As it happened: Brisbane on Tuesday, July 29

Logan is installing dozens of baskets in parks and wetland areas that allow people to leave cans and bottles behind to be collected by a stranger for the 10¢ refund.

It’s a solution that should stop people bin diving looking for cans and bottles for the 10¢ refund, while also improving recycling rates.

The City of Logan is rolling out the baskets in partnership with Containers for Change.Credit: Steven Hoare/ City of Logan

The baskets, which are attached to public bins or poles, are provided to council for free by Container Exchange and save ratepayers money by reducing the damage to council property that can result from people trying to get into public bins.

It also reduces the amount of waste that could have been recycled from going to landfill.

More than 50 baskets have been installed in Logan’s Division 5 area, including the Berrinba Wetlands.

Thanks for joining us for live coverage of the news in Brisbane and beyond. We’ll be back tomorrow morning with more live coverage. In the meantime, catch up on the stories making headlines today:

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has claimed a partial victory, releasing figures showing fewer victims of crime in the state than when the LNP took power.

Thousands of Queensland state school teachers will walk off the job for the entire day next Wednesday as pay negotiations with the state government heat up.

Moving from a coal-dominated power grid to cleaner sources of energy may end up costing more than first thought, as CSIRO warns of higher construction costs hitting the industry and giant premiums involved in developing new generation technologies for the first time.

Four innocent people have been shot dead, including a police officer, after a 27-year-old man armed with an assault rifle stormed a New York City office building that is home to some of the country’s top financial firms and the US National Football League.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has signalled he believes Gaza will be freed from Hamas’ rule, paving the way for recognition of a Palestinian state, as he slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that Gazans are not starving.

And after a pretty significant wobble, Australia claimed the three-wicket victory with three overs to spare to finish off their unbeaten tour of the Caribbean. Look back on our live coverage of today’s play.

The Prime Minister’s attacks on Greens members that lost their seats at the election have continued into the second week of parliament.

Following a question from the new member for Griffith, Renee Coffey, Albanese referred to her as his favourite representative for the seat.

The call was a reference to the fallen Greens firebrand Max Chandler-Mather, who regularly butted heads with the PM in parliament.

His joke led to jeers from the opposition benches, with calls of “ours too” from LNP member Cameron Caldwell.

The first two questions from the government benches to cabinet ministers came from members who had unseated Greens at the last election.

Catch up on everything happening in federal parliament today in our national news blog.

Thousands of Queensland state school teachers will walk off the job next Wednesday as pay negotiations with the state government heat up.

More than 95 per cent of Queensland Teachers’ Union members who voted in this week’s ballot supported a series of 24-hour stoppages.

Read more about the lead-up to today’s announcement.

Queensland Transport and Main Roads employees have been told they will have to stop working today if they engage in industrial action other than updating their email signatures or auto replies.

Professionals Australia union members had planned additional action, including a ban on working more than 36.25 hours a week, a ban on completing accelerated training and on submitting or approving timesheets.

But in an email from a TMR boss this morning, employees were told they would be directed to not start work if they were not undertaking full duties.

A spokesman told Brisbane Times it had advised the union and its members that it supported their right to take protected industrial action.

“TMR has not directed union members not to work, unless those members are not undertaking full duties,” he said. “In accordance with the Industrial Relations Act 2016, pay will only be withheld for employees who choose to not fulfill their duties as part of the protected industrial action.”

Professionals Australia is asking for a wage increase of between 19 to 23.5 per cent, but TMR has offered 3 per cent in line with the government wages policy.

Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg said he recognised the important role engineers played in the public sector.

“No projects or programs will be impacted by any action that may be taken,” he said. “TMR is continuing to meet with union representatives to reach an in-principle agreement.”

Logan is installing dozens of baskets in parks and wetland areas that allow people to leave cans and bottles behind to be collected by a stranger for the 10¢ refund.

It’s a solution that should stop people bin diving looking for cans and bottles for the 10¢ refund, while also improving recycling rates.

The City of Logan is rolling out the baskets in partnership with Containers for Change.Credit: Steven Hoare/ City of Logan

The baskets, which are attached to public bins or poles, are provided to council for free by Container Exchange and save ratepayers money by reducing the damage to council property that can result from people trying to get into public bins.

It also reduces the amount of waste that could have been recycled from going to landfill.

More than 50 baskets have been installed in Logan’s Division 5 area, including the Berrinba Wetlands.

Bayside detectives have charged a man after he allegedly tried to stop and enter vehicles near a zebra crossing on Sibley Road at Wynnum West shortly before 9pm on Monday.

Police and the Brisbane dog squad arrested a man within minutes of receiving the report.

It will be alleged the man had a 22 centimetre-long military style knife.

A 22-year-old Daisy Hill man was charged with attempted unlawful entry of a vehicle for committing an indictable offence while armed, going armed to cause fear, and possessing property suspected of having been used in connection with a drug offence.

There is a lot of industrial action going on this week, including at the Brisbane Airport where GE Aerospace workers have walked off the job for 24 hours from 8am this morning.

The workers, represented by the Transport Workers’ Union maintain and service aviation engines for clients including Qantas, Virgin, the Australian Defence Force, ST Aerospace, Northrop Grumman, National Jet, and Ryukyu Air Commuter.

GE Aerospace workers at Brisbane Airport walk off the job.

Dozens of workers at the Brisbane site are taking part in industrial action, which is expected to disrupt engine maintenance schedules for key clients.

They are seeking pay increases, a trial of a four-day working week and the introduction of an overtime bank.

Back to state parliament, where Premier David Crisafulli has told today’s estimates hearings that the January decision to pause gender-affirming care for new young patients in the public sector was “a decision taken by cabinet”.

Greens MP Michael Berkman was asking the premier about a meeting Crisafulli had held with Queensland Health director general David Rosengren – who ultimately held the power to issue the directive under law – one week prior to the announcement by Health Minister Tim Nicholls.

“I can’t say to the Member whether or not we discussed it or not. I can’t recall. But I will say this to the Member, just so the Member’s under no illusions about my role in that – that was a decision taken by cabinet. So ultimately, I accept that decision,” Crisafulli said.

The pause on new hormone therapy statewide, subject to a Supreme Court challenge, was based on a three-page document with allegations of “apparently unauthorised” services to 42 paediatric patients in Cairns.

The consultation that was legally required before issuing the directive amounted to just 21 minutes, and happened at the same time as the media conference announcing the decision.

Queensland’s peak medical body has released a blueprint to strengthen the state’s health workforce, with recommendations to improve medical training for graduates, public hospital care and workplace culture.

AMA Queensland president Dr Nick Yim said the Workforce Working Group Action Plan was the result of six months of consultation and outlines ways to “ensure training pathways, career opportunities and workplace culture bring doctors into the system and get them to where they’re needed most”.

The plan includes suggestions to better define the role of the doctor, provide targeted care and streamline responsibilities through the use of AI tools.

The Queensland government has pledged to deliver 46,000 additional health workers by 2032.Credit: Virginia Star

“Doctors have been calling for some of the solutions for years – things like a national health workforce planning agency to tie training numbers to community need,” Yim said.

“Other recommendations involve innovative approaches to medicine, such as virtual training
supervision and a radical redefinition of the core role of doctors.

“If we are going to deploy our doctors efficiently, they must be working at the top of their scope of practice and not completing tasks that could be done by someone – or something – else.”

The need to address the “toxic culture” that has “polluted” many health workplaces was also outlined, with the report stating “many health services are no longer safe or productive workplaces and reform is urgently needed to protect those working or receiving treatment in them”.

The Queensland government has pledged to deliver 46,000 additional health workers by 2032, with its plan to attract and retain doctors expected by the end of the year.

Police were patrolling on North Road at Woodridge about 8pm on Monday when they were approached by a man who said he had been shot in the leg.

Officers gave the 30-year-old Browns Plains man first aid, before he was taken to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

Initial investigations indicated, just before 8pm, the man was involved in an incident at a property on North Road, resulting in him being shot.

Investigators believe the people involved are known to each other and there is no threat to the public.