Townsville Bulletin’s biggest stories of January 2024
As 2024 draws to a close, here’s a look back at the stories that shocked, inspired, and informed Townsville readers, starting with the biggest headlines from January.
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As 2024 draws to a close, here is a list of the articles that shocked, inspired and informed our readers in Townsville this year, starting with the month of January.
January 1 – Hotel hell
It was a bleak start to the year for Townsville business, Aquarius on The Beach, after they were left to mop up an estimated $200,000 in flood damage caused by vandals.
Two teens were accused of turning on the high-pressure fire hydrant, blowing its safety cap off and sending a torrent of water down the hallway.
January 2 – ‘A punch is a punch’
Townsville-born one-punch attack victim Harry Froling slammed the NBL after a South East Melbourne import Gary Browne avoided suspension for punching Brisbane big man Aron Baynes. Froling said the move “smells a bit fishy”, adding it “set a bad precedent”. It comes after the NQ talent was left with a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain following an alleged attack in a street in Wollongong.
January 6 – Mayor slams change date debate
Richmond mayor John Wharton denied there ever being an invasion, and took a swing at southern inner-city populations pressuring to change the date of Australia Day. He said federal politicians should stop catering to city-centric residents that had never visited the regions, so that they could concentrate on more important issues for Australian interests. “We know it wasn’t an invasion, that’s just all made up, all that stuff’s made up,” Cr Wharton said.
January 8 – Army asked to go north
The Queensland government formally requested that the Australian Defence Force return to the Far North and assist communities struggling to rebuild following dual disasters in the region. But the process to send in the troops had already taken too long according to Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch, with Tropical Cyclone Jasper and record floods leaving hundreds homeless and townships isolated for weeks. FULL STORY.
January 9 – Search for answers
Police announced a $500,000 reward for information in the 30-year-old cold case involving Townsville man Leslie Ralph Ball. Mr Ball, 71, was reported missing by his family in May 1993, but police believe he was met by foul play after his car was found abandoned at Townsville Railway Station and his trailer full of belongings burnt out in bushland.
January 10 – City split over crime
Townsville’s crime hotspots are dragging the city down, says economist. Professor Colin Dwyer slammed anti-social behaviour for harming Townsville’s economy, calling the worst-hit suburbs “split personalities.” He accused politicians of passing the buck while crime spirals in areas that are also home to thriving family hubs.
January 11 – Tougher tack for crims
Fed-up Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill is demanding criminals who commit a raft of offences, including robbery and car theft, are jailed for a minimum 12 months “for rehabilitation programs to have some actual effect”. It came as Youth Justice Minister Di Farmer visited the city to announce a $1m funding boost for intensive rehabilitation programs in the youth detention. FULL STORY.
January 15 – Pie maker fined $55k
Townsville’s Outback Pie Company has been fined $55,000 in Townsville Magistrates Court after a worker was stuck in a conveyor belt for an hour and suffered multiple fractures. The injuries were serious enough to require five days in hospital and surgery to repair.
January 16 – Crime fight takes flight
The latest addition to Townsville police’s crime-fighting arsenal was launched, with a hi-tech Polair chopper officially operating in North Queensland. The EC135 twin-engine helicopter was already been used to find a missing child and was involved in several arrests – but it’s only an interim helicopter for the region. The state government are still working to procure a permanent aircraft for use in North Queensland, but until then the newest addition to Polair’s ranks will serve as the ‘eyes in the sky’ for officers on the ground.
January 17 – Mine site tragedy
Ex-Ayr man Luke O’Brien was been remembered as an “absolute legend” after being killed in a freak accident at BMA’s Saraji mine, at Dysart in central Queensland. The 27-year-old BEP Engineering and Maintenance worker and another person had been working in the fuel-bay area of the open cut mine on January 15 when he was pinned between a mining ute and a B-double fuel tanker. His father shared an emotional tribute saying: “For those that don’t know it is with my broken, sinking and heavy heart that my youngest son Luke O’Brien 27 passed away yesterday after the incident at Saraji Mine.”
January 18 – Grand theft portal
A public stolen car database was launched by Queensland Police in a bid to help officers track down thieves The online portal gives the general public access to every vehicle reported stolen in Queensland. As of Wednesday evening, there were 525 cars listed as stolen across Queensland in the last 28 days. Youth Crime Deputy Commissioner Shane Chelepy said the new feature was designed to empower the community to help police with investigations.
January 19 – Fresh risk for coast
Townsville’s Bureau of Meteorology radar tower remained temporarily down for maintenance as the east coast was warned to prepare for a cyclone brewing in the Coral Sea. The tropical low was at 85 per cent chance of reaching cyclone intensity within a week as the national forecaster warns of a “significant risk” that the storm will impact the Queensland coast. The BOM radar in Townsville was partially down for maintenance and it was 100 per cent down in Mackay.
January 20 – Dad’s pain for twins
Two Townsville twins – just seven years old – taken from their primary school in broad daylight in 2014, and hidden by their mother who went on the run for four years. But today, those two little girls who captured the eyes of the country have almost become young women, defining their own dreams, aspirations and hopes for the future. The girls’ father, who cannot legally be named, spoke for the first time since their Queensland mother was sentenced last year to three years’ jail over her crimes. The girls’ dad said while the court ordeal was over, the impacts on the girls was ongoing.
January – Bakery stab attack
A 32-year-old Aitkenvale man has been charged after allegedly stabbing another man at a Townsville bakery and leaving him with “puncture wounds” to the torso. Police were called to a report of a stabbing at the Townsville Bake Inn in Mount Louisa. It was alleged that an “agitated” man entered the bakery saying someone had been talking about him shortly before the attack occurred. When police arrived they found a man with multiple injuries.
January 25 – NQ bikie boss charged
The high-profile leader of the Townsville chapter of a notorious outlaw motorcycle gang has been charged with a raft of serious drug and other offences. Jason Michael Heang, the president of the Townsville OMCG Rebels, has been slapped with more than 40 charges, including alleged drug, firearms and money laundering offences. He was remanded in custody.
January 27- Kirrily’s threat passes quickly
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Kirrily made landfall on Thursday night as a category 2 system, after being downgraded from a category 3. North West Queensland communities of Hughenden, Cloncurry, Julia Creek and Mount Isa were expected to receive rain as the system moved west. The Bureau of Meteorology said the highest wind gusts were recorded on the Flinders Reef at 143km/ h just before midday on Thursday but by the time the system reached Townsville, it had lost some of its power.
January 29 – ‘Yelling then, boom, boom, boom.”
A 26-year-old man was shot dead by police in Townsville overnight, with neighbours witnessing the incident. Police were called to a mental health incident at a house on Payne St in Mount Louisa just after midnight, arriving at 1.15am to find a man armed with a knife. “As a result of an altercation that occurred at that residence a man has been identified carrying a knife and advancing on police,” Acting Chief Superintendent Chris Lawson said.
January 30 – Staffer spear drama
A senior female worker claims a leading university professor and a Member of the Order of Australia said he would “spear her” if she failed to create a dramatic increase in Indigenous enrolments at James Cook University. But the professor at the time said it was just a “joke”, she said. The woman, 65, has been off work since January 3. She said Professor Martin Nakata, AM and Deputy Vice Chancellor of Indigenous Education and Strategy at James Cook University of used violent language towards her and in front of others.
January 31 – ‘Get off your arses’
Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill has told southern capital city residents to “get the friggin hell off your arses” and move to North Queensland, while speaking alongside the Prime Minister and Premier. The leaders spoke on the far-reaching benefits of the $137m Townsville hydrogen hub which would create 500 construction and engineering jobs. “I want to throw a challenge out to those guys and girls to get out of their studios in Melbourne … predominantly,” Ms Hill said to the national news networks. “They never seem to move anywhere else outside of Australia but live in the Melbourne bubble.”
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Originally published as Townsville Bulletin’s biggest stories of January 2024
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