Locals shine in downhill mountain bike races

Local and international names were among the top 10 place getters at the first round of a major Queensland downhill mountain biking series last weekend on the Sunshine Coast. The KWT Maxxis Sunshine Series downhill event attracted 244 riders from across Australia and overseas. Event coordinator Hayden Lester of the D’Aguilar Range Cycling Club said it was a quality start to the year. “We are up on the average numbers from previous years, and are expecting around the 200 mark... Read More

Police call on RSL clubs to safeguard old guns

Police have asked Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) clubs and other organisations with historic military weaponry to make sure their firearms are properly licensed. The push comes after police confiscated a World War II machine gun and a wooden replica from Cooktown RSL after finding the club had not fulfilled their obligations under the Weapons Licensing Act. The Act requires all replicas and firearms produced after 1901 to be licensed. If they are replicas or... Read More

Extra checks for new tunnel

The Northern Link Tunnel project would be the most extensive and stringent ever for a transport infrastructure in Queensland, according to an evaluation report for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) by Coordinator-General Colin Jensen. The report contains 34 conditions and Department of Infrastructure and Planning media officer Andrew Evans said extra conditions were the result of lessons learnt from other tunnel and road projects. “Some of the tighter conditions include... Read More

Minister blocks appeal against Milton high-rise

Infrastructure and Planning Minister Stirling Hinchliffe used his powers earlier this month to block a court appeal against a 31-storey building planned for Railway Terrace, Milton. Mr Hinchliffe said last week he would “call-in” the application and make a final, binding decision about the development by 17 May. Mr Hinchliffe said the development complied with the South East Queensland regional plan, which identified TOD (Transit Oriented Development) as a key policy... Read More

Break dance frenzy in city centre (video)

Break-dancers from across the nation and a healthy crowd gathered at King George Square on Friday night to compete in Battle City. Now in its ninth year, Australia’s longest running dance event has moved from the usual spot of under the Turbot Street overpass. B-boys and b-girls competed against each other with a wide range of break-dancing skills require extreme strength, agility, flexibility and style while well-known DJs performed.  Read More

Fashion guru adores ‘beautiful Queenslanders’

Queensland has beautiful people according to leading fashion stylist Carson Kressley. “I love Queensland. I love the people — they are so beautiful,” he enthused. Internationally known for his television programs “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and “How to Look Good Naked”, Kressley was at Chermside Shopping Centre last week where he performed seven makeovers on his Be Styled Tour. Shoppers crowded into the centre to catch a glimpse of the fashion... Read More

East Asian Pottery: Past to Present

The Queensland Art Gallery’s collection of East Asian pottery is small, but shows the development of the form from its crude beginnings into the post-modern realm of conceptual art. The oldest pieces in the collection, Japanese and Chinese pottery and earthenware from 3500-2000BC, show the beginnings of pottery as a functional, sturdy craft, crudely decorated and used for storage and cookery. These ancient pieces, while displaying a rugged beauty, are sharply contrasted... Read More

Hutton attacks carbon dioxide storage plan

The release of land to mining organisations to find carbon dioxide storage locations was an excuse for the coal industry to continue with an outdated industry, according to veteran environmental campaigner Drew Hutton. “It’s an excuse for the [coal] industry to keep going when there is no viable future for them at all,” the former Greens spokesman said. “It’s just a spin exercise, a PR exercise, on the part of the coal industry to give life to an industry... Read More

Bookies accept Storm betting

At least two online bookmakers have resumed taking bets on the outcome on Melbourne Storm rugby leagues games, after four of the bookmakers refused to accept bets on last weekend’s Melbourne Storm game. The National Rugby League announced on Thursday the team would earn no more competition points this year after it deliberately evaded its salary cap. By Friday afternoon, Centrebet, Sportingbet, TAB Sportsbet NSW, and Betfair had all suspended betting on the results of Melbourne’s... Read More

Lawyer says cemetery vandalism claims a ‘ beat up’

Lawyer Jann Taylor, who successfully represented two of four people accused of vandalising graves at Toowong Cemetery last year, said calls for changes to be made to state laws was nothing but a ‘beat up’. Her comments come after an E-petition was submitted to parliament claiming a legal loophole allowed the dismissal of charges be dropped against the group. The Department of Public Prosecutions also launched a review of the case following the Magistrates decision. But Ms... Read More

‘Metaphysica’ 2007 by artist Ah Xian

Stark white rectangular plinths provide identical platforms for ten bronze busts from artist Ah Xian’s 2007 ‘Metaphysica’ series. The Chinese born (1960) Australian citizen is renowned in art circles for his decorated busts cast from life with several examples of his work on permanent display in the Queensland Art Gallery. The busts are similar yet different; exuding tranquillity, symmetrically spaced and all adorned with a single significant object placed centrally... Read More

Union ordered to drop national school test boycott

The Queensland Teachers’ Union has been ordered to drop its boycott of national school reading writing and maths tests, the union said today. The order came from the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission after a conference held today to discuss the May boycott of the NAPLAN tests. The union has not yet announced its response to the order. QTU president Steve Ryan said the union would consider its campaign over the next week He said the union would consider setting up... Read More

Government cans human rights charter

The Federal Government will not introduce a law for a human rights charter, Attorney-General Robert McClelland said yesterday. Instead, the Government will establish a “Human Rights Framework”, Mr McClelland told the National Press Club. The framework is the Government’s formal response to the Human Rights Consultation led by Fr Frank Brennan, which had recommended that Australia adopt a Human Rights Act. Mr McClelland said a legislative charter of rights was... Read More

Reflections on three works at the Queensland Art Gallery

The Bridge Under Construction, Roland Wakelin, 1928 A partially-built Sydney Harbour Bridge and a street in what is probably Sydney’s North Shore. A crane perches on top of the unfinished arch of the bridge, and in the street in front of us two trams carry passengers, as people walk around. The painting confidently asserts that human engineering and human determination can conquer the limitations of nature. We barely see Sydney Harbour itself, apart from a small glimpse... Read More

DNA tests catch mud crab fisherman

DNA testing played a major role in a Gladstone courtroom last Tuesday in the prosecution of a commercial fisherman who sold female mud crabs. The tests proved the muddies came from Queensland, not from the Northern Territory as the fisherman claimed. The fisherman changed his plea to guilty after being presented with the prosecution case that included DNA evidence. He was fined $45,000 plus $7,000 costs and his fishing licence was suspended for six months. Meanwhile industry... Read More