As it happened: Brisbane on Thursday, October 3

With the campaign now well underway, Brisbane Times hit the streets of the state capital to ask people if they recognise the two men who are the subject of all the news reports and advertising.

Our last official poll found 29 per cent of people unfamiliar with David Crisafulli, the LNP leader who wants to be premier after October 26.

And despite Steven Miles having been premier since December, 15 per cent of people were still unfamiliar with him.

Crisafulli received more positive reactions from people and also polled as the preferred premier.

Meanwhile, on the hustings, Miles had an uncomfortable moment when asked to name Labor’s local candidate.

Miles has held media events in the sprawling seat of Mirani the past two days, in Mackay and outside Rockhampton, but the party’s candidate Susan Teder has not appeared by his side.

Asked about this on Thursday, Miles said he would find out “where they are”.

Then asked what the candidate’s name was, Miles was unable to provide it until a prompt from Deputy Premier Cameron Dick behind him.

“Susan? … yeah, of course, it’s Susan,” Miles said.

Brisbane Times has been told Teder’s absence has been due to a death in the family.

Thanks for joining us on our local news live blog today. We’ll be back tomorrow with more news from the Queensland state election campaign trail.

However, don’t go away as we’ll be covering tonight’s state leaders debate right here.

And in case you missed it, here are some of the top stories making news today:

A senior Queensland Labor minister summoned before the Federal Court during the election campaign has again declared he was not aware of significant safety issues at a power station that exploded and caused mass outages across the state.

Greens leader Adam Bandt has cut short a press conference in Perth after ducking a series of questions about bullying allegations levelled at the party’s WA senator Dorinda Cox.

Brisbane Lions forward Joe Daniher has announced his retirement from AFL football, just days after winning a premiership.

Former children’s television presenter Fiona MacDonald has died from motor neurone disease, which was diagnosed in November 2021. She was 67.

When Apple announced iOS 18, the latest version of its mobile operating system, most of the attention went to its slate of new AI features. But a lesser-known change may wind up being more important.

In his bid to claim underdog status in this election, Opposition Leader David Crisafulli has noted that a Coalition/LNP government has not been re-elected in Queensland since the 1980s.

When asked to reflect on what lessons he could take from the Borbidge and Newman governments, and how a possible future Crisafulli government would avoid that fate, the LNP leader said it was about governing with compassion.

“I know compassion is often a word that you don’t associate with politics, but I think it’s important,” he said. “And I think if you are compassionate, you’re empathetic, and you understand what people want to achieve and what they want to see you do.

David Crisafulli spent day 3 of the election campaign in central Queensland.Credit: Cameron Atfield

“If you can keep your word, and if you can conduct yourself with those values, I do think we can restore faith in government, because what has happened over a long period of time has been a level of distrust in the political process.”

So did the Newman government, in which Crisafulli was a minister, fail in that regard?

“Well, it only had one term,” he said.

“… We are a reformed political entity and that’s important. It’s important for democracy. You’ve had one side that’s had the better part of the last three decades and it’s time, to borrow a phrase, for a fresh start.”

Brisbane Lions forward Joe Daniher has told club officials he has retired from AFL football, just days after winning a premiership.

Joe Daniher is hanging up the boots.Credit: AFL Photos

The news of Daniher’s decision was first reported by channels Nine and Seven but has been independently confirmed by this masthead.

Daniher will attend the Lions’ best and fairest on Thursday night.

He is a leading forward in the AFL close to the top of his game.

Read more.

A 37-year-old man is due to appear in court today, accused of ramming a stolen vehicle into a Runcorn shopfront, and then setting the vehicle and store alight last week.

Police alleged the man was part of a group that rammed the Mazda BT-50 into a store on September 24. They believed the vehicle was stolen from Tweed Heads on September 17.

The man was arrested yesterday after a search warrant was issued for his Eagleby address, and stands in court today charged with seven offences, including two counts of arson, three counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, bringing stolen goods into Queensland, and possession of utensils.

Police want information on a second man also seen in CCTV footage of the incident last week.

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service rangers have urged visitors to be careful when driving around K’gari, formerly known as Fraser Island.

“Yesterday, our rangers found 22 deceased crested terns that were struck by vehicles on the beach, a worrying indicator of reckless driving behaviour and carelessness for our native wildlife,” said ranger Jenna Tapply.

A dead dingo, known to the local Aboriginal people as a wongari, was found near Sandy Cape Spit on the weekend. An assessment confirmed it had been hit by a vehicle.

“Sadly, there have been three car accidents resulting in the deaths of wongari in the past year, with approximately 67 vehicle strikes of wongari since 2000,” Tapply said.

“We urge all visitors and residents on K’gari to drive to the conditions and be mindful of wildlife also living on the island. Driving responsibly reduces the risk of accidents and gives drivers more time to react if they encounter wildlife.”

The island, with its World Heritage Area, has been officially known as K’gari since June 2023.

With the campaign now well underway, Brisbane Times hit the streets of the state capital to ask people if they recognise the two men who are the subject of all the news reports and advertising.

Our last official poll found 29 per cent of people unfamiliar with David Crisafulli, the LNP leader who wants to be premier after October 26.

And despite Steven Miles having been premier since December, 15 per cent of people were still unfamiliar with him.

Crisafulli received more positive reactions from people and also polled as the preferred premier.

Meanwhile, on the hustings, Miles had an uncomfortable moment when asked to name Labor’s local candidate.

Miles has held media events in the sprawling seat of Mirani the past two days, in Mackay and outside Rockhampton, but the party’s candidate Susan Teder has not appeared by his side.

Asked about this on Thursday, Miles said he would find out “where they are”.

Then asked what the candidate’s name was, Miles was unable to provide it until a prompt from Deputy Premier Cameron Dick behind him.

“Susan? … yeah, of course, it’s Susan,” Miles said.

Brisbane Times has been told Teder’s absence has been due to a death in the family.

On the back of Labor’s pitch yesterday for a new public power retailer, Premier Steven Miles has today said his party would guarantee Queenslanders lower bills than the average mainland national market price.

The guarantee is essentially a safety net to be offered through the proposed new retailer’s pricing, or via rebates. It would be funded through the increased coal royalty revenue the state receives when global energy prices are higher.

“We are so confident that our plan for the energy network will deliver cheaper wholesale prices that we are able to introduce this guarantee for all Queensland households that they will always have the cheapest power in Australia,” Premier Steven Miles told journalists at a campaign stop at the state-owned Stanwell power station outside Rockhampton.

While LNP leader David Crisafulli said he supported such interim measures, he also promised to manage the state’s power assets better to “drive down the ongoing costs”.

Meanwhile, the incumbent treasurer, Labor’s Cameron Dick, accused Business Chamber Queensland of being a “proxy for the LNP” after it criticised Labor’s announcement of a state-owned retailer.

Operations at Oaky Creek Coal Mine have been suspended today after a man died at the site and another was seriously injured.

Glencore, a part-owner of the mine, said the incident occurred when the men were doing maintenance.

“Our deepest sympathies go out to both workers’ families, friends and colleagues,” said Ian Cribb, CEO of Glencore’s coal business in Australia.

“This is devastating for our entire Oaky Creek workforce, and we are providing support services and counselling.”

The LNP’s Ros Bates has decades of experience and is still a registered nurse, something she makes clear at every opportunity.

“Ros Bates, shadow minister for health and ambulance services and registered nurse,” the Gold Coast MP announced herself to the media at an Emu Park medical centre today.

But when a Guardian journalist hit his head on an awning at the centre, Bates told the staff that even though she was a registered nurse, they should treat him.

Queensland LNP health spokesman Ros Bates tends to a wounded journalist on the campaign trail.Credit: Cameron Atfield

Bates’ professional status has been questioned by Labor before, and the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency has a condition on her registration that she “not undertake any roles requiring direct clinical patient care unless approved to do so by the [nursing] board or its delegate”.

Nonetheless, when the wound started weeping, Bates was happy to lend a hand – two, in fact, protected by latex gloves.

David Crisafulli started debate day in central Queensland, where he announced $50 million for two specialist youth mental health centres, and $4.5 million for new netball courts in Yeppoon.

The opposition leader showed off his netball skills at the Barmaryee Sports Precinct, before heading down the road to the Family Practice at Emu Park.

There, Crisafulli announced two six-bed “Step Up, Step Down” mental health facilities, one in Rockhampton and the other in a location to be determined.

LNP leader David Crisafulli at the Barmaryee Sports Precinct at Yeppoon, where he announced a $4.5 million commitment to Capricorn Coast Netball to build four new hard courts, where grass courts currently exist, as well as new lighting.Credit: Cameron Atfield

“For those who are early on suffering anxiety and depression, they are able to step up into a facility like this, where they can go in, get round-the-clock care for up to 28 days, and it can be that circuit breaker that prevents them having to go to hospital,” he said.

While there, opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates, a trained nurse, dusted off her skills when she attended to Guardian journalist Andrew Messenger, after he came off second best in a head clash with an awning at the surgery.

A woozy Messenger has his wound glued back together by a clinic nurse before the media conference, but by its conclusion his head had started bleeding again.

Enter Bates, who donned the latex gloves and inspected the wound, under the watchful eye of a nurse at the clinic.