Environmental activists and farmers will hold a rally outside Brisbane parliament house tomorrow to call for an end to coal seam gas extraction research due to fears it may cause irreversible environmental damage. Friends of the Earth spokesperson Bradley Smith said farmers from Kingaroy and the surrounding Surat Basin would join environmental groups at a […]

Construction union leaders at a Brisbane rally last week threatened to take nation-wide industrial action if any construction worker was jailed under the current Australian Building and Construction Commission laws. In a fiery speech to hundreds of industry workers, Electrical Trades Union assistant secretary Allen Hicks threatened industrial action if the ABCC laws were used […]

Politicians and their minders had to back down in the face of MasterChef on Sunday night, rescheduling the one debate between the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader to 6.30pm to avoid a TV clash with the ratings blitzer. Newsbytes asked Brisbane people what they believe this says about Australia as a country. Reporter: John […]

For refugees escaping persecution in their homeland, adjusting to Australian culture can be difficult. Refugee inclusion groups in Brisbane are using sport and music to break down social barriers, not only between refugees and the Australian community, but also between separate cultures within the refugee community. Brisbane Women’s Volleyball coach Mandy Cox said sporting clubs […]

Brisbane City Council should “come clean” on revenue raised from water charges, Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser said last week. Mr Fraser said the Council should tell Brisbane residents what they planned to do with the recent average increase of $107 per water bill. “Only $44 of that amount is due to increases in State bulk […]

Torres Strait and Aboriginal people took part in events across Brisbane on Thursday to commemorate the historic Mabo land rights judgment of 1992. Aboriginal community leader Sam Watson said the Mabo decision by the High Court on 3 June, 1992, was of great importance to indigenous people. “Mabo is one of the most significant moments […]

Queensland dirt bike riders will form the biggest interstate contingent of riders at the Finke Desert Race in June this year. Finke race sectary, Kelsey Rodda, said more than 90 Queensland dirt bike riders would travel to Alice Springs to compete in the gruelling two-day cross country race.

The City Council’s Two Million Trees for Brisbane program would fail unless they provided ongoing care for young trees planted under the program, a environmental expert said yesterday. Queensland University Planning and Environmental management expert Dr Clive McAlpine said the council needed to ensure ongoing care to prevent a repeat of the failed one billion […]

An exhibition at the Brisbane Powerhouse captures 100 years of war through the eyes of the photojournalist. Degree South: War uses images taken over nearly 100 years to look back, forward and sideways at the events of modern war. The exhibition shows that in the human aspect of combat there is no glory or glamour […]

Windsor residents want the Brisbane City Council to limit construction trucks to four-tonne and place chicanes in the street to ease traffic noise during the construction of the Airport Link. Victoria Street resident Stephen Pahl said locals also demanded the release of the Airport Link traffic management plan. At a rally last Sunday residents said […]

Aboriginal community leader Sam Watson slammed a coronial inquest into Aboriginal deaths in custody at a rally outside Parliament House today.

The Ted Smout memorial bridge as part of the Houghton highway duplication will open on July 11, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh told Parliament today. The 2.7km, $315 million dollar bridge, named after First World War veteran Ted Smout, will improve the link between Brisbane and Redcliffe. Ms Bligh said lessons learnt from Hurricane Katrina influenced […]

Windsor residents have attacked Brisbane City deputy mayor Graham Quirk for refusing to attend a rally to discuss claims the airport link construction traffic has made their street unliveable.   Windsor resident Stephen Pahl appealed to the Brisbane Council meeting last week for action after outlining major noise issues with heavy construction traffic in Victoria […]

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 […]

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 […]