As it happened: Brisbane on Thursday, January 18

That’s where we’ll leave our live updates. Here are the main headlines for Thursday, January 18:

South-east Queensland’s next transport projects need to be the focus for legacy building in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympic Games, Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has declared.

Former Brisbane lord mayor Graham Quirk speaks at a press conference fronted by Premier Steven Miles (second from left), Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner and Grace Grace.Credit: Matt Dennien

An American accused of messaging the Australian family who gunned down two police officers and a neighbour is facing additional charges of illegally possessing military-style rifles and threatening FBI agents.

When is the right time to travel to a disaster-affected area? It’s worth posing again in the wake of tropical cyclone Jasper, and the storms that ravaged the Gold Coast, Logan and Scenic Rim regions over the Christmas period.

Travis Head is David Warner’s spiritual successor in the Test side, helped by the luxuries he enjoys as an Australian cricketer, and made a 100 of top quality on a tricky pitch against a committed West Indian bowling attack.

The government has announced a $5 billion boost for the SwimStart program up until June 2025.

LNP Deputy Leader Jarrod Bleijie has now shared his take on the 2032 Games venue review.

At a parliament house media conference, Bleijie seized on the announcement to repeat suggestions the Miles Labor government was simply planning to walk back from demolishing and rebuilding the Gabba.

Bleijie would not directly respond when asked if he welcomed the review being led by the party’s former lord mayor, Graham Quirk, or if he would support a potential recommendation that the current plan was still the best value-for-money option.

“The review will be the review,” Bleijie said. “We’ve said it’s not going to be knocked down under an LNP government.“

He said Premier Steven Miles’ past role as Annastacia Palaszczuk’s deputy and infrastructure minister meant he was responsible for the fact such a review was even needed – and could have been avoided with a now (again) promised independent infrastructure authority.

Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon and local MP Leanne Linard will meet with property developers Mirvac to discuss social and affordable housing on the Toombul Shopping Centre site.

Mirvac have owned the site next to bus, rail and Airtrain links since 2016, and are finalising a development application to Brisbane City Council to replace the shopping centre, which never reopened after flooding in February 2022.

The new South East Queensland Regional Plan asks each council to ensure that 25 per cent of new dwellings are social or affordable dwellings. The ratio doesn’t apply to individual development applications, but to the local council area overall.

Scanlon said she wanted to learn if Mirvac planned social housing on the site.

“I am always open to opportunities to develop more social and affordable housing, and I think the private sector has a role to play in that,” the minister said.

Brisbane City Council said it had not received a development application from Mirvac for the Toombul site, although the 12-month demolition begins in earnest in February.

Mirvac said it was concentrating on the demolition phase and a master plan was not ready.

Greens figures, who’ve been campaigning hard with community members against plans to demolish and rebuild the Gabba, have now weighed in on the Olympic venues review announced today.

State South Brisbane MP Amy MacMahon and mayoral candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan will hold a media conference later today, but have shared some sentiments already, cautiously describing it as a “partial win”.

MacMahon said the review could not ignore concerns about the East Brisbane State School to be consumed by the present plans or suggestions of upgrades to QSAC or using Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast.

“​​[Review panel head] Graham Quirk needs to have the guts to face up this community,” she said. “Give the Gabba the upgrades it needs, but this cannot come at the cost of a local school, a heavily used park, or billions in public money.”

Sriranganathan said with the project a major council election issue, it was “ridiculous” the review wouldn’t be handed to government until after votes were cast, with Premier Steven Miles and Labor mayoral candidate Tracey Price needing to state their positions before then.

LNP Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has welcomed the start of a 60-day review of Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games venues.

Premier Steven Miles has appointed former lord mayor Graham Quirk to head the review, which will focus on value for money, deliverability, and community legacy.

“Ultimately, it’s shown the premier is willing to change the approach which I think is a great thing,” Schrinner, who has previously criticised the focus on new venues and not the legacy of better transport infrastructure, said on Triple M this morning.

“That takes the politics out of it because obviously Graham is from a different side of politics than the premier, that way there’s a balanced approach, it’s not party political, it’s not political games, it’s an independent process.”

The review panel is due to report after the Brisbane City Council election in March, and before budgets are finalised for 2024-25.

Labor’s lord mayoral candidate, Tracey Price, has previously welcomed the review, and vowed to respect community wishes with regard to a planned $2.7 billion redevelopment of the Gabba.

The Greens’ lord mayoral candidate, Jonathan Sriranganathan, opposes the redevelopment.

Queensland’s premier is calling for tougher penalties for retailers found to be price gouging, as he prepares to grill supermarket bosses about rising grocery costs.

Steven Miles said stories from farmers about how the supermarket giants were dealing with them when negotiating supplier agreements were “disturbing”.

“I’ve heard from farmers who aren’t sure if they want to keep doing it because they’re struggling to make ends meet as their own costs have gone up,” he said. “They’re sick of being treated that way by the supermarkets.”

Supermarket chains, particularly Coles and Woolworths, have come under scrutiny after recording large profits while consumers struggle with cost of living pressures.

Miles said he would also meet wholesaler Metcash, which owns IGA, and Aldi to “see what they need to be operating in more communities”.

“Clearly one of the problems here is the sheer amount of power in the hands of two supermarket chains,” he said.

The premier’s comments come after the federal government announced a review of the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct, aimed at improving business standards in the sector.

As recently as November, while still the state’s deputy leader and infrastructure minister, now-Premier Steven Miles said the $2.7 billion Gabba rebuild plans were the “best value for money” for taxpayers.

So it’s to be expected he faced a barrage of questions about the move from such staunch defence to sharing some community concern about the cost while announcing the new review of 2032 Games venue plans.

“I signed off on an option that I was consistently advised was the best outcome. Now I’m saying I would like new advice. I would like independent advice,” Miles offered in response to one of them alongside the current and former LNP Lord Mayor this morning.

“The best outcome might be the current plan, in which case I hope everybody accepts that outcome. However, my preference is I would prefer to see a better value outcome - that’s what I’ve always wanted.”

The review was partly prompted by the concerns of key sporting codes, who were asked to chip in to upgrade the RNA Showgrounds during Gabba works, with Miles conceding his government “underestimated the impact” on them.

Police have cleared an earlier crash that closed the entry to the Airport Link tunnel at Clayfield.

There were delays on the East-West Arterial Road, but police confirmed they had now reopened the road.

A man was taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital with a shoulder injury.

Premier Steven Miles is fronting journalists in Brisbane now with minister Grace Grace, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, and former mayor Graham Quirk.

Former Brisbane lord mayor Graham Quirk speaks at a press conference fronted by Premier Steven Miles (second from left), Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner and Grace Grace.Credit: Matt Dennien

Quirk, described by Miles and Schrinner as the “father of the Games” for his decade-old role pushing for the 2032 Games with other south-east mayors, has been asked to review the venue plan.

“I’m not going to be ruling anything in or anything out,” Quirk said. “This will be a genuinely independent review, because the reality is the Olympics don’t belong to anyone … [they] belong to everyone.

“It is a shame that it has become divisive in some quarters, but if I can in some way help to regain confidence, then that’s very much what I’m about.

“The one thing that I’m probably most concerned about is the need to start making decisions.”

Labor is set to reveal the replacement for former premier Annastacia Palaszczuk as the MP for Inala after she formally ended her 17 years in the party’s heartland seat on December 31.

Margie Nightingale is set to be announced today as Labor’s contender for the looming byelection.Credit: LinkedIn

Margie Nightingale is expected to be announced this week as Labor’s contender for the looming byelection – yet to be officially scheduled, but tipped to be held alongside council elections on March 16. A full state election will follow in October.

Nightingale is a former teacher and part-time policy officer for Labor’s federal Oxley MP Milton Dick, who took up a full-time policy role with Milton’s brother – nearby state MP and now Deputy Premier Cameron Dick – last year.

If she continues Labor success in one of the party’s safest seats, Nightingale will be Inala’s first non-Palaszczuk MP.

Henry Palaszczuk held the seat from its inception in 1992 until his retirement in 2006, when he was succeeded by his daughter.

The then-premier was last re-elected in 2020 with a two-party margin of 28.2 per cent against the LNP.

While yet to announce its candidate, LNP leader David Crisafulli said this week his party planned to campaign hard and give residents a chance to “vote for change”.