As it happened:Brisbane on Friday,June 7

Thanks for joining us for our live blog. We’ll be back on deck on Monday. Here are today’s main headlines:

Three people have been injured aftera police car was hit from behind by a ute on the M1 motorway in Gold Coast’s north.

Residents and businesses saythe Teneriffe Festival is too large and disruptive for the suburb, while the festival says the expansion has been carefully managed.

Senior Seven Network journalist and presenterRobert Ovadia has been stood down by the company this week as it looks into an allegation of inappropriate behaviour by him towards a woman.

Rugby league presenterPaul Kent drank 21 schooners before an ugly street brawl outside a Rozelle pub earlier this year,a court has heard.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has taken a swipe at Nine chairman Peter Costello over allegations he shoved a News Corp reporter to the ground.

The Brisbane team behind Happy Boy have opened a striking two-level French restaurant,with enormous windows,a slick fit-out,approachable food and killer collection of Gallic wine.Here is a first look.

Ariarne Titmus,one of Australia’s greatest swimmers,will become the hunted in Paris.And a rising star is already coming for her mantle on home soil at the Olympic trials.

Australian canned fruit growers have been left devastated after the country’s largest processor slashed its orders for the upcoming season,blaming budget-conscious consumers.

Growers were told in a meeting at SPC’s Shepparton office last month that orders of peaches would be reduced by 40 per cent,and pears would be reduced by 60 per cent.

SPC has been processing fruit in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley for more than 100 years. In addition to producing products under its own name,SPC also processes Australian fruit for supermarket home brand canned fruit.

A spokesperson for the cannery attributed the reduction to increased demand for cheaper supermarket own-brand products,using fruit from overseas.

Read more here.

A new tiny door has popped up in West End,adding to street artist Mace Robertson’s trail of hidden works.

Robertson’s latest creation is a tooth fairy-themed door,commissioned by The Practice Modern Dentistry.

The door,painted to look like carved marble,can be found along a rock wall at West Village.

“I just like adding to the artist culture of the city,and all demographics seem to love the doors,” Robertson said.

“I think it’s my job as an artist to brighten the world.”

Robertson has been installing doors around the city since 2017,even unveiling aChristmas seriesin 2023 that was targeted by thieves at one point.

Brisbane is expecting mostly sunny conditions on Saturday,which is good news for the organisers of the Teneriffe Festival,although the event,headlined by the Cat Empire,is contentious among local residents and businesses.

Mere days after State of Origin there’s moreNRL action at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night as the Broncos take on the Cronulla Sharks in a round 14 clash.

Further afield,theFermented Food Festival is happening at Summer Land Camels in Harrisville as part of the Scenic Rim Festival – showcasing fermentation practices from around the globe including making krauts,sourdough,kombucha,tempeh,miso and more.

Related Article

City life

Stroll,shop and eat at Brisbane’s best night markets

TheCooly Rocks On festival,a feast of retro music,cars and fashions in Coolangatta,is winding up this weekend,with concerts by the Beatnix and Creedence Clearwater Survival.

Tonight,night market season kicks off with Beenleigh Night Bites offering street food,crafts and entertainment in Beenleigh Town Square until 9pm. Additionally,the Alien Night Market in Underwood is having a specialWorld Food and Music Festival on Saturday night.

Alcohol advertisements are geared for young people,a study by UQ’s National Centre for Youth Substance Use Research has found.

PhD candidate Brienna Rutherford recruited 125 university students aged 17 to 25,asking them to scroll through their Facebook or Instagram accounts for 30 minutes and screenshot any alcohol ads.

Related Article

Planning

Business leaders call for changes to stimulate Brisbane’s nighttime economy

“The results were confronting - 71 students,some under the legal drinking age of 18,were exposed to 796 alcohol ads across the two platforms within that half an hour,” Rutherford said.

There was a caveat on the findings:some algorithms may have responded to a participant searching for alcohol on social media or search engines before the study.

Nonetheless,Associate Professor Gary Chung Kai Chan said the research supported calls for regulation of alcohol advertising on social media platforms.

The research was published in Drug and Alcohol Review on Friday.

Premier Steven Miles has paid tribute to the latest recipients of the Queensland Greats Awards,who were named in a ceremony last night.

Scientist Emeritus Professor Peter Andrews AO,Olympic gold medallist and athletes’ champion Natalie Cook OAM OLY,fashion stylist and retailer Keri Craig-Lee OAM,construction industry entrepreneur and philanthropist Scott Hutchinson and Torres Strait Islands advocate and community leader Getano Lui (Jnr) AM were honoured at the ceremony.

The government also named as Queensland Greats the aeromedicine service LifeFlight,and former Gold Coast mayor Sir Bruce Small,who died in 1980.

“Our state’s success is built of the accomplishments of our people and the contributions that make Queensland and Australia a better place for all,” Miles said.

The awards program began in 2001 and has honoured 125 individuals,20 institutions,and 11 posthumous recipients.

Prosecutors in the case against billionaire Clive Palmer,who is facing several charges including fraud,have urged for the matter to progress faster,as a Brisbane magistrate admonished Palmer’s barrister for holding up a busy court.

Palmer was charged by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission over alleged fraud and breaches of his duties as director of his company,Palmer Leisure Coolum,and has beenfighting the charges for years.

Related Video

Clive Palmer's superyacht saved from sandbank

During a mention of the case in the Brisbane Magistrates Court this morning,the court heard Palmer’s legal team had made a series of applications,including one that related to complaints of abuse of process.

“Ultimately,this matter needs to progress in some way given the dates of these applications,some of them were from August last year,” Commonwealth prosecutor April Freeman told the court.

Magistrate Aaron Simpson repeatedly questioned how long today’s case would take,given the matter had been listed in the callover court which is used for routine mentions and adjournments only.

“This is a callover court,this is not for argument ... I’m just getting concerned,this is getting bigger than Ben Hur,” he said.

It comes days after Palmer’s legal team filed to sueformer ASIC chairman James Shipton in the Federal Court. In a public statement about the suit,Palmer accused Shipton of acting “beyond his authority” while ASIC chairman,causing Palmer “loss and damage”.

Palmer’s case is due back in court in August.

Teneriffe Festival is an 11-year tradition billing itself as “Brisbane’s biggest street party” and a celebration of the “rich heritage and diverse community that is Teneriffe”.

But Lea Angeles,who co-owns Teneriffe bar Zero Fox,is not a fan.

“The day after,there are puddles of vomit everywhere. People are pissing in the bushes,” she said.

“We find little bags of drugs on the floor. Last year my staff got threatened physically while trying to exit the bathroom ... he was like,‘I’m sorry,you can’t come in,it’s the building’s toilet,not the festival toilet.’

“It just doesn’t feel like a community festival any more.”

Read the full story.

Queensland government members have continued their pre-budget spending spruik today,foreshadowing the increase in its “Big Build” infrastructure program in the documents to be released on Tuesday.

Related Article

Perspective

Government

The big questions being raised around Queensland’s ‘Big Build’

Treasurer Cameron Dick said state infrastructure spending would lift to $107 billion over the next four years – up from $88 billion last budget – with $27 billion next financial year alone supporting about 72,000 jobs.

“Queensland is a big state with a big and growing population,which is exactly why we need a Big Build. We know we need the railway lines,the roads,the clean energy projects,the hospitals,the schools and the homes for Queenslanders,” he said.

“Other states do not have the strength of our balance sheet,so states like NSW and Victoria are puttingmajor infrastructure projects on hold. That will help their balance sheet now,but it will not help their state in the future and they will pay for that down the track.”

Dick said that since December,there had been cost increases of $1.3 billion – mostly onthe Coomera Connector project,also known as the second M1. He has already revealed an expected budget deficit next year of $3 billion amid infrastructure and cost of living spends.