occupations. One of my priorities is on “brain regain” – encouraging Australian researchers and innovators to return home. I am interested to hear ideas on how this can be best achieved.

I can’t emphasise strongly enough that this is the start of engagement with these industry sectors. After the jobs and skills summit I will continue the work with industry leaders to ensure we apply practical solutions to accelerate Australia’s pathway to high-skilled, high-value economy.

He’s applied for a job and that’s coming with a significant degree of scrutiny, as it should do. That’s part of the territory if you’re going to put yourself forward for those roles.

If he felt the need to protect the environment from offshore drilling for gas off Sydney’s northern beaches and he felt he needed to swear himself in as minister, that’s something I support.

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Daniel Andrews backs federal plan to boost migration – as it happened

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Labor’s plan to tackle skills shortages would lift the annual migration cap from 160,000 to between 180,000 and 200,000. This blog is now closed

Bowen says climate reforms will help Australian industry avoid carbon tariffs

Bowen says how this will work has yet to be determined and gives a nod to an upcoming discussion paper, with the details to be hammered out in consultation with industry. But he raises some interesting points that this needs to happen as there is a growing risk Australian industry will be exposed to carbon tariffs if nothing changes.

This will help us avoid these, by showing the EU and the rest of the world, you don’t need to slap tariffs on our manufacturers and our producers because Australia is working with industry to get emissions down in a very sensible way.

The safeguard mechanism is taking the 315 biggest emissions and working with them to reduce emissions, because if we don’t, we will continue the 10 years of no reductions from those facilities and it won’t cut the mustard.

Any facility which emits more than 100,000 tonnes … whether it is new or existing, which is just increasing its activity, we are not having the same architecture. They will be put on a trajectory to net zero, facility by facility. We have designed this in a very sensible way.

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Police visited Ayr home hours before fire that resulted in woman’s death

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Queensland crime and corruption commission to investigate officer interactions with victim and her partner before house fire

A homicide investigation is under way into the death of a north Queensland woman who spoke with police officers hours before her home erupted into flames.

The 47-year-old Ayr woman died in hospital from severe burns after her house was gutted by a fire that police said was “probably deliberately lit” early on Tuesday morning.

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In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org

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Clive Palmer ordered to pay part of Mark McGowan’s legal costs; 87 more Covid deaths – As it happened

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Federal court orders Palmer to pay undetermined sum in half of defamation proceedings between the pair; Senator Jim Molan calls for National Press Club not to host Chinese government officials. This blog is now closed

ACT warns of scam health texts

ACT Health says it has been made aware of scam text messages claiming to be services such as HealthDirect or Medicare.

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Australia news live: GPs warn against over-the-counter Covid treatment as nation records 133 deaths from virus

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New South Wales recorded 11,356 new Covid cases in the last reporting period and 30 deaths. There were 2,212 people in hospital and 55 in intensive care.

Bulk-billing statistics dishonest, minister says

The former government was not honest with Australians about the true state of bulk billing in Australia by selectively quoting only this [88%] figure

Primary care is in its worst shape since Medicare began. Across the country we hear stories of Australians not being able to get in to see a bulk-billing doctor, or GPs changing from bulk billing to mixed billing.

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Queensland officers investigated colleagues from same police station over ‘failure of duty’ allegations

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Over five weeks of hearings, inquiry has heard allegations of police failures toward domestic violence victims

One in five allegations about Queensland police failures in responding to domestic violence complaints were investigated by officers working at the same station or work group, a commission of inquiry has heard.

The inquiry was told of 126 “failure of duty” allegations against the Queensland police service (QPS) recorded in the year to 30 May. Of those, 26 were investigated by an officer in the same station or work group, while 20 allegations were examined by someone of the same or lesser rank, the inquiry heard.

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SES and Resilience NSW ‘failed’ to lead flood response, inquiry finds – as it happened

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New threatened species listings include south-eastern glossy black-cockatoo

Two Australian species that were badly affected by the 2019-20 black summer bushfires have been officially listed as threatened.

The damage caused by the black summer bushfires is still being felt today and can be seen reflected in these listings today.

The fires had an immense impact on our environment, from a small reptile found in the mountains to a bird that is at home on the coast. There is still a lot of work to do.

It seems as though these positions are being offered around almost like lolly bags to senior members of the New South Wales government rather than what they’re intended to be, which is senior positions funded by the taxpayer. We shouldn’t operate like that in New South Wales. We’re slowly but surely finding out the contours of what is an absolute scandal.

There’s many questions to be asked. At the end of the day we’re expected to believe of the 8 million people who live in New South Wales, John Barilaro was independently chosen to represent our interests. I think that ... stretches credibility.

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