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1 of 3 Pinned post from 5.09pm on May 7, 2024 Police are responding to reports of an armed man inside the Crime and Corruption Commission headquarters in Fortitude Valley. Officers were called to the incident at the Green Square complex about 4.20pm, as peak hour traffic began building on St Paul's Terrace. Multiple police crews were at the scene on Tuesday afternoon. No further details were immediately available. 5.54pm on May 7, 2024 5.09pm on May 7, 2024 Police are responding to reports of an armed man inside the Crime and Corruption Commission headquarters in Fortitude Valley. Officers were called to the incident at the Green Square complex about 4.20pm, as peak hour traffic began building on St Paul's Terrace. Multiple police crews were at the scene on Tuesday afternoon. No further details were immediately available. 4.40pm on May 7, 2024 Parliament may not be on this week, but many of the state's MPs are still mostly in the one place. The place is Rockhampton, and the reason? Beef Week. (Technically just "BEEF 2024"). The event, held every three years since 1988 in what is known as Australia's beef capital, is aimed at promoting and advancing the industry. It's also great fodder, particularly with looming state and federal elections, for promoting and advancing politics outside Queensland's south-east against a backdrop of hats and, well, beef. No surprises then that press conferences, TV crosses and social media posts from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, Premier Steven Miles and state Opposition Leader David Crisafulli and their teams have been flying thick and fast. Today, with Miles alongside, it was Albanese's turn to pledge $519 million to help farmers better prepare for drought. Miles said that for the "first time ever" the Queensland cabinet had met at the event. He also committed to double Beef Week's state funding to $4.5 million for 2027 - matching a commitment made by Crisafulli and his team, who hope to be the government by then. 4.22pm on May 7, 2024 RBA governor Michele Bullock said the probabilities of a rate cut and rate hike were still reasonably balanced, with perhaps "a little bit of signal" that the bank needs to be watchful of risks to the upside. Asked about why employment seemed to be so strong despite the economy slowing, Bullock said there were several reasons for the resilience in employment. RBA Governor Michele Bullock.Credit: Louie Douvis "The first is that a lot of the jobs have been created in health and education, [which] are not cyclical things," she said. Bullock also said some businesses were only just starting to be able to hire for some of their positions after struggling to find people 18 months ago, and that some were likely "hoarding" employees. Asked about the impact of immigration on inflation, Bullock said it had not added dramatically to inflation, with the exception of some pressure on the housing market. "Immigration, broadly over the long sweep of history, I think has been positive for Australia," she said. "On the impact on inflation, it's not actually that straightforward because, yes, new migrants add to demand and there's been that element of it. There's certainly a lot of pressure on the housing market. But on the other hand, they've added to labour supply." Bullock said despite swings in immigration during and after pandemic, government policy would likely steady the flow. 3.31pm on May 7, 2024 Almost 12 months after the church once known as the Exclusive Brethren sold their former Brisbane headquarters, the real estate deal has settled, paving the way for work to begin on a major residential development. The 23,265 square metre site at 91 Lytton Road, Balmoral, once a quarry, was left vacant when the church - now the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church - moved to new premises at Tingalpa. Skyhold's proposal for a unit and townhouse complex in Balmoral.Credit: Brisbane City Council When the building was sold, developers Skyhold planned to build three large buildings containing 167 units, consisting of 13 one-, 79 two- and 75 three-bedroom homes, and 14 townhouses, half of which would be three bedrooms and the other half four. Council approved Skyhold's modified plans for 163 units and 14 townhouses earlier this year. "Our vision, designed by internationally celebrated architect Fender Katsalidis, responds to current market demands, resulting in generous private open space alongside intergenerational communal recreation opportunities," Skyhold's managing director Zhen Chen said in a statement. 2.45pm on May 7, 2024 The Reserve Bank remains concerned about inflation, which continued to ease through the first three months of the year, but remains high. The board says demand - which is mostly consumer spending - still remains out of sync with supply. And employment remains tighter than the Reserve Bank believes is consistent with low and steady inflation and sustained full employment. Loading "The economic outlook remains uncertain and recent data have demonstrated that the process of returning inflation to target is unlikely to be smooth," the board said. While the board expects inflation to ease to the top of its 2-3 per cent target range by the end of next year, it remains concerned about the persistence of services inflation and expects inflation to rise in the near term partially due to higher petrol prices. The board expects that it will be some time yet before inflation is sustainably in the target range and will remain vigilant to upside risks. "The path of interest rates that will best ensure that inflation returns to target in a reasonable timeframe remains uncertain and the Board is not ruling anything in or out," it said. 2.31pm on May 7, 2024 The Reserve Bank has held interest rates steady but did not rule out further increases as it warned that high petrol prices and a tight jobs market would push inflation higher in the coming months. The board decided to keep the official cash rate at 4.35 per cent following its two-day May meeting this week. RBA governor Michele Bullock. The Reserve Bank has lifted its key forecasts for inflation, which is currently at 3.6 per cent.Credit: Nine But in bad news for the federal government before the May 14 budget, the Reserve Bank has lifted its key forecasts for inflation, which is currently at 3.6 per cent. The higher inflation forecasts put pressure on the government to restrain spending to keep rising prices in check. Read more. 2.25pm on May 7, 2024 The domestic stock market has ticked up a notch as analysts and mortgage holders wait for the Reserve Bank's latest decision on interest rates, due to be delivered at 2.30pm this afternoon. At noon AEST on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 32 points, while the broader All Ordinaries was up 37 points. Australia's Reserve Bank is widely expected to leave interest rates on hold on Tuesday, with traders focused mostly on whether the central bank will change its tone after last month's higher-than-expected inflation report. The market is optimistic that the Reserve Bank will hold rates steady at its pre-budget meeting.Credit: Oscar Colman "While we don't expect the board to explicitly discuss a rate hike, the communication on Tuesday will be more hawkish than March," ANZ researchers Brian Martin and Daniel Hynes predicted. For example, the RBA might talk about the risk of inflation not returning to target rising and the board not ruling anything in or out, they said. Ten of the ASX's 11 sectors were in the green at midday, with financials down slightly after an underwhelming earnings report by ANZ. 1.46pm on May 7, 2024 One of 2024's major openings occupies a one-of-a-kind former laneway space - and it has a star Donna Chang and Same Same chef in the kitchen. As our food and culture editor Matt Shea writes, Longwang has pulled a clever trick: the restaurant is just three-and-a-half metres wide, yet never feels cramped. Longwang opens tonight in Brisbane's CBD.Credit: Markus Ravik A matter of months ago, it was an empty gated laneway between 144 and 150 Edward Street. Now, it's a 110-seat restaurant, its sense of space created by three levels (with the second and third separated by a short staircase) given high ceilings on the lower floors, and a retractable roof. "We were worried with the width of the venue that it would feel claustrophobic," Margaritis says. "But the designers have managed to really elevate the ceiling heights. It opens it up. There's a lot of natural air coming through on both levels, which is really interesting. It's a feeling I haven't experienced before in a restaurant." Read more. 12.49pm on May 7, 2024 Queensland Police sacked its formal First Nations advisory body on the day of former commissioner Katarina Carroll's departure, after members refused to sign agreements that would silence their public advocacy. In a statement, the terminated group said the move contradicted the terms of its elevated role as recommended by the inquiry into police responses to domestic violence - which found attitudes of racism, sexism, fear and silence had been allowed to flourish. "I am excited to commence this journey together through mutual respect and common goals," former police commissioner Katarina Carroll wrote in the group's co-designed terms of reference.Credit: Matt Dennien "Until drastic action is taken to address the culture that exists within the QPS [Queensland Police Service], we hold great concern that any action taken by QPS will be tokenistic, performative and for the purposes of optics to mislead our communities," the group wrote. Police said they began an "internal assessment" of the group in December which found it "was not meeting the purpose and original intent" of its formation, suggesting members reapplied via a "transparent recruitment process". Read more. 1 of 3 LoadingKey posts
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