A State Government minister and a rail lobby group have congratulated Newsbytes on publicising the issue of water fountains being withdrawn from Brisbane railway stations. Transport Minister Scott Emerson said Newsbytes should be credited for breaking the story, while Rail Back on Track spokesman Robert Dow said Newsbytes deserved congratulation for the “fantastic outcome”. A [...]

In what could be a major medical breakthrough, an Australian native fruit has been found to offer possible protection against cancer and a host of other diseases. The Kakadu plum (Terminalia ferdinandiana) has impressive potential for protection against cancer, arthritis, neuro-degenerative diseases and diabetes, according to Dr Ian Cock of the School of Biomolecular and [...]

Sovereign tent embassy protesters brought CBD traffic to a standstill today when they marched from Parliament to Roma Street watchhouse after their eviction from Musgrave Park. The Aboriginal elders and supporters took over the streets, causing chaos to lunchtime traffic. Around 200 people walked the route yelling slogans and waving signs. “One two three, sovereignty, [...]

Thirty-one people were arrested as hundreds of police officers moved to evict protestors from the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Musgrave Park, South Brisbane this morning. The Brisbane City Council ordered the eviction in preparation of this weekend’s annual Paniyiri Greek festival which uses the park. Police began closing nearby streets and surrounding the camp at [...]

The Queensland Rail ban on bubblers has been reversed by Transport Minister Scott Emerson after the policy was revealed by Newsbytes. Mr Emerson said he became aware of the water fountain ban on Friday and scrapped it on Saturday. Newsbytes reported on the policy last week following investigations by student journalist Melissa Archer. Mr Emerson [...]

Class warfare was the main theme of Tony Abbott’s budget reply speech last night, as the opposition leader criticised the government’s budget for its emphasis on targeted handouts. Mr Abbott said abolishing the carbon tax was his first priority because the tax would be a drag on economic growth and cost of living. “Abolishing the [...]

Brisbane has seen some horrific murders, the worst the 1973 Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub firebombing that killed 15 patrons and staff. Then there’s the gruesome Patrick Mayne case from 1848, Karl Kast’s 1955 shooting spree, and the 1989 slaying of City Council worker Edward Baldock by self-confessed “vampire” Tracey Wigginton. The Queensland Law Society’s [...]

Wayne Swan’s fifth budget is a win for the battlers as well as a return to surplus, according to the Treasurer. Mr Swan told Parliament on Tuesday night the 2012 federal budget contained a combination of big spending cuts, handouts and new spending initiatives. Describing it as a “Labor budget to its bootstraps” Mr Swan [...]

Commuters in need of water are being forced to go thirsty following the removal of water fountains across the Queensland Rail network. Bubblers that were standard at stations are being quietly dismantled with no consultation with rail users. Thirsty travellers and an advocacy group have blasted the secret policy. Catherine Stokes (pictured left), a commuter [...]

Two out of three remaining Aboriginal languages are likely to disappear in the next 30 years. About 100 Aboriginal languages face extinction according to a senior linguist. There are now 150 languages, a drop from 250 in the pre-colonial era, Australian Human Rights Commission figures show. But only a dozen widely-spoken languages survive. University of [...]

The Labor Party used today’s Labor Day march in Brisbane to apologise for the defeated state government’s privatisation policies. Queensland opposition leader Anastacia Palasczuk told marchers she would return the party to its traditional values. Ms Palasczuk apologized for privatisation under the Labor Government and promised she would “bring back the old values”. She received [...]

François Hollande has been elected president of France with 51.7 percent of the 35 million votes cast in Sunday’s election. His opponent Nicolas Sarkozy received 48.3 percent of the national vote. Mr Hollande is the first Socialist president since the end of François Mitterrand’s second term in 1995. Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been president for [...]

With flags fluttering and to the bagpipe strains of “Hills Of Argyle”, the Gold Coast Labor Day march set off this morning from outside the Southport Workers’ Club. After a tough 12 months dealing with issues like the health payroll crisis, the Queensland Nurses’ Union led the cavalcade along Scarborough Street to the Broadwater Parklands. [...]

Brisbane should brace itself for a wetter and colder winter than last year in the wake of April’s record-breaking rain, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. The Bureau’s Pradeep Singh said long-term seasonal forecasts indicated Brisbane would likely shiver through below average maximum temperatures and higher rainfall this winter. “There is a 75 percent chance [...]

Tension ran high in yesterday’s three-hour debate between French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his Socialist rival François Hollande. Every issue, from immigration to the economy to Afghanistan, was an opportunity for the two candidates to launch into a war of words. Mr Hollande said he protected children instead of favouring the rich, referring to Sarkozy’s [...]

The Brisbane Vietnamese community and their Australian allies marked “the day of mourning” – the anniversary of the fall of Saigon which ended the Vietnamese war on 30th April, 1975. Before the twilight service in Anzac Square yesterday, a grieving man thumped the memorial wall of pictures depicting stages of the Vietnam War, while another, [...]

Rallies were held around the country today to raise awareness of the financial difficulties facing people with disabilities and their carers and to promote the National Disability Insurance Scheme. About a thousand people including many with disabilities, Paralympians, carers and representatives of various disability groups including Endeavour, Cerebal Palsy League and Spinal Injuries Association of [...]

Families of many disabled Australians suffer financial hardship caring for their loved ones. This was a common story told by carers and family members gathered at Reddacliff Place in Brisbane today to advocate for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Event organiser Fiona Anderson of the Every Australian Counts campaign had first-hand experience with the [...]

Two former Brisbane mayors say the city’s top job has not changed very much, but there’s now too much overlap of state and local government powers. Watching last night’s debate between mayoral candidates, Jim Soorley and Sally-Anne Atkinson (pictured, left) said the mayor’s job was still about economic development, promoting the city and making the [...]

An Australian documentary about bees won the prize for best science reporting at the Commonwealth Broadcasters Association conference in Brisbane this week. The UNESCO Award for Science Reporting and Programming was awarded to SBS’s Eniko Toth for the documentary, “Honeybee Blues”. “Honeybee Blues was the epitome of all that was good about public service broadcasting [...]