As it happened: Brisbane on Friday, August 2

Glorious sunny weather will continue through the weekend offering great conditions for outdoor recreation.

Australia’s longest-running hot rod and rockabilly festival, Greazefest runs all weekend at Redland Showgrounds, with music, flashy cars, markets, food trucks and a lot of tattoos.

Alana Wilkie at Greazefest, Australia’s longest-running hot rod and rockabilly festival.Credit: Mark Greenmantle

On Sunday, the annual Winter Design Market comes to the forecourt of the Gallery of Modern Art/Queensland Art Gallery from 9am to 4pm. Shop for local craft and design, with music by DJ Aidan Beiers.

Four locations across the Gold Coast are the hubs for the Bleach festival, the 12-day arts festival which launched yesterday and features a number of free concerts and dance performances.

Indoors, the Brisbane Portrait Prize opens at the State Library on Saturday. This free exhibition showcases winning and shortlisted paintings and photographs of distinguished Brisbane people.

A new Holey Moley putt putt has opened at the Westfield in Mount Gravatt offering 18-hole mini golf, karaoke and challenge rooms along with pizza and cocktails.

An exhaustive exhibition on the 112-year-old disaster Titanic: The Human Story continues at Uptown with relics from the ship, recreations of cabins, large-scale photographs and an engrossing audioguide.

That’s where we’ll leave our live blog for this Friday. We’ll see you again on Monday morning.

In case you missed it, here are some of the top stories making news today:

Queensland Premier Steven Miles says he will leave it to police to determine whether CFMEU workers were behind an attack on a picket-crossing Cross River Rail worker outside his home this week, but will push ahead with proposed legislation to bring the union into line regardless.

A youth mental health manager is federal Labor’s choice to wrest back from the Greens the inner-city seat of Griffith where Kevin Rudd once pushed to become Labor prime minister.

Supernormal Brisbane is this city’s most anticipated restaurant opening of the year. In an exclusive interview, star chef Andrew McConnell explains what makes it different from its Melbourne sibling.

And Gold Coast weatherman Luke Bradnam will present Olympic surfing to millions of Americans after a late call-up to replace Saturday Night Live star Colin Jost as NBC’s Olympic surfing correspondent.

Eight people have been arrested after large amounts of drugs and cash were allegedly seized on the Gold Coast.

Queensland Police searched properties at Broadbeach, Burleigh Heads, Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach Waters yesterday and today.

Drugs including cocaine, paraphernalia, mobile phones, cash and a BMW X5 were reportedly found.

Dozens of charges including trafficking illegal substances have been laid.

“No matter your standing in our community, if you are involved in the distribution of illicit substances, you will be targeted, and you will be held accountable,” detective inspector Craig Bowman said in a statement.

Ekka showgoers are being promised easier access to the event this year even without the new Exhibition station, with the Queensland Government offering free shuttle bus services.

The free buses will travel every seven minutes between the Herston and Woolloongabba busway stations, running towards Herston between 8:30am and 6:00pm and towards Woolloongabba between 10:00am and 11:00pm.

Minister for Transport and Main Roads Bart Mellish said the government has been taking steps to improve accessibility to the grounds, but that ongoing interruptions – a reference to the ongoing dispute between the CFMEU and Cross River Rail contractor CPB – had made it “impossible” to temporarily open the Exhibition station for the show.

“The best thing to do is to plan your journey in advance so you know which services best get you to and from the show,” he said.

Regular buses will continue to run alongside the additional free services, and shuttles to the gate six showground entrance will be provided for people requiring assistance from outside the Herston busway and Fortitude Valley train stations.

A fatal suspected hit-and-run in far north Queensland has prompted a police callout for witnesses.

The alleged crash occurred between 6.15pm and 6.40pm yesterday on Junction Road in Mossman, north of Cairns.

A 37-year-old local woman died at the scene, reportedly following a “confrontation” nearby.

It’s unclear if police believe the events are related.

“We’re looking for community assistance,” senior sergeant Duane Amos said today.

“Anyone who has information that may assist us … we have an investigator that’s waiting to take your call.”

A proposal to increase the number of concerts at Suncorp Stadium has earned the backing of Brisbane City Council mayor Adrian Schrinner.

About 81 per cent of residents support permanently allowing up to 12 annual music events at the venue following a two-year trial, according to a state government survey released this week.

“There’s definitely demand,” Schrinner said.

“We know that there was a great disappointment when we couldn’t get Taylor Swift to come to Brisbane.

“It’s great to see the state government now considering a permanent increase in the number of events … because ultimately this is something that the community is wanting, this is something that’s in demand and it also brings a major economic boost to the city.”

Glorious sunny weather will continue through the weekend offering great conditions for outdoor recreation.

Australia’s longest-running hot rod and rockabilly festival, Greazefest runs all weekend at Redland Showgrounds, with music, flashy cars, markets, food trucks and a lot of tattoos.

Alana Wilkie at Greazefest, Australia’s longest-running hot rod and rockabilly festival.Credit: Mark Greenmantle

On Sunday, the annual Winter Design Market comes to the forecourt of the Gallery of Modern Art/Queensland Art Gallery from 9am to 4pm. Shop for local craft and design, with music by DJ Aidan Beiers.

Four locations across the Gold Coast are the hubs for the Bleach festival, the 12-day arts festival which launched yesterday and features a number of free concerts and dance performances.

Indoors, the Brisbane Portrait Prize opens at the State Library on Saturday. This free exhibition showcases winning and shortlisted paintings and photographs of distinguished Brisbane people.

A new Holey Moley putt putt has opened at the Westfield in Mount Gravatt offering 18-hole mini golf, karaoke and challenge rooms along with pizza and cocktails.

An exhaustive exhibition on the 112-year-old disaster Titanic: The Human Story continues at Uptown with relics from the ship, recreations of cabins, large-scale photographs and an engrossing audioguide.

A former Catholic brother convicted of sexually abusing 35 children more than three decades ago has been jailed.

Frank Terrence Keating, 81, was sentenced in the Brisbane District Court today after earlier pleading guilty to indecent treatment and carnal knowledge charges involving children.

Frank Terrence Keating (right) with lawyer Terry O’Gorman (left) after an earlier court appearance.Credit: Toby Crockford

He worked as a teacher, then principal at the De La Salle college at Scarborough, north of Brisbane.

Judge Paul Smith said Keating had committed a total of 63 offences against 35 children over about 20 years.

Smith said Keating’s offences were a gross breach of trust by a school teacher and had a profound and lasting effect on the children.

He handed down a six-year jail sentence, with Keating eligible for parole on April 1, 2026.

Keating had previously been convicted of similar offences in Queensland and Victoria.

Read more.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced Federal Labor’s latest candidate – youth mental health chief executive Renee Coffey – to retain government at the 2025 federal campaign.

Coffey will contest Griffith against the Greens’ Max Chandler-Mather, who has made housing a central feature of his term.

Coffey, who was preselected several weeks ago, lives at Norman Park and has two young boys and two older daughters.

Anthony Albanese with the newly picked candidate for Griffith, Renee Coffey.Credit: Tony Moore

Asked by reporters about criminal allegations against the Queensland arm of the CFMEU, Albanese said he was prepared to legislate if the Fair Work Commission requested that assistance.

He said Senator Murray Watt, the government’s new minister for Workplace Relations, would be responsible for preparing legislation.

Brisbane 2032’s athletes village will soon start taking shape after the Queensland government awarded an $87 million roads and infrastructure contract to urban development firm BDM.

The contracted work would include several new roads and enhancements to existing roads in the Northshore precinct, including the creation of a sub-tropical boulevard along Macarthur Avenue.

Artists’ impression of the completed athlete’s village at Hamilton.Credit: Queensland Government

During the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the athletes’ village at Hamilton was expected to house about 10,000 competitors.

“After the Games, those athletes village buildings will be converted into long-term accommodation, delivering homes for our growing city and another great legacy of hosting the Games,” Premier Steven Miles said.

Work was due to begin later this month.

A Canadian woman will face court after flying to Brisbane and allegedly concealing $13.4 million worth of methamphetamine in her luggage.

The 24-year-old underwent a bag examination after arriving at Brisbane International Airport from Fiji on July 28, after travelling from Vancouver.

Australian Border Force officers allegedly found 14.4kg of meth inside towels soaked in vinegar and layered with coffee beans.

X-Ray vision shows 14.4kg of meth allegedly found in a woman’s luggage at Brisbane Airport.Credit: Australian Border Force

The meth had an estimated value of $13.4 million, which was enough for almost 145,000 street deals, Australian Federal Police said on Friday.

The woman was charged with one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug - an offence which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The woman faces Brisbane Magistrates Court today.