As it happened: Brisbane on Thursday, July 11

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is on a three-day visit to south-east Queensland and seeking to promote Labor’s federal election chances in the process.

After introducing Rebecca Hack as Labor’s candidate for the Green-held seat of Ryan on Thursday, Albanese was asked if he was worried about the party losing more seats in Queensland.

“No, I’m about us winning seats here in Queensland, including here,” he said.

“I’ll be at Forde after this, and I’ll be in Dickson, a little electorate not far from here, as well, which has a very slim margin, tomorrow.

“We’ve got good candidates, what we have done is spent the time to make sure that we have the best candidates possible to put forward Labor’s agenda.”

Albanese said Greens supporters should be “pretty disappointed that the Greens have essentially used the power that they have not to promote positive policies, but to undermine the progressive agenda of the Labor government over areas like housing affordability, over making sure we have a realistic plan for renewables going forward, to address climate change as well”.

He also took a swipe at federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton, the LNP Member for Dickson, for promising a nuclear power industry.

“I don’t see people walking through the streets of Brisbane saying, ‘what do we want? A nuclear reactor. When did we want it? Now’.”

Thank you for joining us this Thursday. Our live news updates will continue in the Brisbane Times blog tomorrow.

Among the stories that mattered today:

The trial over the death of Toowoomba girl Elizabeth Struhs has resumed at Supreme Court in Brisbane, with the prosecution outlining some the evidence that would form part of the case. She told the court Elizabeth’s lifeless body was left on a mattress on the floor of her family’s home as her parent’s religious group sang and prayed around her.

In a self-penned column, Hollywood actor George Clooney explains why he believes US President Joe Biden should step down – even though Clooney himself headlined a fundraiser for Biden just weeks ago. “We’re all so terrified by the prospect of a second Trump term that we’ve opted to ignore every warning sign,” Clooney writes. Read his full column here.

House rents have eclipsed $1000 a week in 20 coastal suburbs across south-east Queensland as the nation’s love affair with ‘surf ‘n’ turf’ shows no sign of slowing.

And on the topic of housing, City Reporter Courtney Kruk writes that granny flats could be mutually beneficial for struggling renters and homeowners.

Also, Australian actor Rebel Wilson has lashed out at the producers of her directorial debut film The Deb after it was withdrawn from the Toronto International Film Festival.

And in sport, NRL legend Cameron Smith, along with fellow Queensland Origin icons Billy Slater and Johnathan Thurston, will come under consideration as the next rugby league Immortal after an NRL rule change.

A 17-year-old Acacia Ridge boy accused of killing another teenager in a Brisbane suburb has had his charges upgraded in court.

The boy was initially charged with attempted murder, threatening violence, and possession of a knife in a public place over an incident at Acacia Ridge on May 17.

His alleged victim, a 19-year-old man who was repeatedly stabbed with a knife, passed away in hospital on June 18.

In Richlands Childrens Court today, the attempted murder charge was formally upgraded to murder. The 17-year-old is due to reappear in court on August 29.

South-east Queensland train services have been marked down by commuters in the latest TransLink customer experience survey.

The May results, published by TransLink, show statistically significant declines in the rail travel experience across several categories: accessibility of the station, convenience of the starting location, the helpfulness of staff members, and feeling safe at the station.

Overall, commuters reported a better experience on CityCats and ferries, and light rail on the Gold Coast, than on trains. However, buses still had the lowest overall score, and rail performed worse in December and January when services were disrupted due to network upgrades.

An unqualified and inexperienced educator at a Brisbane childcare centre gave a child the wrong baby formula, resulting in a severe allergic reaction that required an ambulance to be called, a court has been told.

Rochedale Enterprise, which runs Rochedale Kids Early Learning Centre, has been fined $24,000 over the incident in December 2022 after an investigation by the Early Childhood Regulatory Authority.

Holland Park Magistrates Court was told the educator was supervising five children aged 11–15 months while the primary educator was on a lunch break. It was during this time the child was given the wrong baby formula.

The child suffered a severe anaphylactic reaction and was given an epinephrine injection at the centre, before being taken by ambulance to hospital with their mother.

Magistrate Sue Ganasan noted to the centre had policies and procedures in place but did not provide sufficient training. She said it was fortuitous the child had suffered no long-lasting injury or harm.

The company pleaded guilty and no conviction was recorded.

The University of Queensland’s Associate Professor Holger Baumgardt helped search through 1.4 million stars in the Omega Centauri cluster for signs of a massive black hole.

The eventual discovery of the black hole - about 20,000 times the size of the sun - has been revealed in Nature magazine this week, confirming long-held suspicions.

Baumgardt was part of an international team that located seven fast-moving stars that signalled the location of the intermediate-mass black hole.

“Identifying these stars was the smoking gun evidence we needed to prove the black hole’s existence, and we did,” Baumgardt said today.

“When I saw the data, I immediately knew we found something special.

“Astronomers have tried to find one of these black holes for over 20 years, and now we have finally succeeded.“

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is on a three-day visit to south-east Queensland and seeking to promote Labor’s federal election chances in the process.

After introducing Rebecca Hack as Labor’s candidate for the Green-held seat of Ryan on Thursday, Albanese was asked if he was worried about the party losing more seats in Queensland.

“No, I’m about us winning seats here in Queensland, including here,” he said.

“I’ll be at Forde after this, and I’ll be in Dickson, a little electorate not far from here, as well, which has a very slim margin, tomorrow.

“We’ve got good candidates, what we have done is spent the time to make sure that we have the best candidates possible to put forward Labor’s agenda.”

Albanese said Greens supporters should be “pretty disappointed that the Greens have essentially used the power that they have not to promote positive policies, but to undermine the progressive agenda of the Labor government over areas like housing affordability, over making sure we have a realistic plan for renewables going forward, to address climate change as well”.

He also took a swipe at federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton, the LNP Member for Dickson, for promising a nuclear power industry.

“I don’t see people walking through the streets of Brisbane saying, ‘what do we want? A nuclear reactor. When did we want it? Now’.”

Use of illicit drugs have hit record highs in Australia, according to the latest wastewater monitoring report from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.

The data covering the just-passed summer, from December 2023 to February 2024, shows cannabis continues to be the most popular illicit substance, while cocaine use is on the rise across the country, and methamphetamine use increases in Australia’s cities.

Wastewater monitoring recorded the highest cocaine use since the program began in 2016.

While cannabis kept its number one spot, its use slightly decreased overall. Meanwhile, cocaine use hit an all-time high in December 2023.

Methamphetamine use also saw an increase, continuing to be more popular in regional areas, but hitting a record high in capital cities. Australia’s methamphetamine was the second highest per capita in a sample of 29 similar countries, only trailing the US.

Similarly, MDMA use is on the rise, recording its highest levels since 2020.

The wastewater tracking program began in 2016. It assesses 56 sites around the country for the presence of 12 illicit substances. The samples represent just over 50 per cent of the population, covering both regional and urban areas.

Former Maroons lock Corey Parker says the decision to recall Dane Gagai to the Queensland team is a masterstroke.

Parker, who played in Gagai’s debut in the Origin decider in 2015, said coach Billy Slater knew what the outside back was capable of doing in front of a home crowd at Suncorp Stadium.

Dane Gagai celebrates a try in the 2022 State of Origin series.Credit: Getty

“Dane Gagai played 22 straight Origins and is the only player to win the Wally Lewis Medal (for player of the series) as a winger in State of Origin, which he did in 2017,” Parker said.

“The reason he is such a good Origin player is because he understands the enormity of the jersey he is wearing and takes it super personal.

“Dane wants to rip, tear, fight and do whatever he needs to do to win an Origin game and you see that in the aggressiveness with how he plays.

“His Maroons performances have always been top shelf based on the fact that he never wants to let the jersey or his teammates down in the Origin arena. He understands and gets why Origin is what it is. That is also my understanding from playing alongside him.”

Police are appealing for witnesses and anyone with dashcam or CCTV footage following a fatal single-vehicle traffic crash at Rocklea this morning.

Emergency services were called about 3.20am to reports of a car rollover on the Ipswich Motorway on-ramp at Granard Road.

Initial investigations indicated the car rolled over after hitting a concrete barrier.

A 32-year-old man from Orange in New South Wales, who was the driver and sole occupant of the car, suffered critical injuries and died at the scene.

A snap curfew imposed on Alice Springs has worked, the city’s mayor says, but has called for longer-term solutions to address issues in the community.

Renewed clashes in Alice Springs threatened to extend a three-day, snap curfew that was imposed, with police arresting five people on yesterday following a feud in the town’s centre.

Alice Springs Mayor Matt Paterson.Credit: James Brickwood

A decision is yet to be made on whether to extend the curfew, in which access to the CBD is barred from 10pm to 6am unless people had a valid reason to be there.

Alice Springs Mayor Matt Paterson indicated the curfew had “worked in the CBD” but has been “pushing crime out into the suburbs”.

“Ultimately, the community gets to have a breath while there’s extra resources and police in town,” he told ABC TV today.

However, he said imposing constant curfews in response to crime was not the permanent solution to issues.

“This is 30 years of policy on the run that’s got Alice Springs and central Australia to where we are, and it’s decisions driven out of Canberra and Darwin,” he said.

“There is a vision for a long-term plan, and I think that that is welcomed.

“But what we need to do is speed that process up, because there will be no requirement for a long-term plan if these things continue in Alice Springs, because it will drive good residents out of the community.”