‘I will recover loudly so others don’t die quietly’: Queensland MP recounts horrific abuse

Labor member for Macalister Melissa McMahon tells parliament of abuse she suffered, announces leave of absence

Queensland MP Melissa McMahon has divulged a harrowing childhood of sexual abuse as she announced a leave of absence from parliament.

On Thursday, the Labor member for Macalister, south of Brisbane, told parliament she would take time out to rebalance her life and family.

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues in Australia is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732) and the crisis support service Lifeline, 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org

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Scenes of chaos witnessed at Queensland hospital in the hours before boy’s death

Five-year-old Hiyaan Kapil died early on Monday after being sent home from the Logan hospital

A patient has described chaotic scenes at an emergency department in the lead-up to the death of a five-year-old boy, who was discharged from a hospital south of Brisbane while still visibly sick.

Hiyaan Kapil died in the early hours of Monday morning, after being sent home from the Logan hospital at about 10pm on Sunday night.

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Election 2022 live: Dai Le dismisses eligibility concerns; doctors welcome Covid booster expansion as 41 deaths recorded

Eligibility for fourth dose of Covid vaccine extended; ‘don’t think we’ve got a better choice’ for Liberal leader, Dave Sharma says of Peter Dutton; at least 41 coronavirus deaths recorded. Follow all the day’s developments

The SMH has some interesting lines from the Liberal candidate in Gilmore, Andrew Constance, who says his party were punished for being “too focused on themselves”.

While Gilmore remains on a knife-edge, the former state government minister said he was not surprised by the outcome of the election, warning the Liberal party that it needed to refocus on community concerns:

The party has been too introverted and too focused on itself.

It has to recognise its broad-based appeal is not sectional interest. The party exists for the community … there’s no such thing as a “heartland” in Australian politics.

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Infamous Captain Cook statue in controversial pose removed from Queensland street

Eight-metre-tall statue in pose some liken to a Nazi salute will be moved from Cairns to the Atherton Tablelands

A statue of a Captain James Cook with an arm raised in a position that some liken to a Nazi salute has been removed from a main street in Cairns.

Demolition contractor Martin Anton hopes to be the unlikely saviour of the controversial statue, which had been used to advertise a topless bar, after reportedly buying the statue for a token $1.

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Lismore braces for more flooding amid storm warnings for south-west Western Australia

Northern NSW continues to be hammered by rain and Queensland’s south-east back on flood watch

Lismore residents are being warned they could be hit with more floods as rain continues in northern New South Wales.

The region has already endured repeated severe flooding in recent months and the Bureau of Meteorology said more could be on the way after rain over the weekend.

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Labor victory means Murugappan family set to return home to Biloela

After four years in immigration detention, the election would produce an all-or-nothing result for the Tamil asylum seekers

About 11pm on election night in the central Queensland town of Biloela, Angela Fredericks phoned her absent friend.

“Priya, you are coming home,” she said.

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Clive Palmer’s massive advertising spend fails to translate into election success for United Australia party

UAP vote increases slightly to around 4.7% but was exceeded by the One Nation vote

Clive Palmer’s mammoth campaign spend of close to $100m has failed to deliver his party results, with its primary vote failing to reach 5% across the country.

In both regional and metropolitan areas, the United Australia vote increased slightly to about 4.7%, and was strongest in Queensland where it polled close to 6%.

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Australian federal election 2022 live: Plibersek says Albanese has a ‘tough job’ as polls tighten

AEC concedes some Covid-positive Australians ‘may not be able to vote’: prime minister responds after Labor announces policy costings; Covid and illness lead to drop in working hours; nation records at least 52 Covid deaths. Follow all the day’s developments live

Scott and Jenny Morrison are visiting Whitemore in the Labor-held electorate of Lyons in Tasmania this morning.

Brian Mitchell holds Lyons on a margin of 5.2%, although his buffer was inflated by the disendorsement of his Liberal opponent mid-campaign in 2019 for anti-Islamic social media posts. Morrison is still on the offence, seeking gains to offset expected losses elsewhere.

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Some polling stations may not open on election day due to staff shortages, AEC says

Electoral commission urges people in potentially affected regions to access alternative voting options, and volunteer to work

The Australian Electoral Commission has said staff shortages may mean some polling stations will be unable to open for the election on Saturday.

The electoral commissioner, Tom Rogers, said the impact would be “limited” with the vast majority of Australia’s 7,000 polling stations to remain open.

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Pentecostalism and the LNP’s fight for its soul in Queensland’s Darling Downs

The seat of Groom has been held by conservatives since federation, but Labor and independent candidates have shaken up the race this election

A bastion of conservative Christian politics, the electorate of Groom has become a frontline in the battle for the soul of the Coalition.

And while religion barely rates a mention in the official campaign for Groom, there are concerns about the rising influence of pentecostalism, which could explain why the second safest seat in the country has suddenly become seen as one to watch.

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Australian Conservation Foundation names Mount Isa the most polluted postcode in the country

Mount Isa Mines responsible for 91% of emissions in the outback city despite having an ‘industry-leading air quality management framework’

Mount Isa has been named the most polluted postcode in Australia in a new report from the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF).

The ACF said the outback city is one of four Queensland locations listed among the Top 10 most polluted postcodes in the country, alongside Gladstone, Stanwell and Tarong.

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Australian federal election 2022 live: Albanese calls Coalition housing scheme ‘an attack on future generations’; AEC finds signs in breach

Anthony Albanese labels Coalition housing scheme ‘an attack on future savings’; AEC says Advance Australia ‘Greens’ signs in breach of electoral act; home price increases will be ‘marginal’ under new plan, Scott Morrison says; PM says Labor was informed about Aukus when they ‘needed to be’; NSW records four Covid deaths. Follow all the day’s news live

Labor campaign spokesperson Jason Clare has a new line.

He told ABC TV:

The next week is really important. Australians have a big choice to make this weekend. It is a choice between a better future under Labor and more Scott Morrison.

As Australians think about this, they would be thinking “Do you want to wake up on Sunday morning and roll over and see Scott Morrison?”

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Adam Bandt outlines seven demands for Labor in Greens’ balance-of-power wishlist

Party confident of winning at least one seat in Brisbane, where it will launch its campaign on Monday

The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, will release a $173bn balance-of-power wishlist at the party’s campaign launch in Brisbane on Monday night, outlining seven key concessions it wants from Labor in the event of a minority government.

The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, has ruled out doing any deals with the Greens to form government, while Bandt has said the party will not support the Liberals under any circumstance.

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Former Australian Test cricketer Andrew Symonds killed in Queensland car crash

Symonds, 46, in single vehicle collision late on Saturday, report says, citing statement from family confirming death

World cricket is mourning the shock loss of another Australian great after Test star and two-time World Cup winner Andrew Symonds was killed in a car crash in Queensland.

Former Australian cricket captain Mark Taylor says the man known as ‘Roy’ will be remembered as an entertainer who played the game with a carefree approach and disdain for rules and regulations.

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Morrison hails close ties with India and Albanese pledges $970m for Medicare – as it happened

Scott Morrison reiterates new pitch to voters, promising a ‘gear change’, and Anthony Albanese reveals plan to boost primary healthcare. This blog is now closed

Morrison has unfurled his famous boomer dad vibes, snorting at young people using “devices”:

I still remember the mates are used to play with when I was a kid, when I used to go play sport, I used to look forward to it every Saturday and be there with mum and dad, come and be on the sidelines, it is those great
experiences of family life which creates strong families and strong communities.

And by investing in a healthy lifestyles of our children, and doing that with the highly successful sporting schools program, this means we can get more and more about into healthy lifestyles, we need to get them off those phones and get them on the field. I hear some noise from parents who know exactly what I am talking about. And sure, they can have fun with their devices, that has to be on the timing at all the rest of it, you guys struggle without as much as I am sure we all do, but we want them out there running around, we want them living healthy lifestyles.

We have had to come through and toughed it out and push through as hard as we possibly can, and as a Prime Minister and as a government we have had to do that as well.

But as we go into this time of opportunity, and that is exactly what it is, and the kids reminded me of that again this morning, as we go into that time of opportunity, as a government, we change gears, as a Prime Minister, I change gears, and we go and secure those opportunities ahead.

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Queensland floods: rain easing but major flood warnings remain

Authorities are urging Queenslanders to monitor alerts and avoid flooded roads as rivers expected to peak

Rain is easing across Queensland but major flood warnings remain in place for some parts of the south-east.

Between 200 and 300 millimetres fell across the state over the past 48 hours, the Bureau of Meteorology said on Saturday, but the rain dropped away on Friday night with only 10 to 20 millimetres falling over a six-hour period.

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Australian federal election 2022: Albanese seizes on PM’s ‘bulldozer’ admission; Chinese spy ship off WA coast ‘an act of aggression’, Dutton says

Opposition leader says ‘bulldozers wreck things’ after prime minister blames pandemic for how he has governed country; Chinese spy ship spotted off Western Australia; Marise Payne and Penny Wong debate foreign policy at National Press Club; nation records at least 52 Covid deaths. Follow all the day’s news

On what Anne Ruston said, here is some of what Scott Morrison said about the 5.1% figure on 11 May:

Anthony Albanese says that he wants wages to go up by 5.1% and he thinks that Australians don’t know what the impact of that would be on their interest rates, on unemployment or on inflation in the cost of living.

He thinks Australians don’t get the link between these things. He thinks he can just say what he likes and you can have your cake and eat it.

I think you’ll find that the government has been very clear in its condemnation of the comments by Mr Albanese, not because of the figure that he put out there specifically, but the fact that he’s just chosen to put a figure out there you know, without bothering to consult, take advice, you know, there’s no science around it.

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Weather tracker: deadly floods follow week of torrential rain in Australia

Analysis: Queensland flash floods have cut off communities and killed one woman, swept away in her car

Torrential rain has been hitting eastern Australia since Monday, with rainfall totals on the north-east coast widely achieving in excess of 100mm. In Yabulu, north of Townsville, there was major flooding on Tuesday as 196mm of rain fell within 24 hours. This was not the highest total recorded, however, with 244mm of rain falling on Tuesday at Mourilyan, near Innisfail on the Cassowary Coast.

The threat of heavy rain sank south across Queensland to the south-east, reaching Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast on Wednesday; stations in the south-east recorded up to 100mm, with a station in Dayboro recording 161mm. A further 100-150mm of rain fell on Friday across the south-east.

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Hundreds escape flood waters in Queensland as state lashed by severe thunderstorms

More than 700 roads cut or affected by floods with intense rainfall set to continue in region between Caboolture and Gladstone

Hundreds of Queenslanders have fled to higher ground or been rescued from flood waters with thousands on alert on Friday night as severe thunderstorms lash the state’s south-east.

Intense rainfall has hit Brisbane, Ipswich, the Lockyer valley, Darling Downs, Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast, Wide Bay-Burnett, Bundaberg and Gladstone, the result of a massive low-pressure trough.

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Evacuations as more than 500 roads cut by south-east Qld flooding – as it happened

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Queensland Fire and Emergency Services says it’s had to rescue people in low-lying areas where water has risen quickly.

QFES says most people rescued haven’t had “situational awareness” of the unfolding event or made the “decision to turn around.”

If it is flooded, forget it. We have lost far too many lives on the roads this year and in previous events.

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