A truck has become wedged under a rail bridge in Brisbane’s west, causing traffic headaches for afternoon motorists.
The truck hit the Oxley Road overpass in Sherwood on the Tennyson freight rail line just before 1pm today.
The vehicle’s sole occupant was not injured and managed to climb out of the wreckage.
Traffic diversions are likely to be in place for several hours.
“Motorists are advised to avoid the area and to expect long delays,” Queensland Police said.
Thank you for joining us today. We will be back tomorrow morning with more rolling news coverage.
Here are some of the day’s headlines:
With just 10 days until polls close, Premier Steven Miles and Opposition Leader David Crisafulli went head-to-head at the Queensland Media Club for their second debate. You can find our live coverage here.
In other news, a truck has become wedged under a rail bridge in Brisbane’s west, causing traffic headaches for evening motorists.
The truck wedged beneath the Oxley Road overpass in Sherwood on Wednesday.Credit: LifeTime Tennis (Ambiwerra) @LifeTime_Tennis
Nearly 2000 people have signed a petition to preserve Brisbane State High School’s merit-based entry system over fears the program is at risk from increasing demand for in-catchment enrolments.
A company has been fined $400,000 in one of the state’s largest asbestos waste cases.
Parts of Queensland and Victoria are leading the charge for job creation, figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show.
The search continues for a missing 12-year-old girl from Murrumba Downs who was last seen near the Brisbane CBD.
More than $1 million in cash was found with weapons and drug paraphernalia in a Rocklea home in the city’s south.
Brisbane City Council announced details of the third stage of the CityLink Cycleway – including two new projects – a day after this masthead highlighted the logistical nightmare for cyclists on George Street.
Westpac customers endured a third consecutive day of interruptions following a new system outage.
A cafe, real estate agency, barber shop, petrol station and kebab shop are among the businesses targeted by thieves in a string of break-ins that police believe are linked.
And this year’s Valley Fiesta has announced its line-up.
Every single component of building a new home has skyrocketed and experts forecast higher prices are here to stay.
The cost of building a new home surged 41 per cent to $465,000 in the four years to December 2023, analysis by Oxford Economics Australia found. In the same period, land costs jumped 34 per cent to $410,000.
A cafe, real estate agency, barber shop, petrol station and kebab shop are among the businesses targeted by thieves in a string of break-ins police believe are linked.
At least six businesses were targeted by thieves in the early hours of this morning.
Thieves broke into shops on Racecourse Road in Hamilton between 3am and 4am, police said.
While the motive is still unclear, police believe the same thieves have targeted seven other small businesses in Eagle Farm, Deagon, Pinkenba and Lutwyche on Brisbane’s northside over the past three days.
“Early investigations indicate the incidents are linked,” police said in a statement today.
“Investigations into the incidents are under way, and police ask anyone with information or relevant [CCTV] vision to come forward.”
Anyone with information or footage is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or Policelink on 131 444.
Set to light up Fortitude Valley streets as polling winds up on October 26, this year’s Valley Fiesta has announced its lineup.
Headline acts included Meg Mac, The Buoys, Brisbane-based band Deafcult, and Gold Coast trio daste – with multiple DJ, pop, and indie acts to appear across the event’s four outdoor stages from 2pm.
The Valley Fiesta street party is set for October 26, featuring stages along Brunswick Street, Bakery Lane, and Winn Lane. Credit: QMusic
QMusic chief executive Kris Stewart welcomed locals and tourists alike to the event.
“There’s nothing like a street party to celebrate our vibrant music scene, and Valley Fiesta is the best free street party in Brisbane,” she said.
Organised by QMusic in tandem with Brisbane City Council, the event will close off multiple roads in Fortitude Valley, with two DJ stages placed along Bakery and Winn lanes, and two stages on Brunswick Street – including the main stage.
Business ploys that make it virtually impossible to cancel a subscription, deliver hidden price increases during an online transaction or fake warnings of limited stock would be banned under a federal government plan to target unfair trading practices.
As the Reserve Bank concedes the debit and credit card surcharging system is in effect broken, the government revealed it would overhaul Australian Consumer Law before next year’s election by targeting what it described as dodgy sales techniques.
Labor is preparing to ban businesses from making it difficult to cancel subscriptions, add hidden fees to online purchases, and raise prices at the checkout.Credit: iStock
In a sign of the electoral damage the country’s cost-of-living crisis is posing to the government, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday will announce the consumer protections, just a day after signalling a ban on debit card surcharges and a fortnight on from revealing a crackdown on supermarket pricing.
Unfair trading practices currently fall outside Australian Consumer Law, which covers areas such as unfair contracts, product safety, lay-bys and consumer rights when buying goods or services.
Under the government’s plan, a general ban on unfair trading practices, including some specific tactics, would be introduced.
This will cover so-called subscription traps, where businesses make it almost impossible to cancel a subscription; drip-pricing, where fees are added during the purchase process; and online practices such as fake warnings that a person has only a limited time to buy, and where a consumer has to create an account with unnecessary personal information.
A number of long-time Myer executives are leaving the business as the department store’s relatively new chief executive and former Qantas Loyalty boss Olivia Wirth makes changes to senior leadership.
Wirth has created a new position of chief transformation officer that will be filled by former Qantas executive Andrew Taylor.
“Andrew joins Myer after a long career at Qantas and will play an integral role in driving our strategic goals,” Wirth said in an internal note to staff.
Myer executive chairwoman Olivia Wirth joined from airline Qantas, where she was head of loyalty.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
Wirth has created two new merchandise general manager roles, one in beauty, accessories and services, and another in women’s apparel.
Belinda Slifkas, whose current portfolio covers apparel, home and entertainment, will take interim responsibility for the women’s apparel department. As a result, Annabel Talbot has lost her position as general merchandise manager of womenswear, intimates, footwear, accessories and beauty.
“I would like to thank Annabel for her contribution to Myer,” Wirth said.
She has also created a new role of general manager of digital commerce that will be filled by New York-based retail executive Warwick Blunt.
Chief information officer Ben Fitzgerald departed Myer yesterday. Executive general manager of property, store design and development Tim Clark has announced his resignation for March next year after 36 years with the business.
The general manager of Myer stores in Victoria and Tasmania, Susan Braidwood, is also leaving the business after 36 years.
Other people leaving the business this month include Tony Carr, executive general manager of supply chain, as well as chief merchandise officer Allan Winstanley, who announced in March they were leaving Myer to spend more time with family in the UK.
A truck has become wedged under a rail bridge in Brisbane’s west, causing traffic headaches for afternoon motorists.
The truck hit the Oxley Road overpass in Sherwood on the Tennyson freight rail line just before 1pm today.
The vehicle’s sole occupant was not injured and managed to climb out of the wreckage.
Traffic diversions are likely to be in place for several hours.
“Motorists are advised to avoid the area and to expect long delays,” Queensland Police said.
Teams of lawyers have packed a Sydney courtroom as Queensland-based super fund BUSSQ, which paid $511,000 to the troubled CFMEU, fights Australia’s financial watchdog in the federal court.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) put extra licence conditions on BUSSQ in August after launching an investigation into the payment made to the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union.
BUSSQ wants APRA to remove the conditions and claims the regulator acted in “excess of power” following media reports about alleged corruption and criminal associations within the CFMEU.
Former CFMEU Queensland and Northern Territory divisional secretary Michael Ravbar was a director of BUSSQ.Credit: Robert Shakespeare
CFMEU Queensland is a shareholder of BUSSQ, which has $6.7 billion in funds under management, and has appointed four directors to the board, including three union officers.
The three CFMEU directors at the time APRA imposed its conditions were Michael Ravbar - who is secretary of the union’s Queensland and Northern Territory branch - as well as Jacqui Collie and Emma Eaves.
Ravbar and Collie are no longer sitting on the board.
The hearing continues.
Westpac banking customers are facing a third consecutive day of interruptions following a new outage that interrupted services this morning.
Customers are reporting difficulties accessing online banking services and transferring money between their accounts. St George Bank, owned by Westpac since 2008, has also reported a major outage.
Westpac has confirmed the outages on social media – the bank made similar posts yesterday and on Monday – prompting an angry response from some customers.
“How many times more?” one customer posted on X. “I am planning to change [banks] after being a customer for 20 years.”
“The public needs more now,” said another. “We need a proper statement of what the issue is and how you will resolve it.”
The outages come less than a week after the bank made a pivot away from offering cash services to customers. On October 11, it ceased operation of its cardless cash feature.
The mechanism allowed customers to withdraw up to $500 from ATMs without a bank card by using their mobile device.
Yesterday, we revealed the push to connect and extend bike lanes in the Brisbane CBD, which would not only make riding safer for people on two wheels and solve logistical conundrums with one-way streets, but could separate e-scooter riders from pedestrians on footpaths.
Today, Brisbane City Council has announced details of stage three of the CityLink Cycleway, including two new projects.
A 1.2 kilometre shared path from Deakin Street in Kangaroo Point to Shafston Avenue in East Brisbane will connect to the cycleway and link to the Kangaroo Point Bridge, which is due to open in December.
Work has started to create a bikeway along Melbourne Street between the Victoria Bridge and Cordelia Street as part of the Brisbane Metro, and council has now announced it will extend this bikeway along Melbourne Street to Boundary Street.
The current separated bikeway in the Brisbane CBD at George Street, near the courts precinct.Credit: Glenn Campbell
However, council’s transport chair councillor Ryan Murphy told us earlier (in response to questions about adding and extending lanes in the CBD) that George Street was a critical connection for the bus network.
“And because so many people are carried on our buses in this corridor, any future works need to consider the safety of all users,” he said.