Opposition leader Tony Abbott called for responsible conduct by social media site Facebook over anti-Aboriginal comments on a controversial page. “I am strongly in support of Facebook and other social media sites acting in a responsible manner,” he said. He said he was speaking in advance of a trip to North Queensland to visit Aurukun […]

Politicians got their hands dirty at the weekend as they helped plant 1500 native trees in Ashgrove. Premier Campbell Newman, state MP Saxon Rice and federal MP Jane Prentice joined more than 80 volunteers in the mass planting at Dawn Street, Ithaca Creek. Planet Ark, SOWN (Saving our Waterways Now) and Greening Australia contributed tree […]

A plan to rebuild the Mary Valley following abandonment of the Traveston Dam was announced in Parliament this week by Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney. Mr Seeney said there had been more than a hundred inquiries about buying properties or being involved in projects. As a result of the previous government’s purchase of land to be […]

Livelihoods will be destroyed by the carbon tax according to Queensland Premier Campbell Newman, who yesterday labelled the tax a “job killer”. Mr Newman said in Parliament job losses in the “real economy” would impact on Queensland, not recent public service cuts. “What about the job losses in the real economy – the productive economy […]

Disaster relief and toxic waste were among issues fielded by Australian ministers at yesterday’s community cabinet meeting in Ipswich. Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the establishment of a natural disaster fund was debated at the time of the Queensland floods -“in economic terms, the most costly natural disaster we had ever seen”. At the time, […]

Electric cars on Australian roads lead the charge to a zero-emission future, but how soon will they become popular? Newsbytes asked a range of people, including car experts and members of the public, to find a mixture of views. Mitsubishi released the first mass-produced electric car to Australia’s fleet and government market in late 2010, […]

The State Government will restrict rail services to new and existing coal mines in the Galilee and Bowen Basins to only two corridors. Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney told Parliament the plan would replace the eight railways proposed by the previous government. There would be an extension for the east to west corridor on the existing […]

People are having to wait too long for overgrown trees on footpaths to be trimmed by council workers, according to independent councillor Nicole Johnston. Cr Johnston told last week’s Brisbane Council meeting it was taking more than 12 months for trees to be trimmed. She said the chairman of the Environment, Parks & Sustainability Committee, […]

Commuters in need of water are being forced to go thirsty following the removal of water fountains across the Queensland Rail network. Bubblers that were standard at stations are being quietly dismantled with no consultation with rail users. Thirsty travellers and an advocacy group have blasted the secret policy. Catherine Stokes (pictured left), a commuter […]

Brisbane should brace itself for a wetter and colder winter than last year in the wake of April’s record-breaking rain, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. The Bureau’s Pradeep Singh said long-term seasonal forecasts indicated Brisbane would likely shiver through below average maximum temperatures and higher rainfall this winter. “There is a 75 percent chance […]

Brisbane’s inaugural urban design and film festival will be launched tonight at the State Library of Queensland. The design festival called U.R.(BNE) will focus on Brisbane’s public spaces throughout May. The Films project seeks to raise the awareness of urban design and the built environment and generate a greater interest in architecture, public spaces and […]

Australia’s first commercial flight powered by sustainable aviation fuel will take to the skies this week. Biofuel made half of used cooking oil and half conventional jet fuel will power the Qantas Airbus A330 Sydney-Adelaide return flight. Qantas environment head John Valastro said the goal of Friday’s flight was to examine the potential for sustainable […]

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 […]

Smoking bans to come into force in Queen Street Mall from September 1 will merely shift smokers and their litter to areas nearby, according to the the Queensland Hotels Association. QHA occupational health and safety manager Ross Tims said this week licensed premises would also suffer the full brunt of the laws because tourists and […]

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 […]