As it happened: Brisbane on Wednesday, November 27

An anonymous donor has gifted $3 million to a Brisbane school – setting a Queensland record for the largest donation to a girls’ school by a living alumna.

The St Aidan’s old girl, now in her 80s, attended the Corinda school for only two years. Due to financial pressure on her parents, she left to find paid work at age 15, a scenario she said filled her with sadness and regret.

She went back to high school later in life and then went to university, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts.

The anonymous donor made the $3 million contribution in the name of the Creeth family to keep a promise to a family friend to keep the name going after the end of a lineage.

“I would have loved to continue my schooling at St Aidan’s, unfortunately I couldn’t, but due to my husband and my good fortune, we have been able to send our daughters and granddaughters there,” she said.

“As a family we have a philosophy of philanthropy, and through the St Aidan’s Creeth Scholarship I feel a sense of deep satisfaction knowing I can help girls between Year 10 and 12 who are financially disadvantaged, to keep the well-rounded educational experience that we know St Aidan’s offers.”

Principal Toni Riordan said the school community was grateful to the donor for “entrusting to us such a large sum for those that wouldn’t normally be able to attend”.

Earlier this year, we reported St Aidan’s arguably achieved Brisbane’s best Year 12 results. The school’s annual fees are more than $27,000.

The school’s administrators say they are confident it is a record donation based on Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission website research.

Thanks for following today’s live coverage of the news. We’ll return tomorrow, so please join us.

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

Exclusive figures have revealed the proportion of south-east Queensland routes that Translink-contracted urban bus services travelled while full during peak hours in October.

Wildlife carers have won a legal bid to prove Queensland’s Environment Department made a mistake in how it handled the case of a magpie made into a social media star by a Gold Coast couple.

Dozens of mums, dads and bubs have turned King George Square into a parking lot for prams as they gathered to sing songs and read stories in protest of Brisbane City Council’s decision to cut local library reading programs.

The mother of Broncos and NSW State of Origin star Payne Haas has been ordered to stand trial over a car crash that killed three people in the Gold Coast hinterland.

In Canberra, the Senate has erupted in an angry argument over racism after independent senator Fatima Payman accused One Nation leader Pauline Hanson of spreading hatred, while Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe risked expulsion by railing against her colleagues.

Ben Hunt returns to the Broncos declaring he is one of a “couple of old fossils” capable of showing the club’s young talent what premiership success looks like.

And a sophisticated neighbourhood boozer has opened in what many would consider a relatively unknown byway between the CBD and Fortitude Valley. Take a look inside Barry Parade Public House.

Wildlife carers have won a legal bid to prove Queensland’s Environment Department made a mistake in how it handled the case of a magpie made into a social media star by a Gold Coast couple.

Facing criticism from fans of “Molly the Magpie”, and pressure from then-Labor premier Steven Miles, the department in April gave Juliette Wells and Reece Mortensen a special licence allowing them to continue caring for the bird.

The magpie – who the couple initially misidentified as female – was deemed to have been too domesticated to return to the wild. Rather than order euthanasia, the department decided the bird could remain with the couple so long as they did not seek to profit from the arrangement.

But emergency wildlife carers were concerned by the precedent that set, prompting Sydney-based firm XD Law and Advocacy to seek a judicial review in the Supreme Court of Queensland.

Read more here.

Cleanaway, the dump operator now handed the state’s largest penalty ($600,000) for an odour nuisance offence near Ipswich, has now had this to say on the matter via a statement from a spokesperson:

Cleanaway pleaded guilty to 7 charges in the Ipswich Magistrates Court and accepts the penalties imposed by the Court.

The charges relate to odour emissions and dealings with impacted stormwater following mass rain events that impacted the site in 2022.

Since the flooding event in 2022 more than $60 million on improvements has been invested to improve the site including storm water management, landfill gas capture and capping.

Cleanaway takes environmental compliance seriously and acknowledges its responsibility to minimise offsite impacts of its facilities. Cleanaway acknowledges the impact the odour emissions had on the local community following the mass rain events in 2022.

Affordability and lifestyle options are driving property prices outside Brisbane, with growth in two towns outperforming the Queensland capital.

Property values in Mackay and Townsville jumped 8.8 per cent and 6.6 per cent respectively in the three months to October, according CoreLogic’s latest regional market update.

A couple watching the wallabies at sunrise at Cape Hillsborough, Mackay.Credit: Tourism and Events Queensland

CoreLogic economist Kaytlin Ezzy said lifestyle options and affordability were the two main contributing factors.

Meanwhile, the Gold Coast region remains the most expensive to rent outside Brisbane.

As for mortgage affordability, Westpac economists recently joined NAB in pushing expectations of a Reserve Bank interest rate cut from February to May 2025.

ANZ and CBA economists still expect the RBA to ease the cash rate for the first time in more than four years in February 2025.

An anonymous donor has gifted $3 million to a Brisbane school – setting a Queensland record for the largest donation to a girls’ school by a living alumna.

The St Aidan’s old girl, now in her 80s, attended the Corinda school for only two years. Due to financial pressure on her parents, she left to find paid work at age 15, a scenario she said filled her with sadness and regret.

She went back to high school later in life and then went to university, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts.

The anonymous donor made the $3 million contribution in the name of the Creeth family to keep a promise to a family friend to keep the name going after the end of a lineage.

“I would have loved to continue my schooling at St Aidan’s, unfortunately I couldn’t, but due to my husband and my good fortune, we have been able to send our daughters and granddaughters there,” she said.

“As a family we have a philosophy of philanthropy, and through the St Aidan’s Creeth Scholarship I feel a sense of deep satisfaction knowing I can help girls between Year 10 and 12 who are financially disadvantaged, to keep the well-rounded educational experience that we know St Aidan’s offers.”

Principal Toni Riordan said the school community was grateful to the donor for “entrusting to us such a large sum for those that wouldn’t normally be able to attend”.

Earlier this year, we reported St Aidan’s arguably achieved Brisbane’s best Year 12 results. The school’s annual fees are more than $27,000.

The school’s administrators say they are confident it is a record donation based on Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission website research.

Now one month on from state election day, and the next batch of MPs to sit in the green leather seats of parliament are almost ready to get to work.

But first, there are the formalities.

After being sworn in yesterday, Governor Jeannette Young arrived at the parliamentary precinct today in full ceremonial fashion.

Queensland Governor Jeannette Young delivers her opening address to Queensland’s 58th parliament.Credit: Queensland Parliament

There was a 19-gun salute from Kangaroo Point, as well as a less explosive royal salute from the Royal Guard outside Parliament House (followed by an inspection of the formation of soldiers, of course).

Young then delivered a traditional opening address to MPs and senior judges in the former upper house chamber, outlining the priorities of the new government which, given her role as the representative of the royal head of state, was referred to as “my government”.

“A great trust has been placed in you to consider the matters which will affect the present and future wellbeing of all Queenslanders,” she told MPs.

“Debates in the parliament will, at times, be vigorous with opposing views passionately held. That is the nature of democracy, but we must always ensure dignity and respect is at the heart of what we do here.”

Tomorrow, it begins.

Dump operator Cleanaway has been hit with a $600,000 penalty described as the highest ever handed down for an odour nuisance offence in Queensland.

The company, which runs the New Chum landfill site outside Ipswich, was charged by state environmental regulators over the “rotten egg” gas smells after significant rain in early 2022.

In a statement released this afternoon, the Environment Department said the company had pleaded guilty to seven offences.

The department said a court had found the company failed to take all reasonable and practicable measures to prevent the odour, unlawfully pumped contaminated water around its site and then used that water for dust suppression.

Of the $600,000 fine, $212,000 will be used to benefit residents under a public benefit order, including $190,000 for upgrades to the city’s Queens Park nature centre and $22,000 for free environmental education activities for kids and families.

Brad Wirth, executive director of the department’s south-east compliance arm said the impact had been “simply unacceptable” and was another step towards improving long-running odour issues.

“We are continuing to pursue all available avenues to ensure compliance by all local waste operators and ask the community to continue to report odour nuisance when they are impacted. It helps us bring about outcomes, such as this,” he said.

Cleanaway has been contacted for comment.

While awareness of concussions and brain trauma in sport has increased over the past decade, the University of Queensland’s Dr Stephen Townsend says that does not mean it is a recent issue.

Townsend has pointed to research in the Medical Journal of Australia dating back to 1960, and century-old concerns in community and elite sport that signalled the need for change in concussion management and awareness.

“It seems like this is something new, and the sporting bodies are certainly keen for us as members of the public to see this as a new crisis that’s popped up and sporting bodies are doing all they can under difficult circumstances,” Townsend said.

Parramatta Eels star Maika Sivo hits Roosters star James Tedesco high.Credit: Nine

“But that’s not true, we’ve seen concussions crises in Australia in the 1930s, the United States at the turn of the century. It requires active policymakers, athletes, caregivers and coaches to drive change.

“We’ve got lots of adults and kids who are playing recreational sport that professional athletes play, and they play without the same monitoring, the visibility, without the compensation and without the same aftercare the professional athletes receive.

“This is not a private sporting issue, it’s a public health issue and a society-wide issue.”

Stewart said that for every instance of brain trauma involving a well-known person – Danny Frawley and Paul Green among the most agonising cases – there were many more that went unreported at a grassroots level.

Read more here.

The mother of Broncos and New South Wales State of Origin star Payne Haas has been ordered to stand trial over a car crash that killed three people in the Gold Coast hinterland.

Uiatu “Joan” Taufua, 48, on Wednesday was ordered to stand trial for manslaughter almost two years after the fatal two car collision, sparking emotional scenes from the victims’ loved ones outside court.

Uiatu “Joan” Taufua, mother of NRL player Payne Haas.

Taufua is accused of driving into an incoming vehicle on a narrow road in the Gold Coast hinterland on December 30, 2022.

Susan Zimmer, 70, her partner Chris Fawcett, 79, and her daughter Steffanie, 35, died in the collision.

Read more here.

We have the latest figures from Translink revealing the time of day buses are most packed in Brisbane.

And it’s not when you might expect.

Last month, buses were the most packed at 2.30pm, when 0.465 per cent of kilometres travelled were at standing capacity.

Did Brisbane’s buses get more crowded after 50¢ fares? What impact has working from home had on public transport? Read more here.