Queenslanders miss out on social housing due to failures to build homes and inaccurate waiting lists

Auditor general’s report says waiting list has grown 78% since 2018 and amount of housing stock has not kept pace

Thousands of Queenslanders are missing out on social housing because the state government is failing to build enough homes, keep an accurate waiting list or manage its existing stock, a report says.

There are 30,922 households approved for social housing on the state’s housing register, which has grown by 78% since 2018.

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Fewer than 20% of alleged breaches of Queensland domestic violence orders result in charges

Inquiry hears police lodged 50,704 applications for contraventions of orders, with 9,347 charges laid

Criminal charges have been laid in fewer than 20% of cases where Queensland police lodged an application for a contravention of a domestic violence order over the past year, a commission of inquiry has heard.

A public hearing on Monday heard police lodged 50,704 applications for contraventions of domestic violence protection orders in 2021-22, while 9,347 charges were laid for a range of domestic and family violence related criminal offences.

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Queenslanders encouraged to wear masks as nation records 13 Covid deaths – as it happened

On pandemic leave payments – which are coming to an end – Speers asks Butler about the decision by the government not to extend them. Butler responds that ending these payments was necessary because of the budget.

This emergency payment was designed by the former government and the state governments. It’s a co-owned scheme that came to end an on 30 June. We are one trillion in debt and at some point emergency payments of this type have to be wound up as we move to a new phase. That’s the decision that former governments took and it’s a decision we have decided to follow as well.

There’s state rules to isolate. These emergency payments have to be wound up at some point.

I accept whenever you end an emergency payment of this type it’s going to impact people. I deeply regret that. But at some point these emergency payments simply have to be wound up. We don’t have the financial capacity to keep making them forever. They were intended to wind up on 30 June, that was the decision taken by the former government, and all state governments who are co-signatories to that scheme and it’s a decision we had to continue.

Butler: In this phase of the pandemic mask mandates and things like that are best done in a targeted way. There’s mask mandates in aged care, in health facilities, on public transport, in airplanes. And if you’re in a crowded indoor space with no ability to socially distance you should give strong consideration to wearing a mask.

Speers: Again... You only need to go to the movies or a shopping centre or the footy to see how ineffectual a recommendation is. So many people not wearing masks. Wasn’t one of the lessons of this pandemic, mask mandates for a fixed period, work?

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Queensland LNP pledges net zero 2050 target at next election amid ‘deeply troubling’ rise in emissions

Leader David Crisafulli’s announcement drew immediate criticism from environmentalists saying the move is not science-based

Queensland’s opposition has announced it will bring a net zero emissions target by 2050 to the next state election at the LNP’s annual convention in Brisbane over the weekend.

LNP leader David Crisafulli said it was “deeply troubling” that emissions had increased in Queensland over the past several years.

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At least 77 Covid deaths; Albanese pays tribute to Abe; NSW counts cost of floods – as it happened

Foreign minister Penny Wong meets her Chinese counterpart in Bali, breaking three years of diplomatic hostility. This blog is now closed

Collaery case: ‘only stress if you’re being shot at’

One of the biggest stories of the week was the announcement from the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, that the government would drop its long-running case against lawyer Bernard Collaery.

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Horse euthanised after first Hendra virus case in five years reported in Queensland

Biosecurity Queensland euthanised the horse in Mackay on Friday after it contracted the virus, which can be fatal in humans

Queensland has recorded its first case of Hendra virus since 2017 after a horse tested positive in Mackay.

Biosecurity Queensland said the result was confirmed on Friday and the horse was euthanised after its condition deteriorated rapidly.

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Queensland commits to ban charging sexual assault victims without Medicare for examination

Announcement follows Guardian Australia report on calls to end practice, victim’s $800 bill

Queensland Health has pledged not to charge sexual assault victims without access to Medicare for rape kits and will review its policies for other medical costs, after the findings of a comprehensive review.

The announcement comes after Guardian Australia reported on Thursday that one woman who was ineligible for Medicare was billed $800 for pathology testing this year after a sexual assault.

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Australia live news: Jacinda Ardern meets Daniel Andrews; NSW floods ‘far from over’ as Sydney rain continues; RBA interest rates announcement

Jacinda Ardern meets with Daniel Andrews; Dominic Perrottet warns heavy rain forecast in NSW; federal disaster payments available to 23 flood-affected areas; RBA interest rate decision due; Victoria records 16 Covid deaths, NSW records 14, Queensland records 11. Follow the day’s news live

The federal government is making disaster relief payments available to 23 flood-affected areas in NSW, with emergency management minister Murray Watt saying the assistance would be “uncapped”.

Watt announced early on Tuesday that the federal and NSW governments were making assistance available through the commonwealth-state disaster recovery funding arrangements.

These are uncapped payments, they are demand-driven and they will be available for anyone who qualifies.

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‘Is this a real rape?’: female officers detail misogynistic culture within Queensland police

Exclusive: submissions by women to inquiry describe sexist behaviour, affecting responses to domestic violence

Current and former female police officers in Queensland have detailed widespread misogynistic behaviour, sexist comments and sexual harassment by male colleagues, in submissions to a state inquiry focusing on problems with police culture.

The commission of inquiry was recommended by the state’s women’s safety and justice taskforce, which found “widespread cultural issues” affecting police responses to domestic and family violence.

References by male police officers to an area where female detectives sat as “cunt corner”

A male officer questioning “is this a real rape or is she looking for a free pap smear?”

Officers questioning the validity of a domestic violence complaint involving two police officers because the incident was the second allegation and “you’d think she’d learn the first time”

Male officers claiming a new inclusion and diversity initiative encouraging anonymous complaints had been set up “just because you chicks don’t like getting grabbed on the arse anymore”

Officers deterring women from making complaints by providing “unappealing if not terrifying” versions of court proceedings

Officers convincing domestic and family violence victims their issues were related to mental health

A male officer making comments about a female investigator that she was “a good operator until her arse got fat” and other detectives being judged based on their appearance

Promotion panels ignoring or making derogatory comments about female applications

A male commissioned officer complaining about a female subordinate being on leave suffering post-natal depression, saying “not only do I have to put up with having women in my office I have to manage this crap”

The male officer in charge of a large Brisbane police station repeatedly showing colleagues footage of a drunk young woman urinating in public

Officers giving pregnant women who are subject to domestic and family violence unwanted anti-abortion information

Officers performing “diversionary tasks” to avoid attending domestic violence calls

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Australia news live: man drowns as Sydney floods continue; NSW SES commissioner warns area dams above 100% capacity

Man drowns after boat capsizes in Abbotsford; vaccination mandates to ease on international flights; PM says ADF available as thousands are urged to evacuate in Sydney flood crisis; 30 Covid deaths recorded nationwide. Follow all today’s news, live

Karvelas asks about that time Pocock was arrested for chaining himself to mining equipment to protest against a coalmine expansion in New South Wales and whether, given this history, whether he could support legislation that would allow the construction of new mines.

Pocock answers that the IPCC was “very clear” that keeping warming below 2C means “we can’t approve and open up new fossil fuel projects” but adds “we have to actually be getting targets in place and then having the policy to have an orderly transition to renewables”.

My sense is that the community does want something legislated. We actually have to be able to legislate something and move forward and so I’m committed to being constructive when it comes to action to make sure we legislate something, and look at other ways how to ramp that up over time but crucially to be looking after regional communities who have relied on fossil fuels for generations.

In terms of the 43%, I have been very open saying that I’d like to see a higher target, but my sense is that what Australians really want is a target to be legislated. We have to actually bank some of these gains and I want to see a target with integrity. There’s some real concerns about the way that we’re actually getting to whatever target we set and that will be my focus.

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Two children diagnosed with first cases of diphtheria of the throat in NSW this century

Unvaccinated two-year-old and six-year-old from northern NSW diagnosed with potentially deadly bacterial infection

A toddler is in intensive care and a second child has been hospitalised after contracting the first cases of diphtheria of the throat in New South Wales this century.

Diphtheria is a contagious and potentially deadly bacterial infection. It affects the throat and tonsils in its most severe form, resulting in a greyish-white membrane forming that can make it hard to swallow and breathe.

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Australia surpasses 10,000 Covid deaths as authorities warn of another wave of infections

Federal health minister Mark Butler says new BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants increase the risk of reinfection

Australia has surpassed the grim milestone of 10,000 Covid-19 deaths, as authorities urge people to remain vigilant against the disease.

The country’s toll from the virus stood at 9,984 on Saturday, and tipped past the 10,000 mark with Sunday’s numbers.

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Political leadership will be critical to overhaul Queensland’s public sector after Coaldrake review

It remains to be seen if politicians locked in a cycle of point-scoring and conflict can summon the maturity needed for more open government

Queensland’s premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has enthusiastically welcomed Peter Coaldrake’s review into public sector culture and accountability as “bold”, “comprehensive” and “exactly what I want”. But the hard work of achieving change has only just begun.

Certainly Prof Coaldrake has identified many impediments to good government in Australia: a loss of public sector capacity, capability and confidence; a tendency to rely on consultants and contractors; and concerns about lobbying and about the relationship between ministers, their staff and public service departments.

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Nation records 33 Covid deaths as Victoria reports fifth monkeypox case – as it happened

Mark Butler urges Australians to get boosters as new subvariant circulates; nation records 33 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Australia ‘deeply concerned by continuing erosion of Hong Kong’s rights’

Penny Wong, minister for foreign affairs, released a statement last night saying Australia remains “deeply concerned” by the continuing erosion of Hong Kong’s rights.

Australia remains deeply concerned by the continuing erosion of Hong Kong’s rights, freedoms and autonomy, two years since the imposition of the National Security Law.

The National Security Law has been applied broadly to arrest or pressure pro-democracy figures, opposition groups, the media, trade unions and civil society. The electoral reforms imposed by Beijing in 2021 have further eroded Hong Kong’s democratic governance.

This will be the fourth time the government has offered to make the changes, announced the changes, and then backtracked as a result of internal politics.

I’m just not sure where we go from here but our members are resolute. We are going to continue fighting to get these trains made safe, and we’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.

It’s going to be a very messy day. It’ll be a weekend timetable with other trains taken out of it.

The families of the railway workers right now could be having $3,000 deposited in their account, instead of having that money spent on modifying perfectly good trains.

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Landmark report calls for affirmative consent laws in Queensland

Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce’s final report includes call for campaign to dispel ‘rape myths’

A major review has called for Queensland to adopt affirmative consent laws among sweeping reforms to the handling of victims of sexual assault and violence in the state’s criminal justice system.

The long-awaited final report of the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce includes 188 recommendations to improve experiences with the justice system.

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Unseasonal deluge to bring wet and windy end to Australia’s east coast winter dry spell

New South Wales and Queensland set for coastal showers with wet weather to last into mid-next week

The winter dry spell is set to end this week with the east coast of Australia set to receive a deluge leading up to the weekend, while record-breaking rainfall is expected for parts of northern Australia.

A cold front moving towards the east coast will bring coastal showers and wet weather to most of the New South Wales and Queensland coast.

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Families of murder victims Hannah Clarke and Doreen Langham join call for specialist police stations

‘Women have had enough,’ says Prof Kerry Carrington, who has been advocating for domestic violence stations since 2015

The violent murders of Doreen Langham and Hannah Clarke by their former partners should be a wakeup call to all Australian jurisdictions to consider specialist domestic violence police stations, according to experts and family members of the victims.

A trial of specialist stations has been recommended twice this week by deputy Queensland coroner Jane Bentley, as she handed down findings from separate inquests into the murders of Langham, on Monday, and Clarke and her children – Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey – on Wednesday.

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Mother of crash victim launches petition to sack drink-driving Queensland mayor

Judy Lindsay had met with mayor Karen Williams earlier that day to discuss loss of her daughter in drink-driving incident

Separate petitions calling for the sacking of a Queensland mayor who admitted crashing her vehicle into a tree east of Brisbane after drinks at a work function have been signed by more than 6,300 people.

Redlands mayor, Karen Williams – a campaigner against drink-driving – conceded she had had “several glasses of wine” prior to the crash, which came hours after she met with families who had lost loved ones in accidents caused by drink-drivers.

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Queensland integrity review a ‘wake-up call’ on government lobbying

Peter Coaldrake calls for more accountability and transparency surrounding lobbyists in his final report

An integrity probe into the accountability and culture of the Queensland government is a “wake-up call” for greater transparency.

The report warned the only way to restore public faith in Queensland politics was to be “more accountable and transparent ... and behave with integrity”.

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Liberal MP was ‘patron’ of Queensland gun club for which he claimed to have ‘secured’ $20,000 grant

Ross Vasta says he had ‘no decision-making power over the process or the outcome’ in grant to Belmont Branch of the Sporting Shooters Association

A Liberal MP said that he “secured” a $20,000 grant for a gun club which lists him as its patron, raising questions about whether he should have disclosed his links to the organisation in his register of interests

Backbencher Ross Vasta posted on Facebook in 2018 that he had “secured $20,000” for the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (SSAA) club in Belmont, a grant that would allow them to lay asphalt over their dirt carpark.

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