An artist’s impression of the broader Victoria Park precinct after the construction of the 2032 Olympic stadium and aquatic centre. Victoria Park is Brisbane’s largest inner-city parkland and a site of significance for First Nations elders. Illustration: Supplied by the Queensland Government
An artist’s impression of the broader Victoria Park precinct after the construction of the 2032 Olympic stadium and aquatic centre. Victoria Park is Brisbane’s largest inner-city parkland and a site of significance for First Nations elders. Illustration: Supplied by the Queensland Government
Concept images of controversial Victoria Park precinct revealed ahead of 2032 Brisbane Olympics
Ben Smee
The Queensland government has released new concept images showing Brisbane’s broader Victoria Park precinct after the construction of the 2032 Olympic stadium and aquatic centre.
Victoria Park is Brisbane’s largest inner-city parkland and a site of significance for First Nations elders.
It is a controversial choice as home to Brisbane’s upcoming Olympics, leading to protests from community members concerned about the loss of community green space and areas of cultural importance.
The images – along with a master plan for the broader parkland site – show plans for two new pedestrian bridges across the inner-city bypass. The road severs the site from Spring Hill and the rest of the Brisbane CBD and had been a significant constraint for planners.
Artists impressions of the Victoria Park precinct, in the Queensland government’s Victoria Park Draft Legacy Plan. Illustration: Supplied by the Queensland Government
It also proposes flooding existing sports fields on the site to expand the York’s Hollow wetland.
The government says the precinct will “become a world-class destination that celebrates Brisbane’s unique outdoor lifestyle while creating a vibrant place where people can gather, play, connect and experience unforgettable moments for generations to come”.
It says about two-thirds of the existing park will remain public green space.
That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today. We’ll be back tomorrow morning, but for now, enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Here are today’s top news stories:
The deputy opposition leader, Jane Hume, told Insiders the prime minister had shown an “extraordinary lack of curiosity” on alleged corruption at construction sites as she backed calls for a Senate inquiry into the matter.
The health minister, Mark Butler, rejected calls for the prime minister to stand down his special envoy for defence, veterans’ affairs and northern Australia, Luke Gosling, who was charged over an alleged assault on the Northern Territory’s administrator.
Six children in the Philippines have been removed from harm as a 74-year-old West Australian man was sentenced to 10 years in jail after pleading guilty to online child abuse material offences.
Australian man jailed over child abuse material as children removed from harm
Six children have been removed from harm in the Philippines as a West Australian man was sentenced to a maximum of 10 years and six months in prison for online child abuse material offences.
Australian Border Force officers found videos of children being sexually abused on the 74-year-old man’s mobile phone after selecting him for a baggage examination after he arrived at Perth Airport in May 2025.
As the Australian Federal Police examined his phone, they found conversations between him and a woman in the Philippines where she transmitted child abuse material.
The matter was later referred to the Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Centre, and the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation Human Trafficking Division began an investigation.
In April 2026. the division executed a search warrant at a home in Bislig City, Philippines, where a woman was arrested and six children, who were known to her, were removed from harm.
The 32-year-old woman was later charged and is before the court in the Philippines.
The 74-year-old man was sentenced at Perth District Court after pleading guilty to a series of charges including three counts of using a carriage service to groom another person to make it easier to procure persons under 16.
ABF superintendent John Eldridge said:
Unfortunately, we are finding child abuse material on digital devices of travellers all too often, but when we do, we act decisively with our law enforcement partners to ensure these perpetrators face criminal charges and prevent further harm.
NSW premier says evidence must come before judgment following Icac hearings
As the NSW anti-corruption watchdog investigates allegations of corruption against people associated with the state’s Liberal branch, the premier, Chris Minns has said Icac must be able to present its evidence free from political commentary.
We need the evidence to be accumulated before we pass a judgment on it, and that’s really Icac’s job.
What’s interesting and perhaps worrying inquiry for me is that over the same time that this inquiry has been taking place, One Nation’s vote has skyrocketed, and they’ve got nothing to do with this Icac investigation.
My concern is that people say, “Well, I’ve seen Labor at Icac, and I’ve seen the Liberal Party at Icac. I’m going to vote for a third party this time.”
So, I don’t think it’s necessarily the big boon for our political party that many believe, and I also think it’s sad for politics when people who are in elected positions are acting in this way because it casts a pall over everybody in politics.
Opponents of the proposal have long scoffed at claims that most of the parkland surrounding a new 60,000-seat stadium will remain valuable green space.
Save Victoria Park spokesperson Sue Bremner said the “misleading” impressions were an attempt to distract from Olympics budget blowouts.
We have said time and time again – it is one of the most complex, expensive and poorly connected sites in Brisbane to build sporting venues.
What we saw today was not a plan. It was another insulting fantasy vision with no details. Where are the car parks? Where are the roads? Where’s the connection to the train station? Where are the crowd-holding plazas? The ramp from the [bypass]?
Concept images of controversial Victoria Park precinct revealed ahead of 2032 Brisbane Olympics
Ben Smee
The Queensland government has released new concept images showing Brisbane’s broader Victoria Park precinct after the construction of the 2032 Olympic stadium and aquatic centre.
Victoria Park is Brisbane’s largest inner-city parkland and a site of significance for First Nations elders.
It is a controversial choice as home to Brisbane’s upcoming Olympics, leading to protests from community members concerned about the loss of community green space and areas of cultural importance.
The images – along with a master plan for the broader parkland site – show plans for two new pedestrian bridges across the inner-city bypass. The road severs the site from Spring Hill and the rest of the Brisbane CBD and had been a significant constraint for planners.
Artists impressions of the Victoria Park precinct, in the Queensland government’s Victoria Park Draft Legacy Plan. Illustration: Supplied by the Queensland Government
It also proposes flooding existing sports fields on the site to expand the York’s Hollow wetland.
The government says the precinct will “become a world-class destination that celebrates Brisbane’s unique outdoor lifestyle while creating a vibrant place where people can gather, play, connect and experience unforgettable moments for generations to come”.
It says about two-thirds of the existing park will remain public green space.
‘Starting to take off’: bird flu mass mortality likely
A mass mortality event, potentially triggered by bird flu, mirrors what’s happened as the deadly disease spread overseas, environmental advocates warn.
AAP reports, more than 80 dead and sick greater crested terns have been found at an island called Baudin Rock in South Australia.
Authorities say it is likely to be the first mass mortality event from the deadly disease.
The Invasive Species Council’s chief executive, Jack Gough, said Australia was still at the very early stages of the H5 outbreak, but it could spread quickly.
It seems the virus is starting to take off, mirroring the experience in South America.
[That is:] early detections, then rapid increases in numbers and spread, leading to mass mortality events in wildlife.
Bird flu has caused significant illness and deaths in poultry, wild birds and mammals in Asia; Europe; North and South America; and the Arctic and Antarctic, according to Wildlife Health Australia.
Over 600 bird species and more than 100 mammalian species, including wild marine and land mammals, have been affected.
‘More than just objects’: Australian booksellers raise alarm over ‘horrific’ destruction of rare titles to feed AI
Vendors and rare books experts are increasingly worried that these artefacts may be under threat of destruction by generative AI companies seeking to feed their ravenous technology with new texts.
Stephanie Convery writes the fears stem from a copyright lawsuit brought against AI company Anthropic in the United States by book authors. Unsealed court files revealed earlier this year that the company was engaging in the practice of “destructive scanning” – buying physical books, slicing off the spines to more efficiently scan the pages, then pulping the remains – and had sought to keep it quiet. The judge ruled this was lawful under US copyright law, as it amounted to “transformative use”.
The practice is now understood to be widespread among generative AI companies, and recent reports suggest intermediaries are stepping up to facilitate the process.
Australian secondhand booksellers are wondering if they have been caught up in the AI supply chain after they recently experienced waves of orders that did not fit with usual customer patterns.
Nation-first fully integrated bionic arm to hit shelves
A university startup has developed Australia’s first fully integrated bionic arm, giving hope to users who have given up on heavy, painful prosthetics, AAP reports.
Cost, weight and accessibility changes means 35–40% of prosthetic users in high-income countries end up rejecting their devices.
But after speaking to dozens of people with limb difference to identify key challenges over 10 years of development, University of Melbourne-led startup Meablex have developed a bionic arm that could change the experience of prosthetics for users.
It features soft and flexible materials that weigh about half what a conventional prosthetic does.
It’s also been designed with an adjustable socket to make the prosthetic easier to fit, and is more reliable to control than others currently on the market.
Australian scientists have created a revolutionary lightweight bionic arm. Photograph: Christopher Hopkins/AAP
Senior research engineer Dr Alireza Mohammadi told AAP:
Our technology combines a lightweight 3D-printed prosthetic hand with a new sensorised socket that detects subtle muscle movement, rather than relying only on traditional electrical muscle signals.
He hopes the device can enter the market next year, following clinical trials and regulatory approvals later this year.
We’re not just looking at Australia, we are thinking more globally.
It will definitely affect many lives and many people that can use this device.
How a tragedy in a homeless camp laid bare regional Australia’s housing crisis
Three months ago, a homeless encampment in Wagga Wagga made headlines when a newborn baby died at a nearby riverbank after their mother gave birth in a tent.
Since then, the response to the growing crisis has been fractured and confusing and the community is divided on how to manage the camp.
Some have jumped in to help, while others have sided with the council in calls to clear it out.
Cait Kelly writes about the ways the housing crisis is playing out in regional Australia.
PM urged to stand aside special envoy after assault charge
The deputy opposition leader, Jane Hume, has called on the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to take action against his special envoy for defence, veterans’ affairs and northern Australia, Luke Gosling.
The MP has been charged over an alleged assault on the Northern Territory’s administrator earlier this month.
Hume told ABC’s Insiders it was a “pretty serious charge”.
It’s alleged at this stage but the charge has been laid.
Anthony Albanese has been very quick to condemn other people and request, in previous lives, that prime ministers stand down their ministers or their senior members of parliament for far less.
I think that he should live up to his own high expectations and stand Luke Gosling down.
Gosling previously said he could not comment as the matter was before the courts, but thanked his family and vowed to work to serve his constituents.
Penny Wong addresses Garma festival: ‘We are not a monoculture and we have never been’
The announcement was delivered before a powerful audience that included senior cabinet ministers Penny Wong, Malarndirri McCarthy and Jason Clare, and Pacific leaders including Timor-Leste’s prime minister, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão.
As the ripples of the announcement spread across Garma, AAP reports, Wong used her address to draw a contrast with those she suggested were trying to divide Australians.
At a time when there are those who seek to set us apart, First Nations peoples, with your generosity, remind us our many different stories brought together make us stronger.
We are not a monoculture and we have never been.
(L-R) Penny Wong, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão and Malarndirri McCarthy at the Garma festival on Saturday. Photograph: James Ross/EPA
Djawa Yunupingu, leader of the Yothu Yindi Foundation, tied the new council directly to Yolngu law, ancestral obligation and an unbroken connection to Country, and said Yolngu wanted development and opportunity in a way that kept control on Country and in the hands of traditional owners.
We have tourism at Bawaka and Banubanu and it is my dream that there will be a five-star resort on this beautiful Country.
We have schools that are teaching our young people. We have a Garma Institute that will be our own university and it will hold our knowledge right here.
He said the Yolngu people knew every inch of their Country and the council would stand ready to work alongside the army, the navy and the air force to defend it.
It will work with the government and with mining companies, any company who wants to do business with us.
It will work in partnership with the Northern Land Council for the people. We will be a part of the economic life of this nation whilst never losing who we are and what we stand for.
Yunupingu thanked the Northern Land Council and its chair, Matthew Ryan, for protecting Yolngu interests and standing with them as they prepared for the transition, AAP reports.
Matthew Ryan, chair of the Northern Land Council, speaks to the media at the annual Garma festival on Saturday. Photograph: James Ross/EPA