As it happened: Brisbane on Wednesday, December 11

Thank you for joining us on this grey, wet Wednesday. We will be back tomorrow with more rolling news coverage from Brisbane and beyond.

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

The national rail safety regulator has contradicted claims by the new LNP government that Brisbane’s Cross River Rail will not be ready for passengers until 2029 due to a lengthy certification process.

Rubbish collectors are threatening to stop collecting garbage bins in the Ipswich area over four days, affecting up to 30,000 homes each day, unless their demands for better pay and conditions are met.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joined jubilant Labor Party faithful and childcare workers at the Morningside Panthers AFL club today to spruik his government’s childcare reforms. It made for a warm welcome for the Prime Minister, who yesterday encountered an at-times prickly reception at the Melbourne synagogue targeted by arsonists.

Bringing the man believed to have seriously scalded a Brisbane baby with hot coffee to justice will likely be a “slow burn” after he escaped overseas, Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski says.

The daughter of swimming legend Dawn Fraser has revealed just how close the Olympic great came to death after a nasty fall on an unfinished driveway and the desperate phone call to a neighbour that resulted in emergency surgery and four broken ribs.

The organisers of alternative music festival Good Things have been accused of ignoring allegations of sexual assault, harassment and anti-social behaviour – including men groping women, filming up girls’ skirts, and abusing those who turned down their advances.

And, filming has begun on the Gold Coast on big-budget Hollywood movie Voltron, starring  erstwhile Superman actor Henry Cavill and an international cast including Rita Ora and Sterling K. Brown.

During his last stint as Environment Minister in 2012, Andrew Powell made clear that while he believed climate change was real, he was “a bit sceptical” about humanity’s role.

Powell was presented with those comments by Greens Maiwar MP Michael Berkman in question time today, and gave a response in which he gave a tongue-in-cheek apology for delivering him to parliament.

Berkman worked in the former Office of Climate Change abolished by the Newman government, in which Powell held that ministerial role, and has named the loss of that job as one of the key reasons he decided to enter politics.

On the substance of Berkman’s question, though, about whether Powell still felt the same way?

“I believe in climate change, I stand by those comments,” the minister said.

The new LNP government has suggested it will include the cost of maintenance on all future major projects after claiming Brisbane’s Cross River Rail has blown out in the order of billions of dollars.

The previous Labor government had promised Cross River Rail would be delivered with a budget of $5.4 billion, with most construction finished by 2025 and passenger services starting in 2026.

But the LNP claims it will not be ready until 2029 and will cost more than $17 billion – a figure that includes tunnel maintenance over 25 years.

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli and his predecessor Steven MilesCredit: Joe Ruckli

In question time this afternoon, Opposition Leader Steven Miles asked if ongoing maintenance would be factored into future projects as standard practice.

Premier David Crisafulli replied: “The same barometer that was the one that caught out [Labor’s former transport minister Mark Bailey] will be used on this. It’s the same costings. Good governments plan for the capital, good governments plan for the maintenance.”

At a press conference earlier today Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg said: “Any engineer will tell you that when you look at a project, you need to look at it from cradle to grave.”

It is that time on Wednesday afternoon … question time is under way on George Street.

The budget blowouts on Cross River Rail are the hot topic today.

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie claimed that the former Labor government hid the true costs of Cross River Rail, only to release them while in opposition, eliciting laughter from his colleagues, including Premier David Crisafulli.

Queensland’s new Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie.Credit: Joe Ruckli

New Finance Minister and veteran politician Ros Bates said the former Labor government had put Queensland at risk of having its AA+ credit rating downgraded.

“Let’s talk about the books, let’s talk about cooking the books,” she said.

You can watch question time live, here.

The national rail safety regulator has contradicted claims by the new LNP government that Brisbane’s Cross River Rail will not be ready for passengers until 2029 due to a lengthy certification process.

The previous Labor government had promised Cross River Rail would be delivered with a budget of $5.4 billion, with most construction finished by 2025 and passenger services starting in 2026.

Minister for Transport Brent Mickelberg.Credit: Queensland Government

On Tuesday, Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg said the mega project would cost more than $17 billion and not be ready until 2029.

The LNP said that when finished, the tunnel must be independently certified by the National Rail Safety Regulator, which would take at least two years.

However, the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator has refuted that claim this afternoon.

“ONRSR does not undertake testing or commissioning for any major project – this is the role of the project manager, so the timeframe for this process is a matter for them,” a spokeswoman for the regulator said.

“ONRSR’s role is to assess evidence provided by the project manager to confirm that the safety assurance process for the project is complete and in accordance with their safety management system. ONRSR also assesses the supporting evidence for the operational safety case prior to commencement of first passenger services.

“Every project has its own characteristics, so timeframes vary and are managed by the respective project managers.”

Read more here.

Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg has suggested the federal government should chip in to help cover billions of dollars the state LNP claims to have been hidden from the cost of Brisbane’s Cross River Rail project.

Mickelberg said today the $5.4 billion project, expected to open in 2026, had doubled in cost under the former state government’s measure, with its full cost reaching more than $17 billion.

He told journalists that briefings from the safety regulator had suggested passengers would not be able to ride the line until 2029, but refused to provide further detailed information.

“I have a detailed breakdown, and I’m not going to share that detailed breakdown because it may jeopardise contract negotiations and I’m not going to put … the Queensland taxpayer in a position where we’re going to pay more to a contractor than we otherwise need,” he said.

Pressed on how the new government would pay for the claimed cost-overruns, Mickelberg said the LNP supported finishing the “half-built” project but “there is an additional sum that does need to be supported, and it is in the billions of dollars”.

Mickelberg was not drawn on whether the government would seek new or expanded private sector partnerships to cover the gap, but said “if [federal Infrastructure Minister] Catherine King wants to commit additional funds to Cross River Rail, I will welcome it with open arms”.

“Any engineer will tell you that when you look at a project, you need to look at it from cradle to grave,” he said.

A 23-year-old man has been arrested by police, including the dog squad, following an early morning break-in today at a chemist in the Gold Coast suburb of Robina.

Police said a brick was thrown through the Cheltenham Drive business’s front glass door about 2.10am, and they suspected a large quantity of prescription drugs had been taken from the store’s shelves.

Officers arrived to find the 23-year-old Pimpama man fleeing the scene, and began “a short foot chase” with officers and police dogs.

Police shared video of “a short foot chase” after the reported break-in at Robina.Credit: Queensland Police

The man was caught and arrested, suffering minor injuries from a dog in the process.

He was charged with two offences related to the alleged break-in, and was expected to appear before Southport Magistrates Court today.

As we mentioned earlier, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was in Brisbane this morning spruiking his government’s childcare reforms.

Albanese joined jubilant Labor Party faithful and childcare workers at the Morningside Panthers AFL club, in the electorate of prominent Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather, to formally announce the $1 billion plan.

Under the plan, up to three days of childcare each week would be guaranteed to all families earning under $530,000 per year.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Brisbane today.Credit: William Davis

Grants would be given to existing education providers to operate in under resourced areas and 160 state-backed facilities would be built or expanded.

“We know early education is an opportunity every child deserves,” the Prime Minister said.

“For the whole of the 20th century it’s been understood that every child has the right to go to school - and government has a responsibility to make that possible.

“In the 21st century every child has the right to go to early education, to help get them ready for school - and our Labor government is going to make this possible.”

It made for a warm Brisbane welcome for the Prime Minister, who yesterday encountered an at-times prickly reception at the Melbourne synagogue targeted by arsonists.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt, Early Childhood Education Minister Anne Aly, dozens of early childhood educators and scores of young children were among those in attendance.

The Prime Minister carried a baby out of the Brisbane venue and did not take questions.

The daughter of swimming legend Dawn Fraser has revealed just how close the Olympic great came to death after a nasty fall on an unfinished driveway and the desperate phone call to a neighbour that resulted in emergency surgery and four broken ribs.

Moments before being taken for emergency hip surgery last week, close family were told there was a good chance Fraser might not survive the fall at her daughter’s house on the Sunshine Coast.

“The last thing mum said to me was, ‘I’m going to fight’,” her daughter, Dawn-Lorraine, told this masthead a short time ago.

“I said, ‘You make sure you fight’.

“Then when she came out of intensive care, she looked at us and said, ‘See, I told you I’d fight’.

“The scariest moment was when the anaesthetist just said to me, ‘She probably won’t survive this’.

“They don’t know my mother and they don’t know how much of a fighter she is.”

Filming has begun on the Gold Coast on big-budget Hollywood movie Voltron, which is expected to inject $100 million into the local economy.

Screen Queensland CEO Jacqui Feeney said the film is the latest Amazon MGM film to be made in Queensland, following on from The Bluff and Balls Up earlier in the year.

The film, starring Henry Cavill, will soon begin filming on the Gold Coast.

“Voltron will employ approximately 825 screen practitioners at Village Roadshow Studios [in Oxenford] and provide invaluable on-set training opportunities to emerging crew,” Feeney said.

Minister for the Arts John-Paul Langbroek said the production was a “welcome injection of more than $100 million to Queensland’s economy”.

Featuring erstwhile Superman actor Henry Cavill and an international cast including Rita Ora and Sterling K. Brown, Voltron is based on an animated children’s action series that first aired in the 1980s.