As it happened: Brisbane on Tuesday, August 6

Deputy LNP leader Jarrod Bleijie has described Labor’s fuel price plan as “one of the dumbest and most desperate announcements ever made by a Queensland premier”.

“Steven Miles knows his plan would drive up petrol prices for Queenslanders but he is so desperate he announced it anyway because he will do and say anything to cling to power ahead of the October election,” Bleijie said.

“Labor’s state-owned petrol stations announcement is a desperate, hare-brained, half-baked thought bubble that will reduce competition by driving mum and dad operators out of business and pump-up petrol prices for Queenslanders across the state.”

LNP treasury spokesman David Janetzki said Treasurer Cameron Dick had only six weeks earlier said, “the state doesn’t have the legislative or constitutional authority to regulate prices”.

“It’s chaos and crisis at the top of this decade-old Labor government,” Janetzki said.

Thanks for joining us for our live news updates. That’s where we’ll leave the posts for today.

Here are some of the main stories on Tuesday, August 6:

A re-elected state Labor government would set up 12 state-owned petrol stations in its first 12 months of office to tackle rising petrol prices in Queensland. The LNP lambasted the announcement as a “desperate, hare-brained, half-baked thought bubble” that would harm competition.

The inquest into the Wieambilla police shootings has revealed what officers found inside the house where the extremists were killed.

The Reserve Bank has held official interest rates steady despite signs inflation will fall rapidly for most Australians in the coming months.

Crocodile victim David Hogbin was on a camping trip with his family when he fell into a Queensland river. His wife says he saved her life in his final moments.

And it’s been 12 years since hatted Brisbane chef Kym Machin left iconic fine diner Urbane. Now he’s back, taking on a very different dining scene.

Meanwhile, in Paris, at 8 o’clock on a warm Monday night in the Olympic city, Australia’s medal winners thus far stepped onto a luxury restaurant boat on the River Seine as the guests of mining heiress Gina Rinehart.

Labor Premier Steven Miles used his State of the State address to contrast his recent policy announcements with the approach of LNP counterpart, David Crisafulli.

“My opponent is doing his very best to avoid outlining any plans at all,” Miles told the lunchtime audience at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

“That’s one of the ways he and I are very different. He wants to be a small target, I want to outline a big vision. He wants to paint a negative picture of our state, I know Queensland is great and can be even better.”

Miles said a lot would happen before the October 26 election – he promised to say more about electricity prices, healthcare, environment and lifestyle – but he believed political leaders should be upfront with voters.

“Nobody will ever call me a small target, and I’m not about to die wondering.”

A comprehensive internal review of all Queensland police watch houses will be undertaken amid “systemic issues” identified by the service.

Commissioner Steve Gollschewski has outlined the review into how the state’s watch houses are designed, provisioned and operated, with a commitment to ongoing reform.

Led by Deputy Commissioner Cameron Harsley, the review will also address police training and establish a new governance arrangement for watch house operations.

Queensland’s 63 watch houses process more than 75,000 detainees annually.

This year, they have attracted 42 complaints, with 101 allegations raised, Gollschewski said on Tuesday.

“I acknowledge there are end-to-end systemic issues in our watch houses, and the whole system is under significant pressure,” he said.

Watch house officers will this week begin wearing body-worn cameras to enhance the security of workers and detainees, Harsley said.

AAP

Deputy LNP leader Jarrod Bleijie has described Labor’s fuel price plan as “one of the dumbest and most desperate announcements ever made by a Queensland premier”.

“Steven Miles knows his plan would drive up petrol prices for Queenslanders but he is so desperate he announced it anyway because he will do and say anything to cling to power ahead of the October election,” Bleijie said.

“Labor’s state-owned petrol stations announcement is a desperate, hare-brained, half-baked thought bubble that will reduce competition by driving mum and dad operators out of business and pump-up petrol prices for Queenslanders across the state.”

LNP treasury spokesman David Janetzki said Treasurer Cameron Dick had only six weeks earlier said, “the state doesn’t have the legislative or constitutional authority to regulate prices”.

“It’s chaos and crisis at the top of this decade-old Labor government,” Janetzki said.

A day after the 50¢ fare trial was introduced to Brisbane’s bus, ferry and train networks, Premier Steven Miles has doubled down on Labor’s election promises to “build, modernise and update” Queensland transport.

At his CEDA State of the State address today, Miles reiterated plans devised with the Brisbane City Council to separate the Translink bus and ferry network from council management and create an independent transport authority.

“Translink will be a one-stop shop for trains and buses and making sure they all work together,” he said, adding that transport workers could expect no change to their income or working conditions.

Areas beyond Brisbane were also promised state government attention, the premier pledging at least 55 per cent of road funding outside the state capital to improve “safety, flood resilience and capacity”.

The promises come after the Monday evening announcement of a plan to curb Queensland’s petrol prices with 12 new state-owned petrol stations and new parameters for pricing at the retail level.

Monday marked the start of National Homelessness Week, with support service providers listing domestic violence and low social housing supply as some of Queensland’s biggest housing issues.

Brisbane’s homelessness rate has risen 22 per cent since 2017, about three times the national average, with the post-covid housing squeeze making affordable accommodation in Brisbane more difficult to find.

While affordable rentals remain difficult to find generally, the state also has a shortage in social housing.

More than 45,000 people are on the waiting list with wait times averaging more than 2½ years.

Of those waiting for social housing, 15 per cent were single parents and almost 30 per cent, or 12,700 people, were flagged as at risk of homelessness or already homeless.

Queensland Council of Social Service chief executive Aimee McVeigh called on the government to decrease social housing shortages as well as capping rental price increases on the private market in order to address the demand.

“This new data highlights what our services are telling us on the ground, more and more families with children are struggling to make ends meet and paying the rent has become an expense people cannot afford.”

In addition, Brisbane Youth Service reported 37 per cent of rough sleepers are under 25 years old, with many fleeing from domestic and family violence situations.

BYS will host its annual Daggy Jumper Day later in the week as a fundraiser for young people and families struggling with permanent and secure accommodation.

Steven Miles’ Labor government has promised to spend $36 million to build a dozen publicly owned petrol stations if re-elected at the October election.

Treasurer Cameron Dick gave the costing while promising to roll out the stations within the first 12 months of the next term.

Existing stations would also be limited to one 5¢ hike a day under the proposal.

“[Road users] have expressed great concern to me about what we pay in fuel,” Miles said today.

“Here in Brisbane we have the highest fuel prices of capital cities.”

The price-cap proposal was researched and developed by the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ).

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has confirmed a move towards a new public transport authority in Queensland.

“We have been talking to the state government about a number of things when it comes to how we can work together better,” Schrinner said on ABC Radio this morning.

“And one of those things is a situation where there was better co-ordination between buses and rail, for example. And so, as part of that, we have been discussing the opportunity to have an integrated transport authority.”

Rather than a state takeover, however, it would be a “more co-operative” arrangement, similar to what already occurred in other cities, Schrinner said.

“When Translink was first set up, it was intended to be a separate transit authority and then it became a part of the government department.”

Premier Steven Miles said the council would remain a contractor to the new authority.

The Australian Federal Police have seized the home and assets of two Russian-born Australian citizens accused of spying for Moscow.

Russian-born Australian Army private Kira Korolev, 40, and her 62-year-old labourer husband, Igor Korolev, were charged with an espionage-related offence on July 11.

The AFP alleges the pair accessed sensitive ADF information with the intent to provide it to Russian authorities.

The couple’s Brisbane apartment, multiple bank accounts, and the superannuation funds acquired during Korolev’s time with the ADF were among the assets restrained by the AFP today.

“The AFP has a two-pronged strategy for combating illegal activity – investigation and criminal prosecutions; and also confiscating wealth from people who try to operate outside of the law,” Acting Commander Amelia McDonald said.

The criminal case remains before the court.

Premier Steven Miles says the Labor government plans to set up 12 state-owned petrol stations in its first 12 months of office to tackle rising petrol prices in Queensland.

Speaking on ABC Radio, Miles said he wanted to tackle unpredictable petrol price hikes.

Premier Steven Miles at McDonald’s in Central Station after catching the train on Monday morning.Credit: Facebook

“RACQ has this research which shows that Queensland, and Brisbane in particular, has the least competitive petrol market, he said.

Miles said Labor’s plan included moves to help independent fuel operators enter the petrol market and to set up state-owned petrol stations to drive competition into the petrol market.

“We are going to start with 12, and we are going to work with the RACQ and the independent operators to identify where we most need that additional competition,” he said.

“We expect that will mean some (petrol stations) in Brisbane, but also some in regional areas.”

Former Labor treasurer Andrew Fraser and then-premier Anna Bligh tried a similar move unsuccessfully 15 years ago to lower petrol prices in Queensland.

The move comes only two months after Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick said the state did not have the legislative or constitutional authority to regulate fuel prices.