Category Archives: Brisbane

Plan for 20,000-seat stadium to temporarily replace Gabba kicks off Queensland funding row

Posted on by

Labor announces it will commit $46m towards $137m cost of upgrading Ekka showgrounds

A proposal to upgrade Brisbane’s showgrounds with a temporary 20,000-seat stadium – to act as the city’s home of AFL and cricket while the Gabba is rebuilt – has quickly become a political football.

The Queensland government announced on Friday it would commit $46m to create the temporary stadium but requested the remaining $91m cost be shared between Brisbane city council, AFL and cricket authorities and the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland, which runs the annual Ekka show at the venue.

Continue reading...

Queensland Muslims ask for police protection over New Zealand far-right activist’s pro-Israel protest

Posted on by

Destinys Church founder Brian Tamaki says his event will include 200 men performing the haka and a speech from Avi Yemini

Queensland Muslims say they are fearful and have requested police protection after a New Zealand far-right activist scheduled a pro-Israel protest for the same central Brisbane location – but an hour earlier – than a planned pro-Palestine rally on Sunday.

The “Anzacs” rally in Brisbane is being promoted by Brian Tamaki, who is the founder of Destiny Church and has a history of Islamophobic comments.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Nigel Farage spotted in Brisbane just before start of I’m a Celebrity

Posted on by

Former Ukip leader has reportedly been offered large sum to appear on ITV show, which begins this month

Nigel Farage has been seen at Brisbane airport in Australia, adding to speculation that he will be joining the lineup in this year’s I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!.

The former leader of Ukip and the Brexit party did not confirm when asked whether he was entering the jungle as part of the ITV show, but did tell a reporter that he “might be going in”.

Continue reading...

Greens threaten Brisbane landlords with huge rates rises if they increase rents

Posted on by

Greens unveil policy designed to freeze rents at January 2023 levels in battle for Brisbane city council

The Greens say they would introduce an effective rent freeze across Brisbane by enacting massive land rates increases for any property investors who increase the rent.

The announcement on Monday will be a centrepiece of the Greens’ campaign for the Brisbane city council, a city where nearly four in 10 homes are occupied by renters.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Firebombing death of bus driver in Brisbane could have been avoided with better decisions, coroner finds

Posted on by

Decision to discharge ‘low risk’ Anthony O’Donohue from mental health service in 2016 found to be ‘not satisfactory’

The firebombing death of a young bus driver “might not have occurred” if different decisions had been made about the care of the mental health patient who had been deemed “low risk” before killing him, Queensland’s state coroner has found.

Terry Ryan handed down his findings a day before the seventh anniversary of the death of Manmeet Sharma, a 29-year-old from India who had been working as a bus driver for the Brisbane city council for just three months.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia news live: devastation revealed in Queensland bushfire aftermath

Posted on by

There is ‘a lot of anxiety’ in the Western Downs where at least 16 houses have been destroyed, the mayor says. Follow the day’s news live

Civilians in the blockaded Gaza Strip will receive an extra $15m in humanitarian aid from the Australian government.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese made the announcement at a joint press conference with US president Joe Biden.

The plaintiff served years in prison that he otherwise would not have. At no stage did Victoria Police take positive steps to remedy its wrongdoing by expeditiously informing the plaintiff of Gobbo’s conduct in order to quash his conviction. Victoria Police has not apologised to the plaintiff.

Starting this court case is a significant moment for me. I am anxious about the future but also cautiously optimistic about finally holding police to account for what they did to me.

In the pursuit of justice, vindication came first, and now I see compensation as a measure of accountability.

Continue reading...

Brisbane Greens vow to oppose 2032 Olympics at council election as Gabba stoush escalates

Posted on by

Lord mayoral candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan says $2.7bn plan to redevelop the stadium is unpopular ‘right across’ the city

The Greens candidate for Brisbane lord mayor, Jonathan Sriranganathan, says the party will go to next year’s election opposing the city’s 2032 Olympic Games unless organisers abandon plans for a $2.7bn redevelopment of the Gabba stadium.

Sriranganathan’s high-profile campaign seeks to build upon the Greens’ recent success in Brisbane – including capturing three inner-city seats at the last federal election.

Continue reading...

Brisbane man charged with murder after allegedly throwing elderly resident off balcony

Posted on by

Police allege the accused was ‘aggressively seeking items’ from units before knocking on alleged victim’s door

A Brisbane man charged with murdering an elderly resident by allegedly throwing him off a balcony had been aggressively going door-to-door at the unit complex, police have alleged.

Officers attended the residence on School Road in the Brisbane suburb of Yeronga about 1.40pm on Sunday after reports of a disturbance.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Unseasonable heat to hit south-east Australia over grand final weekend

Posted on by

Experts warn of increased risk for vulnerable Australians and say sports codes will need to put heat policies into effect earlier in the season

South-east Australia is set to swelter this weekend, with temperatures forecast to reach highs of 29C in Melbourne and 36C in Sydney.

The unusual heat is likely to impact both the NRL and AFL grand finals, with the NRL reportedly planning ahead with extended breaks and play potentially delayed depending on the conditions.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Welcome to ‘the robot soundscape’: Australia’s music industry braces for the rise of music AI

Posted on by

The spectre of intelligent technologies is looming over Australian artists, and dominating the chatter at Brisbane’s Bigsound music conference

Music conferences tend to follow a similar format: showcases of up-and-coming artists, panels about the business, and behind-the-scenes deals. But between the events and around the corridors of this year’s Bigsound in Brisbane, Australia, there was one topic dominating conversation: how AI was threatening the industry.

Musicians and composers are fascinated by – and terrified of – artificial intelligence, which has the potential to both help artists create, and steal their work. AI is already starting to weave into the everyday soundtracks of our lives, from a new track by the Beatles to Spotify’s “AI DJ”. It’s a new reality that scholars such as Oliver Bown from the University of New South Wales call “the robot soundscape”.

Sign up for our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning

Continue reading...

Disability groups hit out at move to drop Queensland Health vaccine mandate

Posted on by

‘Come and live in somebody’s shoes who is at high risk of serious complications from the flu or Covid,’ disability advocate says

People with disability are more likely to feel unsafe in Queensland health institutions and may even avoid them after the state launched plans to drop its vaccine mandate for health staff, according to an advocacy group.

Nicole Lee, president of People with Disability Australia, said Queensland had been a leader in Covid protections and she had hoped the state might make the mandate permanent.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Children unlawfully detained in Queensland’s police watch houses blocked from suing

Posted on by

Law changes retroactively exempt government from litigation as Labor refuses to release legal advice used to justify rapid changes to Youth Justice Act

The Queensland government has refused to release key legal advice it used to justify urgent changes to the Youth Justice Act, amid criticism over its decision to retroactively prevent children from suing if they were detained unlawfully.

Defending the government’s hurried changes to the law, the deputy premier, Steven Miles, said the solicitor general had advised it could not delay amending the act – even for a few weeks – to accommodate scrutiny by a parliamentary committee.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Keeping kids in watch houses: why the Queensland government could change the law to suit itself

Posted on by

Possible ‘robodebt’ scenario left Labor to either move the children or suspend the Human Rights Act – and it chose the latter

Queensland Labor MPs found out on Monday that they were expected to vote to suspend the state’s Human Rights Act, for a second time, to allow for the indefinite detention of children in adult police watch houses.

No one else seemed to have any warning. On Wednesday afternoon – on a particularly dreary day in state parliament – the police minister, Mark Ryan, tacked the law change on to an unrelated child safety bill, allowing it to pass through parliament the following day with no committee scrutiny.

Continue reading...

ALP national conference day one – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed.

The conference is up and running.

We will bring you as much of it as we can – and will make sure we have all the main motions covered off, as well as the tone and vibe of it all.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Birmingham says opposition doesn’t ‘fear’ early election – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

Housing bill squabble to bring back possibility of double dissolution election

Parliament resumes next week after a five-week hiatus over winter, which means all the squabbles and fights we left in June are starting to whirl up again – chief among them housing. As Daniel Hurst reported this morning, Labor is going to bring back its housing bill to the house in October, where it will pass. Once it hits the Senate, things get a little more dicey. If it’s rejected by the Greens, who so far aren’t seeing what they want from the government, then the government has a double dissolution trigger.

The early indications are that there was a 50m exclusion zone around the deceased.

All efforts had been made to cover the body but at certain stages of the forensic examination, that body did need to be uncovered so the forensic police could do their work for the coroner and unfortunately, those children did walk past.

Continue reading...

‘A bit disturbing’: investigations launched after freight train collides with excavator in Brisbane

Posted on by

Aurizon confirms driver was not injured in crash at Fairfield station on Saturday night

Rail regulators are investigating whether laws were breached during a “serious” train crash in Brisbane, after a freight train ploughed into an excavator at Fairfield station on the weekend.

The rail line was completely closed for 12 hours to accommodate works on Cross River Rail on Saturday.

Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning

Continue reading...