Category Archives: Brisbane

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

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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.

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

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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.

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ALP national conference day one – as it happened

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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Alleged threat to kill federal MP made late at night, court told

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Simon Geoffrey Raymond, 39, has been in custody since Tuesday after he was arrested over alleged threats against Anne Webster

A man accused of threatening to kill a federal MP will spend at least the weekend behind bars after a brief court hearing in Queensland.

Simon Geoffrey Raymond, 39, of no fixed address, has been in custody since being arrested by federal police at Brisbane airport on Tuesday.

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Three men charged over alleged violent e-scooter robbery and dog killing in Brisbane

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Men remanded in custody after allegedly demanding Forest Lake residents hand over e-scooter for sale on Facebook Marketplace

Three men allegedly involved in a violent confrontation over an e-scooter sale will remain behind bars after being charged.

Aron Nsengiyumva, 21, Alex Edward Deng, 20, and John Wal Wal, 24, have been remanded in custody on a string of charges after three men were stabbed and a dog was killed during the weekend attack in Brisbane’s south-west.

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‘Very effective use of force’: Queensland police chief defends officer filmed punching crash driver

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Footage appears to show driver being repeatedly punched through a car window before he was Tasered

Queensland’s police commissioner has defended an officer’s actions after “confronting footage” emerged of him repeatedly punching a man involved in a head-on crash in Brisbane’s north.

The footage, first published by Nine, appears to show the officer repeatedly punching and hitting the driver through a car window before Tasering the man, on Thursday.

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Missing Australian found dead in Canadian wilderness after ‘unfortunate hiking accident’

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Police find body of Brisbane woman Julia-Mary Lane, 25, who had been living in Alberta, near Bear Lake in British Columbia

An Australian hiker has been found dead in Canadian bear country after a Mounties search that deployed police dogs and a drone.

Twenty-five-year-old Julia-Mary Lane, from Brisbane, had been living in Canmore, Alberta since January.

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Brisbane man sentenced to 14 years’ jail for attempted murder of ex-girlfriend

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‘He said “I’m going to kill you” and that’s when I saw the axe,’ Mari Buci told the jury of the attack

A man found guilty of attempted murder after attacking his ex-girlfriend with a hatchet in a Brisbane has been sentenced to 14 years in jail.

Good Samaritans came to the aid of Maria Buci after Cameron Turgay Bardak ambushed her in a CBD car park in July 2020, a court had heard

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Man shot dead by police in Brisbane’s CBD did not take schizophrenia medication that day, inquest hears

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Queensland police tells coroner it found officers acted appropriately in 2020 incident that left Mohamad Ikraam Bahram dead

A man shot dead by police in Brisbane’s CBD in 2020 had not taken his schizophrenia medication when he stabbed a tourist before charging at an officer with a knife, an inquest has heard.

Coroner Terry Ryan, who is examining the death of 24-year-old Mohamad Ikraam Bahram, on Wednesday heard that his family were alarmed by their son’s abrupt departure from their home on 23 February 2020, which they believed was “out of character”.

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Crisis support services can be reached 24 hours a day: Lifeline 13 11 14; Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467; Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800; MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78; Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636

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Pilot walks away from light plane crash near train tracks in Queensland

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AirMedpatient transfer plane forced into emergency landing in Brisbane rail corridor with cause unknown

A pilot was left with only minor injuries after their light plane crash landed on to a rail corridor south of Brisbane.

The aircraft, an AirMedpatient transfer plane, was forced into an emergency landing just after 6.10am on Friday in Hillcrest, with only the pilot on board.

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Wet Easter weekend expected as cold trough heads across Australia

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Sydney and Melbourne could both see showers, while thunderstorms are forecast in Queensland

Australians can expect a cooler and wetter Easter long weekend than normal this year as a cold trough makes its way across the country.

In Sydney, Good Friday should begin with a sunny morning and reach a maximum of 26C, but showers or even a thunderstorm are likely to hit in the afternoon.

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Late-season heat may hit weekend sport and break temperature records across eastern Australia

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Sydney and Brisbane have been sweltering through unseasonal warmth and Melbourne is forecast to cop 37C on Saturday

Unusual late-season heat across much of eastern Australia may affect weekend sport and potentially challenge temperature records, forecasters say.

Sydney and Brisbane have already been sweltering through a couple of days of unseasonal warmth, straining power supplies on Thursday evening. The national electricity market was also suspended in New South Wales for almost an hour on Friday.

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Myer to close flagship Queensland store in Brisbane’s Queen Street mall

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Retail company to vacate premises at the Myer Centre it opened in 1988 after talks broke down with landlord over new lease

Myer will close its flagship Queensland store in Brisbane’s Queen Street mall after more than three decades.

The retail company says it will vacate its five-floor store in the Myer Centre days after posting a 24% jump in half-yearly sales.

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Share of affordable properties in Australian capital cities has more than halved, analysis shows

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The proportion of dwellings listed for under $400 a week has more than halved to an average of just 15% across the country

The share of rental properties listed for under $400 a week has more than halved to 15% across most Australian capital cities over the past year, accounting for just 7.8% of Sydney listings in February.

Research from data provider PropTrack, based on analysis of realestate.com.au found renters seeking a standalone house faced an even tighter market, with less than 5% of Sydney homes listed at under $400 a week.

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