For news updates as they happen in Brisbane and beyond, follow us here.
For news updates as they happen in Brisbane and beyond, follow us here.
A man and a woman have been found dead at an address on the Gold Coast.
Emergency services received reports two people were found dead at Great Hall Drive in Miami just before 4.10pm on Thursday.
The bodies of an 81-year-old man and a 79-year-old woman were found at the scene.
A crime scene was declared, with an investigation under way.
Police urged the public to come forward if anyone had footage that could help with their inquiries.
A new para-sport unit will be established at the Queensland Academy of Sport, with the aim to make Brisbane 2032 Australia’s most successful Paralympic Games on record.
Wheelchair rugby player Ella Sabljak, who represented Australia at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo and Paris, said the dedicated para-sport unit would help break down barriers for para-athletes.
“It’s going to be so, so important for our emerging athletes coming through, to show our emerging athletes that their journey is just as valued as anybody else’s journey,” she said.
Queensland Sports Minister Tim Mander said the state government had invested $2 million into the unit, a commitment that had been matched by the Commonwealth.
“Our aim is for 2032 to be the most successful Games ever for Paralympians and these are the type of initiatives that we need to bring that about,” he said. “It’s a great collaboration between different levels of government who are trying to reach the same goal.”
Paralympics Australia chief executive Cameron Murray said it was a “groundbreaking day” for para-sports, and explained that the para-sport unit would serve many purposes.
“It’s a talent program offering tailored support to emerging athletes,” he said. “It’s a coaching program … It’s about state-of-the-art access to equipment, which has been identified as one of the significant barriers for our athletes to be able to compete, grow and develop.
“And it’s about establishing growing partnerships with health professionals and sporting organisations to be able to achieve the very best for our power athletes in the future.”
Former Queensland MP Warren Pitt has died. He was 76.
The member for Mulgrave served more than 15 years in the state legislature over two stints between 1989 and 2009.
Throughout the tenure he held portfolios including main roads, local government, communities and disability services and business, industry and regional development.
Son Curtis Pitt – who later represented the electorate – confirmed the news this morning.
“After fighting the good fight his entire life, he laid down his gloves in the early hours of this morning, passing away peacefully,” he said in a statement.
“I never had to look too far to find a hero, or to aspire to aim high. In our Dad, greatness has been sitting next to us, holding our hands and guiding us our entire lives.”
Christian leaders from across the state have signed a joint letter expressing solidarity with Jewish Queenslanders.
It comes after a string of anti-semitic attacks across the country, primarily in Sydney and Melbourne.
“Queensland has not felt the force of these attacks as other parts of Australia have; but there is no cause for complacency here,” the letter says in part.
“We had thought that antisemitism was deeply alien to this country, not part of our DNA as it is elsewhere in the world.
“But recent events have shown that this ancient and irrational hatred lurks deep in the national psyche, awaiting a trigger like the current conflict in the Middle East to unleash its venom.
“Transported from another world, the antisemitism bacillus has, it seems, lain dormant for many years in this country, only to strike in a way and at a time we did not see coming.
“You are our flesh and blood, and we will do whatever we can to accompany, support and defend you.”
The 13 signatories represent The Salvation Army, Catholic Archdiocese, Anglican Archdiocese, Uniting Church, Greek Orthodox Diocese and Queensland Baptists among otthers.
UK hip-hop icon Dizzee Rascal plays the Fortitude Music Hall tonight, and at the time of writing there were tickets still available.
Laneway Festival is sold out, unsurprisingly, with Charli XCX topping the bill. If you’ve got tickets, gates open at Brisbane Showgrounds at noon tomorrow.
Also this Saturday from noon, Sea Legs Brewing Co under the Story Bridge at in Kangaroo Point is marking its sixth birthday with a refreshed menu, new-released beers and giveaways.
At the movies, discover a whole other side to Daniel Craig with the former 007 starring in new film Queer as an ageing gay alcoholic in Mexico City.
Serious film buffs will be aware that the AACTA Festival is taking place at HOTA on the Gold Coast. The gala awards ceremony is tonight, and there are concerts, screenings, talks and workshops all weekend.
It’s the final weekend for Six The Musical at QPAC, in which the six wives of Henry VIII rewrite herstory in a show that reimagines the queens as a truth-singing girl group.
And also at QPAC, Queensland Symphony Orchestra is presenting Our Classical Favourites with two programs over the weekend featuring Mozart, Prokofiev, Elgar, Tchaikovsky, Bernstein and Brahms.
Heavy rainfall is expected to batter northern Australia again, with monsoonal conditions forecast to drench flood-ravaged areas and the possibility of a tropical cyclone.
North Queensland is on flood watch again with heavy rain and storms to ramp up from Friday into the weekend.
After a slight reprieve in heavy rainfall on Wednesday, the region copped hundreds of millimetres of rain on Thursday which led to flash flooding in Townsville.
The Bureau of Meteorology said Townsville was hit by 142mm of rain in the past day, while further south the Burdekin region recorded 221mm.
But the bureau is warning rainfall will escalate from Friday in another round of showers, rain and thunderstorms around Townsville and Mackay.
This weather system may bring another 50mm to 150mm of rain with even higher isolated falls.
Over the weekend the rainfall will grow to 300mm from Ayr to Tully, the bureau warned.
Multi-award-winning film composer Hans Zimmer will play shows in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne in April 2025.
Zimmer, who last toured the country in 2019, will perform with a 19-piece live band and a full orchestra.
Fans can expect concert suites from the films Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dark Knight, Interstellar, The Lion King, The Last Samurai and Dune.
Australian singer Lisa Gerrard, who collaborated with Zimmer on the Oscar-winning score to Gladiator, will also be joining the superstar composer on stage.
Hans Zimmer Live is at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Thursday, April 24.
Tickets go on sale via Ticketek on Wednesday, with presale available on Tuesday.
A Queensland coach is a “leading candidate” to take over the Wallabies top job, after Joe Schmidt announced he would not extend his contract beyond this year’s Rugby Championship.
Reds coach and former Queensland maroons player Les Kiss is firming as a possible replacement.
“Kiss has come from the clouds to be a leading candidate to take over from Schmidt,” sports reporter Iain Payten writes today.
“He and Schmidt worked together for several years in the Irish national team, and wider coaching system.
“The former Kangaroos winger is known in Australia for his league exploits but for his has more than done his time in the 15-man game.”
Brisbane-raised former player Dan McKellar has also been flagged as a potential replacement for Schmidt.
Other names in the mix include Wallabies legend Stephen Larkham, Western Force coach Simon Cron and former head Michael Cheika.
Australian Defence Force personnel have helped build a temporary crossing at the Bruce Highway’s Ollera Creek bridge, which connects Townsville and Ingham, after part of the bridge collapsed on Sunday afternoon.
The segment fell into the water after more than 1400 millimetres of rain fell in the area at the weekend.
Queensland Police say the temporary bridge will serve as the only route into flood-affected areas and heavy vehicles weighing more than 35 tonnes will not be able to cross it as they will compromise the integrity of the structure.
“Residents are being advised a temporary bridge has been constructed on the Bruce Highway at Ollera Creek to assist in getting critical emergency services and supplies into isolated areas from Townsville,” they say.
“The single-lane bridge opened this afternoon and will be operational between the hours of 8am and 5.30pm, subject to environmental conditions, and can only accommodate one vehicle at a time travelling at 2km/h.
“This bridge will be the only road into flood-affected areas, including Ingham and the Hinchinbrook Shire, from the south.”
The ADF will be assisted by the use of army helicopters borrowed from Singapore to help deliver essentials to hard-hit regions such as Ingham.
With AAP
A man accused of dozens of serious crimes has been extradited to Queensland almost exactly a decade after his alleged crimes took place.
The 42-year-old is accused of armed robbery, weapon possession, using weapons to cause fear and dangerous driving.
His alleged crime spree took place in Bellmere, Caboolture, Morayfield, Narangba and North Lakes between January and February, 2015.
A car chase on February 5 of that year in NSW ended with his arrest, and he has spent the time since in jail in that state.
Upon release, he was arrested by detectives from the Caboolture Criminal Investigation Branch and extradited to Queensland.
“This shows the community that we will hold people to account for their actions,” Moreton District Detective Inspector David Harbison said.
The man will appear at Caboolture Magistrates Court today.
Here’s what’s making news further afield this morning and overnight:
A casino high roller closely linked to the Chinese Communist Party has emerged at a series of political events in the lead-up to the federal election including an event attended by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw has refused to answer questions over whether he briefed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about an apparent antisemitic plot involving a caravan packed with explosives.
Some of Australia’s biggest companies including Australia Post, Canva, Telstra and PwC have quit the federal scheme that allows them to claim net-zero carbon emissions.
Overseas, US President Donald Trump doubled down on his proposal to take over and clear out the Gaza Strip, while his secretary of state described it as a “generous” mission and Israel began drawing up plans for Palestinians to leave.