Toowoomba News

• Australian prime beef producers brace for fresh China tariff pain

  Australian cattle farmers producing wagyu and Angus beef are likely to be among the hardest hit by China's 55 per cent tariff on exports exceeding a 205,000-tonne quota.

• Roads, rail, runways impacted as outback flooding continues

  Rain has hit saturation point in parts of northern Queensland as communities remain isolated and cattle are lost.

• Why severe storms keep forming over Queensland's Darling Downs

  Queensland's Darling Downs has recorded more severe storm warning days than any other region this season — and meteorologists say it is no coincidence.

• Your most read Queensland ABC News stories of 2025

  From cyclones to earthquakes and everything in between, here are the most read Queensland ABC News stories of 2025.

• A tale of two artists shaping Queensland's bush art scene

  Marion Moore is 101. Zarabella Bambling is 23. Despite their differences, both women have just celebrated the same major achievement as bush artists.

• Border communities wait to fill cross-border commissioner vacuum

  Towns, like Goondiwindi on the Queensland-New South Wales border, wait to see who will replace the late Ian Leavers in the role of cross-border commissioner and continue his work. 

• Heat to ease as storms ramp up in unsettled Christmas week for Queensland

  The weather bureau is forecasting heavy rainfall and thunderstorms for large parts of the state over the Christmas week, but temperatures are expected to ease.

• Welcome Christmas rain in the outback while south-east Queensland swelters

  A tropical low will bring heavy rain and storms to much of Queensland this week while a south-east heatwave persists.

• Regional town's residents 'at breaking point' amid end-of-year crime spike

  The crime rate spikes every year around the holidays, according to the police. Tensions are rising in the Murgon community, as residents say they don't feel safe in their homes. 

• Family cuts weekly mortgage payment to $330 with rural move

  The Ballini family made the move to regional Queensland where they are are paying half the mortgage they were in the south-east, but that's rapidly changing.

• Noosa hit with flash flooding after 180mm of rain falls overnight

  Storms and heavy rain are forecast to again hit large parts of Queensland today, with temperatures dropping across much of the sunshine state. 

• Rent rise pushes pensioner to make caravan her permanent home

  A cut-throat rental market and skyrocketing house values in regional Queensland are driving elderly people, along with families, into alternate forms of accommodation.

• Woman 'gobsmacked' by regulator's response to pap smear complaint

  Two women have told the ABC they believe the health regulator is failing to acknowledge the power imbalance between doctors and patients.

• Farmers feel 'forgotten' as environment, land clearing laws tightened

  Queensland producers say a blanket approach to environmental laws will restrict their ability to manage land sustainably and responsibly.

• Review calls for race track to shut, state government to make it 'Racing HQ' instead

  The Next Lap plan will establish a $200 million infrastructure fund, streamline governance, and maintain taxation levels, and comes about two months after an independent review into the sector.

• Company pauses plan to release controversial genetically modified mosquitoes

  An organisation that planned to sell "friendly" mosquitoes to reduce the spread of diseases like dengue withdraws its licence application after backlash from scientists and health experts.

• Was your car one of 40,000 damaged in hailstorms? Here's what to do next

  Insurers are urging those with damaged cars to make their claims as soon as possible in the aftermath of hailstorms across Queensland and parts of New South Wales. 

• Three deaths related to asbestos exposure at former ABC site

  Staff at the former ABC studios in Elsternwick were exposed to asbestos over an extended period.

• Another music festival canned as 'numbers no longer stack up'

  Park Waves festival, set for February 2026, has been cancelled amid economic challenges, joining a growing list of scrapped Australian music events.

• Right to repair reforms to be expanded to farm machinery

  After years of depending on dealership networks for essential repairs, farmers will have the right to fix their own equipment.

• Queensland to enjoy cooler, drier first days of summer — but not for long

  After a soaking November, this week could deliver a very brief reprieve from the storms and scorching heat. 

• 'Pretty much nowhere in Queensland' without chance of thunderstorms

  A wet weekend is forecast for Australia's sunshine state, with meteorologists warning that "pretty much nowhere in Queensland" is without a chance of thunderstorms.

• Illicit tobacco stores shut down in raids across Queensland

  Dozens of stores across every corner of the state have been closed for three months as officers exercise new powers passed in Queensland's parliament last week.

• First permanent psychiatrist appointed in south-west Queensland

  Farzin Rezaei has made the move from the Tehran University of Medical Sciences to the vast plains of south-west Queensland. 

• Her 8yo son was killed in an e-motorbike crash. Now Kloe Weedon wants new rules to protect kids

  Kloe Weedon's son Zeke William Hondow, a schoolboy with a sharp wit and even sharper haircuts, was farewelled at a funeral last week.