Regional Queenslanders are set to get home faster and safer under a whopping $1.6 billion budget roads and rail bonanza from the Coast to Cairns, while Brisbane has missed out on the spending spree. The record spend exceeds last year s $1.3 billion pandemic cash splash and is being spruiked as major employment booster, with 2800 jobs on the line. There will be cash for the Bruce Highway in central Queensland, light and heavy rail on the Gold Coast, major highways in Cairns and Townsville as well as intersection and rail upgrades at the Sunshine Coast. No new money is going towards the M1 through Logan and Brisbane this year, after some upgrades and pledges towards a second M1 in last year s budget.
More than 25 schools in Queensland have seen enrolments increase by at least 40 per cent in just five years, including one that has added an extra 1000 pupils.
Premium Content
Subscriber only A Brisbane man and two co-offenders conducted a daring smash and grab raid on a Brisbane Westfield shopping centre which netted hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of jewellery which has never been found. Kuraby man Zacheri Peter Nicholas Photinos, 28, pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court on Tuesday to three counts of entering premises to commit an indictable offences and one count of unlawful use of a motor vehicle. The court heard the offences occurred about 4.20am on February 9 last year, where the criminal trio targeted Westfield Carindale. Using a stolen car, the trio drove to the shopping centre in a stolen car and parked in the underground carpark.
Premium Content
Subscriber only A popular Brisbane southside MP who grew his margin to one of the biggest in the Queensland in last year s State Election will today announce his retirement from politics after learning of a worsening outlook for his cancer diagnosis, first revealed in November 2019. Stretton MP Duncan Pegg, first elected in the 2015 landslide which ousted former LNP Premier Campbell Newman, is expected to rise in parliament at 3pm this afternoon for the last time to give his valedictory speech. In it, he will tell the parliament that with the heaviest of hearts , he will tender his resignation in the coming weeks.
MP retires with heaviest of hearts to fight cancer battle cqnews.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from cqnews.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.