As it happened: Brisbane on December 1

That’s where we’ll leave our live updates today. Have a great weekend and we’ll be back on Monday morning.

Here are some of the main local headlines making news today:

• Cricket and the AFL could be played at an upgraded RNA Showgrounds while the Gabba is being rebuilt for the Olympics, under a funding proposal floated by the Queensland government.

An artist’s impression of the redeveloped RNA Showgrounds.

• Former federal Liberal political staffer Brittany Higgins has denied that she went public with a Parliament House rape allegation to affect the 2022 election.
• A suspected war criminal who sent boys on missions for the Tamil Tigers during Sri Lanka’s long-running civil war – some of which proved to be suicide bombings – was freed into community detention by the Coalition two years ago after being stricken with cancer.
• The post-pandemic jobs boom for white-collar workers is coming to an abrupt halt.
• The Pink Flamingo Spiegeland is set to breathe life into an old shipyard in Hamilton, transforming the area from an abandoned dock to a go-to place for dance, acrobatics and cabaret-style shows.

And from world news:

• Heavy fighting has been reported in Gaza with Israel’s military saying it has resumed combat operations, accusing Hamas of violating a temporary truce by firing rockets into Israel.
• As usual, Elon Musk has made a big splash with a new product. Now the big question is whether it will sell.

CEO Elon Musk showed off the electric trucks with an event at the company’s factory outside of Austin, Texas.Credit: AP

• The jury is still out on whether the oil-rich nation and the oil-baron presiding over this year’s climate talks can achieve enough for the environment. Their first announcement isn’t a bad start.

Firefighters have worked to contain a fire that “fully involved” parts of a golf club in Brisbane overnight.

Emergency services were called to the scene after reports The Brisbane Golf Club in Yeerongpilly was on fire about 7.55pm.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Acting Superintendent Darren Welsh said 22 firefighters responded and worked to isolate the fire to the workshop and commercial shop.

It took crews more than three hours to bring the fire under control.

Welsh said the cause of the fire was unknown but said there were a number of batteries inside the workshop at the time.

“The crews did a great job in containing the fire, [and] it did not spread,” he said.

That’s where we’ll leave our live updates today. Have a great weekend and we’ll be back on Monday morning.

Here are some of the main local headlines making news today:

• Cricket and the AFL could be played at an upgraded RNA Showgrounds while the Gabba is being rebuilt for the Olympics, under a funding proposal floated by the Queensland government.

An artist’s impression of the redeveloped RNA Showgrounds.

• Former federal Liberal political staffer Brittany Higgins has denied that she went public with a Parliament House rape allegation to affect the 2022 election.
• A suspected war criminal who sent boys on missions for the Tamil Tigers during Sri Lanka’s long-running civil war – some of which proved to be suicide bombings – was freed into community detention by the Coalition two years ago after being stricken with cancer.
• The post-pandemic jobs boom for white-collar workers is coming to an abrupt halt.
• The Pink Flamingo Spiegeland is set to breathe life into an old shipyard in Hamilton, transforming the area from an abandoned dock to a go-to place for dance, acrobatics and cabaret-style shows.

And from world news:

• Heavy fighting has been reported in Gaza with Israel’s military saying it has resumed combat operations, accusing Hamas of violating a temporary truce by firing rockets into Israel.
• As usual, Elon Musk has made a big splash with a new product. Now the big question is whether it will sell.

CEO Elon Musk showed off the electric trucks with an event at the company’s factory outside of Austin, Texas.Credit: AP

• The jury is still out on whether the oil-rich nation and the oil-baron presiding over this year’s climate talks can achieve enough for the environment. Their first announcement isn’t a bad start.

The Brisbane Lions have named injured forward Dakota Davidson in their squad for the AFLW grand final against North Melbourne.

As expected, the Lions included the All-Australian forward in their extended squad on Thursday, with the final teams to be named on Friday.

Dakota Davidson of the Lions celebrates a goal against the Cats at Brighton Homes Arena preliminary final.Credit: Getty

But even if Davidson is named in their final 21, her availability will probably remain unclear until the teams run out on Sunday at Ikon Park.

Davidson, one of Brisbane’s most important players, was in tears after injuring her left knee in last Saturday night’s preliminary final win over Geelong.

Scans are said to have cleared her of any structural damage, but Davidson still faces a race to recover enough by Sunday to play.

New and extended biosecurity zones have come into force in south-east Queensland, confirming the spread of fire ants further inland, to North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah) and across the NSW border.

Map of fire ant biosecurity zones in Queensland, effective December 2023.

The zones apply to anyone who works with organic materials, such as landscaping and farm supplies, and require extra precautions be taken to slow the spread of fire ants.

As governments recommit to containment and suppression measures, additional areas have been added in the Scenic Rim, Moreton Bay, Gold Coast, Lockyer Valley and Brisbane local government areas.

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland inspectors conducted a blitz of 11 businesses offering spray-painting services and found none were fully compliant with the rules.

Inspectors issued 70 improvement notices and called out 17 issues that were fixed on the spot.

“There’s no excuse for not taking appropriate safety measures to reduce risks to workers and others,” said WHSQ boss Peter McKay.

“By engaging with employers and workers, and taking action when we see something that’s putting people at risk of harm, awful incidents are avoided.”

The businesses will be subjected to follow-up compliance checks.

This week a 95-metre-tall mast travelled down the Brisbane River to be installed on the new Kangaroo Point Green Bridge, bringing the project a step close to completion.

In our latest weekly reader’s poll, we asked if you thought the Brisbane River needed more bridge crossings: 43 per cent of you said yes, 35 per cent said no, and 22 per cent were unsure.

“Many more bridges and ring roads are needed for Brisbane, to get away from the radial road system. Toll roads and toll tunnels are NOT the answer,” said one reader.

Another commented: “There are plenty of crossings already and congestion doesn’t seem too bad. Extra bridges will always be used, but road bridges particularly are going to be monstrously expensive.”

We also asked if the Federal Environment Minister should approve the controversial marina project at Toondah Harbour: 40 per cent of you were unsure, and another 41 per cent said no, leaving 19 per cent in favour.

Meanwhile, the question of whether Baby Boomers’ spending habits were to blame for Australia’s current inflation crisis generated plenty of discussion – although most of you (65 per cent) rubbished this theory.

“We need to get over ourselves and start taking responsibility for our lot instead of trying to find people or things to blame - especially when they are our parents and elders,” one reader added.

From tomorrow, GOMA will be transformed into a place where guests can step into fairy tales, with a layer of twisted woodlands and witches before an ever after room featuring Cinderella’s glass slipper and carriage.

Eiko Ishioka’s stunning costumes from the 2012 Snow White film Mirror Mirror are included in the Fairy Tales exhibition at GOMA.Credit: Jan Thijs

The summer exhibition Fairy Tales leads visitors into three chapters, each of which will prompt thought-provoking moments.

The exhibit, featuring installations, paintings, sculptures and costumes by international and Australian artists including Yayoi Kusama, Patricia Piccinini and Henrique Oliveira, will last from Saturday to April 28 next year.

QAGOMA director Chris Saines said the exhibit would entrance and delight visitors.

“This exhibition is in every way a seriously beautiful book, and shows how artists persistently revisit the enduring themes of fairy tales, both in light and darkness,” he said.

Brisbane riverbank repair projects identified by the councils will be funded by a new $40 million package as part of the SEQ City Deal.

South-east Queensland councils met Environment Minister Leanne Linard on Friday to announce the new and ongoing projects to be covered by the new funding.

The Resilient Rivers Strategy was put in place in 2014 and subsequent river bank repair projects have been funded by around $8.3 million.

The meeting today outlines where the new $40 million will be spent over five years, including on revegetation, weed management and fish passage projects.

The original project was designed to revegetate exposed river banks after the 2011 floods, when tens of millions of tonnes of topsoil was washed from farmlands to Moreton Bay.

Linard acknowledged the support from three levels of government: “The strategy provides a comprehensive plan to improve the health of our catchments and waterways by increasing native vegetation, fortifying erosion control and enhancing bank stability all the way from our hinterlands out to Moreton Bay.”

Lord Mayor Adrain Schrinner said waterways were under threat from population growth and natural disasters and specific, ongoing erosion repair was needed.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has been up to Kallangur this morning to open one of the government’s new satellite hospitals, but spent much of the time talking RNA showgrounds.

The Labor leader had some pointed criticism for Brisbane’s LNP Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner about his apparent push back on the idea this morning, after describing it as “the best option” in a newspaper article back in July.

The Brisbane City Council needs to step up … Now, you don’t go and do photo ops and not stump up the cash – I’m sorry, it doesn’t work like that. We’re not saying to the Brisbane City Council, do it all, we’re saying let’s work in a partnership. And just think about the legacy item there … it’s time for it to be rejuvenated.

On the apparent surprise the decision has taken the AFL and cricket folks by, Palaszczuk had this to say:

They’ve been calling for an answer for time and time again. I don’t think there’s been a minister that hasn’t been lobbied by the cricket code and the AFL code. Now, this is a solution that addresses both of those codes … [the] government gets the right to announce it, the minister has announced it and now he’ll do the detailed consultations. And hopefully some of those teams will also be able to put into the redevelopment.

Read the full story.

The countdown to Christmas is officially on, with the lighting of the Lord Mayor’s Christmas tree tonight.

There will be performances in King George Square from 6:20pm by Eurovision alumni Dami Im and the Australian Girls Choir.

The 22-metre tree will come alive at 6:50pm with 8640 multi-coloured lights. Adelaide Street, between George Street and Edward Street, will be closed from 4pm to 8pm for the event.

Traffic control and diversion routes will be in place to assist motorists and pedestrians through the area.