Townsville Bulletin
ABUSED AT WORK
The union representing Cleveland Youth Detention Centre employees say staff are being subjected to “violent assaults on an unprecedented level” with more than 210 claims made for workers compensation in 18 months. Of the claims made, 185 were...
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COPS, THHS CLEARED IN FINDINGS
Townsville Health and Hospital Service and Queensland Police have been cleared of blame in the lead-up to the fatal shooting of suicidal army veteran Steven Angus in 2023. The Coroners Court did, however, make two recommendations to help Queensland...
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Accused rapist bonded with victim over cancer
A North Queensland businessman on trial for multiple sexual offences told a jury he shared news of his prostate surgery with his accuser before they engaged in consensual sex. Alexander James Macdonald Terry, who has pleaded not guilty, told the court...
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RATES SET TO RISE
Townsville property owners will face increased rates as part of the 2026/27 budget, driven by the rising costs of fuel and service delivery. The council will increase its rates despite successfully finding $16 million in savings. Mayor Nick Dametto...
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HOW’S THE SERENITY?
A beautiful shot from The Strand, taken behind the Tobruk Pool kiosk with a view to Magnetic Island. Beautiful one day ... perfect the next. Photo by: Maria Truscott
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CONNECT THE DOTS
Urban planning experts are warning Townsville risks wasting the opportunity provided by the upcoming Olympics. They’re urging decision-makers to invest in the city’s future and ensure a connected cityscape that’s ready to grow.
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Let’s get ready to rumble
Skateboarders from Townsville and interstate are ready to tear it this weekend as they take part in the Rumble Rodeo Skate Series. The event will be held at the Murray Skate Park in Annandale, with around 50 skaters – as young as five years old, to...
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EX-US POLLIE SAYS GOLD MINE A ‘MESS’
A former US congressman, who is a substantial shareholder in a Queensland gold miner, has blasted the company’s bid to change auditors after only eight months while taking aim at its performance. Alan Grayson is an investor in Asx-listed Citigold...
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OUT OF THE ASHES
A selfless Townsville family who lost all of their possessions in a horrific house fire plans to relocate to Brisbane due to the trauma of the ordeal, with thousands of dollars already raised to help them move on. Mum Katie says while her family...
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CBD SEA CHANGE
A dramatic new vision for how the city’s waterfront could reignite the CBD and turn Townsville into a jewel has been unveiled.
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COPS SWEAT OVER LEAK
Highly sensitive personal details of serving Townsville police officers have been compromised in a massive security breach at a local fitness centre. The names, phone numbers and home addresses of Strand Fitness members were discovered on a USB drive...
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YACHT SO FAST
An audacious alleged plot to smuggle a Townsville fugitive out of the country on a luxury yacht was crushed by police. The drama unfolded 53km off the West Australian coast on Monday, when police intercepted a vessel allegedly bound for Indonesia. On...
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PLEA TO SAVE MUM
First came a devastating cyclone, then a tragic family cancer diagnosis. Now, a Townsville single mother is facing the battle of her life against a brain tumour. Her academically gifted 16year-old daughter is rallying the community to keep their...
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LIGHTS, CAMERA INACTION
North Queensland is pleading for funding to upgrade sporting facilities - warning it risks losing vital economic and athletic opportunities ahead of the Olympics. Despite repeated political pledges, venues like Riverway Stadium and Murray Sporting...
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BUSH MATTERS
The largest conversation between the bush and powerbrokers starts today, as News Corp Australia launches its 2026 Bush Summit campaign. Regional Australians can have their say on issues that matter most in a new poll, which will help frame debate at...
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Urbis Managing Partner James Tuma
“The Olympics frames a choice about whether this is treated as an opportunity to host an event, or as a platform to lift how the city performs in attracting people, capital and attention.
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LIFE SENTENCE LIFTED
A Townsville man sentenced to life behind bars for the fatal 2021 stabbing of his roommate has secured a fresh trial. Greg David Mclellan’s murder conviction has been sensationally quashed by the Queensland Court of Appeal after justices found flawed...
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AGEING HORRIBLY
A decaying, asbestos-riddled former aged care facility has become a “dangerous eyesore” and a haven for criminal activity, sparking fed-up locals to demand its immediate demolition. The abandoned Blue Care Pallarenda Garden Settlement site has been...
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FARMERS’ BAD MOO-VE
Six cows crossing the Burdekin River sparked a major police raid involving search warrants, drone footage, and livestock DNA profiling. A 58-year-old local miner-turned-farmer pleaded guilty to stealing and unlawfully using livestock.
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JUST BUILD IT
The push to transform Townsville’s prominent Reef HQ “eyesore” has received a massive boost from a federal committee, though the Reef Authority warns construction cannot begin until late June at the earliest. The former Reef HQ site has sat dormant...
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UP THE COWBOYS
Taken on Sunday May 24, moments before the North Queensland Cowboys defeated the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Photo by: Julie Lyne
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ONE LAST TIME
Organisers will say a bittersweet farewell to the Jennifer Board Memorial Football Carnival this year, as personal commitments force her friends to scale back what has become an annual charity event. The tournament was started after Ms Board was...
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TAXPAYER DRUG DEN
A Townsville mum has exposed the sheer hell of living beside a stateowned property that has descended into a blatant “drive-through drug den.” Speaking anonymously, the mother-of-two revealed her family has been trapped indoors since February 2019, too...
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Workers become new shareholders
A commitment to growth in North Queensland has led to a Townsville business welcome new shareholders. Consultancy firm Brazier Motti has given the opportunity to six of its long-term employees – four based in Townsville – to become shareholders in the...
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BOLD BID TO BE DEFENCE BEDROCK
Townsville is poised to become the undisputed base of Australia’s defence force under a plan to transform it into the nation’s military launch-pad.
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RODEO STAR AVOIDS JAIL
Rising bull rider Willoughby Clint Young, who once represented Australia on the international stage, has walked free from court after a drunken crash that injured a passenger. The 21-year-old crashed on his way to the bottle-o.
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RAISING THE ROOF
A critical housing shortage in North Queensland is threatening to derail half of the region’s $40 billion investment pipeline, peak economic body Townsville Enterprise has warned. Despite local home building hitting a five-year high, new analysis...
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SOUL of LIGHT
The young tourist tragically killed in the latest horrific bus crash on the Bruce Highway has been identified. Argentinian and Italian national Serena Andreatta had held a lifelong dream to travel to Australia according to her close friends, who...
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1RAR Band tune up for Sunset Vibes
With family and friends in the front row, musician Miella Sartori can’t wait to be belting out her favourite songs at the 1RAR Band Sunset Vibes concert tonight. The much-loved free concert is at the Crossed Boomerang Amphitheatre at Jezzine Barracks...
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Two critical in bus crash
Two people are fighting for their lives and dozens more are injured after a bus carrying 29 passengers overturned in a mass casualty disaster on the Bruce Highway Thursday afternoon. The Bruce Highway was closed in both directions near Rangemore Road,...
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CAR THIEVES RAM OWNER
Townsville’s youth crime crisis has hit a terrifying new chapter after “insane” CCTV footage captured a local resident narrowly cheating death at the hands of alleged car thieves. The shocking video, filmed at 7am Monday on Gilbert Crescent, shows the...
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North Queensland misses out in the budget of broken promises IT’S GRIM JIM
North Queensland has been left wanting after the federal government failed to deliver any meaningful commitments for the region, with Senator Susan Mcdonald describing it as “devastating”. One MP said Labor was trying to “distract families” with tax...
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WET SEASON
Angela Burling snapped this picture of the Burdekin Dam flowing over the spillway.
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18-HOUR SHIFTS AT NQ PRISON
Staff at Townsville’s plagued correctional centre are being peppered with requests to come in early, stay longer, and sign up for 18-hour shifts, despite the government claiming the workplace is “staffed appropriately”. Sources say the requests are...
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NEW RETAIL HUB ON THE CARDS
Townsville’s North Shore is set for a massive retail upgrade with the second stage of the 65,000sq m town centre ready. Designed to be the commercial heart of the community, the precinct will feature a discount department store and supermarket. The...
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DRIVER WALKS FREE
A Greyhound bus driver has been cleared of all charges following a horror triple-fatality crash on the Bruce Highway, bringing an emotional trial to a close in the Townsville District Court. Late Thursday afternoon, a jury found Peter Jason Cafe not...
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CLEAR BLUE
Angela Burling snapped this picture on a beautiful day at Picnic Bay, Magnetic Island.
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GRAND THEFT KIDDO
BATESSTORY, A wave of car thefts has left Townsville residents on edge after a 10-year-old child was arrested in connection with a weekend rampage involving 11 stolen vehicles. Between May 1 and May 5, a series of brazen thefts culminated in the...
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SEARCH FOR MILLIONAIRE
A Townsville resident could be a millionaire – but they just don’t know it yet. A whopping $2,139,901.06 is sitting unclaimed from Saturday’s Gold Lotto draw, with the ticket purchased at The Avenues News in Kirwan. A desperate search is under way to...
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OUR KIDS, OUR FUTURE
Top doctors have warned the future of Australian children is at a critical crossroads and in dire need of worldleading medical research to reverse a situation where an entire generation’s health is now, for the first time, worse than their...
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‘ARE YOU DEAF?’
A leaked video from a meeting between Townsville Hospital and Health Service Board Chairman Tony Mooney (right) has exposed serious issues between staff and leadership after senior medical officers walked out in protest after one of their colleagues...
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BUDGET’S $2.7BN BLOWOUT
A scathing audit has uncovered that the ADF’S management of the new Hanwha AS21 Redback infantry fighting vehicles has led to billion-dollar blowouts, delays and technical risks that could put soldiers’ safety and lethality at risk. The Redbacks are...
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MORE CASH FOR COUNCILS
The astronomical cost of running local governments is front and centre of a peak body’s new bid to secure more money for Queensland councils. This comes as Townsville’s mayor reveals the city is facing its “toughest” budget. The Local Government...
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$65M TOWER ON ICE
EXCLUSIVE Plans to build a luxury residential tower project near Ardo have been shelved indefinitely. The Maidment Group revealed there was no path forward for the project with skyrocketing costs and builder availability creating an “undesirable...
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GAZING UPWARD
Angela Burley sent through this snap of our beautiful hill and the surrounding scenery.
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SMART HUB SHUTDOWN
North Queensland faces a crushing brain drain unless funding is secured for Smart Precinct NQ. Operational funding was pulled by Townsville City Council for the venture, as the city attempts to get back into good financial shape. The move will mean...
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Premier concedes crime still too high
Premier David Crisafulli has acknowledged that the state government’s efforts to curb youth crime require more work. The admission comes following a Facebook video where Thuringowa MP Natalie Marr acknowledged that current progress was insufficient....
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CRIME DATA A ‘WIN’ FOR POLICE
New figures show Townsville is on track for a record-breaking year of reported crimes, which police say is proof their efforts are yielding results. The data reveals 4296 offences were recorded in March, taking the total for the first quarter of 2026...
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STREET LAWS UNDER FIRE
New laws designed to sweep “troublemakers” and people exhibiting anti-social behaviour off Queensland streets have been slammed by critics as nothing more than “kicking the can down the road”. The beefed-up legislation, to bolster the LNP’S crime...
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LAWS ON THE AGENDA
Two North Queensland MPS are set to meet with the Attorney-general’s team this week over failing youth crime laws, with one saying “it’s not good enough”. The move comes as the community criticises the LNP over the speed at which adult crime, adult...
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Home ransacked, peed in
Just days after his 18th birthday, a North Queensland teenager was allegedly involved in a home break-in which left a home ransacked and urine in a family’s bed. Zjkya Vincent Stockholmboyd appeared in Townsville Magistrates Court on Thursday via...
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DOCTOR SUES OVER ‘WITCH HUNT’
A Townsville doctor dismissed for alleged time sheet fraud has taken on his former employer in court for unfair dismissal.
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KAP holds forum on BRS arrest
Following an influx of phone calls, Katter’s Australian Party hosted a public forum in Townsville to address community outrage surrounding the high-profile arrest of Ben Roberts-smith. The Battle Initiative CEO Andrew Hovenden highlighted a lack of...
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CBD FINES FAILURE
Townsville City Council’s local law designed to crack down on property owners letting their buildings go to ruin in the CBD has failed dismally. Six years after the law was first voted in, the council has handed out zero fines to owners, with Mayor...
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EDIFY VANISHES
Edify Energy’s green hydrogen production facility has been quietly shelved, with the company revealing it struggled to find support from customers.
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‘$20M FUEL ADS NOT WORTH IT’
Herbert MP Phillip Thompson says Australians don’t need a lecture on how to save fuel when it is more than $2 a litre. His scathing attack on the federal government comes after Labor launched the $20m Every Little Bit Helps campaign. “What...
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HELL ON WHEELS
A grieving father says the state’s new e-scooter laws are a long way off what’s needed, dubbing the devices “coffins on wheels” after losing his son, 35-year-old father of four Richard Cooper, in a tragic crash near the Townsville CBD.
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WEEKEND PLANNER 5 THINGS TO DO
1Flower lovers are in for a treat this weekend as the Townsville Orchid Society’s Autumn Orchid Show returns to the city. The popular event kicked off yesterday and runs through to Sunday at the Townsville Orchid Society Hall on Charles St, Kirwan....
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SHOPPING UNDER SIEGE
A concreter was on bail when he allegedly broke into a Townsville medical centre and took off with a large amount of vaccines. Alexander Charles Schwartz, 34, appeared in the Townsville Magistrates Court on Thursday via video link from the watch...
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CLASS CANCELLED
A cornerstone of the LNP’S election commitment to curb youth crime could be in jeopardy. The state government’s crime prevention schools will no longer go ahead as promised with sources revealing the program wouldn’t have achieved intended outcomes...
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CONSTRUCTION BOSS BAILED
Construction boss Paul Raiteri is back on the streets after being charged with 21 serious drugs and weapons charges. Mr Raiteri was granted bail after his lawyer warned the local company would collapse without him.
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TRAGIC REASON NQ NEEDS NEW WILDLIFE HOSPITAL
Almost every second wild animal brought into vet clinics across North Queensland is being euthanised, but a clinic opening later this year hopes to change that with the help of the community. The Wildhaven North Queensland Wildlife Hospital will...
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SICK PLAN TO KNIFE WORKERS
A 19-year-old woman has been sentenced after she stabbed a support worker at a care home through the hand with a cheese knife, before plotting with her boyfriend to attack other staffers at another facility. Amanda Grace Lockwood faced Townsville...
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DEADLY FLEET RETURNS
The armoured vehicles that killed a Townsville digger are back on the road, and they’ve already been involved in another incident.
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COUNCIL BOOTS THE BATS
Townsville City Council has unanimously endorsed a new flying fox plan, marking the first time “active dispersal” has been included as a tool to manage the city’s 16 recorded roosts.
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BLOSSOMS BLOOM
This is a beautiful shot of gum nuts flowering (Corymbia Gum) at Annandale in early January. Picture: David Ryan
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MUM NOT GUILTY
A mother has been cleared of manslaughter after a jury took less than two hours to find her not guilty of the drowning deaths of her two young sons. Leeanne Chrysilla Eatts wept as the verdict was delivered in the Townsville Supreme Court, ending a...
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SWEEPING SHORES
Terry Gillman sent in this snap taken from the mouth of Althaus Creek, looking out towards Rattlesnake Island.
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PLAYGROUND BULLIES
Children as young as four in North Queensland are already acting like “mean girls” to push their classmates out of the group, experts say. Kids Helpline boss Tony Fitzgerald said bullies targeted kids they knew were weaker or shy, just to feel like...
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MASTER OF CREEPY
Prominent NQ media personality Glenn ‘Minty’ Mintern has been accused of a years-long campaign of harassment, including sending unsolicited explicit images to multiple women. Mr Mintern confirmed he is withdrawing from public life to address his...
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ROCKPOOL UPDATE
A man in his 60s was rushed to hospital in critical condition after an altercation in Heatley yesterday morning. Emergency crews were called to the intersection of Nathan and Riechelmann streets after 7am, where Queensland Ambulance Service treated...
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‘PUNISHED ENOUGH’
A mother accused of the manslaughter of her two young children has pleaded not guilty in a Townsville courtroom. Leanne Chrysilla Eatts is accused of not taking reasonable care in supervising her sons, Jhulio, 3, and Barak, 5, who both drowned in the...
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CALM WATERS
Mangrove outcrops stand in the shallows as the sea rests easy under a brooding sky at Balgal Beach. Picture:
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TAINTED HONOUR
A prominent advocate for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse has urged the government to strip a convicted predator of a prestigious national title, saying it’s a “disgrace” he still holds an OAM despite being sentenced to 12 years behind bars.
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PARKING MAD
Townsville’s struggling city traders, currently battling a “ghost town” economy, say parking access and costs weigh heavily on customers, with the business community now urging the city council to reconsider its entire approach to CBD parking.
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