As it happened: Brisbane on Thursday, April 4

The company behind the massive Bulimba Barracks redevelopment has submitted detailed plans for public space spanning more than 500 metres along the Brisbane riverfront.

In documents filed with Brisbane City Council, the Shayher Group has proposed a network of walkways and cycleways, a shipyard-themed playground, covered picnic areas, a viewing deck, and grass fields for the site.

The Shayher Group has submitted plans for a riverside park as part of its Bulimba Barracks redevelopment in Brisbane.

An existing boat ramp would be retained – council plans to refurbish the adjacent Apollo Road ferry terminal – and established trees made into a feature, including a Tree of Knowledge by the water.

The proposed park would feature lighting intended to resemble hanging candles.

While the public art has yet to be specified, the developers plan a Candle Maker Square, with covered open-air seating, to acknowledge the former candle factory in the area.

The Shayher Group purchased the site from the Department of Defence for $63 million, and has an approved masterplan for more than 800 homes – some in buildings of up to five storeys – in a mixed-use development.

It is opposite Northshore Hamilton, and the future athletes’ village for the 2032 Games, and would continue the urban renewal that has transformed former industrial areas along that stretch of the river.

However, some, including the Greens, have raised concern over the scale of the development, and the need for extensive fill to mitigate the risk of flooding.

The Shayher Group has been contacted for comment.

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Tragic news broke today, with an elderly man found dead this morning near his vehicle, submerged in floodwater south-west of Brisbane. Intense rainfall overnight had dumped over 150mm of rain in parts of the Lockyer Valley and Scenic Rim.

A former Seven Network producer has made explosive claims about Bruce Lehrmann, telling a court Lehrmann invoiced the network for a bag of cocaine and sex workers.

Back closer to home, a long-awaited vision to overhaul South Bank has been put on hold so it can incorporate still uncertain changes to 2032 Games venues. The government had proposed demolition of the Piazza, adding a treetop walk, a more pedestrian-friendly Grey Street, new restaurants, improved riverside paths and green space. It may be some time yet until the venue plan takes full shape.

Also in Queensland, conservation groups are going to court in a bid to derail a new coal mine they say will aggravate global warming for at least 30 years.

It sounds like the set-up for a punchline: three feminists and a comedian hosted an event. But many weren’t amused. Some, in fact, walked out.

In sport, a Maroons star has found a way to take his game to new heights; meet the most famous basketball player in the world right now; and the puck had barely touched the ice in this New York Rangers v New Jersey Devils clash when the players began trading punches in a wild, all-in fight.

The Brisbane Times’ live blog will return tomorrow morning.

While Premier Steven Miles’ Mackay media conference today was ostensibly about police numbers, he also faced questions about the government’s large pumped hydro project plans some 75 kilometres to the city’s west.

The Pioneer-Burdekin project was announced by his predecessor Annastacia Palaszczuk and initially pitched at an estimated $12 billion as the key plank of the Labor’s plans to end reliance on coal power by 2035.

Its location was chosen based on initial investigations and is still subject to studies and assessments. But media reporting this week has now put the expected price tag closer to, or above, $18 billion.

After Miles faced frustrated locals at a community event in Eungella this week, conceding cost estimates had probably climbed and the initial announcement could have been done better, the LNP opposition labelled the plans – which it does not support – a “hydro hoax”.

Miles said while the upfront costs of the pumped hydro project were large, the ongoing operating costs were the most efficient, calling on the LNP to release its own energy plans with a state election due in October.

More than 5000 Queenslanders have cast their vote for this year’s QMusic awards following a statewide poll to find out where music lovers prefer to see live music, and which artists hailing from the Sunshine State they love to listen to.

Finalists for the People’s Choice Award Metro Venue of the Year were whittled down to Brisbane’s Fortitude Music Hall and the Tivoli, and the northside’s Sandstone Point Hotel.

The Gold Coast’s Miami Marketta, set in an industrial zone, is one of the top regional venues shortlisted.

The Brisbane Powerhouse, Kingston Butter Factory Cultural Precinct and Tanks Arts centre were honoured as Accessible Venue of the Year finalists, while top regional venues shortlisted include Ocean Street’s Solbar and the Gold Coast’s Miami Marketta.

As for the 2024 Queensland Music Awards, making the final list of Album of the Year nominees were Cub Sport’s Jesus at the Gay Bar, Holy Holy’s Cellophane, Lastlings’ Perfect World and Robert Forster’s The Candle and the Flame.

Oztix co-founder Brian Chladil (aka Smash) said the energy for the QMAs was already “at a record high”.

“This year will be extra special for us as it marks both 30 years of QMusic and Oztix’s 20th anniversary as Australia’s largest independent ticketing company. We celebrate this milestone by putting our money where our heart and soul is – reinvesting back into our industry with sponsorships and support,” Chladil said.

Winners will be announced at the 2024 Queensland Music Awards at the Fortitude Music Hall on April 17.

A teacher shortage facing Queensland will be worsened by a controversial proposal to give students greater powers to challenge suspensions for poor behaviour, the industry union argues.

Education Minister Di Farmer has introduced a bill that would create new appeal rights, with parents allowed to appeal against a short-term suspension – one to 10 days – if it meant their child would be suspended for 11 or more school days in a calendar year.

Speaking at a parliamentary committee hearing on Thursday, Queensland Teachers’ Union state council member Sarah Holcombe said the impact on the teacher shortage would be “profound”.

“We make professional decisions on this, we support our students, we are putting the plans in place and more often than not with those students who are getting over 11 days, the plans are in place, it’s just a matter of reviewing and it’s a constant process,” she said.

“We’re going to keep losing teachers and therefore the supports aren’t going to be on the ground.”

Meanwhile, Queensland’s Human Rights Commissioner has argued prep students should be exempt from suspensions.

The company behind the massive Bulimba Barracks redevelopment has submitted detailed plans for public space spanning more than 500 metres along the Brisbane riverfront.

In documents filed with Brisbane City Council, the Shayher Group has proposed a network of walkways and cycleways, a shipyard-themed playground, covered picnic areas, a viewing deck, and grass fields for the site.

The Shayher Group has submitted plans for a riverside park as part of its Bulimba Barracks redevelopment in Brisbane.

An existing boat ramp would be retained – council plans to refurbish the adjacent Apollo Road ferry terminal – and established trees made into a feature, including a Tree of Knowledge by the water.

The proposed park would feature lighting intended to resemble hanging candles.

While the public art has yet to be specified, the developers plan a Candle Maker Square, with covered open-air seating, to acknowledge the former candle factory in the area.

The Shayher Group purchased the site from the Department of Defence for $63 million, and has an approved masterplan for more than 800 homes – some in buildings of up to five storeys – in a mixed-use development.

It is opposite Northshore Hamilton, and the future athletes’ village for the 2032 Games, and would continue the urban renewal that has transformed former industrial areas along that stretch of the river.

However, some, including the Greens, have raised concern over the scale of the development, and the need for extensive fill to mitigate the risk of flooding.

The Shayher Group has been contacted for comment.

Acting Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski has given detail on the work to understand the death of a 71-year-old man found near a vehicle submerged in floodwater after last night’s drenching for parts of the south-east.

Also appearing at the media conference, Premier Steven Miles said his sympathies and condolences went to the man’s family.

Emergency services were also called to a rescue, Gollschewski said.

Here’s some more of his comments:

Our investigations are under way as to what the circumstances were, whether it was, in fact, on the road or private property, early days on that yet, but clearly an absolute tragic circumstance.

We had to do another rescue where people have got trapped in floodwaters in that area and emergency services had to deploy to rescue them … We see this every time: people don’t recognise the risk, they don’t assess the risk, and they take risks by driving into floodwaters.

Police have seized more than 500 weapons off the streets in the year since the passing of Jack’s Law, which allows officers to scan people using metal detector “wands”.

Officers have seized tomahawks, hammers, hunting and kitchen knives, knuckle dusters and screwdrivers under the law, which was in response to the stabbing death of Gold Coast teenager Jack Beasley.

“Police have apprehended 1369 people on 2469 charges in relation to weapon, drug, bail and other offences,” police said in a statement.

Youth Crime Taskforce Acting Assistant Commissioner Andrew Massingham said the 500 weapons seized were 500 potential acts of violence disrupted, and people protected.

The Queensland Council for Civil Liberties has previously called for a review into how Jack’s Law has been operating, with experts raising concerns of profiling and warrantless searches.

Alex Leapai jnr’s professional boxing career has begun with a scare, the teenage behemoth overcoming New Zealander Joe Ageli’s frenetic start to win an Adelaide slugfest.

The 18-year-old son of former world heavyweight title challenger Alex Leapai lost an action-packed first round before dominating the second half of the four-round bout last night.

Victory was decided in a more even second round.

One judge awarded it to the Kiwi 31-year-old, but the other two gave Leapai the round, setting up his win 39-37, 39-37, 38-38.

The 122kg giant was a schoolboy rugby league standout signed to the Sydney Roosters and then Gold Coast in the NRL. But he opted late last year to follow in his father’s footsteps full-time.

“It was a great experience, great atmosphere and just great to get some rounds in,” Leapai said.

“Ageli didn’t faze me; he was just throwing some wild punches. Some stuck, but I had control.

“But I’ll take this and learn from it. The whole week was awesome.”

Headliner Jackson England then won a split points decision – 96-94, 96-94, 93-97 – against former world champion Jamel Herring that will probably see the Australian super featherweight move inside the top 10 of the WBO rankings.

A host of retired AFL players filled the nine-fight card that served as a prelude to the city’s Gather Round.

Former Brisbane and Carlton star Mitch Robinson was an impressive debut winner against former Richmond talent Kayne Pettifer, who suffered his first loss in a four-fight professional career.

Queensland researches have discovered intense and problematic social media use is linked with sleep problems in children aged 11 to 15.

Associate Professor Asad Khan, from the University of Queensland, analysed responses from more than 200,000 teenagers from European and North American countries.

He found intense or frequent social media use could delay bedtimes, and lead to shorter sleep duration and poor sleep quality.

“Some of these impacts are due to the exposure to bright screens, which disrupts melatonin secretion and hinders the body’s ability to initiate sleep,” Dr Khan said.

“Problematic use” is when time spent on social media starts to interfere with other areas of life.

Dr Khan said girls with problematic social media use had greater odds of having trouble falling asleep than boys.

An elderly man has been found dead this morning, with police saying his body was discovered near his vehicle, which was submerged in floodwater south-west of Brisbane.

Police were called to conduct a welfare check at a property on Begley Road at Greenbank about 5.20am, with reports a vehicle was submerged.

“A 71-year-old Greenbank man was located deceased near the vehicle,” police said in a statement.

Police do not believe the death was suspicious, and are preparing a report for the coroner.