A space for street art
TOWNSVILLE’S street art scene will have a new addition by the end of the week with the creation of space- themed mural on Ogden St.
The mural taking shape on the back of a Flinders St building is the work of the RUN Collective, a group of Townsville- based artists.
The 20m- long, 5.5m- high work has been commissioned by Townsville City Council to add to the growing number of CBD artworks by local, national and international graffiti artists.
RUN Collective member John Bradshaw said he and fellow artist Shane Keen had worked out a design ahead of painting but there was room for last- minute inspiration.
“There are usually pipes and things on a wall so you have to make adjustments and a few ideas will pop up now and then so we have fun with it and don’t limit ourselves,” he said.
“You get excited when it’s near the end and you might think of some new ideas.”
The council’s Street Art Activation Working Group member Russ Cook said the new work would add an exciting visual element to the backstreets of the CBD.
“Townsville already boasts a number of impressive murals that have become a tourist attraction in their own right,” Cr Cook said.
The mural will be finished by Friday. THE cost to see a doctor in Queensland has jumped 20 per cent – or $ 7 a visit – since the Medicare freeze came into place four years ago – and new “unfreeze” measures announced in the Budget are likely to provide little relief.
Out- of- pocket costs to see a specialist jumped even higher, up almost $ 20 or 27 per cent.
Meanwhile, analysis of the unfreezing of the Medicare benefits scheme shows it will provide a saving of just 12.3c per visit to the GP in its first year. Queenslanders are now paying an average gap of $ 37.24 to see their GP. This is up from $ 30.90 before the freeze was put in place in 2013.
For a specialist, the price was a $ 83.09 gap, a jump from $ 65.29 four years ago.