As it happened: Brisbane on Thursday, July 24

Thanks for joining us for our live coverage of news in Brisbane and beyond. We’ll be back tomorrow morning with more live coverage. In the meantime, catch up on the stories making headlines today:

New allegations of cross-border underworld criminal links to the CFMEU will be probed under an expansion of the Queensland inquiry into the union.

Brisbane’s median house price has surged by $22,000 in just three months, reaching a record high as interest rates fall.

Former boxing world champion Anthony Mundine has unveiled plans to stage Australia’s first big-time bare knuckle event in Brisbane, declaring the sport safer than its brutal appearance.

The Trump administration is congratulating itself on securing a major trade breakthrough after the Australian government lifted its longstanding de facto ban on beef from the United States.

The Australian Taxation Office has been accused of writing off more than $950,000 in penalties and interest owed by one of Paul Keating’s investment companies following negotiations with the former prime minister and his advisers.

And in a congested field of rising stars in the Brisbane Lions’ ranks, Jaspa Fletcher seemed to fly under the radar. Yet Dayne Zorko rates him the best player to walk through Brighton Homes Arena each week. Read our profile of this rising star.

A man who allegedly stole a complete ATM from a service station and broke into various businesses around Toowoomba has been arrested by police officers while leaving the scene of a suspected break-in.

Police said the 43-year-old man, from Oakey, was arrested about 1.40am on Monday, when officers found him leaving the scene of a takeaway store they suspected he had been attempting to rob.

Officers believed the man had targeted other businesses – including services stations, a grocery store, a real estate agent, and a car and truck dealership – across a five-week period beginning from June 14.

He allegedly stole items including cash, credit cards, electronic devices, laptops, groceries, and cigarettes from the businesses primarily located in and around Toowoomba.

During one alleged break-in on June 29 at a service station in Jondaryan, 40 kilometres west of Toowoomba, police said the 43-year-old had stolen an ATM.

Police charged the man with 15 offences, including eight counts of entering premises with intent to commit, drug possession, and fraud.

He was released on bail and due to appear before Toowoomba Magistrates Court on August 19.

A woman has been charged in Brisbane’s south after allegedly stealing a van in Brisbane’s south yesterday, along with the therapy dog inside it.

Police said a Mazda 3 had been parked by the owner – a 44-year-old Greenslopes man – about 4.20pm yesterday along Logan Road, in Stones Corner, with the therapy dog in the front seat.

He returned to find the vehicle and dog missing, but police nearby flagged the allegedly stolen vehicle, being driven by a 29-year-old Camp Hill woman, with the dog still inside.

She attempted to drive away but was arrested and charged with unlawful use of a motor vehicle and unlawful possession of suspected stolen property.

The dog and vehicle were returned to the 44-year-old, and the woman was expected to appear before Brisbane Magistrates Court today.

Following reporting from this masthead this morning on further CFMEU corruption allegations, opposition employment and industrial relations spokesman Tim Wilson said the patronage network of corrupt union bosses was an ongoing concern.

“The CFMEU and the continuing issues of corruption remain a live one, and are having real and material impacts on Australians, and they’re paying for it in so many different ways,” Wilson said.

“Whether it’s through the increased cost of housing, whether it’s through the impact of the amount of money the CFMEU is taking from state government projects, which means every Australian is paying more for projects, which means we’re getting less return, less value for money.”

He reiterated the Liberals’ election platform on reform, saying it was important to reestablish the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC).

New allegations of cross-border underworld criminal links to the CFMEU will be probed under an expansion of the Queensland inquiry into the union.

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie confirmed the body will have the power to compel union officials, alleged criminals, developers and others from across the country in an announcement on Thursday morning.

“Our commission of inquiry was more of an industrial relations commission of inquiry … but we’ve been asked to take further action,” he said from Parliament House.

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie.Credit: Joe Ruckli

“I can announce today that we will.”

The new allegations emerged through this masthead on Wednesday.

Bleijie said he still expects the commission of inquiry to take about 12 months. Terms of reference and a commissioner are due to be announced within weeks.

Read more.

Nationals Leader David Littleproud has shrugged off suggestions that his leadership is in peril, saying he was focused instead on delivering for the junior Coalition partner in his position, however long that may be.

Rumblings about Littleproud’s tenure intensified this week, after former leaders Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack advanced their push for the party to abandon the 2050 net zero emissions target and refused to rule out a leadership challenge.

Nationals leader David Littleproud during a doorstop interview at Parliament House.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Speaking on ABC Radio National this morning, Littleproud said he doesn’t “look over his shoulder” and described the leadership as a “gift of the party”.

“I put my head on the pillow at night thinking I’m trying to leave a legacy for people I lead, no matter how long I’m here for,” Littleproud said.

“I’ve got to lead for the entirety of my party, not for individuals, and so what I’ll do is make sure I listen to my party room and draw on the collective wisdom of the party.”

Joyce has denied that his push to abandon the net zero target had been orchestrated to topple Littleproud, saying this morning that he was acting on the interests of his constituents in regional Australia.

The death of a possum after becoming caught in a steel trap in Brisbane has prompted a call for the devices to be banned.

The native brushtail possum had his leg snared by the “jaw” trap in Holland Park, and was found hanging from a tree in significant distress.

The possum was caught in a steel “jaw” trap in a Brisbane backyard.Credit: RSPCA Queensland

It was euthanised by the RSPCA soon after to prevent “a slow and painful” death due to its injuries.

“These archaic steel jaw traps don’t discriminate … they cause horrific injuries to wildlife, pets and target animals,” the organisation said in a statement.

“Steel jaw traps are banned in most Australian states, but not in Queensland.

“[We are] calling on the state government for a complete ban on the sale and use of steel jaw traps.”

Does it feel like almost everyone is getting struck down by the flu or COVID right now?

Queensland Health figures show lab-confirmed influenza cases are soaring, with 3650 last week, up from 2970 just three weeks earlier.

A wave of sickness seems to be hitting workplaces and schools in Brisbane, with flu cases steadily rising.Credit:

So far this year, we’ve had 39,918 cases of flu reported – well above the year-to-date mean of 26,926 of the past four years.

Just 17.3 per cent of Queenslanders aged 15 to 50 have had a flu jab this year, which is the lowest vaccination rate in the country for the age group.

Surgeries across four hospitals on Brisbane’s northside were paused last week due to a spike in flu and COVID cases to free up beds for emergency patients.

Award-winning Ludo Studio, makers of Bluey, have begun production in Brisbane and the Gold Coast on a family feature film for Netflix with the working title of Allen.

Co-directed by Ludo co-founder Daley Pearson and Jeffrey Walker (Apple Cider Vinegar, The Artful Dodger), the film is a tale of friendship and adventure set in a Queensland coastal town.

Daley Pearson and Jeffrey Walker, co-directors on Netflix film Allen.Credit: Netflix

Arts Minister Jean-Paul Langbroek said Ludo Studio was a Queensland entrepreneurial success story.

“The Crisafulli Government, through Screen Queensland, is thrilled to support their first locally made, live-action feature film,” he said.

Allen is supported by the Queensland Government through Screen Queensland’s Production Attraction Strategy and the Post, Digital and Visual Effects (PDV) Incentive.

A woman’s body has been found in a creek at a popular tourist destination, the fourth grim discovery in the Gold Coast area’s waters in less than a week.

Emergency services were called to Currumbin Creek at Currumbin Waters on the Gold Coast on Wednesday afternoon, finding the woman’s body in the water, and police investigations are ongoing.

Several people have died on the Gold Coast this week. Image is a generic stock photo.

It marks the fourth body found on the Gold Coast in the last week after police located a woman in her 70s on Palm Beach on Sunday, who was discovered 24 hours after a man was found dead on the rocks at Echo Beach in Tallebudgera on Saturday morning.

Police believe the man may have suffered a medical episode by the water’s edge.

A 31-year-old man was also found dead in a Varsity Lakes unit complex pool on Sunday morning.

These deaths are all unrelated and are not being treated as suspicious by police.

AAP