As it happened: Brisbane on Monday, December 2

A week after Tracey Butler and her husband moved into their new home in 2018, she noticed people in full hazmat suits walking around her street.

“We thought it was a gas leak,” she said.

The next day, the Queensland Department of Environment knocked on her door to tell her they were conducting tests to see what was in the atmosphere.

“I asked why were they wearing full hazmat gear... they replied, ‘we don’t know what chemicals are out there from these facilities, we don’t want to breathe it in our lungs’,” Butler said.

What followed over the next six years was thousands of residents of Ipswich, southwest of Brisbane, complaining of odours coming from several waste management facilities, known as the Swanbank landfill, surrounding their suburb.

Various descriptions of the smell range from raw sewage, ammonia, ethanol, rotting compost, sour milk and decaying animal bodies.

Three Swanbank landfills were major sources of odour complaints in Ipswich.Credit: Mark Solomons

“We haven’t slept with our window open in six years,” Butler said. “It’s easier to close up the house than to wake up and vomit everywhere.”

Last week, waste management company Cleanaway was handed a landmark fine totalling $600,000 for those odours.

Residents and Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding now want the long-term impact of exposure to the potent smells to be investigated.

“The previous Queensland government had declined numerous requests ... for a public health inquiry,” Harding said.

The new LNP government campaigned on the promise of establishing a comprehensive public health inquiry to assess the health risks. Then-opposition health spokesperson Ros Bates said, “Labor has ignored this issue for too long, leaving Ipswich residents in the dark about the potential dangers to their health.”

A month into its new term, the Crisafulli government is yet to respond to requests for an update on the status of those plans.

“I look forward to meeting with the new Health Minister Tim Nicholls on this matter as a priority,” Harding said.

Thank you for joining us on this hot, muggy Monday. We will be back tomorrow with more rolling news coverage, so please join us.

If you are just catching up, here are some of the stories making headlines today:

Men with links to the Comanchero bikie gang used a newly purchased fishing boat to collect cocaine from a “mothership” off the coast of Queensland, allege police who say the botched operation was Australia’s largest attempted importation of cocaine.

Brisbane residents sweltered on Monday after slow-moving thunderstorms pummelled the city at the weekend, causing heavy rainfall, flash flooding and a dam overspill.

Developers have applied to build a 50-storey residential tower at South Brisbane that, if built, would be the city’s tallest building outside the CBD.

A young couple in Brisbane’s south-east proved you can put a price on serenity – $1.89 million to be exact – securing a four-bedroom house on Saturday after a fierce 15-minute auction.

From Tuesday, 2500 Neuron e-scooters will be rolled out across the city, with “safety ambassadors” on the streets to help new riders get started.

Opposition Leader Steven Miles has questioned the selection of seven experts to lead the LNP government’s review of Olympic and Paralympic Games infrastructure.

One day after announcing 50¢ public transport fares are here to stay, the state government has indicated it will not renew the six-month trial of half-price Airtrain tickets.

Residents want the long-term impacts of being exposed to potent smells from three local tips to be properly investigated.

Police investigating the death of a two-year-old boy outside Durack State School last week want to speak with anyone who knows the movements of the vehicle that struck him.

And in sport, Laurie Daley has been appointed NSW’s new State of Origin coach, seven years after he was first sacked from the role.

The federal government has today opened two urgent care clinics in Goodna and Oxley, offering walk-in services seven days a week.

The clinics provide bulk-billed services for non-life-threatening injuries and run extended opening hours.

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler at a clinic in September.Credit: Eddie Jim

Health Minister Mark Butler said the clinics were expected to “take pressure off the local hospitals and give patients another option to access urgent care when they need it”.

The Goodna clinic is located in the Goodna Family Medical Centre on Smith Road, and the Oxley clinic is at Growlife Medical on Seventeen Mile Rocks Road.

A 13-year-old boy, who has been missing from Ipswich since Thursday last week, was last seen wearing his school uniform.

A photo of the missing teen.Credit: Queensland Police Service

The boy was last seen near Alesana Drive in Bellbird Park about 8am on Thursday, November 28, and has not been heard from since.

His family says his disappearance is out of character.

He is described as being Pacific Islander in appearance and 160 centimetres tall with black, shoulder-length hair. He was wearing a navy and maroon school uniform and carrying a black backpack when he was last seen.

Police have urged anyone with information regarding the boy’s location, including the boy himself, to contact Policelink on 131 444, or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

A week after Tracey Butler and her husband moved into their new home in 2018, she noticed people in full hazmat suits walking around her street.

“We thought it was a gas leak,” she said.

The next day, the Queensland Department of Environment knocked on her door to tell her they were conducting tests to see what was in the atmosphere.

“I asked why were they wearing full hazmat gear... they replied, ‘we don’t know what chemicals are out there from these facilities, we don’t want to breathe it in our lungs’,” Butler said.

What followed over the next six years was thousands of residents of Ipswich, southwest of Brisbane, complaining of odours coming from several waste management facilities, known as the Swanbank landfill, surrounding their suburb.

Various descriptions of the smell range from raw sewage, ammonia, ethanol, rotting compost, sour milk and decaying animal bodies.

Three Swanbank landfills were major sources of odour complaints in Ipswich.Credit: Mark Solomons

“We haven’t slept with our window open in six years,” Butler said. “It’s easier to close up the house than to wake up and vomit everywhere.”

Last week, waste management company Cleanaway was handed a landmark fine totalling $600,000 for those odours.

Residents and Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding now want the long-term impact of exposure to the potent smells to be investigated.

“The previous Queensland government had declined numerous requests ... for a public health inquiry,” Harding said.

The new LNP government campaigned on the promise of establishing a comprehensive public health inquiry to assess the health risks. Then-opposition health spokesperson Ros Bates said, “Labor has ignored this issue for too long, leaving Ipswich residents in the dark about the potential dangers to their health.”

A month into its new term, the Crisafulli government is yet to respond to requests for an update on the status of those plans.

“I look forward to meeting with the new Health Minister Tim Nicholls on this matter as a priority,” Harding said.

Federal Financial Services Minister Andrew Leigh says news laws will crack down on big tech acting as “gatekeepers” to online platforms and stifling competition.

Jones will use a speech today to reveal companies such as Apple, Samsung and Google will face increased scrutiny as part of the government’s efforts to lift competition across the entire tech sector.

Speaking to Sky News, Jones said that small businesses operating in Australia had to appear on social media and Google Search to compete, making it crucial to effectively moderate competition on the platforms.

The federal government says the crackdown will focus on how big tech companies preference their own commercial interests.Credit: iStock

“They’re gatekeepers and rule makers when it comes to those entry points to the economy, and they make rules to suit themselves,” Jones said.

“They don’t make rules to suit Australians, Australian consumers or small businesses. We’ve got to intervene to ensure that we’ve got a bit more balance in here.”

Jones said the focus would be on how the platform preferences traffic, their own commercial interests and access to the app stores.

The Coalition hasn’t revealed if it will support the plan, with Nationals leader David Littleproud telling Sky News it is “more like a thought bubble at the moment”, while opposition finance spokesperson Jane Hume questioned why it had taken so long for Jones to take action.

Read more here.

Shoppers loosened their purse strings in October, spending more on television sets and audiovisual equipment and boosting overall retail sales, ahead of Black Friday sales this month.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today showed retail sales picked up 0.6 per cent in October and 3.4 per cent over the year – the fastest annual pace since May last year.

Australians spent more on televisions and other electronics as they went on sale.Credit: Domenico Pugliese

The bureau’s head of business statistics, Robert Ewing, said some retailers enticed buyers to spend early with discounting, particularly on discretionary items.

All states saw spending step up over the month, with South Australia (up 1.3 per cent) and Tasmania (up 1.1 per cent) leading the way.

Food retailers also bounced back, driven by liquor sales.

However, spending on clothing, footwear and personal accessories slipped 0.6 per cent and spending at department stores dropped 0.3 per cent.

Pregnant women and infants are now eligible for free immunisation against Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) under an expanded Queensland Health program.

Since April, all newborns in Queensland have been eligible for a free RSV immunisation. That monoclonal antibody has now been extended to children up to 24 months of age, while the vaccine Abrysvo is available for pregnant women at between 28 and 36 weeks gestation.

Queensland Health figures show there have been almost 340,000 RVS cases in the state since the start of 2024.

Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard estimated the expanded program would next year prevent around 960 children, aged under six months, becoming so sick they need to be hospitalised.

“As of November 24 this year, we recorded 372 fewer hospitalisations among babies aged under six months this year compared to the same time last year,” Gerrard said of the existing program.

“We know we can do better and that’s why expanding the program is great news.”

A man in his 60s has been bitten by a shark while spearfishing off the central Queensland coast.

Paramedics were called to Curtis Island, located immediately offshore of Gladstone, about 8.25am today.

“We understand the male had been spearfishing and was wearing a wetsuit,” said Danielle Martin, the Acting Officer in Charge of Gladstone police station.

“The male was found to have superficial to moderate injuries to both forearms, with one shark tooth mark.”

He was taken to Gladstone Hospital in a stable condition following initial treatment from bystanders on Curtis Island.

“We don’t respond to these very often, but when we do, they’re a unique incident, which requires us to work with other services to bring the patient in in a timely manner. We were lucky in this case,” Martin said.

Opposition Leader Steven Miles has questioned the selection of seven experts to lead the LNP government’s review of Olympic and Paralympic Games infrastructure.

The former premier told ABC Radio this morning it appeared that Premier David Crisafulli “picked seven people that he knew” to sit on the panel tasked with carrying out his government’s 100-day Games review.

Former Queensland premier Steven Miles.Credit: Photograph Joe Ruckli | Australian Financial Review

“We’d already passed legislation to create an independent delivery authority,” Miles said.

“It just looks pretty strange to me that you have an independent process that recommends seven appointments and instead of making those appointments, you pick seven other people.”

Miles also rebuffed accusations his government covered up “budget blowouts” on infrastructure projects.

“We regularly updated our expected costs on these projects,” he said.

He added his government’s election loss was the result of late action on crime, coupled with “a bit of a shift away from incumbents”.

A glance at Brisbane’s swollen rehabilitation group shows what is driving the Lions’ efforts to avoid a fate that has plagued three of the past four AFL premiers.

Brutal conditions greeted the champions in their official pre-season return at a humid Springfield today, although most senior players had shown up a week ago to run with the rookies.

Lachie Neale and Dayne Zorko lift the premiership cup.Credit: Eddie Jim

Collingwood’s failed defence this year saw them join 2022 champions Geelong and 2020 premiers Richmond as non-finalists the season after lifting the cup.

The Western Bulldogs were other reigning champions to miss the top eight in 2017, and 2021 winners Melbourne made the following post-season but lost both finals games.

The Lions have been contenders since a breakout 2019 season and were narrowly beaten in last year’s decider against Collingwood, before overcoming a spate of key, early-season injuries and a poor start to manufacture an incredible premiership success story in 2024.

“There’s going to be talk about premiership hangovers and everything like that,” veteran Lion Dayne Zorko said on Monday.

“But this group has matured so much over the last six years [of finals campaigns], we’ve encountered so many scenarios but always come out and improved.

“So we just need to keep improving. We’d love to buck that trend and get back to that day in September again.”

AAP