The biggest stories from May 2021 to land on the front page of the Townsville Bulletin
Refresh your memories on all of the highs and lows to grace the front page of the Townsville Bulletin during the month of May in our highlights package>>
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MAY 1
Guidance counsellor turns herself in
A GUIDANCE counsellor accused of grooming a teenage boy while working at a Townsville high school surrendered herself into custody.
Anna Maria Johnson was put in handcuffs and led from the courtroom when she faced
Townsville Magistrates Court.
Johnson is a mother and at the time of her offending was married to one of the city’s most respected doctors, Townsville Hospital and Health Service executive director of medical services Andrew Johnson.
MONDAY, MAY 3: Crew seeks asylum
TWELVE foreign seamen had their visas revoked after they refused to reboard their ship and claimed asylum in Townsville.
Australian Border Force detained 11 crew members of the Polaris 3 at the Port of Townsville, and were searching for another who went on the run.
Queensland Health tested the crew for Covid-19, but concerns remained with one crew member unaccounted for.
TUESDAY, MAY 4: Feds back campaign for insurance deal
SKYROCKETING North Queensland insurance premiums were possibly a thing of the past with the establishment of a crucial $10bn reinsurance pool.
The federal government announced residents in Northern Australia would be offered more affordable and accessible home and business insurance as part of the scheme, which would be funded under the Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation.
But the reinsurance pool only kicks in on July 1, 2022.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 5: Mum slams Child Safety
CHILD Safety workers are not looking for missing children, a distraught Townsville
mum claimed, saying kids in care were roaming free and putting themselves in danger.
Townsville mum Emily, whose name has been changed, says the Child Safety
system was not doing enough to keep children safe after recently having her 14-year-old
daughter put into a residential care home.
The shocking claim came after Burdekin MP Dale Last said workers were skewing the figures of missing kids.
THURSDAY, MAY 6: Federal funds to help the North
THE federal government announced a major “refresh” of its Northern Australia development blueprint which would include a new multimillion-dollar investment package focusing on “corridors of growth” – including Mt Isa to Townsville.
The $190m funding package would be designed to “develop the North” by helping businesses diversify and expand through co-investment grants.
It is the first measure announced under the soon-to-be released refresh of the federal
government’s Northern Australia White Paper – the 20-year “ambitious agenda”
aimed at developing investment, trade, infrastructure, and the workforce first released in 2015.
FRIDAY, MAY 7: Concern over clot case
A TOWNSVILLE man spent nearly six weeks in hospital after he developed blood clots from a Covid-19 jab.
But health authorities did not confirm the link between the man’s condition and the AstraZeneca vaccine until months later.
Queensland chief health officer Jeanette Young fronted a press conference and said the 66-year-old Townsville man had presented to Townsville University Hospital shortly after he received the vaccine on March 30, complaining of abdominal pain.
Dr Young said the man had developed thrombosis as a “direct result” of receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine and was admitted to the intensive care unit.
SATURDAY, MAY 8: Supermarket workers fight for pay
CURRENT and former staff of a Townsville IGA supermarket claimed they were owed thousands of dollars in wages, annual leave and superannuation.
The store closed in 2019 when the company trading it was placed in liquidation.
Liquidators reported the company’s total liabilities to unsecured creditors at $4.9m, including more than $250,000 in staff super and holiday pay.
MONDAY, MAY 10: Mentoring MP won’t give up on troubled kids
BORN an orphan in a park, with no idea who his parents were, a Townsville boy simply had
no hope.
He was flogged, abused, and exposed to drugs and alcohol before he went to school. By
the time he was a teenager he had recorded one of the “worst” criminal histories in the
state.
His home was in Cleveland Youth Detention Centre.
Burdekin MP Dale Last opened up about his time mentoring at Townsville’s detention centre, saying he learnt more about youth crime listening to those kids than he ever did in some 20 years of police work.
TUESDAY, MAY 11: Dutton’s plaza pickle
A COMPANY owned by Defence Minister Peter Dutton’s wife paid its overdue rates in a last-ditch effort to avoid the forced auction of the Townsville property.
The Townsville Bulletin revealed Edison Plaza in Wulguru was on a list of properties set to be auctioned due to unpaid rates and charges – 35 Edison St is owned by Kirilly Dutton’s investment company RHT Investments and was among 42 properties included.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 12: No new money for the North as budget aimed at nation
THE federal budget was heralded as a shot in the arm for the nation’s economic black hole left by the coronavirus pandemic.
While a focus on the big picture means Townsville missed out on targeted funding, Herbert MP Phillip Thompson was adamant not a single person in the northern city would miss out under this budget.
But Kennedy MP Bob Katter said the budget clearly lacked a bold vision for the North.
THURSDAY, MAY 13: Chroming shame as hundreds of kids rushed to hospital
TOWNSVILLE was in the grip of a chroming crisis with hundreds of children rushed to the hospital’s emergency department after becoming ill from the activity.
The Townsville University Hospital revealed it treated 296 kids and 106 adults since 2018 for chroming, with a doctor stationed inside the unit saying the trend was deadly.
FRIDAY, MAY 14: Kid crims’ day of terror
TOWNSVILLE came under siege by “relentless” crime as police battled with car thieves to regain control of the city.
Ten stolen cars ran riot across Townsville ramming vehicles, wrecking a caravan, running people off the road, crashing through fences and nearly rolling outside a local school.
The government helicopter worked overtime pursuing young offenders on the run,
Speaking in Brisbane, KAP Member for Hinchinbrook Nick Dametto gave the state government a serve, saying Townsville had gone to “absolute rack and ruin”.
SATURDAY, MAY 15: Stolen cars run dad off of road causing serious injuries
IN a split second, a Townsville father was forced to decide how he could save his life as two
stolen cars screamed towards him.
Speaking to the Bulletin from hospital Robert Clem said he was left with a fractured collar bone, fractured leg, major concussion and swelling behind his eye, but luckily his life, after he was run off the road by criminals in stolen cars.
The recent spate of offences prompted calls to toughen up bail laws and it is revelled a 13-year-old girl arrested amid a day of chaos and carnage was the little sister of one of the children involved in a horrific stolen car crash that claimed four young lives in June 2020.
MONDAY, MAY 17: Fix this mess
CHAOS on the streets translated to confusion in the courtroom as a series of gaffes put
the “broken” youth justice system on display.
Opposition spokesman for police and corrective services Dale Last lashed the state government after a 14-year-old boy faced court without a parent or guardian – and almost without a lawyer – after his legal representative arrived almost 10 minutes after the matter began.
“You have to wonder how many more things need to go wrong before the government will
finally take decisive action,” Mr Last said.
TUESDAY, MAY 18: State slow on vaccine deliveries
ALMOST one in three vaccine shots available in Queensland’s state-run vaccine program were not in people’s arms, with dose utilisation in the Sunshine State below the national average.
Queensland, according to the latest Commonwealth vaccine data, was ranked second last behind only the Northern Territory for vaccine utilisation.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 19: House sales boom
HOUSE values soared in Townsville as regional Australia underwent a property boom, far outpacing the growth of capital cities, according to CoreLogic data.
The property analytics firm’s Regional Market Update showed a huge turnaround in
sales volumes, up a whopping 38.2 per cent in the Townsville region in the year to February
compared with the previous year.
THURSDAY, MAY 20: Bureau workers return to North
THE Bureau of Meteorology announced it would bring six staff members to Townsville as part of the new Australian Climate Service.
New details emerged about the service, which was announced in the federal budget, including the return to North Queensland of the nation’s weather bureau.
The push for BOM staff to return to the northern city reignited earlier this year when Cyclone Kimi was threatening the North.
FRIDAY, MAY 21: Social housing crisis
MORE than 1000 homes needed to be built in Townsville to solve the city’s housing crisis.
The Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) called on the state government to invest $278m of the upcoming budget into housing.
The QCOSS said the government’s own data showed there were 1116 families in urgent need of housing in the Townsville region and more than 1800 families on the social housing register.
SATURDAY, MAY 22: Furore on Flinders
FLINDERS St East traders called on the state government to ease Covid-19 restrictions.
They said they have were unfairly targeted by pandemic restrictions that effectively halved their capacities while state-owned stadiums enjoyed full houses.
The issue simmered for months as venue operators tried to get answers on whether the restrictions would be eased. They were largely ignored.
MONDAY, MAY 24: Hunting Kaylah’s killer
POLICE say they will leave no stone unturned as they hunt for the killer, or killers, of
Kayla Golding.
The 29-year-old was found in a pool of blood outside her unit complex in Condon after being stabbed in the neck with a large hunting knife.
TUESDAY, MAY 25: Fatal friendship
DAYS before a Townsville woman was stabbed and left to die on a driveway she shared a car ride with the 29-year-old woman who was charged with her alleged murder.
Chantel Lee White was charged over Kayla Golding’s death after the woman was stabbed in the neck at a Condon unit.
Jamie Alan Mcauliffe, 39, was also charged with accessory after the fact of murder.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 26: ‘Military’ style security to tackle crime crisis
A RADICAL plan to curb the city’s crime crisis includes armed guards who would “look like a SWAT team” will patrolling the streets.
A military-style security unit similar to the private guards in crime-ravaged South Africa was announced by Townsville Titan Security and Electrical.
THURSDAY, MAY 27: CBD boon
ONE of Townsville’s worst eyesores in the heart of the city scores a facelift as a Melbourne-based property group aims to breathe life into Flinders St.
It is announced the old Dimmeys arcade building would be completely refreshed as more than $4 million is be spent upgrading the property.
FRIDAY, MAY 28: North on cusp of big call-up
THE Maroons pushed hard for Townsville to host its first State of Origin as Melbourne went into another Covid-19 lockdown.
It came after Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Townsville was ready to host game one if it has to move from Victoria.
An outbreak threatened to derail Melbourne’s chances of hosting the Origin opener on June 9 at the MCG and left NRL powerbrokers scrambling to come up with a contingency plan.
SATURDAY, MAY 29: NORTH’S BID IN FRONT
TOWNSVILLE was set to host State of Origin I if the Covid crisis forced the series opener to be moved from the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
News Corp revealed the Queensland Rugby League has booked out The Ville Resort-Casino for June 9 – the night of Origin I – and pencilled in several functions for Townsville in the strongest sign yet the code’s showpiece would make its debut at the $290 million Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
MONDAY, MAY 31: RAAF base intruder jailed
A TOWNSVILLE lawyer suggested security at the Garbutt RAAF base should be upgraded after his client was jailed for breaking in.
Peter James Oldham, 29, pleaded guilty to 11 charges in the Townsville Magistrates Court after he broke into the base twice between April 17 and 18 and stole a uniform, car and military ID.
Originally published as The biggest stories from May 2021 to land on the front page of the Townsville Bulletin
Patchy rain could turn into inland storms
A light patter of rain graced rooftops overnight, but Townsville missed out on a significant downpour, with neighboring towns like Ayr and Ingham seeing more substantial rainfall totals.
Locals rally for Pallarenda clean up
The Townsville community can join together today for the Great Barrier Reef Clean Up at Pallarenda.