As it happened: Developer wants Bulimba project to go higher, housing, coercive control laws head to parliament; progress on Brisbane Metro

That’s where we’ll leave our live updates. We’ll be back with you tomorrow morning. Here are all the headlines you might have missed today:

• A woman asked two men to murder her ex-partner to gain $700,000 from his insurance and later asked them why he was still alive, a jury has been told.
• The parents of Hannah Clarke have called for further education and national action on coercive control after the introduction of a landmark bill to Queensland parliament.
• Tunnelling crews have dug 170 metres along Adelaide Street as they work to build the tunnel connecting North Quay to the underground station at King George Square.
• Queensland’s LNP Opposition has brought its first proposed legislation to parliament since the October 2020 election in a symbolic attempt to release corruption watchdog reports into Labor identities Peter Carne and Jackie Trad.

But the conflict between Palestine and Israel has again been making headlines. Scenes of violence and destruction in the long-blockaded Gaza Strip have filled the world’s airwaves throughout four war. But this conflict, Palestinians say, is different. In the meantime, it is an anxious wait for families who don’t know the fate of loved ones.

Also, Cheng Lei, the Australian journalist detained on national security charges by China, has returned to Australia, ending a three-year ordeal. And New Zealand-born comedian and actor Cal Wilson has died, at 53.

The Federal Court has rejected a legal challenge against Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s method of assessing two coal projects.

The Environment Council of Central Queensland took Plibersek to court claiming her assessment of the projects failed to protect “living wonders” such as the Great Barrier Reef from climate change.

Federal Court Judge Justice Shaun McElwaine rejected the council’s argument on Wednesday, saying the extent of such assessments were a matter for parliament to consider.

“Ultimately, the applicants’ arguments, anchored by the extensive scientific material relied on, raise matters for parliament to consider whether the minister’s powers must be exercised to explicitly consider the anthropogenic effects of climate change in the manner the applicant submits they must,” McElwaine said.

Plibersek, who has yet to make a decision on the projects, will consider the implications of the judgment.

The parents of Hannah Clarke have called for further education and national action on coercive control after the introduction of a landmark bill to Queensland parliament.

Sue and Lloyd Clarke joined Women’s Minister Shannon Fentiman and a group of anti-domestic and family violence campaigners to mark the milestone of Queensland becoming the second state to do so after NSW.

“We now need these laws to go national,” Lloyd said.

“Here in Queensland, we now need to look at the educational side of it … the more people that know about it, the better it is.”

Clarke and her three children – Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey – were murdered by her estranged partner in February 2020 after what Sue and Lloyd now know to be a pattern of coercive behaviour.

The family of Alison Baden-Clay, whose murder also drew national attention in 2012, were among the group and welcomed the laws – which will create the new offence from 2025 after a public education period.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

Queensland’s LNP Opposition has brought its first proposed legislation to parliament since the October 2020 election in a symbolic attempt to release corruption watchdog reports into Labor identities Peter Carne and Jackie Trad.

Shadow attorney-general Tim Nicholls introduced the private members bill to confirm longstanding practices of the Crime and Corruption Commission, saying the LNP was forced to do so due to Palaszczuk government inaction.

The anti-corruption agency lost a landmark High Court case last month that shut down its ability to make or publish reports on investigations without corruption or disciplinary findings – effectively suppressing the reports, unless the law was to change.

Nicholls said by introducing the laws, the LNP was doing what the government should have been ready to do “almost immediately” after the court decision. But there has been no consultation and the laws are all but doomed under Labor’s effective control over parliament.

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman told media outside parliament that Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath would have updates soon based on legal advice and national consideration of similar agency powers, reiterating the CCC had said urgent – but considered – change was needed.

A woman asked two men to murder her ex-partner to gain $700,000 from his insurance and later asked them why he was still alive, a jury has been told.

From left: Peter Koenig, Greg Roser and Sharon Graham.

Sharon Graham, 62, faced day two of her trial at Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday after pleading not guilty to the murder of Bruce James Saunders at a rural property north-west of the Sunshine Coast.

Graham has been accused of having her then-partner Greg Roser, along with Peter Koenig, kill Saunders and make it look like he died accidentally by falling into a woodchipper.

While the Brisbane Metro project is pushing ahead, the Logan and Gold Coast Faster Rail Project is inching along.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey said industry had shown strong interest in the works contracts required to relocate Loganlea station and remove level crossings near Kuraby and Bethania stations.

“Currently, all services on the Gold Coast and Beenleigh lines are constrained by single tracks in each direction between Kuraby and Beenleigh,” Bailey said.

“Once finalised, these projects will connect growing communities with more frequent and reliable train services between Brisbane, Logan and the Gold Coast.”

Tunnelling crews have dug 170 metres along Adelaide Street as they work to build the tunnel connecting North Quay to the underground station at King George Square.

The 213-metre-long tunnel is the inner-city section of Brisbane City Council’s now expanded $1.7 billion Brisbane Metro project.

The goal is to reduce by one-third the 385 buses that now run on CBD streets, and ease the underground bottleneck emerging in the adjacent Queen Street station.

It’s a relatively shallow tunnel, dug through soft rock between 3.3 metres and 6.4 metres below Adelaide Street. When work began in February, it was expected to take 18 months.

This section will connect buses on the South East Busway to the Inner Northern Busway, which goes past the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

Question time wraps up in Queensland parliament with the LNP attacking a Labor backbencher’s Facebook post, suggesting it could have been “interference” in a recruitment process and worthy of referral to the corruption watchdog.

Pumicestone MP Ali King described her post, in which she suggested constituents could also send Queensland Health job applications to her office email, as an “error of judgment”.

Labor’s Pumicestone MP Ali King.Credit: Brisbane Times

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she thought King would agree the post was not appropriate, but that it was “clearly to provide advice to people that there would be positions becoming available at the local satellite hospital”.

The government’s focus, meanwhile, was on the LNP’s newly endorsed bayside candidate, former federal senator Amanda Stoker, and her outspoken views on nuclear power, abortion and other social issues.

“Now you have to answer for every single one of her crazy, right-wing, lunatic views,” Deputy Premier Steven Miles said of Opposition Leader David Crisafulli.

The Queensland government will introduce proposed laws to parliament today to continue its women’s safety and justice work after landmark reports.

Wednesday’s bill will criminalise coercive control – a pattern of deliberate manipulation of a person – with a maximum penalty of 14 years jail, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told parliament.

The bill will also make changes so that stealthing (removing a condom during sex without consent) will be considered rape, with a maximum penalty of life in prison.

That change will come as part of a shift to an affirmative consent model in the criminal code also set out in the bill – requiring partners to gain free and voluntary agreement for any sexual activity.

The bill will be considered by a committee before returning for debate and a vote among MPs at a later date.

Only six months after receiving approval for the latest revitalisation of Oxford Street at Bulimba, a developer has asked Brisbane City Council to let its project go higher.

Documents lodged with council this week request the overall height of the building be raised 4.4 metres, to a height of 14.9 metres, ostensibly to increase ceiling heights for two planned offices.

The latest architectural drawings of a development planned for 187-193 Oxford Street, Bulimba.

“Additionally, the change seeks to activate the roof terrace by incorporating two high-quality restaurants which are orientated to the north-west so as to capitalise on city views,” the documents state.

“Furthermore, two function rooms are proposed along the eastern portion of the roof terrace suitable to host business conferences, weddings, private parties, award ceremonies or seminars.”

The developer argued the changes would make the project more financially viable and help provide the “adaptable, multipurpose spaces” needed to support the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games.