Rallies were held around the country today to raise awareness of the financial difficulties facing people with disabilities and their carers and to promote the National Disability Insurance Scheme. About a thousand people including many with disabilities, Paralympians, carers and representatives of various disability groups including Endeavour, Cerebal Palsy League and Spinal Injuries Association of […]

Families of many disabled Australians suffer financial hardship caring for their loved ones. This was a common story told by carers and family members gathered at Reddacliff Place in Brisbane today to advocate for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Event organiser Fiona Anderson of the Every Australian Counts campaign had first-hand experience with the […]

Two former Brisbane mayors say the city’s top job has not changed very much, but there’s now too much overlap of state and local government powers. Watching last night’s debate between mayoral candidates, Jim Soorley and Sally-Anne Atkinson (pictured, left) said the mayor’s job was still about economic development, promoting the city and making the […]

“Not Campbell Newman” (@Can_Do_Campbell) was a mystery guest at the Lord Mayor’s Forum in Brisbane yesterday. @Can_Do describes (pictured left) himself on Twitter as “the Qld Premier of Parody. Ex-Fake Lord Mayor, but am still so very fake.” @Can_Do began tweeting as the fake Lord Mayor two years ago after receiving a car-parking fine which […]

Three of Brisbane’s five Lord Mayoral candidates faced off in a live forum and debate at the ABC Brisbane studios yesterday. Independent candidate Chris Carlton arrived late and Australian Sex Party Rory Killen failed to show. Pictured left to right: Andrew Bartlett (Greens), Ray Smith (Labor), Graham Quirk (LNP). ABC drive presenter Tim Cox questioned […]

Big budget savings and a freeze on water rates were two of the promises made by Gold Coast candidates at ABC local radio’s mayoral debate this week. With only a week to go until local council elections, more than a hundred Gold Coast residents turned up to hear candidates address key local issues and outline […]

Queensland’s critically underfunded mental health sector will receive $51.5 million from the Federal Government as part of the new National Partnership Agreement. Under the agreement funding will be provided for a coordinated accommodation and support project which includes long-term social housing and support services. Queensland Alliance for Mental Health CEO Richard Nelson (pictured) said massive […]

The Brisbane City Hall organ will make its grand re-entrance to Brisbane’s cultural life next year after restoration costing about $1.9 million. Intense restoration work on the 1890s classic organ continues in a workshop at Hemmant in Brisbane’s east. Master organ builder Simon Pierce said a 10-member team from Pierce Pipe Organs was restoring the […]

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 […]

Six days after leading the Liberal National Party to a landslide victory Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has revealed his 19-member Cabinet. Mr Newman appointed former LNP leader Lawrence Springborg as Health Minister, with ex-Australian Medical Association head Chris Davis as assistant health minister. Long-term front-bencher Fiona Simpson is to be Queensland’s first woman Speaker. A […]

Julian Assange’s mother Christine fears for her son’s life. She told a Wikileaks forum in Brisbane at the weekend the Australian government was not doing enough to help her son. “Our government does not stand up for its people and does not stand up for the freedom of press,” she said. Ms Assange said Julia […]

In a debate overshadowed by recent opinion polls, Premier Anna Bligh and LNP leader Campbell Newman faced off for the final time today in a leaders’ debate at the Brisbane Convention Centre. Ms Bligh told the 800-strong lunchtime audience she thought the public had given up on her government because of the “tough times” the […]

Satellite tracking of almost 70 sex offenders will start in Queensland next week. Police and Corrective Services Minister Neil Roberts hopes all offenders will be fitted with the new technology by the beginning of 2012. Each device, using GPS technology, will cost more than $200,000 per offender. Abakus Elmotech Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of 3M […]

Protesters clashed outside chocolate cafe Max Brenner yesterday, when those in support of a boycott on the Israeli-owned business were verbally attacked by counter-protesters. About 40 members of the groups Justice for Palestine, Socialist Alliance and the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions on Israel movement, marched on the Southbank store in dismal weather conditions. Indignant […]