Horror smash survivor inspires young achievers
Six years ago Sam Cawthorn was pronounced dead on the scene of a major car accident. Now he is on stage at the Brisbane Convention Centre, talking with some of the world’s most promising minds about his experiences overcoming adversity. You could say Sam bounced back from the dead, but he prefers to call it [...]
Fire-fighters compete to improve skills
South-east Queensland’s fire-fighters are ablaze this weekend at the regional fire-fighters championships at Mount Tamborine showgrounds. Twenty-two teams are competing in 10 events to find a winning team that best displays the skills and drills of everyday fire-fighting. Events include ladder skills and working with hoses of small or large diameter. Winners of the regional [...]
City organ gets $2m tune-up
The Brisbane City Hall organ will make its grand re-entrance to Brisbane’s cultural life next year after restoration costing about $1.9 million. Intense restoration work on the 1890s classic organ continues in a workshop at Hemmant in Brisbane’s east. Master organ builder Simon Pierce said a 10-member team from Pierce Pipe Organs was restoring the [...]
Earth Hour organisers focus on daily energy cut-backs
Organisers of last month’s Earth Hour campaign to turn off lights plan to focus on reducing energy use every day. This year was the biggest ever Earth Hour where people in a record 150 countries and territories took part in the symbolic action of turning off power for an hour. According to WWF-Australia an initiative [...]
Refugee activists call for 90-day detention limit
The release of a federal parliament report last week has sparked calls for urgent government action to make things easier for refugees. Refugee Action Collective spokesperson Paul Mckinnon said he endorsed the recent report that recommended asylum seekers be given a 90-day maximum time limit in detention. “It would be a tremendous step forward in [...]
Teenage candidate wants fewer Gold Coast nightclubs
It’s not what you’d expect — a young man campaigning for fewer nightclubs in the glitter strip of Surfers Paradise — but teenager Alex O’Donnell wants to close some of them down. Mr O’Donnell (pictured left) says nightclubs cause too much anti-social behaviour. He is standing for election to the Gold Coast City Council with [...]
After the flood
Of course you must stay with us, I assured my suddenly homeless son. For as long as it takes to rebuild. Which could be weeks, I thought, looking at the muddied wreck that had been home for the family of four. We’d seized as many of their possessions as we could, splashing through the rapidly [...]
Bruce Morcombe urges kids to trust their instincts
A positive outlook is absolutely essential for young kids, according to child protection advocate and grieving father Bruce Morcombe. Mr Morcombe was speaking to pupils in Mackay yesterday. He and his wife Denise spoke of the need for kids not to feel weighed down by such events as the tragic abduction and murder of their [...]
Thousands gather to help fire victims’ families
Thousands of people gathered in Queen Street Mall on Friday night for a five-hour charity concert that raised more than $15,000 for the victims of the Slacks Creek house fire. Labeled the worst house fire in the state in a decade it claimed the lives of 11 people from the Tongan and Samoan community. Eight [...]
Aussie flag turns 110 this weekend
Queenslanders will join the rest of Australia in celebrating the 110th anniversary of the Australian flag on Saturday. According to Australian Governor-General Quentin Bryce the flag has a special place for all. “It is much loved, touched, worn and flown by Australians here and across the world. It graces our most solemn occasions and significant [...]
Transferring public servants to Carseldine tipped to cause traffic chaos
Huge traffic problems have been predicted with the state government’s plan to move public servants to the former QUT Carseldine campus. Bracken Ridge councillor Amanda Cooper said nothing was being done to address the traffic impacts of up to 1000 new workers in the area and residents had wanted the campus to stay. “I know [...]
Council angry over State ban on river development
Deputy premier Paul Lucas came under fire at this week’s Brisbane City Council meeting as he was accused of being anti-development for the city. Cr Amanda Cooper said Paul Lucas’s decision to reject the development at the Howard Smith Wharves was inconsistent and against city development. The chair of council’s neighbourhood planning and development assessment [...]
Ekka race day at Eagle Farm draws happy crowd
Clouds built and the breeze freshened but that wasn’t going to stop the thousands who came out for the annual Ekka races at Eagle Farm racecourse on Wednesday. The fake tan had been applied, suits ironed and hair curled. Most of the spectators, mainly aged in their 20s, had been preened to perfection – and [...]
Council accused of a lousy deal over bike helmets
The number of Brisbane cyclists with itchy heads may increase dramatically in the next three months, the Brisbane City Council trialling a shared helmet system for Citycycle. From next Monday a third of the bike fleet will have a helmet provided free of charge, one of the council’s seven improvements to increase the struggling scheme’s [...]
Thousands call on Parliament to ban live animal exports
Thousands of people joined protests in capital cities over the weekend to urge the Australian Parliament to ban live export in Australia. The rallies follow a lift on a temporary ban put in place after footage of the mistreatment of cattle in Indonesian abattoirs was aired on ABC’s Four Corners program. Animals Australia advocate and [...]