As it happened: Brisbane on Wednesday, July 2
Bronco legend hit with high-range drink-driving charge
Former Bronco Steve Renouf has been charged with high-range drink-driving.
The former rugby league star was allegedly pulled over in a white Kia on Windsor Road, Red Hill, about 10.45pm on Tuesday.
Police allege he failed a random breath test, and a second test returned a reading of 0.197 – almost four times the legal limit.
Renouf was the only person in the car. His licence was suspended on the spot, and he was charged with one count of driving under the influence.
He is due to face court on July 16.
3.02pm
Today's stories
Thanks for joining us today for our live coverage of news in chilly Brisbane and beyond. We'll be back tomorrow morning with more live coverage. If you're just catching up, here are some of the big stories that made headlines today.
Qantas Airways has become the latest major Australian company to have been hit by a cyberattack, revealing on Wednesday that hackers had stolen personal customer data from a call centre.
US fast food giant Wendy's is making a move on Brisbane with plans for an outlet at the corner of Adelaide and Albert streets in the CBD.
Brisbanites should not be deceived by the sunshine and blue skies, it was coat and scarf weather in the city on Wednesday due to the effects of the 'bomb cyclone' lashing NSW.
A third person has been charged in connection to the alleged murder of Queensland teenager Pheobe Bishop.
And a second man has been charged with dozens of sex crimes against children, including rape, as part of a major investigation into separate abuse allegations at a Melbourne childcare centre.
A notorious bank robber and fugitive dubbed the 'Postcard Bandit', who was jailed after escaping from one of the nation's toughest prisons, is making another bid for freedom.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has emerged from a meeting with her US counterpart with no guarantee that the Trump administration would continue the AUKUS defence pact with Australia.
And why are some people cool and others, well, not? Research has uncovered the six traits that make you stand out from the crowd.
2.14pm
Bronco legend hit with high-range drink-driving charge
By William Davis
Former Bronco Steve Renouf has been charged with high-range drink-driving.
The former rugby league star was allegedly pulled over in a white Kia on Windsor Road, Red Hill, about 10.45pm on Tuesday.
Police allege he failed a random breath test, and a second test returned a reading of 0.197 – almost four times the legal limit.
Renouf was the only person in the car. His licence was suspended on the spot, and he was charged with one count of driving under the influence.
He is due to face court on July 16.
1.27pm
The cold weather has been good for retailers
By Jacob Shteyman
Speaking of cold weather, retail sales rebounded as cooler temperatures sent Australian consumers flocking back to the shops in search of winter apparel.
Retail turnover rose 0.2 per cent in May, the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed today.
ABS head of business statistics Robert Ewing said the rise in spending for the month was mainly driven by a bounce-back in clothing purchases.
'Retail spending was otherwise restrained this month, with a drop in food-related spending and flat results across household goods,' he said.
Consumer sentiment has been impacted by global trade uncertainty, but falling interest rates have boosted confidence.
The Reserve Bank's decision to cut the cash rate by 25 basis points late in May would have been reflected in part of the figures released today.
Another cut is predicted at the board's next meeting on Tuesday, following softer-than-expected inflation numbers, which should further support consumer spending.
1.14pm
It's lunchtime in Brisbane, but it feels like 10 degrees
By Marissa Calligeros
Brisbanites should not be deceived by the sunshine and blue skies, it was coat and scarf weather in the city on Wednesday due to the effects of the 'bomb cyclone' lashing NSW.
While the thermostat crept up to 16 degrees at midday on Wednesday, luring the unsuspecting into the open with the promise of a crisp July day, the wind chill factor made the apparent (or 'feels like') temperature 10 degrees.
11.15am
Inmate found one month after escaping prison on tractor
By AAP
An inmate who absconded from a north Queensland jail on a red tractor has been found a month after he fled custody.
Michael Graeme Rennie, 43, was on work duty at Lotus Glen Low Custody Correctional Centre in far north Queensland on June 1 when he made his getaway.
He was serving more than six years for motor vehicle, weapon, drug and other offences, including serious assault, theft and burglary.
'There have obviously been prisoners abscond from the corrections centre up there in the past, but I don't think anyone's left on a tractor,' Detective Inspector Jason Chetham said at the time.
Rennie was found just after midnight this morning in Cow Bay, nearly three hours from the Atherton Tablelands prison farm. The tractor still has not been found.
Rennie has been charged with escaping custody and unlawful use of a motor vehicle, and was due to face Cairns Magistrates Court today.
11.06am
Delivery of almost 80 social and affordable homes on track in Brisbane's south
By Courtney Kruk
The LNP has previewed progress on more than 720 social and affordable homes across Brisbane, with almost 80 tenants expected to move into homes on the city's south side by 2027.
Housing Minister Sam O'Connor held a press conference on Tuesday morning in Yeronga, where 75 new social and affordable homes are underway.
The development, delivered by community housing provider Brisbane Housing Company, will provide homes for essential workers such as aged care providers, childcare educators and cleaners, and lower-income households, with tenants to be welcomed by mid-2027.
BHC chief executive Rebecca Oelkers said these are people who 'keep our communities going'.
She added that funding from last week's state budget would enable community housing providers to scale up delivery and build more homes where they are needed.
The LNP said the Yeronga homes were part of more than 720 to be delivered across Brisbane, including in Chermside, Stones Corner, Woolloongabba and South Brisbane.
9.23am
Third person charged after Pheobe Bishop's death
By William Davis
A third person has been charged in connection to the alleged murder of Queensland teenager Pheobe Bishop.
The 30-year-old man allegedly used Pheobe's phone to interfere with the police investigation.
He was arrested about 7pm on Monday in Bundaberg West, and charged with two counts of accessory after the fact to murder.
The man will appear in Bundaberg Magistrates Court today.
9.03am
US burger giant makes Brisbane move
By William Davis
US fast food giant Wendy's appears set to open a store in the heart of Brisbane.
Plans for a shopfront at the corner of Adelaide Street and Albert Street in the CBD have been lodged with Brisbane City Council.
The development application shows a blue and red colour scheme for the currently vacant building.
McDonald's, KFC, Hungry Jack's – the Australian iteration of US chain Burger King – and Wendy's will all be within 120 metres if the plans go ahead.
A Brisbane store would be the second in Australia since the chain pulled out of the market in the 1980s.
The first new store opened in January this year in Surfers Paradise.
The move follows the expansion of other US chains including Carl's Jr into Australia.
8.24am
There's a 'bomb cyclone' affecting Sydney. What is that?
Millions are hunkering down and more than 30,000 people are without power in New South Wales as the state's east coast is lashed by torrential rain, savage winds and waves of up to eight metres as part of what the Bureau of Meteorology has described as a 'bomb cyclone'.
We have also felt the effects of the 'bomb cyclone' here in Brisbane, with strong winds overnight and this morning that has resulted in flights being cancelled.
A 'bomb cyclone'? What is that?
Meteorological jargon used to describe the unusual low-pressure storm system has included 'bomb cyclone', 'bombogenesis' and 'explosive cyclogenesis'.
These terms all refer to the rapid intensification of the weather system. A dramatic plunge in pressure – about 20 to 30 hectopascals over the past day or two – transformed the low into a severe storm system. Regions of low pressure in the atmosphere funnel air upwards, which triggers the development of storm clouds and powerful winds.
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The system the bureau called a 'vigorous coastal low' spiralled down the coast while generating storm-force offshore winds comparable to a category two cyclone, adjunct professor of environmental geography at CQUniversity Steve Turton said.
'That's certainly going to increase the wave energy and the swells and so on coming onto the coast. We're looking at over 5 million people likely to be affected by this system,' he said.
Abnormally warm water off the NSW coast helped fuel the rapid intensification, Turton said. Warmer oceans turbocharge storm energy and supply weather systems with moisture for heavy rain.
7.55am
'Diddy' jury reaches verdict on all but one count in sex-trafficking trial
Turning to world news for a moment: The jury at Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex-trafficking trial has reached a verdict on four of the five counts the music mogul faces, the judge overseeing the case said, without revealing what the jury's verdict was.
US District Judge Arun Subramanian said the jury had informed him in a note towards the end of its second day of deliberations that it had reached a verdict on the two counts each of sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution the music mogul's faces, but had not been able to reach a verdict on racketeering conspiracy.
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