For today’s news updates in Brisbane and beyond as they happen, follow us here.
For today’s news updates in Brisbane and beyond as they happen, follow us here.
A man charged with rape allegedly waited for his victim as she hid in a backyard before sexually assaulting her in the early hours of Sunday morning, police say.
The 18-year-old woman was walking towards the intersection of Patrick Street and Edward Street in the south-east Queensland town of Laidley, about 80 kilometres west of Brisbane, at 3am on Sunday when she was approached by a man riding a scooter.
“The man allegedly made inappropriate comments towards the woman, leading her to seek refuge in the backyard of a nearby property,” police said in a statement.
“When she returned to the street a short time later it is alleged the man has approached her again before physically assaulting her.”
The alleged attacker – a 33-year-old Gatton man – has been charged with two counts of rape.
He was due to appear in the Ipswich Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
“The woman was treated for injuries,” police said.
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
Brisbane Lions star Callum Ah Chee has paid tribute to former clubmen Troy Selwood and Dale Tapping, following the passing of the pair this week.
Selwood, who played 75 games for the Lions between 2003 and 2010, died age 40 on Tuesday for reasons not yet known. Tapping, a former assistant coach with Brisbane who was preparing to lead Essendon’s VFL side, lost his battle with myeloma on the same day.
“Extremely sad day for the club obviously with the passing of Taps and Troy Selwood. I obviously spent a bit of time with Taps here when I first got to the club, and he was just a fantastic person,” Ah Chee said.
“He always gave you the time of day. He cared about the football player, but I think he cared about the person the most. I was really sad to hear the news, and hope his family’s doing OK.
“I was talking to a few of the boys yesterday and [former Lions midfielder] Anthony Corrie who knew Troy Selwood pretty well and just said he was a great person.”
Question time is under way in federal parliament in Canberra. You can watch it below:
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will not say if he supports US President Donald Trump’s announcement that he wants the US to take over Gaza to redevelop the area, as Albanese told journalists he would not keep giving commentary on every decision made by Trump.
Earlier today Trump suggested displaced Palestinians be “permanently” resettled outside the war-torn territory.
Albanese said Australia’s position on the US remained the same.
“What I would say is that Australia’s position is the same as it was this morning, as it was last year and it was 10 years ago, and it was under the Howard government,” Albanese said.
“The Australian government supports, on a bipartisan basis, a two-state solution in the Middle East.”
Peppered with questions about Trump’s announcement, Albanese grew frustrated with reporters.
“I’m not going to have a running commentary on statements by the president of the United States. I’ve made that very clear,” he said.
Former Queensland police commissioner Katarina Carroll has a new role, accepting a spot on a board tasked with funding medivac services in the state.
LifeFlight Commercial was launched in 2018 to channel funds into the not-for-profit aeromedical organisation.
“LifeFlight is a proven leader in aeromedicine and I look forward to providing support to the board as opportunities arise and we further develop partnerships, both in Australia and abroad,” Carroll said.
LifeFlight commercial chairman John Lewis said Carroll’s experience would provide added depth to the organisation, which was seeking new strategic contracts with government, counter-disaster agencies and the Australian Defence Force.
“Katarina Carroll is one of the most decorated and adept leaders in emergency services in the country and we are delighted to have her join the LifeFlight Commercial board,” he said.
“The next few years will see investment in LifeFlight Commercial’s operations to build the business and capability so we can continue to compete on the international stage.”
Another former Queensland police commissioner, Ian Stewart, joined the Crime Stoppers Queensland board as chairman in December.
Turning to breaking news from Canberra: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced $1.7 billion in funding for public hospitals and health services, an increase of 12 per cent to the federal government’s overall contribution to state-run health systems.
And Queensland is set to receive the biggest boost of any state or territory – $414 million.
Albanese told reporters that strengthening Medicare has always been a priority for his government.
“Today I can announce we’re delivering an additional $1.7 billion to properly fund public hospitals and health services next year,” he said.
“This funding will be delivered to states and territories to help cut waiting lists, to reduce waiting times in emergency rooms.”
He said the increase brings the Commonwealth contribution to Medicare to “almost $34 billion in 2025-26”.
“Right across every state and territory, this means a double-digit increase in Commonwealth funding for their public hospitals. This is absolutely essential,” he said.
Stay with us as we bring you more on this announcement.
An official review of Queensland’s response to the floods, bushfires, storms and cyclones in 2023-24 has acknowledged it was “a complex period, characterised by multiple compounding and cascading disasters”.
But the Inspector-General of Emergency Management, Alistair Dawson, whose review was completed before the election and released on Tuesday, found authorities could do better in future.
“Limitations in capacity and capability, which impacted preparedness, response and transitional arrangements and activities, were evident during the 2023–24 severe weather season,” the review found.
“Some of these limitations were a result of the season’s complexity, the timing of events and the extent of impacts on communities, which often exceeded expectations.”
The review identified opportunities to strengthen Queensland’s disaster response capabilities, with a recommendation made regarding the importance of local resilience action plans.
“Capacity and capability were also affected by gaps in shared understanding around disaster management arrangements, protocols, terminology and roles and responsibilities across the disaster management sector and the community.
“The review identified opportunities to increase guidance and clarification across several key areas in Queensland’s disaster management arrangements.”
The Crisafulli government accepted the recommendations in-principle or in full, noting they were already “within scope of business-as-usual activities” of frontline agencies.
Incidents of violence, threats and menacing conduct across Queensland’s construction industry will be investigated in a new inquiry.
Mark Irving, who was put in charge of the beleaguered Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union, has announced the new, Queensland-focused investigation.
“The inquiry will concern conduct by employees of the union, former officials and also employers in the industry who engage in violence and menacing conduct,” he told the ABC.
“Current and former employees of the union will be required to co-operate in exposing the culture of violence. Action will be taken against any employer which seeks to victimise or target delegates and members who cooperate with the investigation.”
The announcement comes after a CFMEU organiser’s car was firebombed in NSW the early hours of Monday morning.
The Queensland floods this month were mainly driven by human-caused climate change, which intensified the meteorological conditions that led to the event, a study has found.
The flooding rains that have isolated towns and cut off main supply routes were most likely linked to a marine heatwave in the Coral Sea.
A research team from ClimaMeter has found that the meteorological conditions that led to the heavy rain are up to 20 per cent wetter along the Queensland coast, up to 20 per cent windier offshore, and 1.5 degrees warmer than in the past.
The study, which analyses changes in weather patterns from 1979 to 2023, concludes that the extreme precipitation leading to the flooding is mostly attributable to human-induced climate change, with natural climate variability playing a minor role.
ClimaMeter is a project funded by the European Union and the French National Centre for Scientific Research. The methodology used is available here.
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