Toowoomba News

• Man who punctured police officer's lung with scissors given more jail time

  A man who stabbed a police officer with a pair of scissors during a domestic violence call-out in regional Queensland has had his jail sentence increased.

• Woman shares insight into harrowing childhood in Queensland's state care

  A Queensland woman whose adolescence was marred by sexual abuse and exploitation has described her experiences in residential care to Queensland's Child Safety Commission of Inquiry.

• Queensland farmers rejoice as rain breaks dry spell

  Some of the driest parts of Queensland receive up to 200 millimetres of rain, soaking paddocks and lifting spirits.

• Coroner finds contentious police tactic not the cause of man's death in custody

  A Queensland coroner finds the cause of Indigenous man Steven Nixon-McKellar's death during an arrest was "multi-factorial".

• Gold Coast cops 120mm as south-east Queensland faces looming deluge

  South-east Queensland is being told to brace for an intense soaking from today with up to 150 millimetres to fall in some coastal areas and rainfall all weekend.

• Hospital maternity unit embraces call for workplace culture overhaul

  Staff at the Toowoomba Hospital maternity unit will be implementing recommended changes to their workplace culture following an independent review.

• Severe thunderstorm, heavy rainfall warnings issued for Queensland

  Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding across parts of Queensland tonight, according to the weather bureau. 

• Girl, 5, killed in ATV rollover on Queensland property

  A young girl has died and a boy has been injured after an ATV being driven by a child rolled rolled on a rural property near Chinchilla on Tuesday evening.

• Health minister orders review of troubled hospital maternity unit

  Announcement comes after a woman reveals her support person was prevented from entering the birth suite while she was in labour by Toowoomba Hospital security. 

• Heatwave conditions to return for SEQ ahead of weekend showers

  The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting "locally severe heatwave conditions" from Tuesday, culminating in a maximum of 35 degrees in Brisbane on Thursday.

• After 30 years, has the time finally come for a national gun register?

  First proposed after the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, Australia still doesn't have a national gun register. As Queensland parliament sits for the first time since national gun reforms became law, advocates say it is time to centralise firearm information. 

• New home for old machines as collector bids goodbye to lifelong passion

  As the last man standing, 78-year-old cattleman Mervyn has parted with his collection of tractors and utes, pledging his estate to charity.

• Grandmother removed from Toowoomba birth suite by security

  Toowoomba woman Laura Davies has expressed concerns about her experience at the Toowoomba hospital, including the removal of her support person.

• Inside David Littleproud's 'kingdom of Maranoa'

  As One Nation announces its plan to open an office in Longreach, the ABC speaks to voters in David Littleproud's electorate to get their thoughts on the Nationals leader.

• Can a review of the $13b Murray-Darling Basin Plan find the balance needed?

  The Murray-Darling Basin Authority says the basin plan has delivered real benefits, but climate change, disconnected floodplains and poor water quality mean things still need to change. 

• Police probe sudden death in Queensland city's CBD

  Police have closed part of Bell Street and the Toowoomba bus terminal car park on Chronicle Lane in Toowoomba's CBD as part of the investigation. 

• Body-worn camera footage shows moment grandmother removed from birth suite

  A confrontation caught on body-worn security footage in the halls of the Toowoomba Hospital maternity unit highlights concerns raised by local mothers.  

• Grandmother removed from Toowoomba birth suite by security

  Toowoomba woman Laura Davies has expressed concerns about her experience at the Toowoomba hospital, including the removal of her support person.

• Much of Queensland set to sizzle ahead of cool change next week

  The worst of the heat has moved into south-west Queensland, while temperatures in the south-east could still hit 40 degrees Celsius before a cooler change early next week.

• Researchers discover 'potentially habitable' Earth-sized planet candidate

  An international team of astronomers led from regional Queensland finds an exoplanet 150 light-years away with a 50 per cent chance of having liquid water on its surface.

• North Queensland residents evacuated from floodwater after river rises

  A tropical low has dumped hundreds of millimetres of rain across north Queensland, prompting evacuations in a remote part of the state, while the state's south-west braces for a heatwave to peak.

• Brisbane endures hottest Australia Day so far this century, as north faces soaking

  South-east Queensland is sweating through its hottest Australia Day so far this century, with Brisbane recording its highest maximum temperature since 1998.  

• Family to farewell herd to grow restaurant dream

  A Queensland family is trading decades of purebred cattle breeding for life in the kitchen, selling off 20 years of stud work to focus on a new paddock-to-plate restaurant. 

• Queensland's oldest tennis club grows from 12 members to 600 in six years

  A regional sports club bucks the national trend of declining membership in community sporting groups, serving up a love for the game of tennis that crosses generations.

• Families of slain officers urge politicians to stop 'bickering' over gun reform

  Judy McCrow says the families "fully support" the federal government's proposed gun buyback scheme and are calling on political parties to stop "bickering".