As it happened: Brisbane on Monday, February 3

Thanks for joining us for live coverage of today’s news. We’ll be back tomorrow morning.

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

Hundreds of people have fled to evacuation centres after record-breaking rain in northern Australia, with the deluge set to continue for days.

The Labor council opposition is set to back Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner’s proposal to reduce car park requirements for more high-density inner-city developments when it is put to a vote in City Hall tomorrow.

A two-metre “vagrant” crocodile has been spotted today near Rainbow Beach north of Brisbane.

Australian supermarkets are under intense pressure from politicians to cut shelf prices and simultaneously pay Australian suppliers more. Coles’ answer to this conundrum is to reduce its product range by 10 per cent – that’s 2500 products that will disappear.

Australia may be unable to escape crushing tariffs on its exports to America for a second time, former US ambassador Arthur Sinodinos has warned, as President Donald Trump’s efforts to revive his country’s manufacturing base sent the ASX into a tailspin.

The 67th Grammy Awards have served as a changing of the guard, as pop’s new bright lights Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX and Chappell Roan stole the show. Look back on our live blog of the night.

And Wallabies great James Horwill has challenged man-mountain Angus Blyth to embrace the contest that awaits him amid a logjam never before seen at Ballymore.

Former Queensland Labor premier Anna Bligh will retire mid-year as chief executive of the Australian Banking Association.

Bligh, who succeeded Peter Beattie as premier and held the role from 2007 to 2012, has been the banking lobby chief for eight years.

“When I started in 2017, the banking industry had lost the trust of the Australian community and has since worked tirelessly to earn back that trust,” Bligh said in a statement on Monday.

It was a major career shift for Bligh, who post-politics had returned to working in community organisations after undergoing treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The former Left faction leader became Queensland’s first female premier and, at the 2009 election, Australia’s first popularly elected female premier. But she was unable to see Labor re-elected, and resigned from parliament after the LNP swept to power under Campbell Newman.

Then premier Anna Bligh, flanked by then Deputy Police Commissioner Ian Stewart and Prime Minister Julia Gillard, urges Queenslanders to remain strong during the 2011 floods.Credit: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

The south-east Queensland locations where people are most likely to trespass on QR property have been revealed – and two places along the Cleveland line top the list.

Queensland Rail has released the data, along with video of several close calls, in a plea for the community to make safer choices around railways, as the number of trespassing incidents crept up past 3800 in 2024.

Wynnum North, with 165 incidents, and Wynnum Central, with 157, top the list, followed by Loganlea, Murrarie and Roma Street. Not all trespassing happened at commuter stations, with other incidents in electrical substations and rail yards.

QR’s video includes a person jumping across one set of tracks at Fairfield station, narrowly missing being hit by a train coming from the other direction. In another incident caught on camera at Richlands, a skater jumps onto the tracks to get his skateboard.

Drew Brock, a senior manager at Queensland Rail, said witnessing a near miss was traumatic for train drivers, station staff and other passengers.

“Tracks are not playgrounds and if you’re on them it’s like playing chicken with a train,” he said. “We want everyone, including our train drivers and customers, to get home safely.”

The Labor council opposition is set to back Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner’s proposal to reduce car park requirements for more high-density inner-city developments when it is put to a vote in City Hall on Tuesday.

The council plans to extend the “city core” to parts of East Brisbane, Kangaroo Point and Woolloongabba, while the “city frame” would extend to parts of East Brisbane, Herston, Highgate Hill, Red Hill, Toowong, West End and Woolloongabba.

New high-density developments in the city core would have a maximum of 0.5 car spaces per one-bedroom, one per two-bedroom, 1.5 per three-bedroom and two for four or more bedroom units.

Boundaries of the city core (maroon) and city frame (mustard).Credit: Brisbane City Council

In the city frame, there would be a minimum of 0.9 spaces per one bedroom, 1.1 per two bedroom and 1.3 for three or more bedroom units.

Read the full story.

A two-metre “vagrant” crocodile has been spotted today near Rainbow Beach north of Brisbane.

A two-metre crocodile has been spotted at Inskip Point, near Rainbow Beach in Queensland, which is further south than normal.Credit: Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science

The predator was reported on the sand in front of Sarawak camping area at Inskip Point.

Photos captured of the crocodile’s body imprint and claw marks by a ranger.

“We can reassure the public that this crocodile is considered to be a vagrant animal that has moved into the area from up north,” senior wildlife officer Joshua Morris said in a statement.

Ground patrols, boats and drones have been deployed to track down the animal.

Read the full story.

About two-dozen cars have had their tyres slashed, mirrors smashed or panels spray-painted north of Brisbane.

The vehicles were allegedly damaged by a 37-year-old man in a car park along McKean Street in Caboolture on Saturday afternoon.

He reportedly left the scene in a black SUV and returned that evening to damage more cars, before being arrested nearby.

A spokesperson for Queensland Police told Brisbane Times the spray-painting or damage was not targeted at a racial group.

The man – who is believed to be from South Australia – has been charged with 24 counts of wilful damage, and refused bail ahead of a court hearing on February 3.

Anyone with information on the incident is urged to contact police.

The 67th annual Grammy Awards are in full swing, and Beyoncé has just won album of the year, an award that has eluded the artist for years.

She received the top prize for her country album Cowboy Carter.

Beyonce accepts the award for best country album for Cowboy Carter.Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

Follow along here for live updates as we bring you all the highlights from the biggest night in music.

Keeping with news from courts for a moment: A blockbuster trial to determine whether Antoinette Lattouf was illegally sacked by the ABC began in the Federal Court in Sydney today.

The names of members of a private WhatsApp chat used to allegedly lobby the ABC chair and managing director into sacking Antoinette Lattouf have been suppressed following an application by Rebekah Giles, a high-profile defamation specialist, on Saturday in an attempt to keep the names of the members of the WhatsApp group “Lawyers for Israel” out of court.

Antoinette Lattouf arrives at court this morning.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone

Members of the group made attempts to lobby both former ABC chair Ita Buttrose and outgoing managing director David Anderson into sacking Lattouf in December 2023 while she was employed as a stand-in radio presenter on a five-day contract.

Read more about the case here.

Sam Kerr is set to appear in a London court on Monday night (AEDT) for the first day of a criminal trial in which she is accused of the racially aggravated harassment of a police officer.

Kerr is accused of calling a police officer a variation of “stupid white bastard” (according to the UK Newspaper The Sun) or “stupid white cop” (according to News Corp Australia) after a dispute over a taxi fare in south-west London.

Sam Kerr outside Kingston Crown Court on January 14, 2025.Credit: Nine

The Matildas captain could face time in jail if she is found guilty of the offence from the incident which occurred on January 30, 2023.

Read everything you need to know ahead of the first day of the trial here.

Multiple illegal stun guns have been intercepted on their way to a Brisbane home.

A 27-year-old Kelvin Grove man was arrested at a house raided by the Australian Border Force last week.

Illegal stun guns seized from a Kelvin Grove home.Credit: Australian Border Force

It came after three stun guns were found in a package that was declared as a flashlight in December last year.

“This is a serious offence, and I note that the devices in question were assessed as being law enforcement grade,” ABF acting commander Troy Sokoloff said.

“In the wrong hands, these devices would pose a serious risk to the community.”

Multiple other illegal items were allegedly found at the property and are under investigation by Queensland police.