Thumbs down for Gateway name change

Most people who walked over Brisbane’s newest cross-river span prefer the old name despite yesterday’s official renaming of the iconic bridge and its duplicate after public servant Sir Leo Hielscher. A NewsBytes poll at yesterday’s community day for the second Gateway Bridge found more than three-quarters of walkers favoured the original name. In February this year Premier Anna Bligh announced the twin bridges would be named in honour of Sir Leo’s 68 years of public... Read More

Greens ‘ready for balance of power’

The Australian Greens are ready for the tensions of holding the balance of power in the Senate following the next election, party leader Senator Bob Brown said in Brisbane yesterday. Senator Brown said he was experienced in managing internal party tensions arising from holding the balance of power since the Greens-ALP accord in Tasmania in 1989-90. He said he would prefer the tension to being forced to vote for things he did not support. ABC election analyst Antony Green said... Read More

Sutton says Bulimba protests caused ferry terminal delay

Bulimba protests over the ferry terminal prompted Council’s decision to rush through this week’s decision to delay the project, Opposition leader Cr Shayne Sutton said today. Cr Sutton said the only reason Council decided to vote urgently on the matter was because a protest sign (pictured) had appeared on a pontoon next to the terminal. She said the design of the terminal had been radically changed after it had been discussed with local residents, who were concerned... Read More

Council delays $4m Bulimba ferry terminal upgrade

Liberal National Party councillors today voted to delay a $4 million upgrade to the Bulimba ferry terminal after Labor refused to support the proposed design. Transport chair Jane Prentice said the upgrade would be delayed until 2012-13 because the council couldn’t afford to play political games on the project. The council has already spent two years and $750,000 designing the upgrades to cope with the 8000 passengers who use the terminal every week. Cr Prentice said... Read More

Emerson says loss of two MPs makes election win harder

The resignation of two MPs will make it more difficult for the LNP to win the next Queensland election, Member for Indooroopilly Scott Emerson said today. Last week MPs Aidan McLindon and Rob Messenger quit the party to become independent members of Parliament, saying they believed party politics was corrupting the political process. Mr Emerson said the lack of LNP numbers would prove difficult for his party to gain power. It meant the LNP had to win two more seats. “Obviously... Read More

Review: Antigone

Nash Theatre More than 2000 years since it was written, any modern staging of Antigone requires an element of creativity to make it fresh and relevant. The New Farm Nash Theatre’s current production is certainly creative. Director Jeff Zayer has put together an eclectic production that borrows elements of ancient Greek and Roman aesthetic in the set design and costuming, mixes a traditional Greek chorus with different acting styles and uses a modern text written in Shakespearean... Read More

City protest urges protection of asylum seekers [with video]

More than 300 Brisbane people formed a giant “life ring” in King George Square on Saturday to protest the government’s laws on border protection and asylum seekers. Amnesty International spokesman Michael Hayworth said in addition to the 300 people who turned up in Brisbane, more than 1000 people attended similar protests held in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and regional centres across Australia. Participants dressed in red and yellow clothing to represent surf... Read More

Brisbane Islamic leader slams burqa ban proposal

A Brisbane Islamic community leader yesterday condemned Liberal MP Cory Bernardi’s call for a ban on the burqa. Recently resigned president of the the Kuraby mosque, Dr Sikander Sabdia, said politicians like Senator Bernadi used hate as a political weapon but he believed the average Australian accepted Islamic culture. “The average Australian just like me or anybody else, they want to live and let live but it’s politicians that want to create this atmosphere of hate... Read More

Vietnamese Australians remember their war

Vietnamese Australians paid tribute last week to their countrymen who were persecuted when the war between the North and South ended in 1975. The ceremony at Brisbane’s Anzac Square was also an opportunity for the Vietnamese community to show its gratitude for Australia’s commitment in the war. The ceremony was held in partnership with RSL Queensland. Queensland chapter of the Vietnamese Community in Australia’s president Dr Cuong Bui said he was among the 3 million forced... Read More

Rebel councillor seeks better office deal

Brisbane City Councillor Nicole Johnston remains without office facilities during council meetings at the temporary City Hall at Ann Street. Council chairman Margaret de Wit refused to discuss new arrangements during Question Time at Tuesday’s council meeting. Cr Johnston was suspended from the LNP in March after she voted with the ALP in November against a bus depot planned in Sherwood, in her ward of Tennyson. Her call for facilities followed a row in council this week... Read More

Only one in five have swine flu shots

Queensland Health figures show about 20 percent of the state’s population have had the Pandemic H1N1 influenza (human swine flu) vaccine this year. Queensland Health public affairs advisor Kerry White said the department was recommending it to everyone older than six months of age. ”More then 872,000 (have been vaccinated) on latest figures,” he said. This time last year, the first cases of human swine flu were reported in America and Mexico. From there it rapidly spread... Read More

Elders lament Aussie-Pacific heritage loss

Young Australian-born Pacific Islanders are losing their connections with their parents’ homelands according to Pacifika Festival president Caroline Crichton. The Pacifika Festival held at Deception Bay yesterday was designed to help young Islanders explore their heritage and identities. “I think that a lot of the older generation have come to Australia and thought that it would benefit their children to learn English, but along the way they’ve lost their roots,’ Ms... Read More

Councillor claims she’s kept in the dark

Suspended LNP councillor Nicole Johnston was thrown out of this week’s council meeting after confrontation about the Sherwood Graceville Neighbourhood Plan. Cr Johnston said the council deliberately did not send her a letter that was sent to all Tennyson Ward residents regarding the plan. “Despite multiple requests in writing over the past three months to the CEO of Council, Ms Jude Munro, seeking a copy of a letter to residents on the Sherwood Graceville Neighbourhood... Read More

Social networks boost sales of survival story

The author of a biography who used social media networks to promote his book saw it shoot to number 26 on the Amazon UK best-seller list. Douglas Rogers’ The Last Resort – A Memoir of Zimbabwe was released in the UK in April and by the end of the month had become the number two selling biography. A digital-era writer, Rogers uses the global reach of social networking sites Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube, Flickr and his blog (www.douglasrogers.org) to supplement... Read More

Tunnel discount extended as usage down by half

Lord Mayor Campbell Newman today defended his traffic congestion strategy as patronage of the Clem7 tunnel dropped by more than 50 percent. Clem7 operator RiverCity Motorway Group today released figures showing average daily traffic fell from around 51,000 trips per day to just 21,178 after the tunnel’s toll-free period ended. The numbers are well below the 60,000 trips a day the company had forecast for the tolled period, despite the company’s still providing a 30... Read More