As it happened: Brisbane on Tuesday, November 26

The child who died after hours alone in a parked car in north Queensland yesterday has been identified as a two-year-old girl.

Police were called to the vehicle on Rankin Street, Innisfail, about 1pm on Monday. The toddler was unresponsive and could not be revived.

Superintendent Mick Searle today said the car was in the parking lot of Cassowary Coast Regional Council chambers, but would not say if the parents were local government employees.

He also would not be drawn on the possibility of criminal charges.

“The parents were at work and looking after their family,” Searle told reporters.

“We’re now conducting a very complex and detailed investigation.

“There’s further details that I just won’t go into at this stage for the nature of the investigation to be preserved.”

Thanks for joining us this Tuesday. We’ll be back tomorrow with more rolling coverage of news from Brisbane and around the country.

If you’re just catching up, here are some of the stories that have been making headlines today:

Queensland’s new LNP government will push a regular end-of-year budget update into early 2025 as it continues to release details of project cost blowouts under Labor.

Experts are calling for changes to e-scooter safety standards, including sit-down scooters and full-face helmets, after finding dangerous speeds and riding behaviour led to “life-changing facial and head injuries”.

A teenage boy accused of murdering a grandmother during a carjacking at Redbank Plains, west of Brisbane, faces more months behind bars before a magistrate decides if he will stand trial.

Overseas, a grieving backpacker who has taken it upon himself to try to uncover the truth about a suspected mass methanol poisoning in Laos has recounted his search for his friends through a second-rate health system and while dealing with hostel staff who told him almost nothing.

And in sport, Ben Hunt will finish his NRL career at the club where he started after agreeing to rejoin the Broncos on a two-year deal.

One of Brisbane’s biggest road projects has been delayed by heavy rain.

The $257 million Moggill Road Corridor Upgrade aims to reduce congestion and improve safety along the major thoroughfare, which links western suburbs to the CBD, and carries about 55,000 cars every day.

A render of the Moggill Road corridor upgrade.Credit: Brisbane City Council

More than 2500 people have worked on the project, with about 8000 truck loads of soil removed and 22,500 tonnes of concrete poured.

Brisbane City Council infrastructure chair Andrew Wines confirmed today the project is nearly complete, but heavy rains through November have pushed back final works from late 2024 to early 2025.

“This will create smoother and safer conditions for motorists,” he told councillors.

“The project is more than 90 per cent complete and we’re now in the home stretch.

“We all know inflation, rising costs of construction have caused cost increases and delays.”

A teenage boy accused of murdering a grandmother during a carjacking faces more months behind bars before a magistrate decides if he will stand trial.

Vyleen Joan White, 70, died after being stabbed in the chest outside a shopping centre at Redbank Plains, west of Brisbane, on February 3.

Flowers and tributes left at the Redbank Plains shopping centre where Vyleen White died.Credit: Nine News

Police alleged White was killed during the theft of her 2009 model Hyundai Getz hatchback.

A 16-year-old boy from the nearby suburb of Bellbird Park was charged with one count each of murder and unlawful use of a motor vehicle, and three counts of stealing.

The youth’s charges had a committal mention in Ipswich Children’s Court today, but he was not required to appear in person or via video link from custody.

Read the full story.

Almost half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a chronic health condition, with those living in remote areas more likely to be affected, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The bureau’s National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, released today, found 49 per cent of Indigenous people had one or more chronic conditions in 2022-23, up from 46 per cent in 2018-19.

“The increase was driven by [a jump] in the proportion of people aged two years and over with mental and behavioural conditions – up from 24 per cent in 2018-19 to 29 per cent in 2022-23,” a bureau spokesperson said.

About a third of people (31 per cent) aged 18 and older living in cities and regional areas experienced high or very high levels of psychological distress in the four weeks before the survey, compared to 24 per cent of people in remote areas.

About a quarter (27 per cent) of people aged 15 and older had accessed mental health services in the past 12 months.

AAP

Ben Hunt will finish his NRL career at the club with which he started it after agreeing to rejoin Brisbane on a two-year deal.

The 34-year-old has been weighing up his future, having fielded interest from the Broncos, Roosters, Dolphins and a Super League club since being released by St George Illawarra.

However, Hunt has chosen to join Brisbane on a deal worth approximately $550,000 per season.

“He’s very flattered by the interest from those clubs, but ultimately opted to finish his career in Brisbane,” said Hunt’s manager, Col Davis. “It was a difficult decision, and he hadn’t made up his mind until yesterday.”

Read the full story.

The child who died after hours alone in a parked car in north Queensland yesterday has been identified as a two-year-old girl.

Police were called to the vehicle on Rankin Street, Innisfail, about 1pm on Monday. The toddler was unresponsive and could not be revived.

Superintendent Mick Searle today said the car was in the parking lot of Cassowary Coast Regional Council chambers, but would not say if the parents were local government employees.

He also would not be drawn on the possibility of criminal charges.

“The parents were at work and looking after their family,” Searle told reporters.

“We’re now conducting a very complex and detailed investigation.

“There’s further details that I just won’t go into at this stage for the nature of the investigation to be preserved.”

Young people have told the Queensland Family and Child Commission that age restrictions for social media meant “young people were being punished, whilst those that created online risks are being left alone”.

In a submission to a federal parliamentary inquiry, Principal Commissioner Luke Twyford said the Queensland Young Person’s Council had also raised concern about the lack of support for those more reliant on social media, such as people in isolated areas, vulnerable positions, or with chronic health issues.

“Young people spoke about this policy victim-blaming young people, rather than requiring adults and platforms that create risks taking responsibility,” Twyford wrote.

Twyford urged the inquiry to consider the “unintended consequences of prohibition” and the risk of sexual predators taking advantage of under-16s who find a way to stay online.

“Young people told me they are concerned that where a child or young person has circumvented the age restrictions and found themselves in an unsafe situation, they are less likely to seek support and may instead be in a situation where the fear of getting into trouble will outweigh the fear of the situation itself,” he wrote.

While Queensland Premier David Crisafulli supports the age restrictions, Twyford said young people were also aware of the LNP’s ‘adult time for adult crime’ policy.

“Taken together, these two approaches were seen as both being contradictory and devaluing of young people, and their position as legitimate members of our community,” he wrote.

Queensland’s new Labor opposition has joined a protest outside parliament on the first sitting day since the election.

First Nations community figures, youth justice organisations and allies gathered this morning calling for the truth-telling inquiry to continue, with Opposition Leader Steven Miles and other Labor politicians joining the crowd.

Labor MPs joined a protest calling for the First Nations truth-telling and treaty process to continue.Credit: Matt Dennien

The LNP is yet to say when it will introduce the laws required to end the inquiry and path to treaty that it once vocally supported.

The promise of tougher youth justice laws by year’s end also led some speakers to highlight the disproportionate impact these would have on First Nations youth.

While the inquiry has paused its planned in-person events, it reopened online submissions this week vowing to continue its legislated, independent role until required to stop.

As the Greens agree to “wave through” Labor’s housing policy, leader Adam Bandt says the minor party hasn’t given up on its proposals to fix the housing crisis.

Asked on ABC News Breakfast if the concession should be seen as a “humiliating backdown” for the Greens, Bandt said there came a point where “you’ve pushed as hard as you can”.

Greens leader Adam Bandt.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“We tried really hard to get Labor to act on soaring rent increases and unfair tax handouts that are tilting the playing field against first-home buyers. But we couldn’t get there this time,” Bandt said.

“We were hopeful that we’d get the government to shift on some of those big drivers of the housing and rental crisis.

“We got close. The government was costing changes to negative gearing and they decided to back down at the last minute. And that’s disappointing.”

Bandt said while he had backed down, the Greens would continue to push for its proposed housing reforms, and “take this challenge up to the next election”.

Brisbane City Council has announced the beginning of summer – logistically – as its park maintenance crews switch to a seven-day mowing schedule.

Despite summer being about a week away, the council said recent rains and hot weather prompted a jump in mowing frequency for its almost 40,000 sites throughout the city, including roadside sites and about 2100 parks.

During winter months, sites are maintained on a six-to-10-week rotation, and will shift to rotating back-to-back each fortnight.

Lawnmowers at Lanham Park in Grange.Credit: Brisbane City Council