Rural palliative care funded
The State Government has announced a $55 million boost to palliative care to provide more services in regional, rural and remote Queensland.
Blue Care has won the tender to deliver care across nine hospital and health services.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the package would be delivered through the government’s $171 million Palliative Care Reform Program.
“Every Queenslander has the right to die with dignity,” the Premier said.
“This funding will provide better access to palliative care throughout regional Queensland.
“It will also ensure that more Queenslanders can spend what precious time they have left in a comfortable, familiar environment close to family and friends.”
Several rainfall records broken this year
The Bureau of Meteorology has released a formal record of the extreme rainfall and flooding that occurred in southeast Queensland and eastern New South Wales in February and March this year.
Several rainfall records were broken between 22 February and 9 March 2022, with more than 50 sites recording more than one metre of rainfall in one week.
In the last week of February, parts of south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales had rainfall 2.5 times their monthly average with some regions recording more than five times their monthly average.
After two years of La Niña conditions, the rain fell on saturated catchments leading to flash and riverine flooding extending from Maryborough in Queensland to Grafton in New South Wales.
For many areas, this was the wettest week since at least 1900.
Some areas of south-eastern Queensland had their highest flood peaks since 1893, though the lower Brisbane and Bremer rivers and Lockyer Creek peaked below the levels of both January 1974 and January 2011 floods.
Notice of Road Works: King and Grafton Streets Refurbishment
Night works to resurface sections of King and Grafton Streets will commence on Monday 6 June 2022 and is expected to take six to seven nights to complete, weather and project conditions permitting.
Council’s Director Infrastructure Services Gary Murphy said that while restoring the region’s flood-damaged roads was a priority, keeping on top on the existing schedule of upgrade works was equally important to road safety.
National Sorry Day holds hope for healing
The State Government has urged Queenslanders to reflect on our state’s history this National Sorry Day, and commit to making change to help the nation to heal.
Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Craig Crawford said National Sorry Day, observed annually on 26 May ahead of National Reconciliation Week, marked the anniversary of the tabling of the Bringing Them Home report in the Australian Parliament in 1997.
The report shone a light on the experiences of survivors of laws and government policies that saw thousands of children forcibly removed from their families and communities.
