Car crash link probed
BARRIER GRIEF FOR SOME AS DE CISION NE ARS
THE same group of teenagers could be responsible for two serious stolen car crashes causing mayhem on the weekend.
Police are investigating whether four teenagers charged after a stolen Volkswagen Amarok crash on Sunday afternoon are linked to a stolen LandCruiser crash on Friday night.
The teens, aged between 14 and 19, were charged after they allegedly tried to run from the scene of a crash in front of Centrelink at Aitkenvale.
A 14-year-old girl, who has been charged with five counts of unlawful use, was on bail at the time of the offending.
The two boys allegedly involved, aged 15 and 16, were charged with trespassing but let out on bail.
The 19-year-old alleged driver of the Amarok, Bartholomew Ara, was charged with two counts of dangerous operation of a vehicle and unlawful use, and remanded in custody.
Townsville Police District Inspector Damien Crosby said it was lucky no one was badly hurt.
“It’s appalling, reckless behaviour which placed motorists and the community at risk, as well as police,” Insp Crosby said.
The Amarok was stolen from a West End apartment in the early hours of Sunday morning and wreaked havoc across the city for hours.
Police tried to intercept the car about 1pm but it sideswiped a police vehicle and hit another motorist.
About 30 minutes later the car was spotted again but police did not try to intervene.
It was then seen being driven on the wrong side of Ross River Road at high speed, and the driver lost control while trying to turn left onto Elizabeth Street, hitting a traffic pole.
The car finally came to a stop outside Centrelink at Aitkenvale and the four teenage occupants tried to escape.
Police found two suspects under a nearby home and arrested another two nearby.
Insp Crosby said police were looking into any connection to a stolen car crash at Duckworth Street on Friday night, which left a mother and her two children in hospital.
“We haven’t discounted a connection between the offenders from Sunday and the offenders from that vehicle on Friday night … and investigations are ongoing,” he said.
“I think it’s common knowledge that we are generally targeting a core group of recidivist offenders that have been particularly active.”
Insp Crosby said police also expected to lay more charges.
Ara, 19, did not did apply for bail. He was remanded in custody and will face court at the end of the month.
PLANS for a long-awaited new headquarters for the lead management agency for the Great Barrier Reef in Townsville are understood to be before government awaiting a decision.
A spokesman for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said they had provided advice to the federal government but would not confirm that a privately owned car park in Flinders Street had been selected as the site.
It comes as developers for a competing site, next to the Reef HQ aquarium where the authority was previously based, say they have been told by the authority’s consultants, Canberra-based Evolve FM, they have been unsuccessful.
The authority relocated to the Northtown offices in Flinders Street in 2018 as a temporary solution, at the time saying they looked for- ward to returning to new ac- commodation close to their r national education centre e Reef HQ.
An authority spokesman provided the following statement: “We’ve undertaken a process and provided advice to the Australian government about new head office accommodation for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
“The government will make a final decision on this matter based on our recommendations and an independent panel that assesses value for money. An announcement will be made once government has fully considered all the materials.”
When approached, Townsville-based government MP Phillip Thompson declined to comment.
His office said that, given the decision-making was still in progress, Mr Thompson would not be able to make any comment at this time.
The preferred developers to redevelop the abandoned cultural centre and former marine park are disappointed to have been overlooked.
A spokesman for Reef House Investment Group, Paul Spina, said they had spent years obtaining preferred developer status from Port of Townsville, the owners of the land, and liaising with stakeholders including the council, Museum of Tropical Queensland, Reef HQ and GBRMPA.
“We have been notified that we are not the preferred developer and that GBRMPA are currently working with external consultants from Canberra to complete final arrangements with The Hive on the other side of the road,” Mr Spina said.
“We believe it’s a missed opportunity to showcase GBRMPA adjacent to Reef HQ and the Museum of Tropical Queensland to ensure the tourism and education precinct within the (Priority Development Area) was fully utilised and the community and all stakeholders are be able to e enjoy a transformational d development.”
The Hive developer Gleeson Group’s managing director Therese Smith confirmed they had put a prop posal for a state-of-the-art commercial building to GBRMPA but declined to comment further.
“We have to go with the process. When there is any news, then we can put it out there,” Ms Smith said.
Asked what they would do now with the derelict cultural centre and former marine park offices, Mr Spina said they would wait until the GBRMPA process had taken its course.
NORTH Queensland was expected to be inundated with more rain overnight as a tropical low intensified.
At 5pm Monday, the Bureau of Meteorology said the tropical low, which was expected to form into Cyclone Niran on Tuesday, was moving further north.
The bureau did not believe the cyclone would make landfall. Current projections show the tropical low turning southeast towards Hinchinbrook Island, with Lucinda sitting on the edge of the range of gale-force winds.
“The cyclone is likely to remain slow-moving off the North Tropical Coast while intensifying over the next two days. In the longer term, it is likely to take a south-easterly track away from the coast as a category three cyclone,” the BOM said.
An emergency alert was issued for Palm Island on Monday, with the Aboriginal community expected to experience gale-force winds and heavy rain.
Residents were warned to cancel all non-essential travel, secure their premises and find a safe place to shelter. Schools and childcare services on Palm Island were expected to remain closed on Tuesday.
The Bruce Highway between Cardwell and Ingham was in danger of being cut.
Hinchinbrook Mayor Ramon Jayo told the Townsville Bulletin on Monday afternoon that the risk of major flooding would depend on the rainfall the shire and upper catchment regions of the Herbert River received overnight on Tuesday.
“It’s just one of those things, we’ve got to wait and see,” he said.
“But we’re ready, we are prepared, we’ve notified everybody.”
On Monday, a person was seen driving through significant floodwaters at Allambie Lane in Rasmussen.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Acting Chief Superintendent for the Northern Region Kevin Anderson said: “If it’s flooded, forget it. Back it up and find an alternate route.”
Some residents in the area were using boats to ferry people across the water.
WULGURU residents are wading through a “poo-nami” as heavy rain continues to fall.
Not even 50mm has to fall before Leanne Dobbin has sewage floating through her backyard.
The Wulguru resident said it began for her in 2017 when she moved into her home, but the problem had been going on for decades.
The tropical low off North Queensland’s coast has caused the sixth poo-nami at Ms Dobbin’s property since the start of 2021.
But she is not the only one, with a number of Wulguru residents using Ms Dobbin’s backyard as an indicator of what is to come.
Ms Dobbin said her situation was marginally better than when she moved in because Townsville City Council had installed a non-return valve, which kept the situation somewhat at bay but didn’t totally mitigate the problem.
‘They’re doing band-aid (fixes),’’ Ms Dobbin said.
The poo-nami means many in the community are unable to use toilets or showers because it will make the situation worse.
Resident Sergio Lapico said his wife was forced to shower under the hose before heading to work on Monday morning.
Mr Lapico said the infrastructure in Wulguru was severely lacking.
“When they built Annandale and Fairfield, their lines came directly into ours … to go out to Cleveland Bay,” he said.
Mr Lapico said the woman who used to live in their home used to “pack her bags and leave” every time it rained, but they were never told there was a problem when they bought the home.
Mr Lapico said they had considered selling but they would have to disclose the issue or they would be “dishonest” and just “passing the problem onto someone else”.
“We love the house we’re in, we love where we live, we love our neighbours,” he said.
Mayor Jenny Hill urged residents to call Townsville City Council if they were having any issues with sewage.
She said $20m had already been spent on the southern suburbs main and there was still work to do at Wulguru.
“I have some concerns that there is an issue around illegal connections in there so we’re doing some work on that,” Cr Hill said.
She said part of what was causing the problem was freshwater inflows.
“I have real concerns that people may be draining yards or something using our sewerage network to pump water into there, and not understanding that it is causing real difficulty downstream,” she said.
“We will do some work around looking for illegal connections over the next few months with smoke tests.
“But there is still a bit work that has to be done.”
Cr Hill said the council would help clean up if residents experienced issues.
New Division 10 councillor Fran O’callaghan said she was “shocked” to hear of the issue on Monday morning.
“I’ll be investigating it to the best of my ability,” she said. of
We’ve long called for a crocodile cull ... people want to be able to walk down the beach or have their pets off lead without fear of a crocodile attack.
NICK DAMETTO
A THREEFOLD increase in crocodile sightings across the state’s far north has prompted a renewed push for the animals to be culled amid growing fears for human safety.
The number of reported crocodile sightings has tripled this year, according to Department of Environment statistics.
In 2020 wildlife officers responded to 616 crocodile sightings and removed 38 from the wild. So far this year the department has responded to 172 sightings and removed eight problem crocodiles.
Katter’s Australian Party MP Nick Dametto, whose electorate of Hinchinbrook is located north of Townsville, said there were “too many crocodiles in the ecosystem”.
Mr Dametto said there was a growing number of “negative interactions” between the animals and humans, prompting calls for action.
“Crocodiles need to be taken off the vulnerable species list by the federal government,” he said.
“We’ve long called for a crocodile cull; people who use the waterways every day will tell you there’s an increase in numbers. They’re trying to protect a species that doesn’t need protecting anymore.
“People want to be able to walk down the beach or have their pets off lead without fear of a crocodile attack.”
Federal MP Bob Katter said crocodiles were continuing to breed without management.
“Could you imagine the population of Brisbane if every mother had 50 babies per year?” he said.
Mr Dametto also called for the establishment of a dedicated North Queensland crocodile authority to handle the issue.
“The species would be better managed by North Queenslanders … instead of Brisbane being left to make those core decisions,” he said.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Environment, which is responsible for crocodile management, said its existing Queensland Crocodile Management Plan used specific approaches across different locations.
“Under the plan, any crocodile that poses a threat to human safety is targeted for removal,” she said.
“The Queensland government does not support the culling of estuarine crocodiles. The Queensland government ensures public safety along rivers and beaches in croc country by resolving declared problem crocodiles promptly and safely.”
The Department of Environment’s crocodile management team includes wildlife officers based in Cairns, Innisfail, Townsville, Mackay and Rockhampton.
An extra $6m over two years was allocated in the 2019-20 Budget for improved estuarine crocodile management.
The department spokeswoman said an increase in sightings did not mean there was an increase in crocodile numbers.
“The Queensland government’s Qwildlife app has made reporting crocodiles much easier,” she said.
“Rainfall in coastal North Queensland means crocodiles can turn up in unexpected places.
“Crocodiles prefer calmer waters and they may move around in search of a quiet place to wait for floodwaters to recede.”