u/fluffy_101994

Queensland minister Tim Mander referred to federal police over electoral enrolment saga
▲ 305 r/queensland+1 crossposts

Queensland minister Tim Mander referred to federal police over electoral enrolment saga

Queensland’s minister for the 2032 Olympics has been referred to the federal police over allegations he falsely enrolled to vote at a staffer’s home while not living there.

Tim Mander wrote to state and federal electoral authorities last month after details of his living arrangements after a separation from his wife of 44 years were made public.

While state laws allow MPs to be enrolled to vote in their electorate despite not living there, federal laws do not – and include criminal offences for providing false or misleading information.

In a statement on Thursday, an Australian Electoral Commission spokesperson said the agency had made enquiries about the matter and given Mander a chance to provide supporting evidence.

“While a determination has not been made, the AEC does consider that there is currently an absence of compelling evidence to determine Mr Mander resided at the enrolled address,” the spokesperson said.

“As such, on 19 May the AEC referred this matter to the AFP [Australian Federal Police] for their consideration, and any action they consider appropriate.”

“As the matters in question concern a potential criminal offence under the Criminal Code Act 1995, the appropriate authority to undertake any further investigation into these issues is the Australian Federal Police.”

Mander has previously denied wrongdoing.

brisbanetimes.com.au
u/fluffy_101994 — 21 hours ago
▲ 361 r/brisbane

Private school given go-ahead to cut down koala habitat for new ovals

The deputy premier has given a private school in Brisbane’s east the green light to cut down koala habitat for sporting ovals after the plan was knocked back by the local council.

Redland City Council denied a similar application from Ormiston College to add an oval and a slew of buildings around the campus in 2021, but the school took new plans directly to the state government in April last year.

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie, who is also the planning minister, approved the plan on Tuesday through a Ministerial Infrastructure Designation. The approval will come into effect once it is officially gazetted, likely on Friday.

During the MID process, the council – which has a koala-shaped logo – sent a letter to Bleijie questioning the school’s ecological report, which said only trees used sparingly by the marsupials would need to be cut down.

However, the report, which was submitted with the school’s plans, said a third of the koala habitat would need to go.

“It should also be noted that clearing will occur in areas of the site where low level [transitory] koala activity was recorded,” it said.

Citizen scientists have logged 23 koala sightings on the block – on the corner of Dundas and Delancey streets – in the past year, and many more within a 1-kilometre radius.

In his decision, Bleijie said the school would need to “retain existing mature vegetation unless it was required to be removed to facilitate the proposed development or it can be demonstrated that the trees pose an unacceptable safety risk”.

Plans submitted by the school show a chunk of core koala habitat will need to be cut down for a group of three junior ovals in the south-east corner of the campus.

The college costs between $13,000 and $18,000 a year, and is known for its sporting prowess, but the plans for the ovals have sparked strong criticism from the surrounding community and environmentalists.

The government received hundreds of submissions from the public about the MID, the majority of which were against the school’s expansion, and protesters gathered outside the school and Parliament House in the months leading up to the decision, asking for Bleijie to deny the application.

Ormiston College and the deputy premier have been contacted for comment.

brisbanetimes.com.au
u/fluffy_101994 — 1 day ago
▲ 276 r/Australia_+3 crossposts

Developers with state-tied projects donate to Queensland politicians after ban lifted

Sir Jarrod, being, well, Sir Jarrod Joh.

abc.net.au
u/Ok-Fan-6031 — 4 days ago

First Bike

I've been telling friends and colleagues that "I'll get my bike licence soon" for years.

Finally pulled the trigger, got my RE L's a couple of weeks ago and picked up this little 250 to learn on.

The only real "experience" (if you can call it that) I’ve had was renting a 110 scooter in Laos a couple of years ago.

Went out this morning with a mate in an industrial area in Brisbane and, my god, that was so much more fun than the Pre-Learner course. Couldn't wipe the smile from my face!

u/fluffy_101994 — 5 days ago
▲ 92 r/BrisbaneMetro+1 crossposts

Victoria Bridge shade secured, but Metro expansion hits Games hurdle

Shade will be finally installed on Victoria Bridge, but a full expansion of the Metro seems unlikely to be finished in time for the 2032 Olympic Games, according to a leaked draft of the council’s transport legacy plan.

And it even seems to suggest a dumped plan to build a walking and cycling bridge between St Lucia and West End could be resurrected.

The yet-to-be-released document, The Race to Gold: Brisbane’s Games Transport Legacy, is an update to the council plan released in 2024, and comes after the LNP state government changed Olympic venues last year.

This included a new 63,000-seat stadium at Victoria Park, the National Aquatic Centre at Centenary Pool, and the athletes’ village being moved from Northshore Hamilton to the Brisbane Showgrounds.

The draft council document reveals shade on Victoria Bridge – which links South Bank with the city – is expected to be delivered by late 2029, with a design finalised and funding approved by late 2027, and a contract awarded in mid-2028.

Shade was to be installed on the bridge as a Queensland government condition for green-lighting the Metro project, but this was shelved three years ago to cut costs.

However, Brisbane City Council recently withdrew an approved funding application for a Victoria Park revamp – since the park will be home to a new Olympic stadium – and applied to use the SEQ Liveability Fund cash for Victoria Bridge shade instead.

The document also marks two proposed active transport river crossings on a map – at Toowong-West End and St Lucia-West End – although there is no further detail.

Details on proposed new bridges are even more scant than on the document’s 2024 version, which had listed the Toowong-West End bridge for approvals, funding and delivery from 2025 to 2030.

In late 2024, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the council had abandoned plans for the St Lucia-West Endwalking and cycling bridge, and would only pursue the Toowong bridge.

The unreleased document also appeared to confirm the full Metro expansion – previously announced as featuring 22 new stations and stops, south to Springwood, east to Capalaba, and north to Carseldine and the airport – would not be ready in time for the Games.

In 2024, the business case was due for completion in mid-2026 and the Metro expansion was to be operational by 2031.

However, the new unreleased report said the council would partner with the state government to “uplift bus priority” in the northern and eastern corridors, in line with the Queensland government’s 2032 Delivery Plan.

That delivery plan said buses would be given priority on Old Cleveland Road (Coorparoo to Capalaba) and Gympie Road (Kedron to Carseldine) to reduce journey times and increase reliability.

The business case was now due to be finished in 2027, while “prioritisation of corridors for the Games” was slated for early 2028, and “delivery and operations” from 2028-2031.

However, the “staged rollout of future corridors” was expected from late 2032 and beyond, according to the new Race to Gold edition.

In January, Labor Opposition Leader Jared Cassidy said council documents showed the Metro expansion business case was delayed, arguing that meant the project would not be completed before 2032.

The council has also started planning to inform a Bowen Bridge Road corridor transport mobility business case.

The corridor moves more than 56,000 vehicles daily, including feeder buses for the Metro, and it is the primary gateway to Victoria Park, the athletes’ village, the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, and the inner-city via the Airport Link tunnel.

The document shows the council plans to have the business case completed by late 2027, approvals, funding and design by 2028-29, and delivery of a project for the corridor in 2030-31.

With ferry patronage surging since the introduction of 50¢ fares, including by about 50 per cent on Saturdays, the council will review services, fleet and facilities, while a new high-capacity CBD terminal will be built in late 2030-31.

The plan said the council would need to ensure large crowds could walk comfortably and conveniently in the inner-city, while a safer and better-connected cycling network would link event venues, transport hubs and other destinations.

It aimed to provide average athlete travel times from village to venues of under 20 minutes, while 90 per cent of spectators should access Olympic venues by public and active transport, the document said.

During the Sydney 2000 and London 2012 Games, public transport patronage increased by almost 1 million trips per day.

The council was contacted for comment.

brisbanetimes.com.au
u/fluffy_101994 — 9 days ago

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has said anyone with proof that two of his ministers breached the code of conduct over an undeclared extramarital affair and an undeclared conflict of interest should report them to the corruption watchdog, despite him receiving a letter about the relationship almost a year ago.

On Saturday, it was reported in The Australian that Sport Minister Tim Mander’s sister-in-law wrote to Crisafulli in June last year telling him Mander had told his wife he’d been seeing Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm for two years, dating back when they were in opposition.

Mander ended his marriage in April 2025 and told wife Gayle about the affair in June, according to the letter, prompting his sister-in-law, Lynne Waters, to write to the premier about the potential for undeclared conflicts of interest.

In the letter, which the premier’s chief of staff responded to in the first week of July, Waters asked Crisafulli whether he was aware of the relationship, and whether it had been declared as a potential conflict of interest.

According to reports, Mander and Camm formally told cabinet of their affair within a month of the premier receiving the letter.

Under ministerial guidelines, ministers have one month to declare a potential conflict of interest through their relationships.

At a heated press conference on Sunday, Crisafulli was pressed on what actions he’d taken after receiving the letter, and whether the couple had breached the ministerial code of conduct.

He said he found out about the relationship when they declared it at the cabinet meeting, despite receiving the letter from Waters roughly a month earlier.

Asked whether he should have referred the matter to the Crime and Corruption Commission, Crisafulli said he believed the ministers when they said they declared it at the right time.

“Both ministers have said they’re well aware, they made themselves very familiar with it, [and] they’ve conducted themselves the way they should,” Crisafulli said.

He said if the opposition or anyone else thought this was not the case, they should refer it to the CCC or other appropriate authorities, promising it would be taken seriously.

“Integrity in government matters,” he said.

Speaking after the premier’s press conference, Deputy Opposition Leader Cameron Dick said the government should release any documents relating to how the conflict was handled, pointing to government decisions that could have been impacted, such as the call to move Olympic sailing to Camm’s Whitsundays electorate for the 2032 Games.

“We say, release the advice that they received from the integrity commissioner about the relationship,” he said.

Opposition Leader Steven Miles said Labor would consider referring the matter to the CCC once a fuller picture was provided publicly.

“David Crisafulli was personally asked to investigate this, and he did not,” he said.

In a statement released on Sunday afternoon, Mander said he and Camm started a relationship in June 2023, while in opposition, which ended in May 2024.

“We were categorically not in a relationship when we were sworn in as ministers in late 2024,” he said.

“In April 2025, I made the decision to separate from my wife.

“In June 2025, Amanda and I reconnected and our relationship began. I immediately sought advice from the integrity commissioner and the Clerk of the Parliament, and made all the necessary declarations in line with that advice and the ministerial code of conduct. I take these obligations seriously and will continue to meet them.”

Camm also released a statement claiming the same timeline for the relationship.

“I have complied with integrity advice and conflict management plans, all appropriate disclosures have been made,” she said.

The storm around Mander marks another week of headlines about his relationship and living situation, after it was revealed last month that he had been registered to vote at a staffer’s house while living mostly in parliamentary accommodation following his marriage breakdown.

For his part, Mander said he has complied with the electoral commission requirements “at all times”.

u/fluffy_101994 — 18 days ago

And now we wait to see what Sir Jarrod does to block this project despite it following his bullshit requirements to the letter.

u/fluffy_101994 — 19 days ago