As it happened:Brisbane on October 18

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The top stories this Wednesday

That’s where we’ll leave today’s live updates. We will return tomorrow morning,but in the meanwhile here are some of the headlines you might have missed.

And further afield:

Ashgrove church removed from heritage register to allow demolition

BySean Parnell

The Planning and Environment Court has ordered the former Ashgrove Methodist Church,known for its distinctive A-frame design,be removed from the Queensland Heritage Register.

Only two years after a community campaign led the Queensland Heritage Council to list the building,its owner,the Uniting Church,has managed to have the decision overturned.

The former Ashgrove Methodist Church,on Ashgrove Avenue,has lost its heritage protection.

The former Ashgrove Methodist Church,on Ashgrove Avenue,has lost its heritage protection.Supplied

The heritage listing noted the church’s “distinctive tapered A-frame form,main front elevation with large,coloured glass cross,and features of its modernist architectural style”.

But Judge Amanda McDonnell found “the siting of the building significantly impedes its visibility,causing it to have poor landmark quality and limited picturesque attributes”.

The church wants to demolish the building and have a childcare centre constructed in its place. The court’s decision will allow Brisbane City Council to resume consideration of a development application.

If approved,the centre would accommodate 136 children with an on-site café and parking for 41 cars.

An artist’s impression of the childcare centre proposed for the site of the former Ashgrove Methodist Church.

An artist’s impression of the childcare centre proposed for the site of the former Ashgrove Methodist Church.Supplied

RBA governor signals interest rates may go up amid global shocks

ByShane Wright

Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock has expressed concern that a string of shocks to the global economy will make Australians used to high inflation,in a signal interest rates may have to be pushed up further.

RBA governor Michele Bullock.

RBA governor Michele Bullock.Screengrab

Minutes of the RBA’s most recent board meeting,at which it kept the official cash rate steady at 4.1 per cent,suggested it could use the upcoming Melbourne Cup Day meeting to push them higher.

Bullock said while per capita consumption was falling,and businesses were finding it more difficult to push up prices,inflation remained an issue.

Typically,when we think about stocks to supply that increased prices,you’d think,well,that’s probably okay,it’ll wash out.

But the problem is that we’ve just got shock,after shock,after shock.

And the more that that keeps inflation elevated,even if it’s from supply shocks,the more people adjust their thinking,and the more people adjust their inflation expectations,the more entrenched inflation is likely to become,so that’s the challenge.”

Bullock said the RBA’s own analysis of spending and mortgages suggested there was already a “small but not insignificant group” of people whose income was not enough to cover the lift in their home loan repayments.

Logan bus drivers to stop taking fares

ByRosanna Ryan

Drivers of some south-east Queensland buses will refuse to take fares from passengers as they continue their push for higher wages.

Eighty drivers who work for Clarks Logan City Bus Services will stop taking fares from 4am this Friday,and will continue the action until they reach a pay deal,the Transport Workers Union says.

Another 500 drivers are set to join the action over the next two weeks.

The union says it’s an escalation in their campaign,a fortnight after drivers for Clarks,Sunbus on the Sunshine Coast and Surfside Buslines on the Gold Coast went on strike for 24 hours.

“Public transport is an integral part of any city. We need investment in wages now to put an end to the growing driver shortage before the situation is irreparable,” said TWU organiser Jared Abbott.

State govt open to purchasing remaining federal rental scheme properties

ByMatt Dennien

Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon has announced that the government is open to buying more homes from a winding-up federal government rental help scheme.

Delivering a speech at a Queensland Media Club event at South Bank,Scanlon laid out the well-documented challenges facing the sector.

Tenants in about 4800 homes left on the national rental affordability scheme will be left paying more expensive,market rent rates or face evictions by mid-2025.

Scanlon says it’s unclear just how many of these might be suitable for the government to purchase yet,but expressions of interests will be opened to owners soon.

Republic could be ‘doomed for a generation’ after Voice referendum

ByPaul Sakkal

Leading campaigners for splitting Australia from the monarchy remain hopeful of the nation becoming a republic,but some fear the cause may be lost for a generation.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously flagged thepossibility of a referendum on a republic in the second term of his government should it be re-elected.

King Charles III with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Buckingham Palace on May 2.

King Charles III with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Buckingham Palace on May 2.Getty Images

But in May,he saidhis priority was on the Indigenous Voice referendum and stressed he did not want to be a “prime minister who presides over just constitutional debates”.

Division within the Australian Republic Movementemerged earlier this year over whether the outfit should campaign for the Voice. After agonising over the decision,it appointed No campaigner Warren Mundine to a broader Voice advisory body and chose not to back the Indigenous referendum.

Find out more here.

Up to $50m on the table for Mount Isa support package,Treasurer says

ByMatt Dennien

Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick has just fronted journalists in Brisbane to speak about the Mount Isa copper mine closure and his government’s response.

He said the government was first notified by mine operator Glencore about a month ago and has been working on a support package of up to $50 million — announced today — since.

The package aims to accelerate development of other resource projects in the globally significant mineral-rich area and help the region and its workers adjust to the economic shift over the next five years.

“Glencore made it very clear to us:there was nothing the Queensland Government could say or do or pay to continue those mines operating in that community,” Dick said.

Brisbane council wants shift from parking tickets under your wiper

ByMatt Dennien

Brisbane City Council is hoping to do away with the need for parking inspectors placing tickets under your wiper.

The change would need to be made by the state government,and would mean people could be fined electronically or by mail through the use of vehicle or camera-based scanning.

Such “mobile enforcement vehicles and future technology” would also make it easier to fine a driver for subsequent breaches of parking time limits.

The proposal from Brisbane City Council is among more than 150 motions on the annual Local Government Association of Queensland conference agenda to be debated on Wednesday.

“Reviewing this provision will … assist in increasing availability of parking spaces for all members of the community,” the proposal says.

Plans for new multi-sport clubhouse at Newmarket

BySean Parnell

Brisbane City Council has lodged a development application for the Finsbury Park Consolidated Clubhouse,a sports hub planned for Newmarket.

The clubhouse will host the Commercial Hockey Club,Gold Crest Cricket Club,and other organisations that use their venues,such as the popular weeknight touch football competition.

Brisbane City Council plans for a new clubhouse at Finsbury Park in Newmarket.

Brisbane City Council plans for a new clubhouse at Finsbury Park in Newmarket.Supplied

The existing car park will be retained – the council angered residents when it previously planned new car parks and a relocation of fields in the precinct – and the cricket nets moved closer to the southern boundary.

Other buildings on the site will be demolished,and the new clubhouse situated on Finsbury Street where the hockey club currently stands.

End of an era - and more than 1000 jobs - with closure of Mt Isa mine

ByTim Arvier

More than 1200 jobs are under a cloud after Glencore today announced the closure of its Mount Isa Mine.

The company willshut down its underground copper mine in 2025 but keep its copper smelter operating in some form.

The Mount Isa copper smelter is expected to remain open if the mine is shut down.

The Mount Isa copper smelter is expected to remain open if the mine is shut down.Supplied

Glencore decided the mine is reaching the end of its operational life. Its closure would come as a major blow to the Mount Isa community,which is heavily dependent on the mining sector.

Treasurer Cameron Dick will comment on the ramifications of the decision later today.

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