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

A two-metre “vagrant” crocodile has been spotted today near Rainbow Beach north of Brisbane.

A two-metre crocodile has been spotted at Inskip Point, near Rainbow Beach in Queensland, which is further south than normal.Credit: Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science

The predator was reported on the sand in front of Sarawak camping area at Inskip Point.

Photos captured of the crocodile’s body imprint and claw marks by a ranger.

“We can reassure the public that this crocodile is considered to be a vagrant animal that has moved into the area from up north,” senior wildlife officer Joshua Morris said in a statement.

Ground patrols, boats and drones have been deployed to track down the animal.

About two-dozen cars have had their tyres slashed, mirrors smashed or panels spray-painted north of Brisbane.

The vehicles were allegedly damaged by a 37-year-old man in a car park along McKean Street in Caboolture on Saturday afternoon.

He reportedly left the scene in a black SUV and returned that evening to damage more cars, before being arrested nearby.

A spokesperson for Queensland Police told Brisbane Times the spray-painting or damage was not targeted at a racial group.

The man – who is believed to be from South Australia – has been charged with 24 counts of wilful damage, and refused bail ahead of a court hearing on February 3.

Anyone with information on the incident is urged to contact police.

The 67th annual Grammy Awards are in full swing, and Beyoncé has just won album of the year, an award that has eluded the artist for years.

She received the top prize for her country album Cowboy Carter.

Beyonce accepts the award for best country album for Cowboy Carter.Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

Follow along here for live updates as we bring you all the highlights from the biggest night in music.

Keeping with news from courts for a moment: A blockbuster trial to determine whether Antoinette Lattouf was illegally sacked by the ABC began in the Federal Court in Sydney today.

The names of members of a private WhatsApp chat used to allegedly lobby the ABC chair and managing director into sacking Antoinette Lattouf have been suppressed following an application by Rebekah Giles, a high-profile defamation specialist, on Saturday in an attempt to keep the names of the members of the WhatsApp group “Lawyers for Israel” out of court.

Antoinette Lattouf arrives at court this morning.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone

Members of the group made attempts to lobby both former ABC chair Ita Buttrose and outgoing managing director David Anderson into sacking Lattouf in December 2023 while she was employed as a stand-in radio presenter on a five-day contract.

Read more about the case here.

Sam Kerr is set to appear in a London court on Monday night (AEDT) for the first day of a criminal trial in which she is accused of the racially aggravated harassment of a police officer.

Kerr is accused of calling a police officer a variation of “stupid white bastard” (according to the UK Newspaper The Sun) or “stupid white cop” (according to News Corp Australia) after a dispute over a taxi fare in south-west London.

Sam Kerr outside Kingston Crown Court on January 14, 2025.Credit: Nine

The Matildas captain could face time in jail if she is found guilty of the offence from the incident which occurred on January 30, 2023.

Read everything you need to know ahead of the first day of the trial here.

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