As it happened: Brisbane on Wednesday, May 28

Cheaper jet fuel and more seat availability have driven down prices for Australian jetsetters and the price relief is expected to continue.

Domestic economy airfares were 12 per cent cheaper in the first two months of 2025 than the same time last year, data compiled by corporate travel advisers FCM Consulting shows.

That represents $29 off the average ticket price.

That Bali getaway might be about to become even cheaper.Credit: Wolter Peeters

While Qantas Group earnings before tax soared to $1.5 billion in the last six months of 2024, and Virgin Australia also announced record profits, market dynamics since the new year have benefited travellers.

Globally, jet fuel is down almost 17 per cent compared to the 2024 average, driven in part by economic uncertainty from US President Donald Trump’s trade war curtailing demand for oil.

Fuel is the largest operating cost for airlines, so fluctuations flow through to airfares.

Ongoing weakness in jet fuel prices will continue to put downward pressure on airfares in coming months, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission predicts.

AAP

Thanks for joining us for live coverage of news in Brisbane and beyond. We’ll be back tomorrow morning. But if you’re just catching up, here are some of the big stories to make news today:

Nearly 98 per cent of Queenslanders over the age of 12 have a detectable concentration of PFAS “forever chemicals” in their bloodstream, according to new data released this week.

The search for a missing girl in a national park near Bundaberg has been suspended as police investigate the 17-year-old’s “suspicious” disappearance almost two weeks ago.

More than 80 days after the Story Bridge’s footpaths were closed, the saga has taken a dramatic turn, with police taking protesters to court over plans to close traffic lanes for a peak-hour march.

One of Australia’s biggest fossil fuel developments is set to continue operating for another 45 years after the Albanese government gave preliminary approval for a controversial extension plan for the giant North West Shelf project even as concerns about climate change intensify.

In Australia’s two-speed housing market, some home owners made higher paper capital gains over the past year compared to their salary, while others earned more money at work as the local housing market traded sideways.

And Federal Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is formally announcing her shadow cabinet, saying she promises her leadership will be done differently. Read our live blog of national politics for all the latest.

Environment Minister Murray Watt has granted approval for the controversial North West Shelf gas project in Western Australia to continue operations until 2070.

Located in Karratha, the project is headed by Australia’s largest oil and gas company Woodside and involves a network of offshore gas-drilling facilities and gas-processing plant on the Burrup Peninsula.

The current approvals were due to expire in 2030 but after a six year application process, including a drawn-out process with state government, Watt has ended months of speculation by greenlighting continued operations with a range of conditions for continued operations.

Woodside has 10 days to respond to the conditional approval.

Conservationists, climate scientists and community groups bitterly oppose the project due to the emissions it will generate, exacerbating global warming. There are also fears that releasing additional industrial emissions will damage 50,000-year-old Aboriginal Murujuga rock art in the region.

Earlier this year, former federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek pushed back the deadline for the government to finalise its assessment until after the ay federal election.

Brisbane-based Watt, formerly workplace relations minister, was under pressure from the WA government and industry to approve the project and greenlighting it his first major decision in his new portfolio.

Woodside has argued the liquified natural gas produced by the project is needed to help Asian nations switch from coal to lower emissions gas power.

The United Nations is poised to knock back Australia’s application for World Heritage listing for the Murujuga rock art recommending the “total removal of degrading acidic emissions” that are impacting on the rock carvings, or petroglyphs.

Liberal leader Sussan Ley’s announcement of her frontbench has been delayed in part by a Queensland MP declining an offer for a more senior position.

Garth Hamilton, the LNP member for the seat of Groome, which takes in Toowoomba, was offered the position of deputy whip, which carries with it a few extra thousand dollars in salary.

“I was offered a junior position from the leader of the opposition and I respectfully rejected it to keep the freedom of the backbench,” Hamilton said in a statement.

His decision meant Ley was required to find another person for the role. MPs had been expecting an announcement from Ley on the full line-up by midday.

Hamilton is a member of the Right faction, which did not support Ley in her leadership contest against Angus Taylor. In Groom, he has twice seen off a challenge from teal independent candidate Susie Holt.

“I’ve led the national debate on a range of issues in the last term, from RBA board stacking to APRA’s capital requirements, divestiture powers and post and boast policies. I’m not giving that freedom up at a time when we desperately need policy debate within the Liberal Party.”

Senior conservatives including Taylor, James Paterson and Andrew Hastie are also expected to be given prominent roles on the opposition frontbench, with Taylor tipped to be handed the shadow defence portfolio.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says it is important a legacy is left behind at the Brisbane Olympics.

Speaking on a visit to the city this afternoon, Albanese said the federal government was incredibly supportive of the 2032 Olympics, but wanted them to leave behind something that benefits Australians.

“[We want] to make sure there is a legacy, to make sure that after the Olympics and the Paralympics have been held that people in a few years time [say] ‘isn’t that good that the legacy has been left’, whether it be a housing legacy [or something else],” he said.

“I know in Sydney the transformation of the Olympics ... has made an enormous difference.”

Nearly 98 per cent of Queenslanders over the age of 12 have a detectable concentration of PFAS in their bloodstream.

The synthetic “forever chemicals” are found in everyday products ranging from the linings of takeaway coffee cups and pizza boxes to carpets and non-stick cookware. Once consumed, they take many years to exit the body.

PFAS chemicals have been found in Brisbane’s drinking water.Credit: William Davis

One of the most notorious, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), has been found in drinking water across Australia, and in some of the highest levels in south-east Queensland.

Yesterday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released national and state-level data about the prevalence of 11 types of PFAS in the Australian population and found it is almost universally detectable in people.

Read the full story.

Queensland Maroons debutant Beau Fermor has vowed to invoke the spirit of the late Carl Webb when he gets his first taste of State of Origin on Wednesday night.

The Gold Coast Titans star was confirmed by coach Billy Slater as on the cusp of a call-up in 2023 before he suffered a ruptured ACL on the eve of the season.

He fought through the agony to earn his place.

Beau Fermor will make his Queensland Maroons debut.Credit: Getty Images

Fermor was born in Dalby, where Webb was raised before he became known as one of the Maroons’ most feared enforcers.

Webb lost his battle with motor neurone disease in December 2023, leaving behind a legacy of his aggression on the field and the famed “Q” shaved into the side of his hair once he took the field for Queensland.

Read the full story.

Monthly inflation came in slightly higher than expected at 2.4 per cent in the 12 months to April, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released today.

Markets had been expecting to see the headline inflation rate ease to 2.3 per cent in April, down from 2.4 per cent in March.

Annual trimmed mean inflation – the gauge more closely watched by the Reserve Bank and which strips out the effect of irregular or temporary price changes – also rose slightly to 2.8 per cent. Markets had been expecting it to remain steady at 2.7 per cent.

The biggest contributors to the rise in price pressures were food and alcoholic beverages (up 3.1 per cent), housing (up 2.2 per cent) and recreation and culture (up 3.6 per cent).

Price increases have slowed for most food categories, with egg prices surging nearly 19 per cent in the past 12 months.

“This comes as supply has been affected by bird flu outbreaks,” said Michelle Marquardt from the ABS.

In Australia’s two-speed housing market, some home owners made higher paper capital gains over the past year compared to their salary, while others earned more money at work as the local housing market traded sideways.

In Brisbane, there was just a $2411 difference in house price gains and wage income, according to a new analysis from Ray White.

Even though Sydney and Melbourne house prices have risen over the past 12 months, relatively modest growth meant the gains have not been as much as the typical worker took home.

But in Perth, which has been in a property boom, house prices outstripped wages over the past year, while in Brisbane and Adelaide house price gains and personal income were at similar levels.

Santos, one of Australia’s largest energy companies, has declared it harder to get approval for new oil and gas projects.

At an energy conference in Brisbane, Santos managing director Kevin Gallagher said Queensland – which is opening up nine new gas fields, while putting renewable energy projects under greater scrutiny – was “development-friendly” but the same could not be said for Victoria.

“Queensland, the Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia – these are actually very supportive jurisdictions, they are very development-friendly,” Santos managing director Kevin Gallagher said on Wednesday.

“Victoria, North Korea – they are in a different category altogether.”

Gallagher said Australia had “100 years of gas under our feet” but ambiguity over state and federal environmental laws made Australia one of the most difficult places to sanction new investments.

The Department of Transport and Main Roads has named a newly constructed Logan service road in honour of Australian BMX Olympic gold medallist Logan Martin.

Logan Martin Court in Springwood, constructed as part of the M1 upgrade, is adjacent to the Veloway 1 entrance used by cyclists.

Logan Martin in action during the men’s BMX freestyle final.Credit: Getty Images

“We’re excited to have the opportunity to celebrate a local hero as part of this project,” said the department’s Andrew Wheeler.

“Logan Martin grew up in Logan and continues to share the importance of a lifestyle that includes active transport. His legacy will stand tall in the growing community of Springwood.”

Martin welcomed the opportunity to be associated with the Veloway 1 extension, saying “safe bicycle infrastructure benefits everyone”.