As it happened: Brisbane on Wednesday, October 2

Both campaigns have landed in Rockhampton, the central Queensland beef capital, where LNP leader David Crisafulli has announced a $95 million commitment to build a health sciences academy in the city.

Premier Steven Miles’ reason for being in Rocky will be revealed tomorrow morning. One thing for certain, though, is the leaders are unlikely to meet up tonight.

Asked whether he’d be up for a beer with the Premier at Rockhampton’s famous Criterion Hotel while they were both in town, Crisafulli said he was too busy.

“I’ve got to get ready for the debate tomorrow,” he said.

LNP leader David Crisafulli with Rochelle Cole, head of simulation at Central Queensland University’s school of nursing, midwifery and social sciences, in Rockhampton.Credit: Cameron Atfield

Crisafulli was at Central Queensland University to promise the state’s first regional health sciences school.

“Not every student who goes through there will embark on a career in nursing, for example, but it’s an entrée to encourage a career in that field,” he said.

The two leaders will meet in Brisbane tomorrow night for a Nine debate, moderated by Melissa Downes and with questions from Brisbane Times editor Sean Parnell, 9News state political reporter Tim Arvier and 4BC’s Sofie Formica.

Thanks for joining us on our live blog today. We’ll be back tomorrow with more news from the Queensland state election campaign trail, which comes to Brisbane for the first leaders’ debate.

If you’re following the election closely, make sure you return to Brisbane Times tomorrow night: we’ll be sharing live updates of the debate from 7.30pm.

In case you missed it, here are some of the top stories making news today:

Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation for Israel’s campaign against Tehran’s Hezbollah allies in Lebanon, drawing vows of a sharp response from both Israel and the United States.

Over 90 minutes, US vice presidential hopefuls Tim Walz and J.D. Vance sparred on everything from immigration and the economy to abortion and the Middle East.

With the global hunt for a new Matildas coach under way, calls have been issued for Football Australia to search closer to a home.

A glam Hong Kong-inspired cocktail bar has opened at Howard Smith Wharves, featuring a signature martini menu, vintage bottles of spirits, Cantonese snacks and an original JBL sound system with stacks of vinyl. Here’s a sneak peek.

And, if you’re thinking about making plans for the upcoming King’s Birthday long weekend, look no further than our list of things to do.

Liberal National Party leader David Crisafulli has continued to face questions about preferences.

Speaking in the electorate of Keppel, where Pauline Hanson’s chief of staff James Ashby is running as One Nation’s candidate, Crisafulli confirmed the LNP would preference the far-right party ahead of Labor across the state.

“I have no qualms putting Labor and the Greens last,” he said.

“Now as to where all the other numbers, all the other preferences fall, I would love to be standing here and telling you that that people shouldn’t have to do that.

“Unfortunately, they do. That’s the voting system that’s been put in place.”

Crisafulli has been an outspoken critic of compulsory preferential voting and has vowed to make it optional should the LNP win the election.

Both campaigns have landed in Rockhampton, the central Queensland beef capital, where LNP leader David Crisafulli has announced a $95 million commitment to build a health sciences academy in the city.

Premier Steven Miles’ reason for being in Rocky will be revealed tomorrow morning. One thing for certain, though, is the leaders are unlikely to meet up tonight.

Asked whether he’d be up for a beer with the Premier at Rockhampton’s famous Criterion Hotel while they were both in town, Crisafulli said he was too busy.

“I’ve got to get ready for the debate tomorrow,” he said.

LNP leader David Crisafulli with Rochelle Cole, head of simulation at Central Queensland University’s school of nursing, midwifery and social sciences, in Rockhampton.Credit: Cameron Atfield

Crisafulli was at Central Queensland University to promise the state’s first regional health sciences school.

“Not every student who goes through there will embark on a career in nursing, for example, but it’s an entrée to encourage a career in that field,” he said.

The two leaders will meet in Brisbane tomorrow night for a Nine debate, moderated by Melissa Downes and with questions from Brisbane Times editor Sean Parnell, 9News state political reporter Tim Arvier and 4BC’s Sofie Formica.

Police have been called in to deal with recalcitrant property owners in Queensland who are refusing to comply with mandatory treatment for fire ants.

A lock-the-gate style campaign is under way by some landholders who don’t want fire ant baits spread on their properties. But the national eradication program says the super pest will only be defeated if all at-risk properties are treated with safe, low-dose chemical baits.

Police will now join eradication officers to ensure they gain access to properties held by “a small number” of obstructive landholders.

“These actions follow prior attempts to work with these landholders and are now necessary to protect our community and prevent the spread of fire ants,” Queensland Police said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The program has made every reasonable effort to notify and co-operate with property owners and tenants, offering them the opportunity to have their properties treated at a time that suits them.”

Property owners have no legal right to refuse access, but some are erecting signs on gates and fences, proclaiming: “We do not consent to the poisoning of us, our properties, pets, livestock, wildlife and eco-systems”.

Landholders have been warned they could be fined more than $14,000.

With the global hunt for a new Matildas coach under way, calls have been issued for Football Australia to search closer to a home.

Brisbane Roar women’s coach Alex Smith said it would take a figure familiar with the country’s soccer landscape and game style to get the best out of a team whose growing popularity has coincided with extra scrutiny.

Following their fourth-place surge at last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, a loss in the group stages at the Paris Olympics came as a shock.

The hunt for Tony Gustavsson’s replacement continues.Credit: Getty

It led to Tony Gustavsson departing the top job, as reports emerged suggesting the Swede had confused the playing group with erratic philosophies and plans.

Read more.

Labor has now spelled out some more detail of its plan for a new state-owned power retailer.

The idea is to create competition for monopoly regional operator Ergon – which is also state-owned – and provide a public offering in the south-east that is not bound by profit margins.

Speaking to journalists in Mackay, Premier Steven Miles and his deputy, Treasurer Cameron Dick, gave an outline of what they called “the first part” of Labor’s “Cheaper Energy Plan”:

• The retailer would be a new government owned corporation as a subsidiary of state-owned Energy Queensland.
• Labor expects it would cost $1.4 million to set up, and be running within 12 months.
• In the south-east, where private retailers can make a regulated profit margin of up to 6 per cent, the retailer is expected to be able to drive down bills by that amount.

“I think what we’ve seen over time is a lack of success in retail competition across Queensland, particularly in the south-east,” Dick said.

Day 2 of the campaign: Steven Miles and his wife Kim meet voters at the Caneland Central Shopping Centre in Mackay.Credit: Matt Dennien

The Lussh wedding venue, destroyed in a fire last week, has been broken into last night, with the owner reporting stolen goods and property damage.

Neighbour Bronwyn Price said thieves broke in through large windows at the back of the heritage-listed converted warehouse.

“They broke in and took alcohol … but they left the ginger beer,” she said.

Price added that while staff from The Lussh venue business had already removed a large quantity of unopened bottles from the venue, along with other salvageable items, the ground-floor bar had remained stocked with partially used bottles.

“That’s what you’re going to get now – they’re going to scavenge the building,” she said.

Having spoken with owner of The Lussh building Leon Plechanski this morning, Price said she now intended to install CCTV cameras on her property, facing towards the damaged venue.

Parents were shocked to discover their school, Charlotte Mason College, would not reopen in 2024 because of financial struggles, with just six weeks over the Christmas holidays to enrol their children elsewhere.

Now a report from the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board can reveal eight schools closed over the 2023-24 financial year, up from five the year prior.

These include Redwood College at Burpengary and two schools that never opened, the IQRA College of Brisbane and Sophia Waldorf School.

About one-third of Queensland students are enrolled in a non-state school, with 546 schools in total across the state, including 50 single-gender schools.

Last financial year, the state government provided $1.06 billion in funding to non-state schools.

Liberal National Party leader David Crisafulli has made a pitch to Queensland farmers, pledging $30 million toward innovation in agriculture.

Speaking at an AgForce agricultural industry conference in Brisbane this morning, Crisafulli made it a personal affair.

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the Queensland agricultural story,” he said.

“My late grandfather, the most influential person in my life, came to this country in 1960 to cut sugar cane by hand in north Queensland. It’s the reason my family are here, full stop. End of story.

“It was a place at a time when people could dream, and within 10 years, he went on to become his own owner of that farm, a farm that my mum and dad still operate today.”

Crisafulli said he envisaged a Queensland agricultural industry “worth $30 billion by 2030”.

“And we’re putting $30 million new money on the table to make it occur,” he said.

“We’re calling it ‘sowing the seeds of farming innovation’ fund. It is about supercharging [research and development] in this state, technology expertise, and cutting edge agriculture for Queensland.”

Crisafulli said it could be anything from identifying new crops, new pesticides or new technology.

“It will have one overarching goal – productivity and profitability,” he said.

The Crisafulli campaign has headed for Brisbane Airport, bound for an undisclosed regional location.

The Brisbane City Hall clock was wrong again, seemingly roughly an hour late this morning.

While Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has advocated for daylight saving to be introduced in Queensland – and it begins in southern states this Sunday – we’re assuming the clock was not wound back an hour deliberately when it showed a time of 8.10am when it was actually 9am.

The Brisbane City Hall clock tower with the wrong time at 9:01am.Credit: Neesha Sinnya

As I reported earlier this year, the clock in King George Square was chiming a minute and five seconds late in June.

Monthly maintenance is done on the clock, including minor adjustments to bell chiming and fixing up discrepancies, like being a minute off.

The time has been fixed now, so you won’t have to rely on your smartphone or watch again, which
aim for accuracy to 50 milliseconds of Coordinated Universal Time.