For today’s news updates as they happen, follow us here.
For today’s news updates as they happen, follow us here.
The south-east Queensland locations where people are most likely to trespass on QR property have been revealed – and two places along the Cleveland line top the list.
Queensland Rail has released the data, along with video of several close calls, in a plea for the community to make safer choices around railways, as the number of trespassing incidents crept up past 3800 in 2024.
Wynnum North, with 165 incidents, and Wynnum Central, with 157, top the list, followed by Loganlea, Murrarie and Roma Street. Not all trespassing happened at commuter stations, with other incidents in electrical substations and rail yards.
QR’s video includes a person jumping across one set of tracks at Fairfield station, narrowly missing being hit by a train coming from the other direction. In another incident caught on camera at Richlands, a skater jumps onto the tracks to get his skateboard.
Drew Brock, a senior manager at Queensland Rail, said witnessing a near miss was traumatic for train drivers, station staff and other passengers.
“Tracks are not playgrounds and if you’re on them it’s like playing chicken with a train,” he said. “We want everyone, including our train drivers and customers, to get home safely.”
Former Queensland Labor premier Anna Bligh will retire mid-year as chief executive of the Australian Banking Association.
Bligh, who succeeded Peter Beattie as premier and held the role from 2007 to 2012, has been the banking lobby chief for eight years.
“When I started in 2017, the banking industry had lost the trust of the Australian community and has since worked tirelessly to earn back that trust,” Bligh said in a statement on Monday.
It was a major career shift for Bligh, who post-politics had returned to working in community organisations after undergoing treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
The former Left faction leader became Queensland’s first female premier and, at the 2009 election, Australia’s first popularly elected female premier. But she was unable to see Labor re-elected, and resigned from parliament after the LNP swept to power under Campbell Newman.
The Labor council opposition is set to back Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner’s proposal to reduce car park requirements for more high-density inner-city developments when it is put to a vote in City Hall on Tuesday.
The council plans to extend the “city core” to parts of East Brisbane, Kangaroo Point and Woolloongabba, while the “city frame” would extend to parts of East Brisbane, Herston, Highgate Hill, Red Hill, Toowong, West End and Woolloongabba.
New high-density developments in the city core would have a maximum of 0.5 car spaces per one-bedroom, one per two-bedroom, 1.5 per three-bedroom and two for four or more bedroom units.
In the city frame, there would be a minimum of 0.9 spaces per one bedroom, 1.1 per two bedroom and 1.3 for three or more bedroom units.
A two-metre “vagrant” crocodile has been spotted today near Rainbow Beach north of Brisbane.
The predator was reported on the sand in front of Sarawak camping area at Inskip Point.
Photos captured of the crocodile’s body imprint and claw marks by a ranger.
“We can reassure the public that this crocodile is considered to be a vagrant animal that has moved into the area from up north,” senior wildlife officer Joshua Morris said in a statement.
Ground patrols, boats and drones have been deployed to track down the animal.
About two-dozen cars have had their tyres slashed, mirrors smashed or panels spray-painted north of Brisbane.
The vehicles were allegedly damaged by a 37-year-old man in a car park along McKean Street in Caboolture on Saturday afternoon.
He reportedly left the scene in a black SUV and returned that evening to damage more cars, before being arrested nearby.
A spokesperson for Queensland Police told Brisbane Times the spray-painting or damage was not targeted at a racial group.
The man – who is believed to be from South Australia – has been charged with 24 counts of wilful damage, and refused bail ahead of a court hearing on February 3.
Anyone with information on the incident is urged to contact police.
The 67th annual Grammy Awards are in full swing, and Beyoncé has just won album of the year, an award that has eluded the artist for years.
She received the top prize for her country album Cowboy Carter.
Follow along here for live updates as we bring you all the highlights from the biggest night in music.
Keeping with news from courts for a moment: A blockbuster trial to determine whether Antoinette Lattouf was illegally sacked by the ABC began in the Federal Court in Sydney today.
The names of members of a private WhatsApp chat used to allegedly lobby the ABC chair and managing director into sacking Antoinette Lattouf have been suppressed following an application by Rebekah Giles, a high-profile defamation specialist, on Saturday in an attempt to keep the names of the members of the WhatsApp group “Lawyers for Israel” out of court.
Members of the group made attempts to lobby both former ABC chair Ita Buttrose and outgoing managing director David Anderson into sacking Lattouf in December 2023 while she was employed as a stand-in radio presenter on a five-day contract.
Sam Kerr is set to appear in a London court on Monday night (AEDT) for the first day of a criminal trial in which she is accused of the racially aggravated harassment of a police officer.
Kerr is accused of calling a police officer a variation of “stupid white bastard” (according to the UK Newspaper The Sun) or “stupid white cop” (according to News Corp Australia) after a dispute over a taxi fare in south-west London.
The Matildas captain could face time in jail if she is found guilty of the offence from the incident which occurred on January 30, 2023.
Read everything you need to know ahead of the first day of the trial here.
Multiple illegal stun guns have been intercepted on their way to a Brisbane home.
A 27-year-old Kelvin Grove man was arrested at a house raided by the Australian Border Force last week.
It came after three stun guns were found in a package that was declared as a flashlight in December last year.
“This is a serious offence, and I note that the devices in question were assessed as being law enforcement grade,” ABF acting commander Troy Sokoloff said.
“In the wrong hands, these devices would pose a serious risk to the community.”
Multiple other illegal items were allegedly found at the property and are under investigation by Queensland police.
A reclusive Queensland mathematician and professional gambler has donated more than half-a-million dollars to the Greens.
Duncan Turpie from the Gold Coast gave national and state branches of the Greens $575,135 over the past two years, making him the second-biggest personal donor in the country. The majority of his donations, $300,000, was given to the Queensland branch of the party.
Turpie has long avoided the spotlight, but friends have described him as a shy, left-leaning maths whiz who “lucked out” creating specialist algorithms.
Brisbane Greens representatives, including mayoral candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan, have previously disputed suggestions that accepting Turpie’s money was at odds with the party’s stance on gambling and poker machines.
Tens of millions of dollars have been funnelled to major political parties as pressure for donation reform hots up ahead of a federal election this year.
The federal Labor Party’s total receipts eclipsed $15 million, the federal Liberals more than $11 million, the federal Nationals $2.5 million and the federal Greens more than $4.8 million, according to 2023/24 Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) disclosures.
Mining giant Hancock Prospecting, headed by billionaire Gina Rinehart, donated $325,000 to the Liberal National Party of Queensland, $75,000 to the Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory and $100,000 to the Liberals South Australia branch.
Electoral donations reform is back on the agenda as parliament resumes for perhaps the last sitting fortnight before a federal election is called.
The government and opposition haven’t yet reached a deal about appropriate donations and expenditure caps. Under the proposed changes, the donation disclosure threshold will be reduced to $1000, from the current $16,900.
Candidates will be limited to spending $800,000 per election campaign and can only receive donations of up to $20,000 from an individual.