Category Archives: Queensland politics

Steven Miles to set more ambitious emissions reduction targets on day one as Queensland premier

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Leader will refocus climate debate on job creation in rural areas to remove tension between resource-rich regions and urban south-east, sources say

The incoming Queensland premier, Steven Miles, is expected to announce on Friday that the state will lift its lagging emissions reductions targets, among a number of “day one” initiatives to be unveiled by the new state leadership.

Miles will enter a caucus meeting on Friday as the only candidate for the Labor leadership vacated by the retiring premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk.

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Tropical Cyclone Jasper live update tracker: category 2 storm hits North Qld, more than 14,000 homes lose power, BoM radar track map – latest

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BoM tracker map shows forecast path of category 2 cyclone will hit north of Cairns and Port Douglas on the Queensland coast at about 1pm with heavy rain, 140km/h winds and storm surge predicted. Follow the latest Australia news and weather updates today

Ceasefire ‘can’t be one-sided’

Emergency management minister Murray Watt is also speaking to ABC RN this morning, and was asked about the PM’s joint letter with his New Zealand and Canadian counterparts urging a ceasefire.

[It] shows that we want to work with like-minded countries towards what would be a just and enduring peace. I think the whole world has been pleased to see the release of hostages and the pause in hostilities that we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks, but what we need to do is move towards a sustainable ceasefire …

I think everyone who watches this conflict unfolds on their television screens, is really disturbed about the loss of life that we’re seeing go on at the moment.

I think that’s the value that a country like Australia can play here by really taking that even-handed approach that does call out the abhorrent behaviour by Hamas, but also as a friend of Israel, calls on them to respect international humanitarian law.

We are alarmed at the diminishing safe space for civilians in Gaza. The price of defeating Hamas cannot be the continuous suffering of all Palestinian civilians.

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New Queensland Labor leadership hits pause on $2.7bn Gabba stadium rebuild

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Independent body to review plans for Olympic and Paralympic games as new premier and deputy distance themselves from Palaszczuk-era policies

Queensland’s new leadership team have signalled a “pause” on the controversial $2.7bn Gabba rebuild while they reconsider their approach to the 2032 Olympics.

In a backflip announced on Tuesday, premier-to-be Steven Miles said he would establish an independent body to oversee infrastructure for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic games amid mounting criticism of the Palaszczuk government’s in-house alternative.

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With Cyclone Jasper looming over Queensland Steven Miles opts for an unfamiliar new tone

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Having built a public reputation as a wisecracking political warrior, the premier designate is attempting to show he’s up to the task

At his first press conference as Queensland’s premier-in-waiting, Steven Miles came across as a man fighting his own instincts.

Miles, who built a public reputation as a wisecracking political warrior, spoke about the approaching Tropical Cyclone Jasper and his plans for government with little emotion or animation.

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Australia news live: ABC cancels The Drum; two feared dead in NSW plane crash

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Education review due

Education minister Jason Clare spoke to ABC News Breakfast just earlier about the much-anticipated review into Australia’s education system, released today.

You talk about entrenched disadvantage in our schools, this report tells us we’ve got one of the most segregated school systems in the OECD, not by the colour of your skin but the size of your parents’ pay packet. Children are more likely to fall behind at school if they’re from a poor family and from the bush, but if they’re at a school where a lot of people are experiencing disadvantage it’s even harder to catch up. There’s a number of things we need to do to turn that around.

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Australia news live: Shannon Fentiman announces tilt at Queensland Labor leadership

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Palaszczuk made decision ‘in the interest of the state’, Swan says

ALP national secretary Wayne Swan has spoken to ABC RN about Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s resignation announcement yesterday.

That’s always ever present for any leader at any time but I think she made the decision in the interest of the state and I think in her own interest as well.

I think people are sensibly discussing what the options are and if one candidate has a pretty clear majority then I think it would be unlikely that you’d see a battle, because it would simply be very difficult for the government over a period of time when they need to re-establish a leader in the job.

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Annastacia Palaszczuk’s anointed successor, Steven Miles, likely to face challenge, say Queensland Labor MPs

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While deputy premier is considered the frontrunner, suggestions his two rivals may team up would make vote ‘incredibly close’

Senior Queensland Labor figures say they expect a contested ballot for the party leadership, despite attempts to rally support behind the deputy premier, Steven Miles, to avoid a messy contest to succeed Annastacia Palaszczuk.

Miles declared his intention to run for the Labor leadership on Sunday, just hours after Palaszczuk announced she would retire from politics and endorsed him as her successor.

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Steven Miles confirms run for Queensland Labor leader – as it happened

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Palaszczuk reveals she changed her mind in recent weeks

It was only a couple of months ago that Annastacia Palaszczuk insisted she would lead the Labor party to next year’s state election.

I feel refreshed, I feel energised and I’m absolutely determined to lead the party and this government to the next election. I just want to make that very clear to everybody.

In 2015 Annastacia promised good, decent government for the people of Queensland. That’s exactly what she’s delivered for the last nine years. Congratulations on your premiership. You are one of the true Qld Labor greats

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Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk retires from politics

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Labor leader says state is ‘in good shape’ and ‘now is the time for me to leave’ following months of speculation about her future

The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has announced her retirement from politics, saying she had “given my all” and “now is the time for me to leave”.

Palaszczuk made the announcement at a press conference on Sunday following months of speculation about her future.

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Brisbane mayor resigns from 2032 Olympics forum and calls it a ‘dysfunctional farce’

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Adrian Schrinner says controversial plans for Brisbane’s Gabba stadium were the final straw and accuses Palaszczuk government of ignoring stakeholders

Brisbane’s lord mayor, Adrian Schrinner, has quit the Brisbane 2032 Games delivery forum, saying the Palaszczuk government had “completely lost its way” on the road to the Olympics.

The Liberal National mayor has also withdrawn his support for a $2.7bn Gabba rebuild, insisting there must be better options than demolishing and rebuilding the inner-city venue.

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Stage set for national cabinet clash over GST – as it happened

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The NSW Australian Paramedics Association will take part in a 12-hour strike today, from 7am to 7pm, despite the threat of legal action.

Members will still attend emergency “lights and sirens” jobs as part of an ongoing pay dispute.

We want to assure the public that emergencies will still be attended to, with our focus intensifying on life-threatening cases.

Our decision to limit responses to non-emergency jobs enhances our capacity to manage critical cases.

Facing potential legal repercussions and a substantial fine of up to $20,000 per day, our commitment remains firm.

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

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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.

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Queensland introduces Australian-first law to allow midwives and nurses to prescribe abortion pills

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Exclusive: Legislation hailed as big step towards providing fair access to terminations across state

Queensland will become Australia’s first jurisdiction to introduce a law to allow nurses and midwives to dispense pregnancy termination medication in a move expected to improve access in the state’s “huge abortion deserts”.

In August the Therapeutic Goods Administration scrapped restrictions on the prescription of medical abortion pills, known as MS-2 Step, to be used in the early stages of pregnancy. But it is up to individual jurisdictions to determine the specific healthcare practitioner and the appropriate qualifications for prescribing.

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Speculation builds that murder-accused Queensland councillor will run for re-election

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Many believe Gold Coast councillor Ryan Bayldon-Lumsden will contest election despite being charged with stepfather’s murder

Ryan Bayldon-Lumsden’s Facebook page looks like any other local councillor’s would four months out from an election.

At a Gold Coast community centre, he’s pictured preparing food for the homeless. And if he’s not planting trees in the Arundel Wetlands, he’s out attending community events like Diwali, or posting updates about a new toilet block or development application.

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Australia news live: school strike for climate protests draw huge crowds in Melbourne and Sydney; Albanese says Apec leaders ‘very interested’ in Tuvalu deal

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‘A ceasefire is where we need to get to,’ Zoe Daniel says

Asked by RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas if she supports calls for a ceasefire, Zoe Daniel says:

If you call for a ceasefire, you’re letting down the Jewish community, if you don’t you’re allowing death and destruction to happen in Gaza.

At the end of the day, if I say to you right now, yes, I support ceasefire, that will make zero difference to what is happening in in Gaza.

I’m a former foreign correspondent. I know the logistics of this, of course, a ceasefire is where we need to get to, but you have a terrorist organisation in the middle of this. If there’s just a ceasefire, and there’s no capacity there to try to dismantle Hamas, does that allow Hamas to regroup? What does that actually lead to? That said, I’ve said to you before, very clearly, and I still stick to the position that the Israeli government has to adhere to international law and the rules of war, and I think, in some ways, has not been.

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Queensland government to moving to establish peak youth justice body as crime issues dominate

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Exclusive: Palaszczuk government expected to begin process of establishing peak body amid pressure to crack down on youth crime

Queensland is looking to establish a youth justice peak body as the issue threatens to become a major sore point for the Palaszczuk government ahead of next year’s election.

Guardian Australia understands the state government will launch a competitive tender process and seek expressions of interest from multiple organisations across the sector.

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‘We deserve our fair share’: state Labor leaders clash with federal government over infrastructure plan

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Albanese government move to make states pay at least 50% of new infrastructure project bills receives pushback from premiers

State Labor leaders are at odds with the Albanese government over its plan to split the cost of building nationally significant infrastructure.

On Tuesday, the federal minister for infrastructure and transport, Catherine King, announced it would no longer be “the default” for the federal government to pick up the bulk of the tab for new roads, rail and other major projects.

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Townsville hospital audiology failures prompt millions in compensation and calls for national reform

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The Queensland government will pay more than $2.2m to families of 97 patients of the hospital’s audiology unit

Townsville University hospital’s audiology unit programmed cochlear implants in some children incorrectly, misdiagnosed others, and even conducted hearing tests on an infant who was asleep, a damning independent review has found.

The clinic was poorly organised, staff were overworked, and key protocols “did not appear to be followed, leading to poor outcomes, monitoring, measurement, and reporting”, the report released on Wednesday said.

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Scrap stage-three tax cuts to fight inflation rather than cut infrastructure funding, Queensland says

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Deputy premier Steven Miles says it’s ‘too late’ to cancel projects and any effect on demand is likely to be years away

The Queensland deputy premier has demanded that federal Labor explain why it is cutting infrastructure spending to fight inflation rather than revisiting controversial tax cuts for high income earners.

Steven Miles has upped the pressure on the Albanese government over looming infrastructure cuts in an opinion piece in the Courier-Mail, arguing it is “too late” to cut projects to fight inflation and urging it to reconsider stage-three tax cuts instead.

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Scrap blue cards for First Nations kinship carers, Queensland family and child commissioner says

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Damning report finds state’s blue card screening system creates unnecessary barriers to placing children with their families

Queensland’s family and child commissioner has called for blue card requirements to be scrapped for First Nations kinship carers after a report found the system relies on “irrelevant information, overpolicing and subjective assessments”.

Since 2001, Queenslanders who work around children have needed to obtain a blue card, with offences including drug trafficking, murder and child abuse disqualifying a person from obtaining one. But a report by the Queensland Family & Child Commission (QFCC) found blue cards create additional barriers to placing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children with their families.

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