Category Archives: Queensland politics

Concerns raised over solitary confinement in Queensland youth detention after deaths of two First Nations boys

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Government report says placing children in prison isolation can affect their health and wellbeing in ‘severe, long-term and irreversible ways’

A Queensland government report has raised concerns over the use of solitary confinement in youth detention, detailing the case of two First Nations children with disabilities who died after spending extensive time in isolation at overcrowded and understaffed youth detention centres.

The Child Death Review Board’s annual report, tabled in state parliament on Thursday, details the anonymised cases of two boys, Harry* and Jack*. The report does not explicitly state their cause of death but Guardian Australia understands it to be suicide.

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Australian politicians spending two-thirds of time on the road at taxpayer expense, data shows

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Nationals’ Bridget McKenzie and Andrew Willcox top list with more than $20,000 spent each on nights away from home

A handful of federal politicians are spending more than two-thirds of their time on the road and in hotels, with one Nationals MP billing taxpayers for accommodation nearly every night over a four-month period, latest travel expenses data shows.

Andrew Willcox, the first-time member for Dawson, spent 113 days travelling over a 116-day period between August and December 2022, according to the most recent independent parliamentary expense authority’s (Ipea) data.

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More than 550 issues raised on behalf of children in police lockups this year, Queensland public guardian says

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Exclusive: Influx of reports comes amid concerns about welfare of young people detained in overcrowded adult watch houses

The Queensland public guardian says its community visitors have reported more than 550 issues on behalf of children detained in police watch houses since the start of this year, amid ongoing concerns about the welfare of young people in overcrowded and “unsuitable” lockups.

First-hand reports from watch houses, revealed by Guardian Australia in January and February, detail how the system is struggling to cope with an influx of children, the result of the state government’s “tough on crime” justice policies.

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Text message from Queensland premier sparks war of words after photo is snapped of MP’s phone

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LNP accuses Steven Miles in parliament of lying, while Labor claims an unnamed opposition MP was trying to intimidate Ali King

Queensland’s opposition has accused the premier of lying, while Labor claims an unnamed Liberal National party member was trying to intimidate a female MP by taking a “creepy” photo of her phone inside state parliament.

Steven Miles stood in parliament on Tuesday to correct the record, admitting he was mistaken when he told the chamber in February that he had not sent a text message to Labor’s Ali King during sittings last October.

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Greens aim to turn Eagle Farm racecourse site into housing if they win Brisbane city election

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Mayoral candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan says council would compulsorily acquire the site if party wins poll

The Greens could compulsorily acquire the Eagle Farm racecourse site to make way for council-owned housing if elected at this month’s local poll.

The party has previously released plans to build 4,000 homes on the 49-hectare site. It neighbours Doomben racecourse and the Ascot and Doomben railway stations.

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Queensland police to be granted power to instantly issue year-long domestic violence protection orders

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Exclusive: New ‘police efficiency’ laws planned amid political pressure to devote more frontline resources to youth crime

The Queensland government is planning to introduce new “police efficiency” laws that would empower officers to issue on-the-spot year-long domestic violence protection orders, amid ongoing political pressure to devote more frontline resources to youth crime.

Documents leaked to Guardian Australia show the state intends to announce police “modernisation measures” in mid-March, including legislative amendments allowing officers to impose immediate protection orders for up to 12 months without having to make an application to a court.

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Politicians standing unopposed in local Queensland elections bad for democracy, expert says

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More prematurely victorious candidates in 2024 – 15 mayors and 46 councillors – than any time since 2012

A month out from election day, Queensland’s longest-serving mayor is confident he’ll get another four years in the top job.

That’s because John Wharton is the only candidate. By the end of his next term he’ll have been Richmond mayor for 31 years.

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Murder victim Kelly Wilkinson repeatedly visited police in fear. They said she was ‘cop shopping’

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Exclusive: Family calls for inquest, saying Wilkinson visited police ‘almost every day’ before she was murdered by her husband in 2021

In the final frantic days before she was murdered, Kelly Wilkinson visited multiple police stations, warning she was in danger. Official police notes say she was “cop shopping”.

On Wednesday, Wilkinson’s estranged husband, Brian Earl Johnston, a former US Marine, pleaded guilty to her murder. A court has previously heard that Johnston tied Wilkinson to a clothesline and set her on fire on 20 April 2021.

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Former LNP candidate Vivian Lobo fronts court accused of giving false details to Australian Electoral Commission

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Candidate in 2022 federal election facing up to 12 months’ prison if found guilty of knowingly providing false or misleading information

A Liberal National party candidate in the last federal election has faced court accused of providing false information about his residential address to the electoral commission.

Vivian Rakesh Lobo was issued a summons to appear in Brisbane magistrates court on Friday after a federal police investigation followed a referral from the Australian Electoral Commission.

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Brisbane v the Olympics: Gabba shambles shows people power is hitting the 2032 Games

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The speed of recent pivots reveals there is genuine concern that people are uneasy about the Games amid rising housing and cost of living pressures

Denver, Colorado, is the only place to ever cancel the Olympic Games. The city had won the right to host the 1976 Winter Games, but withdrew amid mounting local opposition.

“We ought to say to the nation and the world, ‘We’re sorry … we made a mistake. Take the Games elsewhere,” state representative Bob Jackson told the Associated Press in 1971.

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Teal candidates hard to find in Queensland as Climate 200 seeks to spark community action

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With less than nine months before an election, lobby group is yet to find an independent candidate who aligns with their values

Less than nine months out from the Queensland state election, not a single ‘teal’ candidate has emerged to attract funding from influential lobby group Climate 200.

Experts say it’s increasingly unlikely credible teal challengers will emerge ahead of the October poll, given the time needed for an independent to build name recognition in the electorate.

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Federal government approval the final hurdle for mega Queensland coalmine

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Queensland government approves Winchester South mine despite report warning of potential ‘climate change consequences’

The Queensland government has approved a mega coalmine project which environmentalists say poses “unacceptable threats” to Queenslanders’ human rights.

The project now goes for federal approval, where it could become the biggest coalmine given the green light since the Albanese government came to power.

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Queensland launches inquiry into grocery price gouging following premier’s meeting with major supermarkets

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Executives of Woolworths, Coles and Aldi have agreed to appear at hearings, Steven Miles said, amid concerns from farmers and consumers

Queensland’s state government will launch an inquiry into alleged grocery price gouging – despite the jurisdiction having few powers to combat the issue, the premier said.

The premier, Steven Miles, said terms of reference are being drafted and the committee will be formed in the first sitting week of parliament for the year, next month.

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Queensland police integrity unit ‘unlikely’ to be established by recommended deadline

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Exclusive: timeline for creation of body to end practice of police investigating police in doubt as state government mulls options

A critical recommendation to stop police investigating police is “unlikely” to be fulfilled by the 18-month deadline set out by an inquiry that heard evidence of racism, sexism and misogyny within the Queensland police service.

The commission of inquiry into police responses to domestic violence in 2022 unearthed shocking evidence including that QPS’s “broken” internal complaints system allowed discrimination to go unchecked.

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Queensland’s Paradise Dam to be replaced 20 years after it was constructed due to damaged wall

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Queensland government says concrete issues mean wall can’t be repaired as planned so new dam will be built to provide irrigation water for agriculture

A huge irrigation dam near Bundaberg in Queensland will have to be completely rebuilt – costing billions of dollars – after an expert report found the 20-year-old wall couldn’t be repaired.

Paradise Dam was built in 2005 using a novel concrete construction method. In 2019, it was found to be unsafe, and the wall’s height was reduced by 5.8 metres, meaning the dam held just 42% of its original design capacity.

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Steven Miles says Queensland crime is not ‘worsening’ as new data shows spike in assaults and domestic violence

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Queensland premier rejects opposition’s interpretation of numbers, as the total crime rate remains below mid-2000s levels

The Queensland premier, Steven Miles, says crime is “not clearly worsening” after the release of new police data that showed significant spikes in assaults and domestic violence offending.

The state opposition and several media reports have called the crime data the worst in two decades – highlighting raw numbers that showed more total offences committed in 2023 than any other year since 2000.

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Government to subsidise $79 flights to Cairns from across Australia to kickstart cyclone recovery

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Qantas and Jetstar to offer special airfares, with accommodation deals to come, as Queensland premier insists region is ‘open for business’ after Cyclone Jasper

Images of Tropical Cyclone Jasper’s devastating impact on far north Queensland may have driven away tourists during peak season.

But the Queensland premier, Steven Miles, insists the region is “open for business”, making a $5m pitch to lure visitors back.

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Man with black belt argues chokehold is not strangulation under Queensland domestic violence laws

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Potential ‘loophole’ in state’s non-lethal strangulation laws could be closed by a statutory definition similar to that used in Western Australia, experts say

Domestic violence experts have raised concerns about a potential “loophole” in Queensland’s non-lethal strangulation laws, after a man argued in court he had not restricted a woman’s breathing when he executed a chokehold designed to cut off the blood flow to her brain.

The state made choking and strangulation a standalone offence in 2016, saying at the time that the act was “a pivotal moment that reveals an escalation in the seriousness of the violence committed against a person”. Research shows that domestic victims of non-lethal strangulation are seven times more likely to be subsequently killed.

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Queensland to ban new oil and gas drilling in Lake Eyre basin rivers and floodplains

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Steven Miles has delivered on two of the environment movement’s most pressing concerns within a week of being sworn-in as premier

The Queensland government will ban new oil and gas developments in the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre basin’s rivers and floodplains – belatedly delivering on a nine-year-old election commitment to reinstate protections for the state’s pristine channel country.

The state’s premier, Steven Miles, will on Friday announce new environmental regulations for the basin, which is among the world’s last unaltered river systems.

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Phone service slowly returns to flood-hit areas – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Just circling back to QFES assistant commissioner Kevin Walsh, who mentioned the state of the roads and reminded people in the area to be very careful when driving around.

Walsh said:

Monday afternoon was the first opportunity that we had to send in rotary aircraft, so we got rotary-wing aircraft in large numbers up in Far North Queensland at the moment through private contractors and also Australian Defence Force. So they’re very busy in the air and relocating people.

And I think the other message also is to have a look at those roads and the damage that they have sustained. There are many roads still under water where you can not see that damage. So it’s really important for the local people to realise that it’s still very, very dangerous to be driving through flooded waters because you can’t see the damage of the roads underneath it. That’s one of our key messages we’d like the local communities to heed.

So far we’ve only been able to assess about 60 properties. I think throughout today though, we’ll get a better sense of how many properties are affected, and then we’ll be looking for further packages of disaster assistance that will put together or put together with the commonwealth.

But just judging from the other emergencies that I’ve been a part of, we’re talking billions not millions [of dollars].

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