Brisbane news live: Art deco look for Paddington site | Aust Treasury modelling prepared for Trump tariffs | Floodwater still rising in north Queensland

Several Brisbane clearways will have their hours extended, meaning the loss of off-peak parking spots, in a move designed to improve traffic flow.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the Musgrave Road and Waterworks Road corridor between Red Hill and The Gap would be reviewed first, with the plan opened for community consultation.

“Road upgrades and intersection upgrades can be costly projects … clearways are a critical tool that can cost-effectively keep traffic moving,” he said.

The Musgrave Road–Waterworks Road corridor currently has clearways in effect between 7-9am inbound and 4-7pm outbound, Monday to Friday.

The proposed changes could include adding an hour or two to the clearway times, or adding weekends.

Almost 130,000 vehicles travel the corridor between 5am and 7pm during the week.

Other major corridors to be considered include Wynnum Road, Vulture Street, Wellington Road, Moggill Road and Klumpp Road.

In his address to a joint party room meeting at the outset of the 2025 parliamentary year, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton rallied the Coalition around the idea of a government that has “lost its way”.

He said Australians had been let down by the prime minister amid the cost-of-living crisis, listing the number of failed small businesses and the price increases of food, rent, electricity and gas since the 2022 election as proof of this failure.

“I think there is momentum for change. People do want to get their country back on track, and that’s what we want to do,” Dutton told the meeting.

The opposition leader framed the PM as someone who was out of touch and “living in a parallel universe”, pointing to the optimism Albanese displayed in comments this morning and to his caucus yesterday.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton addresses a joint party room meeting at Parliament House.Credit: James Brickwood

“The prime minister says families have never had it better off because inflation is off, but all of the prices are up. For people in the Jewish community and across the country, Australians are watching their prime minister, knowing he is out of his depth, and he is not up to the task, particularly in relation to law and order and keeping our country safe,” Dutton said.

In a sign of what’s likely to come in the election campaign, Dutton argued the prime minister had failed at the “basic task” of keeping Australians safe.

“People in Jewish communities are really living in fear, and yet in the prime minister’s discussion yesterday with his caucus, he never mentioned antisemitism once, even though it is a national crisis in our country, and it is indicative of further problems across society,” Dutton said.

“I want to make sure that we can take the decisions that are required, including minimum mandatory sentencing for people who commit terrorist attacks. I want a clear message to be heard by anybody who has evil in their heart that we have absolute zero tolerance for antisemitism.”

Rainfall is expected to ease over the coming days but any further water in the already-soaked northern Australia will aggravate the flood disaster.

The intensity of rain in northern Queensland eased on Monday afternoon with six-hour totals peaking at 50 to 100mm rather than up to 600mm over the weekend.

There were still some isolated high rainfall totals between Innisfail and Ingham where 167mm was recorded at Clyde Road at Babinda and 149mm at Paluma.

But even as the rain eases, river levels are still rising.

“Some catchments are holding steady or even starting to fall, but others are still continuing to rise in response to past rainfall,” meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said.

Good news overnight for Townsville residents, with the Ross River failing to reach the major flood level and peaking at 1.66m before it began subsiding.

But those evacuated in Townsville’s “black zone” spanning Cluden, Hermit Park, Idalia, Oonoonba, Railway Estate and Rosslea have still been urged not to return home.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned that Tuesday could bring local heavy rainfall between Cairns and Townsville with a severe weather warning in place between Cardwell and Yabulu.

Hundreds of people have been evacuated and many rescued across the region, with more than one metre of rain recorded near Townsville.

An upbeat Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has given his cheery outlook for 2025, following the traditional bipartisan church service that starts each new parliamentary year.

“We do need hope and we need optimism and as we begin the parliamentary year, that’s precisely what I have – optimism for the year ahead and optimism that we can create a better future for Australia,” he told the media outside Canberra’s Saint Christopher’s Cathedral.

Albanese rattled off the government’s priorities for the sitting fortnight, which could be the last of the year depending on when the election is called, including free TAFE and abolishing the activity test for childcare subsidies.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton attended the traditional church service.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“I look forward to continuing to have debate in the great democracy that is Australia, but this morning was a great way to begin the parliamentary year.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton had a similar cheery message, telling reporters outside the Canberra church that he thought the service was “a very nice start to the parliamentary year, as it always is, in a bipartisan way”.

“That’s a nice thing,” he said, noting that it was a busy election year ahead. But Dutton was happy to weigh in on his electoral chances.

“I believe very strongly that there’s a mood for change in our country and I think we’ve demonstrated over the course of the last three years that we have the stability and the depth of experience to make the decisions to keep our country safe and help families recover from a really tough period that many people didn’t predict two-and-a-half years ago and I fear that it gets worse if the government’s re-elected.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the government had done modelling on the possibility of the US imposing tariffs on Australia before the election of US President Donald Trump.

Speaking on ABC Radio National, Chalmers also backed the decision for Defence Minister Richard Marles to fly to Washington DC to speak with his US counterpart Pete Hegseth.

“These tariff changes were flagged in one way or another during the election campaign recently, and so we expected big changes out of a new administration, but we’re confident in our ability to navigate those changes,” Chalmers said.

Asked if the government has done modelling on the imposition of tariffs on Australia by the US, Chalmers confirmed the Treasury had modelled the possible situation.

“We have; we actually did a bunch of work with the Treasury and other colleagues before the election, anticipating either outcome, and I have had the ability to brief my colleagues on a number of occasions now on some of that sort of work,” he said.

“The broad conclusion of that work is that Australia is a big beneficiary of open global trading. We are a very trade-exposed economy; it means that we’re not immune.”

For the latest news on Trump’s tariffs, head here.

A former Paddington service station is set to be given a new lease on life, with plans for an art deco-style renovation and paved outdoor dining area overlooking Brisbane.

A development application has been submitted to Brisbane City Council from Urbis and V Architecture, on behalf of developer-investor Louis Zenonos, for 78 Latrobe Terrace.

Concept drawings for 78 Latrobe Terrace at Paddington add art deco styling to the site.

Concept drawings feature a new curved edge roof and awning – under signage for “Louie’s” – attached to a restaurant, cafe or bar and retail space. There is also an extensive landscaped outdoor seating area with views of the city and inner suburbs.

The site, most recently home to a Merlo Coffee outlet and dry cleaner, is surrounded by wealthy suburbs and in-demand residential real estate.

New data from CoreLogic shows growth in the top end of the market has weakened in Australia’s capital cities, but Brisbane has yet to experience the slowdown recorded in Sydney and Melbourne.

As those in some parts of Queensland’s north wake to a deluge, the weather is forecast to be much milder here in the state capital.

A cloudy day with a medium chance of showers is predicted for Brisbane, with the temperature expected to top out at 30 degrees.

Here’s what’s making news beyond Brisbane this morning:

Matildas captain Sam Kerr called a police officer “f---ing stupid and white” as he attempted to resolve a dispute after she smashed a taxi window during a drunken night out, a London court has heard.

A new bid to stamp out hate speech would impose criminal penalties on people who promote hatred over race, religion, gender and other factors, in a crossbench move challenging Labor and the Coalition to toughen the law.

A Coalition promise to allow small businesses to claim a tax deduction for business lunches could punch a $10 billion a year hole in the federal budget, the federal government has claimed.

Questions were raised regarding Queenslander Usman Khawaja’s place ahead of next summer’s Ashes. But has the formula for his success now be unveiled?

Good morning, and welcome to Brisbane Times’ news blog. Today the city can expect a shower and a top temperature of 30 degrees.

In local news you need to know this morning:

A 17-year-old girl has died after being bitten by a shark off Bribie Island, just north of Brisbane. Witnesses and paramedics tried to save her, but her upper body wounds were so significant she was pronounced dead at the scene.

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 today.

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

And a two-metre “vagrant” crocodile has been spotted north of Brisbane. Photos were captured of the crocodile’s body imprint and claw marks.