As it happened: Brisbane on Tuesday, February 11

A man has been hit by a train near a rail crossing at Stanley Street in Coorparoo, with police investigating.

At 1.20pm, police advised roads around the Stanley Street East level crossing were closed, and said motorists and pedestrians should avoid Stanley Street East, Tiber Street and Cavendish Road.

Services on the Cleveland rail line were suspended, with rail buses ferrying passengers.

Queensland Rail said commuters could expect delays of up to 60 mins, and could not determine when the closed section of track would reopen.

Thanks for joining us for live coverage of the news today. We’ll be back tomorrow.

If you’re just catching up, here’s what made headlines today:

A man in a wheelchair has been hit by a train near a rail crossing at Stanley Street in Coorparoo, with police investigating.

US President Donald Trump will consider exempting Australia from punitive 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium after a 40-minute phone call with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that ranged across the security and economic relationship between the two countries.

Brisbane City Council has finalised its plan to rip up a network of concrete drains in the inner south-east to restore Kingfisher Creek and provide more parks, paths and fields.

The CFMEU has submitted plans for a seven-storey office building in Bowen Hills, where the controversial union now has multiple residential and commercial projects around its long-term headquarters.

Antoinette Lattouf’s unlawful termination case has resumed in the Federal Court after a week of bombshell revelations. Follow our rolling coverage.

And finally, actor Luke Cook spent 18 years trying to make it in LA. Then he got his first lead TV role – on the Gold Coast, alongside a star from Gossip Girl.

A man has been hit by a train near a rail crossing at Stanley Street in Coorparoo, with police investigating.

At 1.20pm, police advised roads around the Stanley Street East level crossing were closed, and said motorists and pedestrians should avoid Stanley Street East, Tiber Street and Cavendish Road.

Services on the Cleveland rail line were suspended, with rail buses ferrying passengers.

Queensland Rail said commuters could expect delays of up to 60 mins, and could not determine when the closed section of track would reopen.

Queensland has banned the use of the Chinese AI program DeepSeek on government devices.

The Chinese AI chatbot has also been banned from federal government devices to protect Australia’s “national security and national interest” and in other states, such as New South Wales.

The Queensland government’s policy bans the access, use or installation of DeepSeek products, apps or web services on any government-provided smartphone, tablet, laptop and desktop computer.

A previous Queensland government guideline says public servants should only use generative AI tools approved by their agencies, such as QChat.

The state government has set aside $100 million to divert patients waiting for elective surgeries through the private sector, expecting to treat 10,000 people before July.

The most recent data from Queensland Health reported 66,632 patients were on elective surgery waiting lists in public hospitals.

Health Minister Tim Nicholls said this morning the funding boost for the Surgery Connect program – which provides subsidies for elective surgeries at private hospitals – was in addition to the $100 million contributed by the former government in mid-2024.

He said the use of private sector capacity would speed up delivery on cataract surgeries, tonsils and adenoids, and knee replacements.

“We will be working with more than 60 private partners to help deliver the boost to Surgery Connect across ENT, general surgery, orthopaedics, urology, ophthalmology, gynaecology and plastics,” Nicholls said.

Brisbane Lions forward Kai Lohmann has spurned thoughts of a return home to Victoria, inking a two-year contract extension and vowing to deliver a sustained period of success to the club.

The 21-year-old will remain at The Den until at least the end of 2027, as the defending champions try to build a dynasty to rival the triple-title Lions of the early 2000s.

Lohmann became an immediate fan favourite for his exuberant goal celebrations and livewire charisma, feeding off veteran forward Charlie Cameron to become one of the breakout players of the 2024 finals series.

While he admitted there was some temptation to move back home, ultimately he had cast aside initial homesickness to announce his desire to remain in Brisbane for the long haul.

“Obviously my family is there, but it feels like home up here now. It wasn’t really much of a decision in the end, so hopefully I can play a lot of footy here and we can have a lot of success here,” Lohmann said.

“There’s a lot of great things to look forward to in the future, and hopefully I can contribute to that as well.”

Two men missing in floodwater near Ollera Creek, north of Townsville, have been rescued after an extensive search overnight.

The men were reportedly forced to abandon their vehicle shortly before 9.45pm yesterday, after driving into floodwater near the swollen waterway.

One of the men approached police crews at Ollera Creek Bridge – which was partially swept away by floodwater last week – about 7am this morning.

The Australian Defence Force helped build a temporary bridge over Ollera Creek after flooding last week.

Police were able to contact the second man, but did not find him until later in the morning.

The second man has since been rescued by helicopter, and both men were reported to be well and not physically injured.

Economist Ben Gales, who has worked in the public service and financial sectors for decades, has been chosen to lead a new government office designed to invest in social change on a business level.

Queensland Treasury’s new Office of Social Impact – announced today as a Queensland first – is expected to manage investment into social impact enterprises, which operate as small businesses and drive positive social or environmental changes.

Gales said the funding supplied from the office would provide “a launching pad for industry to transform their ideas into action and deliver change on the ground where it is needed”.

Ben Gales was formerly chief impact officer at the Paul Ramsay Foundation.Credit: Paul Ramsay Foundation

As the Crisafulli government passes its 100-days-in-office milestone, its executive appointments and terminations show where it is choosing to direct its focus.

In late January, Dr Linda Colley finished up as the state’s Special Commissioner for Equity and Diversity, overseeing initiatives focusing on social change in the public sector.

Posting on LinkedIn on her final day, she noted that the “diversity pendulum [was] swinging back”, adding that “progress comes in waves, accompanied by waves of resistance and backlash”. The new government has maintained her role will be absorbed by existing officers.

Still catching your breath after what felt like a never-ending succession of food and drink openings in 2024? Because 2025 is shaping up to be just as busy.

The revival of CBD dining continues with a bunch of blockbuster venues being unveiled down towards the northern end of the City Botanic Gardens and Kangaroo Point Bridge.

Gerald Ong will be in the kitchen at The Fifty Six when it opens this week.Credit: Markus Ravik

First cab off the rank is The Fifty Six on the top floor of Naldham House, which opens this week. In the kitchen is former Good Food Guide Young Chef of the Year finalist Gerald Ong, cooking traditional Cantonese food with touches of modern techniques.

Expect a big focus on dumplings and small plates, and a 200-bottle wine list with a clutch of drops from China.

Catch up on Matt Shea’s wrap of what’s coming for Brisbane’s dining scene this year.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says there is a bipartisan position for the US to remove its 25 per cent tariff on Australia’s steel aluminium exports, saying it would “damage the relationship between the US and Australia”.

“The tariff issue is an incredibly important issue for our country. It’s important for the US administration to hear there is a bipartisan position in relation to the prime minister’s call to remove the tariff,” he said.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“I want there to be a very clear message to the Trump administration: that we believe if this tariff should be put in place and if it remains in place I believe it would damage the relationship between the United States and Australia.”

Asked if Dutton believed the phone call was a success for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the opposition leader lashed the government for anti-Trump comments made in years gone by.

“I think the state of fact is the prime minister has made the relationship more difficult through his previous comments. The comments of [Foreign Minister] Penny Wong and Ambassador [Kevin] Rudd, which were deeply personal in nature, the president will have noticed those comments,” he said.

Wong was one of only a handful of foreign dignitaries in the room at Trump’s inauguration in January.

In a rather confusing turn of events, US President Donald Trump has said he will consider Australia’s request to be exempted from his new 25 per cent tariff on steel and aluminium, while also declaring that the tariffs would be “without exemptions or exceptions ... no matter where [the steel] comes from”.

In a statement following the signing of a range of executive orders, Trump had this to say on the tariffs:

Protecting our steel and aluminium industries is a must and today I’m simplifying our tariffs on steel and aluminium so everyone can understand exactly what it means.

It’s 25 per cent without exemptions or exceptions. That’s all countries, no matter where it comes from, all countries, if made in the United States, however, the United States of America, there is no tariff, zero.

So if it’s made in the United States, there’s no tariff. All you have to do is in make it in the United States. We don’t need it from another country.”