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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 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 […]

Hundreds of people calling for legalisation of same-sex marriage protested outside Sydney’s Town Hall on Saturday. Co-convenor of the Community Action Against Homophobia, Cat Rose, told the crowd protests would put pressure on the Labor Party before its national conference in December when changes to the law would be debated. The group seeks repeal of […]

A variety of smells, sights and people greet you as you enter the gates of the RNA Showgrounds for 2011’s “Ekka” – the Brisbane Exhibition. The show itself has been running since 1876 and has changed a lot since. The first show bag was a bag of coal and it was given to everyone who […]

A war of words has broken out between Brisbane city councillors over an historic church at Wynnum slated for demolition to make way for a six-storey office block. At this week’s council meeting Cr Amanda Cooper blamed Cr Peter Cumming for supporting demolition instead of removal of the former Baptist church. Ms Cooper, who chairs […]