As it happened: Brisbane on Friday, February 7

UK hip-hop icon Dizzee Rascal plays the Fortitude Music Hall tonight, and at the time of writing there were tickets still available.

Laneway Festival is sold out, unsurprisingly, with Charli XCX topping the bill. If you’ve got tickets, gates open at Brisbane Showgrounds at noon tomorrow.

Also this Saturday from noon, Sea Legs Brewing Co under the Story Bridge at in Kangaroo Point is marking its sixth birthday with a refreshed menu, new-released beers and giveaways.

Sea Legs Brewing Co at Kangaroo Point.Credit: Sea Legs Brewing Co

At the movies, discover a whole other side to Daniel Craig with the former 007 starring in new film Queer as an ageing gay alcoholic in Mexico City.

Serious film buffs will be aware that the AACTA Festival is taking place at HOTA on the Gold Coast. The gala awards ceremony is tonight, and there are concerts, screenings, talks and workshops all weekend.

It’s the final weekend for Six The Musical at QPAC, in which the six wives of Henry VIII rewrite herstory in a show that reimagines the queens as a truth-singing girl group.

And also at QPAC, Queensland Symphony Orchestra is presenting Our Classical Favourites with two programs over the weekend featuring Mozart, Prokofiev, Elgar, Tchaikovsky, Bernstein and Brahms.

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

If you’re just catching up, here are some of the stories that made headlines today.

Amyl and the Sniffers have responded to fans complaining of sexual harassment at a Brisbane concert that started with a warning: “Don’t touch anyone who doesn’t want to be touched.”

Warren Pitt, the former member for Mulgrave in far north Queensland, has died at the age of 76, with his son Curtis Pitt paying tribute to his “hero”.

A man shot with a homemade gun at Tallebudgera on the Gold Coast reportedly found the attacker under his home after hearing strange noises.

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has revealed she battled drug and alcohol abuse in her 20s, just a day after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton made his own major personal disclosure.

The Federal Court has demolished the AFP’s attempts to keep secret the details of an investigation into a 2018 leak that compromised a controversial case looking into the actions of war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith.

And Valentine’s Day is next Friday, but don’t leave ordering to the 11th hour. Here are some of the city’s best florists.

The NFL’s Australian adventure has stirred the sport’s faithful, with veteran quarterback Jared Stegman anticipating an explosion of interest as he targets an Olympic berth.

The 35-year-old from Brisbane has played professional gridiron in Sweden, Germany, Japan and most recently for Turkey’s Istanbul Rams in the 2022 season of the European League of Football.

Australia’s captain in the side’s last World Championship appearance 10 years ago, Stegman’s Bayside Ravens – based in Norman Park in Brisbane’s south-east – have won the last six domestic titles.

He worked out with former Queensland Reds and Wallabies rugby star Jordan Petaia last month before he left for Florida chasing an NFL deal and thinks the code-hopper has the makings of a top-tier slot receiver or running back.

The NFL will play a regular-season game for the first time in Australia next year, the MCG announcement coming days before Monday’s Super Bowl in New Orleans.

But he says a natural lean among the sport’s faithful towards American football’s non-tackle, five-a-side version – flag football – has already begun due to its inclusion in the Los Angeles’ 2028 schedule.

“For the longest time flag football wasn’t a thing,” Stegman said.

“But with only five on the field [per team], no equipment; it’s a lot cheaper, more manageable and being an Olympic sport there’s an end goal and funding there too.”

A new para-sport unit will be established at the Queensland Academy of Sport, with the aim to make Brisbane 2032 Australia’s most successful Paralympic Games on record.

Wheelchair rugby player Ella Sabljak, who represented Australia at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo and Paris, said the dedicated para-sport unit would help break down barriers for para-athletes.

“It’s going to be so, so important for our emerging athletes coming through, to show our emerging athletes that their journey is just as valued as anybody else’s journey,” she said.

Queenslander Ella Sabljak competing at the Paris 2024 Paralympics last year.Credit: Michel Euler/AP

Queensland Sports Minister Tim Mander said the state government had invested $2 million into the unit, a commitment that had been matched by the Commonwealth.

“Our aim is for 2032 to be the most successful Games ever for Paralympians and these are the type of initiatives that we need to bring that about,” he said. “It’s a great collaboration between different levels of government who are trying to reach the same goal.”

Paralympics Australia chief executive Cameron Murray said it was a “groundbreaking day” for para-sports, and explained that the para-sport unit would serve many purposes.

“It’s a talent program offering tailored support to emerging athletes,” he said. “It’s a coaching program … It’s about state-of-the-art access to equipment, which has been identified as one of the significant barriers for our athletes to be able to compete, grow and develop.

“And it’s about establishing growing partnerships with health professionals and sporting organisations to be able to achieve the very best for our power athletes in the future.”

Former Queensland MP Warren Pitt has died. He was 76.

The member for Mulgrave served more than 15 years in the state legislature over two stints between 1989 and 2009.

Labor MP Warren Pitt.Credit: Brisbane Times

Throughout the tenure he held portfolios including main roads, local government, communities and disability services and business, industry and regional development.

Son Curtis Pitt – who later represented the electorate – confirmed the news this morning.

“After fighting the good fight his entire life, he laid down his gloves in the early hours of this morning, passing away peacefully,” he said in a statement.

“I never had to look too far to find a hero, or to aspire to aim high. In our Dad, greatness has been sitting next to us, holding our hands and guiding us our entire lives.”

Read the full story.

Christian leaders from across the state have signed a joint letter expressing solidarity with Jewish Queenslanders.

It comes after a string of anti-semitic attacks across the country, primarily in Sydney and Melbourne.

“Queensland has not felt the force of these attacks as other parts of Australia have; but there is no cause for complacency here,” the letter says in part.

“We had thought that antisemitism was deeply alien to this country, not part of our DNA as it is elsewhere in the world.

“But recent events have shown that this ancient and irrational hatred lurks deep in the national psyche, awaiting a trigger like the current conflict in the Middle East to unleash its venom.

“Transported from another world, the antisemitism bacillus has, it seems, lain dormant for many years in this country, only to strike in a way and at a time we did not see coming.

“You are our flesh and blood, and we will do whatever we can to accompany, support and defend you.”

The 13 signatories represent The Salvation Army, Catholic Archdiocese, Anglican Archdiocese, Uniting Church, Greek Orthodox Diocese and Queensland Baptists among otthers.

UK hip-hop icon Dizzee Rascal plays the Fortitude Music Hall tonight, and at the time of writing there were tickets still available.

Laneway Festival is sold out, unsurprisingly, with Charli XCX topping the bill. If you’ve got tickets, gates open at Brisbane Showgrounds at noon tomorrow.

Also this Saturday from noon, Sea Legs Brewing Co under the Story Bridge at in Kangaroo Point is marking its sixth birthday with a refreshed menu, new-released beers and giveaways.

Sea Legs Brewing Co at Kangaroo Point.Credit: Sea Legs Brewing Co

At the movies, discover a whole other side to Daniel Craig with the former 007 starring in new film Queer as an ageing gay alcoholic in Mexico City.

Serious film buffs will be aware that the AACTA Festival is taking place at HOTA on the Gold Coast. The gala awards ceremony is tonight, and there are concerts, screenings, talks and workshops all weekend.

It’s the final weekend for Six The Musical at QPAC, in which the six wives of Henry VIII rewrite herstory in a show that reimagines the queens as a truth-singing girl group.

And also at QPAC, Queensland Symphony Orchestra is presenting Our Classical Favourites with two programs over the weekend featuring Mozart, Prokofiev, Elgar, Tchaikovsky, Bernstein and Brahms.

Heavy rainfall is expected to batter northern Australia again, with monsoonal conditions forecast to drench flood-ravaged areas and the possibility of a tropical cyclone.

North Queensland is on flood watch again with heavy rain and storms to ramp up from Friday into the weekend.

After a slight reprieve in heavy rainfall on Wednesday, the region copped hundreds of millimetres of rain on Thursday which led to flash flooding in Townsville.

The Bureau of Meteorology said Townsville was hit by 142mm of rain in the past day, while further south the Burdekin region recorded 221mm.

But the bureau is warning rainfall will escalate from Friday in another round of showers, rain and thunderstorms around Townsville and Mackay.

This weather system may bring another 50mm to 150mm of rain with even higher isolated falls.

Over the weekend the rainfall will grow to 300mm from Ayr to Tully, the bureau warned.

Multi-award-winning film composer Hans Zimmer will play shows in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne in April 2025.

Zimmer, who last toured the country in 2019, will perform with a 19-piece live band and a full orchestra.

Zimmer at the piano.Credit: Curdin Wullschleger

Fans can expect concert suites from the films Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dark Knight, Interstellar, The Lion King, The Last Samurai and Dune.

Australian singer Lisa Gerrard, who collaborated with Zimmer on the Oscar-winning score to Gladiator, will also be joining the superstar composer on stage.

Hans Zimmer Live is at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Thursday, April 24.

Tickets go on sale via Ticketek on Wednesday, with presale available on Tuesday.

A Queensland coach is a “leading candidate” to take over the Wallabies top job, after Joe Schmidt announced he would not extend his contract beyond this year’s Rugby Championship.

Reds coach and former Queensland maroons player Les Kiss is firming as a possible replacement.

“Kiss has come from the clouds to be a leading candidate to take over from Schmidt,” sports reporter Iain Payten writes today.

“He and Schmidt worked together for several years in the Irish national team, and wider coaching system.

“The former Kangaroos winger is known in Australia for his league exploits but for his has more than done his time in the 15-man game.”

Brisbane-raised former player Dan McKellar has also been flagged as a potential replacement for Schmidt.

Other names in the mix include Wallabies legend Stephen Larkham, Western Force coach Simon Cron and former head Michael Cheika.

Read the full story.

Australian Defence Force personnel have helped build a temporary crossing at the Bruce Highway’s Ollera Creek bridge, which connects Townsville and Ingham, after part of the bridge collapsed on Sunday afternoon.

The segment fell into the water after more than 1400 millimetres of rain fell in the area at the weekend.

Queensland Police say the temporary bridge will serve as the only route into flood-affected areas and heavy vehicles weighing more than 35 tonnes will not be able to cross it as they will compromise the integrity of the structure.

A temporary bridge at Ollera Creek will assist in getting critical emergency services and supplies into isolated areas from Townsville.Credit: Queensland Police

“Residents are being advised a temporary bridge has been constructed on the Bruce Highway at Ollera Creek to assist in getting critical emergency services and supplies into isolated areas from Townsville,” they say.

“The single-lane bridge opened this afternoon and will be operational between the hours of 8am and 5.30pm, subject to environmental conditions, and can only accommodate one vehicle at a time travelling at 2km/h.

“This bridge will be the only road into flood-affected areas, including Ingham and the Hinchinbrook Shire, from the south.”

The ADF will be assisted by the use of army helicopters borrowed from Singapore to help deliver essentials to hard-hit regions such as Ingham.

With AAP