Mystery surrounds cluster of satin bowerbird deaths in the Gold Coast hinterland

Landowner and bird experts cast doubt on Queensland government’s rat poison theory

In a town perched atop the rainforest hinterland of the Gold Coast, one of Australia’s most charismatic birds is suddenly and mysteriously dying.

Rumours and misinformation are swirling around Tamborine Mountain to explain the spate of satin bowerbirds deaths, with fingers pointed at everything from rat poison to 4G phone towers.

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Camper found safe and well as flooding rain lashes Queensland

Police end search for man, who was seen chasing his dog before flood waters cut off access to his campsite

A camper reported missing after chasing his dog near flood waters has been found, as heavy downpours continue to lash south-east Queensland.

Police said the 36-year-old man was reported missing from an Imbil campsite, south of Gympie, on Thursday morning, but was found safe and well on Thursday.

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Anzac Day commemorated; ABC reviewing presenter’s social media activity – as it happened

Deputy Labor leader says Chinese Solomon Islands base would make Australia ‘less safe’; Anzac Day services and marches return for the first time since pandemic began; Peter Dutton compares events in Ukraine to ‘the 1930s’; ABC presenter Fauziah Ibrahim under social media review; at least 17 Covid deaths recorded. This blog is now closed

Sticking with Brendan O’Connor for a moment, the shadow defence spokesperson says Labor would have “grave concerns” if a Chinese military base were established in Solomon Islands.

This comes after Scott Morrison yesterday said the establishment of a base there would be a “red line”, without saying how his government would actually respond, with O’Connor saying it was just “post-facto rhetoric”:

We understand what the prime minister says by that. But, really, it’s post-facto rhetoric. We need to see better investment and better engagement in the region ... rather than react after the fact.

Given the change in tone and rhetoric and words used by the prime minister, we will seek a briefing from the government. We’ve been getting updates all the way through, and we appreciate that.

It was a smaller sum. [The government’s plan] would go no way to provide support for veterans. It would not increase the frontline staff required to respond to their needs. It would do in no way enough to support those people who’ve put themselves in harm’s way.

People are waiting for days, weeks, months just for some of the more simple applications and claims.

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Floods in Queensland and NSW: what we know about areas affected, and what’s likely to happen next

Eight people have died, more are missing and hundreds have been rescued as flooding hits Brisbane, Lismore, Murwillumbah and Grafton

A major flood event has impacted communities from Maryborough in Queensland to Grafton in New South Wales, with Brisbane’s CBD inundated and a record-breaking flood in Lismore.

Here’s a summary of events so far, and what is forecast to come:

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Gold Coast deaths being treated as murder-suicide after woman’s body found in furniture chest

Queensland police say there is ‘early indication’ man, 53, responsible for death of 48-year-old woman at Sapphire apartment complex in Labrador

Police are investigating the sudden death of a 53-year-old man and suspicious death of a 48-year-old woman, who was found in a furniture chest inside an apartment block at a Gold Coast suburb in Queensland.

Gold Coast district detective inspector Chris Ahearn said on Saturday morning that the case was being treated as a murder-suicide.

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Australia news live: Scott Morrison says Brittany Higgins meeting ‘in process’; Victoria to make mRNA Covid vaccine

State commits $50m to domestic manufacturing of cutting-edge vaccines; former Liberal staffer to ask Scott Morrison to fix ‘systemic coercive control’ in Parliament House. Follow live

That is where we will leave the blog for Wednesday. Thanks for following along. Here’s what made the news today:

The government has closed a loophole that would have allowed Australians to use New Zealand as a stepping stone to travelling to another country following the opening of the Trans Tasman travel bubble.

On Monday, health minister Greg Hunt amended the biosecurity legislation to specify that Australians could not go to any country other than New Zealand. Unlike Australia, New Zealand does not have an outbound travel ban.

Travellers should be aware that international travel to any other country, except New Zealand, continues to pose a significant risk to public health, and for that reason outgoing travel to other countries remains restricted.

“Australians considering travel outside of Australia or New Zealand are still required to apply for an exemption from the outgoing travel restrictions through ABF, and ensure they review the information available on Smartraveller relevant to their destination.”

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Man charged with murder after woman found dead with burn injuries in Gold Coast backyard

Officers are treating the death at Arundel as a homicide that may have been witnessed by Kelly Wilkinson’s three young children

A man has been charged with murder after the burned body of mother-of-three Kelly Wilkinson was found in a Gold Coast back yard.

Queensland police on Tuesday evening said they had charged a 34-year-old New Beith man with murder and breaching a domestic violence order.

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Hollywood Down Under: stars flock from US to film in Covid-free Australia

Blessed with sunny weather, diverse locations and a ready-made film industry, Sydney and the Gold Coast have become movie powerhouses

On a warmish Wednesday evening early in the year, Paul Mescal was celebrating his birthday and everybody seemed to know. The Irish actor, famous for his neckchain and his leading role in Normal People, was in Sydney, Australia, for a new film, and the word was spreading. He was photographed running in Centennial Park. He was sighted at Tamarama Beach. He popped into an inner-city pub.

But on the list of stars now working in Australia, Mescal – in Sydney for a musical film adaptation of Carmen – is comfortably mid-level. Thanks to its relative freedom from Covid-19 and associated restrictions, Australia – blessed with diverse locations, sunny weather and a ready-made film infrastructure – has become Hollywood Down Under.

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NSW and Queensland weather expected to worsen: ‘Similar to a category one cyclone’

Potentially serious flooding and dangerous surf forecast for Queensland and northern NSW as heavy rain and damaging winds pound coast

Wild storms battering the Queensland and New South Wales coastline are expected to worsen later on Monday, and authorities have warned the heavy rain and strong winds could be “similar to a category one cyclone”.

Emergency services in both states have received thousands of calls for help since Saturday, as the conditions cause flash flooding and dangerous waves that have washed away large sections of beachfront.

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Wild weather continues as flooding expected in Queensland’s south-east and northern NSW

Authorities urge people to brace for more heavy rain, gales and dangerous surf as some areas record more than 300mm of rain since Saturday

Heavy rain across south-east Queensland and the north of New South Wales has prompted flood warnings as authorities urge motorists not to drive into floodwaters.

Some areas, in the Gold Coast hinterland and northern NSW border, have recorded more than 300mm of rain since Saturday.

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Dreamworld parent company Ardent Leisure charged over ride deaths in 2016

Queensland’s work health and safety prosecutor files three charges over the deaths of four people in the Thunder River Rapids ride tragedy

More than three-and-a-half years after four holidaymakers were killed on a Dreamworld ride, charges have been laid against the company behind the iconic Gold Coast theme park.

Ardent Leisure was charged with three counts of failing to comply with health and safety legislation and exposing individuals to a risk of serious injury or death.

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Former Young LNP member says party threw him ‘under the bus’ over offensive video

Barclay McGain, who was forced to resign over schoolies video denigrating Indigenous culture, accuses Queensland LNP of not practising what it preaches on personal responsibility

A former Young Liberal National party member forced to resign over a series of offensive social media posts has accused the Queensland LNP of “throwing young teenagers under the bus” and of not practising what it preaches on personal responsibility.

Guardian Australia revealed two weeks ago that federal MP Andrew Laming had sacked electorate officer Barclay McGain, 20, who was already under LNP investigation in relation to an offensive video from last year, following questions about subsequent social media posts and messages. McGain also quit the party.

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‘Fright of her life’: Gold Coast woman finds five-metre python on her doorstep

Queensland snake catcher says 80kg albino Burmese python found in Oxenford is the largest he has come across in 27 years

As a seasoned snake catcher, Tony Harrison is used to the people the claiming there is a five-metre snake on their doorstep. But for the first time on Monday, the caller wasn’t exaggerating.

“This was the largest snake I have come across in 27 years,” Harrison said. “The poor old lady who opened the front door to see it there got the fright of her life”

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Tropical Cyclone Gretel set to bypass Norfolk Island but damaging winds expected

Strong wind warnings also in place for coastal regions across south-east Queensland and northern NSW

Tropical Cyclone Gretel is set to bypass Norfolk Island in the next 48 hours, although it will still create damaging winds.

Tropical Cyclone Gretel may not make landfall but was still expected to have an impact with damaging wind warnings of around 100km/h for coastal regions across south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales.

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Chinese student lost in Gold Coast bushland for five days used milk bottle to collect water

Yang Chen says watching survival and adventure TV shows helped her stay alive, as she knew to keep hydrated and warm

A Chinese student who survived in flooded and dense Gold Coast bushland for five days used an empty milk bottle to collect water and get by.

Yang Chen went missing last Wednesday while walking with a friend in the Tallebudgera Valley and spent the next five nights sheltering in caves until she was found by water police near Gorge Falls on Monday morning.

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Blooming scary: runner rescued after getting stuck in cornflake seaweed on Gold Coast beach

Algae piles up thigh-deep in places – and could keep water murky for weeks

A woman running on a Gold Coast beach has been rescued after becoming stuck in masses of cornflake seaweed that has piled up thigh-deep in places.

A seaweed expert, Pia Winberg, said the bloom of Colpomenia – also known as sea potatoes, oyster thief or cornflake seaweed – was not unusual for this time of year.

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Hang-glider killed and another critical after crash near Byron Bay

Passenger – reported to be Irish tourist, 26 – winched off cliff at Lennox Head by helicopter

One man is dead and another, believed to be an Irish tourist, is in a critical condition after a hang-gliding accident on the New South Wales north coast.

Emergency services were called to the Pat Morton lookout at Lennox Head near Byron Bay about midday on Wednesday after reports of a crash.

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Boss of closed Gold Coast nursing home admits he wasn’t up to running facility

The head of the Earle Haven nursing home admits failings but claims government auditors were ‘anti-Semitic’

The boss of a Gold Coast aged care facility where more than half the high-care residents were malnourished before it closed has said he is “fed up” and is getting out of aged care.

Arthur Miller admitted to a Queensland parliamentary hearing on Friday that he was not up to the task of managing the high-care facility at his Earle Haven centre, which closed suddenly on 11 July, effectively leaving 69 residents homeless.

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Gold Coast fitter and turner jailed for making submachine guns

Nicholas Petrovski used his skills to manufacture weapons that in the wrong hands could have caused havoc, court told

A fitter and turner who pleaded guilty to making submachine guns that presented a “catastrophic degree of dangerousness” to the public will spend the next eight months behind bars.

Nicholas Petrovski, 36, pleaded guilty in the Southport District Court on Wednesday to possessing four submachine guns, three silencers and manufacturing weapons.

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Mother of drowned baby girl wrote in diary her daughter was ‘evil’, court documents show

Mother charged with failing to provide for girl whose body was found on Gold Coast beach

The mother of a baby girl whose body washed up on a Gold Coast beach after drowning in the Tweed River has briefly faced court.

The woman, who cannot be identified, is charged with failing to provide her daughter with the necessities of life. The baby’s father, 47, was charged on 22 November with murdering his daughter.

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