Brisbane news live: Coles manager’s generous act amid Queensland floods; Dutton would deliver the same attitude as Trump, Michaelia Cash says

A supermarket manager climbed aboard a dinghy to retrieve essential supplies for flood evacuees in north Queensland.

Heavy rain is set to continue in north Queensland until at least Tuesday after more than one metre of rain fell during 48 hours in some parts of the flood-stricken region.

Coles duty manager Marcia Glindermann was picked up from her Ingham home by the SES and ferried in a dinghy to her store on Sunday. There she managed to fill shopping trolleys full of supplies for the local evacuation centre.

Coles duty manager Marcia Glindermann collecting supplies from the supermarket.

“Our teams are working hard to support each of our communities during the current weather event, and as part of that we worked collaboratively with the Premier’s office and SES yesterday to get our Coles Ingham duty manager Marcia Glindemann into the store on a boat,” a Coles spokesman said.

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie praised Glindemann at a press conference a short time ago.

“The staff couldn’t access the supermarket, but we had a call in from the mayor of that Hinchinbrook area where they needed supplies ... for the evacuation centres. We immediately contacted Coles and Woolworths. They advised us where their manager and assistant manager lived. We got the SES to pick up the manager and assistant manager and deliver them from their homes across the water, to the supermarkets,” he said.

“This is their local community as well, their homes were potentially going to be flooded, their stores were going to be flooded, the streets are flooded, and yet they jumped in the dinghy, they went.”

Multiple illegal stun guns have been intercepted on their way to a Brisbane home.

A 27-year-old Kelvin Grove man was arrested at a house raided by the Australian Border Force last week.

Illegal stun guns seized from a Kelvin Grove home.Credit: Australian Border Force

It came after three stun guns were found in a package that was declared as a flashlight in December last year.

“This is a serious offence, and I note that the devices in question were assessed as being law enforcement grade,” ABF acting commander Troy Sokoloff said.

“In the wrong hands, these devices would pose a serious risk to the community.”

Multiple other illegal items were allegedly found at the property and are under investigation by Queensland police.

A reclusive Queensland mathematician and professional gambler has donated more than half-a-million dollars to the Greens.

Duncan Turpie from the Gold Coast gave national and state branches of the Greens $575,135 over the past two years, making him the second-biggest personal donor in the country. The majority of his donations, $300,000, was given to the Queensland branch of the party.

Reclusive poker player and gambler Duncan Turpie.

Turpie has long avoided the spotlight, but friends have described him as a shy, left-leaning maths whiz who “lucked out” creating specialist algorithms.

Brisbane Greens representatives, including mayoral candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan, have previously disputed suggestions that accepting Turpie’s money was at odds with the party’s stance on gambling and poker machines.

Tens of millions of dollars have been funnelled to major political parties as pressure for donation reform hots up ahead of a federal election this year.

The federal Labor Party’s total receipts eclipsed $15 million, the federal Liberals more than $11 million, the federal Nationals $2.5 million and the federal Greens more than $4.8 million, according to 2023/24 Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) disclosures.

Mining giant Hancock Prospecting, headed by billionaire Gina Rinehart, donated $325,000 to the Liberal National Party of Queensland, $75,000 to the Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory and $100,000 to the Liberals South Australia branch.

Electoral donations reform is back on the agenda as parliament resumes for perhaps the last sitting fortnight before a federal election is called.

The government and opposition haven’t yet reached a deal about appropriate donations and expenditure caps. Under the proposed changes, the donation disclosure threshold will be reduced to $1000, from the current $16,900.

Candidates will be limited to spending $800,000 per election campaign and can only receive donations of up to $20,000 from an individual.

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

Residents between Cairns and Mackay have been warned to stay on alert for rising water levels, with significant rainfall expected until at least Wednesday.

Floodwater is expected to continue rising in Ingham, where the river is centimetres shy of reaching the 1967 record of 15.2m that devastated the area.

Flooding has cut power and damaged roads throughout the north, with a major Bruce Highway link – the Ollera Creek Bridge near Townsville – collapsing into the water on Sunday afternoon.

Evacuation warnings are in place for regions across the far north with residents in Cardwell, Ingham and Townsville’s “black zone” spanning Cluden, Hermit Park, Idalia, Oonoonba, Railway Estate and Rosslea unable to return home.

Townsville councillor Andrew Robinson said floodwater in the black zone was expected to peak this morning, while more areas could be impacted in coming days.

There are more than 400 people currently in evacuation centres across Townsville, Ingham and Cardwell.

Nearly one metre of rain was recorded at Paluma Dam, Townsville, in the past 48 hours while Ingham has copped more than 400mm in the past day.

To put north Queensland’s floods into context, the Bureau of Meteorology says the region has received more than six months’ worth of rain in just three days.

NAB has become the first big bank to cut fixed-interest mortgage rates, following challenger Macquarie, as expectations of an impending Reserve Bank rate cut grow.

Rate tracking by comparison site Canstar shows NAB dropped fixed rates by up to 0.25 percentage points for owner-occupiers and up to 0.3 percentage points for investors today.

The move is likely to spur competition from other banks to start cutting rates as lenders try to entice customers to fixed mortgages, given the latest data shows more than 97 per cent of new loans were variable, Canstar data insights director Sally Tindall said.

“We’d hope to see competition really ramp up in that space as we get towards a cash rate cut, and then potentially onto the next one,” Tindall said.

Macquarie was the first lender to cut fixed-rate mortgages in 2025, reducing its one- to three-year fixed-rate mortgages by up to 0.16 percentage points in January.

NAB’s cuts bring it into line with Westpac, offering the lowest one-year fixed rate among the big four banks at 6.09 per cent.

ANZ is still offering the lowest two- and three-year fixed rates, both at 5.74 per cent.

Last time the RBA cut rates, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, not one big bank passed it on to existing variable rate customers.

AAP

Queensland Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie has assured north Queensland residents the region has at least six weeks’ worth of food, and delivery drops are planned for isolated communities amid the ongoing floods.

“Queenslanders will see through a lot of social media at the moment ... many pictures of reduced stock in supermarkets,” Bleijie told reporters at a press conference a short time ago.

“But I can assure you – as we have been assured – there is six weeks of food in north Queensland.

“We’ll ensure that the supermarkets get stocked up again.

“It may be that some people particularly in isolated communities are completely isolated and shut-off, but we will get the food to those people. We have mechanisms in place, delivery options available, and again if people are stuck and they have no food or drink at their home, they just need to sing out and we’ll ensure they get food and water, fresh water, to their homes.”

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A supermarket manager climbed aboard a dinghy to retrieve essential supplies for flood evacuees in north Queensland.

Heavy rain is set to continue in north Queensland until at least Tuesday after more than one metre of rain fell during 48 hours in some parts of the flood-stricken region.

Coles duty manager Marcia Glindermann was picked up from her Ingham home by the SES and ferried in a dinghy to her store on Sunday. There she managed to fill shopping trolleys full of supplies for the local evacuation centre.

Coles duty manager Marcia Glindermann collecting supplies from the supermarket.

“Our teams are working hard to support each of our communities during the current weather event, and as part of that we worked collaboratively with the Premier’s office and SES yesterday to get our Coles Ingham duty manager Marcia Glindemann into the store on a boat,” a Coles spokesman said.

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie praised Glindemann at a press conference a short time ago.

“The staff couldn’t access the supermarket, but we had a call in from the mayor of that Hinchinbrook area where they needed supplies ... for the evacuation centres. We immediately contacted Coles and Woolworths. They advised us where their manager and assistant manager lived. We got the SES to pick up the manager and assistant manager and deliver them from their homes across the water, to the supermarkets,” he said.

“This is their local community as well, their homes were potentially going to be flooded, their stores were going to be flooded, the streets are flooded, and yet they jumped in the dinghy, they went.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been briefed on the extreme weather events taking place around Australia, after one person died in floodwaters in north Queensland over the weekend.

The PM said national aerial assets and the Australian Defence Force had been deployed to assist with evacuation and rescue efforts.

Both state and federal emergency funding has been activated for residents, as regional centres including Townsville and Ingham continue to be threatened by floodwaters.

Albanese also acknowledged the ongoing heatwave stretching from Western Australia to Tasmania, including active bushfires still raging in Victoria, before thanking emergency service workers across the country for their efforts.

Young Australians can expect further cost of living policy announcements in the lead-up to the federal election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed.

In an interview with youth publication The Daily Aus, Albanese promised more help was on its way, but wouldn’t go into details.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media on Friday.Credit: Chris Hopkins

“I’m not going to make announcements now. But I will say that one of the things that we’ve done is not just talk about what we have done this term, but we’ve already foreshadowed our action in the second term,” Albanese said.

“So we’ll cut student debt by a further 20 per cent because we want to address these issues. We think that it is unfair. And we’ll also change where it kicks in and the amount that has to be paid back as a measure as well.”

The PM said he believes intergenerational inequality is the biggest issue facing young people, citing buying a home and the influence of technology as reasons for the phenomenon.

Elaborating on the housing crisis, Albanese said there was no short-term fix, and that increases to supply were being held up by state and local government planning and delays in passing the Build to Rent legislation, which only got through the Parliament in December last year with support from the Greens.