Brisbane’s second-oldest convict-built structure was a victim of the 2011 floods. A retaining wall at the Royal Historical Society of Queensland’s museum at the old Commisariat Store in William St partially collapsed after a water main under the footpath burst. The building is only one of two remaining structures built by convicts in Brisbane – […]

Sydney to Hobart yacht race officials yesterday refused to answer questions about a protest lodged against the yacht Wild Oats XI. The race committee lodged a protest against Wild Oats XI (pictured left in Sydney Harbour) for breaking safety rules which say yachts must check in by radio as they approach Green Cape on the […]

A union boss has made a scathing attack on Anna Bligh, calling the Queensland premier “disingenuos, deceitful and cruel”. Secretary of the Queensland division of the National Tertiary Education Union, Margaret Lee (pictured left), was speaking at a weekend rally in Brisbane organised by the Pro-Choice Action Collective. The rally was organised in the lead-up […]

Angry Yeerongpilly residents have accused the State Government of lies and manipulation in their plan to resume 66 properties for a new rail line. More than 150 people attended a protest meeting at Yeronga Bowls Club on Saturday to hear  Transport Minister Rachel Nolan promise to release information about the Government decision to resume homes at […]

West End landmark Trash Video closes its doors for the last time this weekend, but owner and fan of exploitation movies Andrew Leavold has plenty of things to do after locking up on Sunday night. For a start, he’ll be making his own movies. Leavold (pictured) says he opened Trash Video in 1995 “because I […]

Australian Greens leader Senator Bob Brown said this week a law means political parties must discuss preferences for the Senate. However, there is no such law. In an interview with the ABC’s chief political correspondent, Lyndal Curtis, on Monday, Mr Brown said the law existed. He said “[T]here is a requirement in the Senate by […]

Two election candidates rejected Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s policy on asylum-seekers at a rally in Brisbane on Friday. Greens candidate for the seat of Brisbane Andrew Bartlett (pictured) said people were very disappointed at how badly they had been let down by the ALP Government. He said substantial, genuine change meant shifting votes away from […]

Queenslanders who enter the Government’s “One Punch Can Kill” competition would give up almost all of their rights to their own work, an intellectual property lawyer said yesterday. The competition calls for entries with an anti-violence theme to be used in ads for the campaign. But anyone who enters the competition would need the permission […]

Waiters and waitresses raced up and down Queen Street Mall on Friday, forbidden to spill a drop from the glasses of wine on the trays they carried. They were celebrating Italian Week which runs from 26 May to 2 June. The Waiters’ Race, or Corsa dei Camerieri, saw staff from some of Brisbane’s Italian restaurants […]

“A Girl” is Ron Mueck’s scuplture of a nude newborn baby complete with blood smeared on her body and a purple-blue umbilical cord still attached. The baby is quite ugly, suggesting a challenge to the idea of beautiful and innocent childhood. This sculpture is of no innocent, but of a primal force of nature. One […]

The Queensland Fire and Rescue Service displayed its hi-tech Mobile Command and Control unit at Parliament House last week. The unit (pictured left) lets commanders on the spot see quickly how a fire is developing, where all their fire engines are, and exactly where streams of water are being directed onto a fire. It also […]

Only three of the 54 recommendations of the “Bringing Them Home” report have been implemented, an indigenous leader said yesterday. The Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families, was tabled in the Federal Parliament 13 years ago on Wednesday. Speaking at the National Sorry […]

An unconvincing New South Wales came within four points of Queensland in last night’s State of Origin game. But questions remain about NSW’s final try, which was awarded by the video referee despite an apparent knock-on by scorer Ben Creagh. NSW’s Jared Hayne scored early, but Queensland soon equalised in the filthy, driving rain of […]

More than 100 young Queenslanders living with disabilities had been diverted from aged care, the Disability Services Minister, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said in Parliament today. Ms Palaszczuk said Ellen Buckley Place, in Brisbane’s south-west, would house eight young people who could live there independently among people of their own age. She said this would provide them […]

The rise in tolls for the Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges was too expensive, two out of three respondents to a NewsBytes survey said today. The toll for the bridges will rise to $3.85 for a private car on July 1. In a poll of 100 people at the opening of the second bridge, 67 said […]