For today’s updates in Brisbane and beyond as they happen, follow us here.
For today’s updates in Brisbane and beyond as they happen, follow us here.
It’s April 1 today, also known as April Fool’s Day, and I’m on high alert today for announcements today that are just too silly to be true.
Brisbane councillor Ryan Murphy has been prolific already this morning, claiming the council will roll out kerbside vape bins for the disposal of illegal vapes, a fleet of 500 hire jet skis on the Brisbane River dubbed IttyBittyCats, and transparent red bins.
The Queensland University of Technology says they’re going to install a slide in the middle of a flight of stairs at its Kelvin Grove campus.
“No more leg day struggles,” the QUT social media team wrote in an Instagram post.
It looks fun, but they might want to install a foam pit at the bottom to mitigate the hard landing.
The Queensland Ambulance Service reckons they’ve trained magpies to act as a siren.
Bicycle Queensland says they’re rebranding to Tricycle Queensland.
“But as we always say – two wheels good, three wheels better,” TQ’s advocacy director Andrew Demack says.
Opposition Leader Steven Miles has used his first question of the day to ask whether the state LNP government supports federal leader Peter Dutton’s bid to cut commonwealth public service jobs, including in Queensland.
Treasurer David Janetzki responded with “a word of advice for the leader of the opposition”.
“It’s the wrong parliament to be asking that question,” he said, without directly answering the question. “We are rock solid on supporting Queensland’s public service.”
Miles then asked Premier David Crisafulli whether he, like Dutton, wanted to restrict working from home arrangements.
Crisafulli suggested Miles was “under immense pressure” as Labor leader and “by Christmas, he will be working from home”.
“Do better, do better for your state,” he said, accusing Miles of trying to “inject himself into a federal campaign” rather than focus on Queensland issues.
“Work harder mate. Get out of bed a little earlier and do your job.”
Premier David Crisafulli has told parliament additional offences will be added to the state’s “adult crime, adult time” laws.
While Crisafulli was confident the reforms were working, he noted the high rate of recidivism among young offenders and said early intervention and rehabilitation would also be boosted.
“With these laws, serious offenders will be brought to justice, but we also hope they will be reformed,” he said.
Youth Justice Minister Laura Gerber said experts had recommended another 20 offences be added, with further offences still being considered.
“We will not stop strengthening our laws,” Gerber said, accusing the former Labor government of being weak on crime and still divided over the need for reform.
The Queensland government has released data on the size of the waves during Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
But it did not receive data from sensors on a Gold Coast buoy, which “had a catastrophic failure on 5 March and may have missed any record-breaking waves”.
“Wave heights were observed to be the largest reported in the south-east Queensland region in over 10 years,” the government notes in a new briefing paper.
“Offshore of Tweed Heads, the largest wave was 13.91m, the highest in the site’s 5-year record.
“At the Gold Coast sites of Bilinga and Palm Beach, the highest waves were 8.32m and 10.36m and ranked number one in the 4- and 8-year records, respectively.
“To the north of Moreton Bay, the Caloundra buoy recorded the largest wave in 12 years, at 7.75 m, while the North Moreton Bay buoy recorded a wave that ranked fifth in its 15 years of operation, at 7.14 metres.”
Parliament has resumed this morning in Brisbane, with Premier David Crisafulli taking the first opportunity to offer further support to flooded communities in western Queensland.
Crisafulli said almost all parts of Queensland had been hit by natural disasters this year, including the unfolding crisis in the west.
“Torrential rain has turned large parts of Queensland into an inland sea, isolating communities and damaging property,” he said.
“Floodwaters have destroyed homes as well as critical infrastructure like sheds, machinery and fences.”
While authorities have sought to deliver fuel and fodder to isolated properties, Crisafulli said more than 100,000 sheep and cattle had already been lost.
“That’s an incredible amount (and) this number will rise further,” he said.
Four men were taken to hospital last night and this morning after separate motorbike crashes in Brisbane.
A man in his 30s was taken in a stable condition to the Princess Alexandra Hospital with minor injuries after a vehicle and motorbike crash on Fairfield Road and Yeronga Street at Yeronga at 11.22pm.
Paramedics took a man, aged in his 50s, in a stable condition to the Princess Alexandra Hospital after a single motorcycle crash on Akenside Street at Wacol at 6.17pm.
Paramedics took a stable male patient to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, with shoulder and back injuries, after a vehicle and motorbike crash on South Pine Road at Alderley at 4.32am today.
And paramedics took a stable man in his 20s to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital after a vehicle and motorbike crash on Rode Road at Wavell Heights at 9.12pm.
In news from interstate, a mother has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing her three sleeping children.
Police believe the children, aged between 10 and 16, were sleeping when their mother allegedly attacked them before their father intervened, taking a kitchen knife from her and calling triple zero.
Police were called to the Baulkham Hills home, in the Hills District of Greater Sydney, about 5.15am on Monday.
It’s April 1 today, also known as April Fool’s Day, and I’m on high alert today for announcements today that are just too silly to be true.
Brisbane councillor Ryan Murphy has been prolific already this morning, claiming the council will roll out kerbside vape bins for the disposal of illegal vapes, a fleet of 500 hire jet skis on the Brisbane River dubbed IttyBittyCats, and transparent red bins.
The Queensland University of Technology says they’re going to install a slide in the middle of a flight of stairs at its Kelvin Grove campus.
“No more leg day struggles,” the QUT social media team wrote in an Instagram post.
It looks fun, but they might want to install a foam pit at the bottom to mitigate the hard landing.
The Queensland Ambulance Service reckons they’ve trained magpies to act as a siren.
Bicycle Queensland says they’re rebranding to Tricycle Queensland.
“But as we always say – two wheels good, three wheels better,” TQ’s advocacy director Andrew Demack says.
There were dramatic scenes in a Brisbane courtroom yesterday when a teenager was allegedly attacked as he was about to be sentenced for murder.
A 22-year-old man, who was reportedly a member of the murder victim’s family, was accused of lunging at the teenager as he entered Brisbane Supreme Court.
He allegedly stabbed the defendant, aged 18, in the back with a pen, before he was restrained by security.
Flood-hit areas of Queensland are preparing for further rainfall as remnants of an ex-cyclone move across the state.
Widespread rain across central and southern parts of the Sunshine State has been forecast as ex-tropical cyclone Dianne moves across the Northern Territory on Tuesday.
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting rainfall and damaging wind gusts across already flooded soaked areas that has triggered evacuations in rural communities.
Flooding in the region is considered the worst in more than 50 years and could last weeks, sparking fears of mass livestock losses.
“Flooding continues to be extremely significant for central and western Queensland and it will be for days and weeks to come,” senior meteorologist Angus Hines said on Tuesday.
The heaviest falls are set to hit southern Queensland and northern NSW on Wednesday, with totals exceeding 100mm in some areas.
More rain will ensure further hardship for graziers, sparking fears for some that they will lose 100 per cent of their stock.
“We’re talking about a massive loss … in relation to their livestock, cattle, sheep and goats,” Queensland Emergency Services Minister Dan Purdie said.
“Some of those families and some of those farmers have been on the land for a long time – it might take a long time to recover.”
A group of men who attacked a 19-year-old in a Brisbane park and fatally stabbed him as he tried to flee have each been sentenced to life in jail.
The 10 defendants were sentenced for murder yesterday in the Queensland Supreme Court.
Girum Mekonnen died from a 25-centimetre stab wound when his group was ambushed by men with bats, knives and machetes at a Zillmere park almost five years ago.