The Queensland government will heap more pressure on public service budgets to help deliver a surprise slim surplus in four years, Treasurer David Janetzki revealed in his second annual economic set piece. Read more: brisbane-times.com/4uQ3fLK

Welcome to Brisbane Times’ Queensland public sector column, Public Circus. This week: Brisbane’s budget week, a “new” commission loses its shine, police behaviour in focus, the state librarian resigns and an electoral redraw looms.

Parents at a rapidly growing Brisbane state primary school are asking the Queensland government to carve a chunk out of a nearby 7.1-hectare land parcel for a second school that they say has been long promised.

Handing down the Brisbane City Council budget last week, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner called for an 80-10-10 funding split with the state and federal governments to fix the Story Bridge. Read more from reporters William Davis and Felicity Caldwell: brisbane-times.com/4epGSrS

Queensland is expected to post a more than $1 billion boost in tax revenue from higher-than-forecast coal and house prices, but the treasurer has played down the likelihood Tuesday’s budget will flag a surplus in the coming four years as enormous expenses heap pressure on state debt.

The price of bulk water in south-east Queensland will be frozen for the next two years, Premier David Crisafulli has revealed.

The national tour of Eddie Perfect’s Beetlejuice The Musical has been abruptly cancelled in a further alarming sign that a cost of living crisis is seriously impacting Australia’s theatre sector.

EXCLUSIVE: Voters are increasingly happy with Queensland’s preparation for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games across the past 10 months, with most now rating the performance of the Crisafulli LNP government as good.

Grassroots workers are prepping high-risk Brisbane suburbs for the next deluge, but warn a lack of funding leaves vulnerable communities exposed.

Queenslander! The boys have done it, securing a 44-24 win over the Blues, turning Game III into an epic State of Origin series decider in front of a home crowd here in Brisbane. This was the second-highest scoring Origin match ever. See a match recap: brisbane-times.com/3Q7T5YV

Lang Park will be getting huge new screens, plus an LED ribbon screen that wraps around the entire stadium’s interior, plus at least 1000 new seats for fans to see them from. Read more: brisbane-times.com/4eetZ3J

Pauline Hanson’s first-ever national press club speech has been temporarily disrupted after a banner was unfurled behind her on stage.⁠ Read more here: brisbane-times.com/4ovoMYG

In the first of our CityChats features, Astrid Jorgensen explains why she’s average, what happened to her space-themed band, and her approach to karaoke.

BREAKING: Mark Sheridan Waden had pleaded not guilty, and as the verdict was read out in court, he called out: “It wasn’t me.”

A group of teenagers has been arrested after a ute with a baby inside was stolen from a street in Townsville on Monday afternoon. Read more: brisbane-times.com/4uHFJRg

A teenager planned to use homemade explosives targeting Liberal Party members and a public event in response to Peter Dutton’s nuclear policy, a court has been told.

“I’ve had conversations with other parents, and they indicate things like ‘we’ve got our name down for little Mary at four different schools’.”

The Gold Coast woman died days after she was operated on by the prominent weight-loss surgeon, a coroner finding that her path to surgery was rushed.

PUBLIC CIRCUS: This week in our Queensland public sector column, Public Circus looks at precarious police finances, a floated department rebuild, “Project Invisibility” and more.

The development application for the tower with 253 homes – including apartments with five-bedrooms – will test Brisbane council’s appetite for dramatically taller buildings in the suburbs.

PERSPECTIVE: More than 18-months into government, the LNP is yet to fully shed its opposition-era attack footing. But Labor is also still struggling to find its feet as one.

The blaze threw fireballs and billows of smoke into the air in the early hours of the morning. www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/que...

Five properties would be bulldozed to build the 15-storey tower, as part of a wider push to accommodate Brisbane’s booming population.

New e-bike rules have been tinkered with by the Queensland government, but have still drawn the ire of community members. Read the full story: brisbane-times.com/4ugFXi7

Australia’s fertility rate is at a record low, putting those who have made the personal choice to be childfree in the centre of a political battleground, whether they like it or not. Photo: Simon Schluter

Single-use plastics have become a forgotten issue for the Queensland government, according to a veteran campaigner who was central to the implementation of the Containers for Change program. Read more: brisbane-times.com/4u9SOCs

The disallowance motion moved by Robbie Katter relies on an obscure tweak to Queensland’s healthcare laws, but serves as another test to the Premier’s control of conservative backbenchers.⁠ Read more: brisbane-times.com/4x442LB

Good morning Brisbane. Here's today's news wrap. We'll start with court and crime news: The medical registration of prominent surgeon Dr #RezaAdib, partner of former #Queensland premier #AnnastaciaPalaszczuk, has been suspended as he faces allegations of rape and sexual assault.

The Fair Work Commission has lifted minimum and award wages by 4.75 per cent from July this year. Read more: brisbane-times.com/49tV4x6

Protesters camping at the site of Brisbane’s future Olympic stadium were kicked out of Victoria Park by police overnight, with work set to begin on Monday. Read more: brisbane-times.com/4nV5rzK

A man has been charged with arson after a blaze destroyed three houses in Clontarf on Saturday afternoon.

A University of Queensland study has explored why there is a disparity in the words used in early education when talking to girls versus boys.

One of Australia’s worst paedophiles, childcare worker Ashley Paul Griffith, has launched a bid to slash the life sentence he received for abusing dozens of young children.

The Maroons have been left stunned after NSW came back from an almost certain loss at half-time to clinch the game 22-20.⁠ ⁠ Photo: Getty Images

The 2026 State of Origin series kicks off at 8.05pm tonight in Sydney, where Laurie Daley’s Blues are attempting to start the series with a win on home soil against Billy Slater’s Maroons. Follow all the action: brisbane-times.com/4e8uFr2

With winter just days away, it’s hardly storm season in Brisbane. Or is it?

The Labor MP who unseated Peter Dutton at the last election has been referred to the electoral commission over claims she is enrolled to vote at a vacant block of land in the Brisbane electorate. Read the latest: brisbane-times.com/4vfDkhp

A man is accused of threatening security at the Mater Hospital in South Brisbane with what they believed was a real gun in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The teenager accused of killing Universal Store co-founder Greg Josephson at his multimillion-dollar property is expected to have his case committed to trial next month.

Emergency services were called to a home in Lowood, about 60 kilometres west of the city, just after 11pm on Monday, where the child was found unresponsive. Read more: brisbane-times.com/49FTx7h

Captured flotilla activist Helen O’Sullivan arrived home to Queensland displaying the banned “from the river to the sea” slogan handwritten on her Israeli-issued tracksuit as she alleged widespread abuse by soldiers.

Gold Coast woman Helen O’Sullivan has arrived back in Brisbane, with the “from the river to the sea” slogan — recently banned in Queensland — handwritten on her Israeli-issued tracksuit. Read more: brisbane-times.com/4uxCgFF

Officers attended the house on Cavill Way in Narangba about 12.30am following reports that a man with a firearm was making threats. Read more: brisbane-times.com/4vc12et

Breaking: The Australian Electoral Commission has referred Queensland’s minister for the 2032 Olympics, Tim Mander, to the federal police over allegations he falsely enrolled to vote at a staffer’s home while not living there.

The deputy premier has greenlit the plan by Ormiston College after it bypassed the council and sought permission from the state.

Fire crews have swept the building and shut off power to avoid sparks igniting the leak.

BREAKING: A well-known Brisbane doctor has been charged with more than 150 sexually driven crimes against 15 women over 15 years. Read more: brisbane-times.com/4djPvDN

Queensland’s Labor opposition has suffered a significant swing against it in the party’s northern Brisbane heartland, delivering a knife-edge result in the Stafford byelection. Read more: brisbane-times.com/4nxPKOR

The same stretch of road was the site of a fatal Greyhound bus crash in 2024 that killed three women and critically injured two young men.

The Gold CityGlider was expected to be delivered this year, but a start date still hasn’t been announced.