THE cost of living crunch impacting Australian households will hit a higher than expected peak at Christmastime, with the pain not expected to ease fully until mid-2024 Treasurer Jim Chalmers has revealed.

A workforce shortage has gripped the Sunshine State on the back of the Omicron and influenza waves, forcing companies to go to desperate lengths to attract staff.

A SENIOR education department bureaucrat who was suspended following a corruption probe which led to former Deputy Premier Jackie Trad quitting was paid more than $630,000 while stood aside.

BILLIONS of dollars of housing projects in Queensland have been either stalled or mothballed as skyrocketing costs send the sector spiralling deeper into crisis.

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