As it happened: Brisbane on Friday, June 14 (2024)

Workers at a plant where a man was crushed to death by a 12-tonne crane had previously complained about its operator driving too fast, a judge has heard.

The Narellan Pools corporation pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court on Friday to conducting business while negligent and causing the death of a worker, and was fined $1.5 million.

Judge William Everson said the charge was the most serious of its type and equivalent to industrial manslaughter.

“This is no doubt a serious breach that led to a tragic outcome,” Everson said.

Kamndiin Turner, 42, was killed on August 19, 2021 at the Narellan Pools Queensland Manufacturing Facility in the Gold Coast suburb of Stapylton as he guided a four-wheeled mobile crane moving a 650-kilogram fibreglass pool shell.

The Ipswich man was working as a dogger holding a guideline for the pool before the crane’s operator drove towards him and ran him over before reversing back over his body.

Work Health and Safety prosecutor Simon Nicholson said Turner died from asphyxia due to his lower abdomen being crushed.

“Another worker came to the assistance of Mr Turner, first aid was administered, however Mr Turner was declared dead soon afterwards,” Nicholson said.

Nicholson played a short security camera video that captured part of the incident to Everson.

The crane could be seen transferring the pool shell from an industrial building to a yard with the load swinging from side to side due to the vehicle’s speed before a worker was seen running for help.

Nicholson said workers had previously complained to management about the crane’s operator, Lyall Francis Tadman, claiming he was driving too fast and on one occasion hitting a parked car.

Tadman pleaded guilty in Beenleigh Magistrates Court in January 2024 to failing to comply with a health and safety duty.

He was fined $25,000 and no conviction was recorded.

Everson said Narellan Pools had failed to anticipate the danger of people working in concert with a mobile crane.

“It is mind-boggling that [Narellan Pools and its safety consultant] did not identify the risks when moving huge pools,” Everson said.

As well as the $1.5 million fine, a conviction was recorded against the corporation.

The weather will remain crisp but largely sunny over the weekend, making for good conditions to get out and about.

Night markets are on, namely West End Solstice Market in Davies Park tonight and Milton by Moonlight in Cribb Street on Saturday evening. Both promise live music, street food, and mulled wine – perfect for the colder weather.

If you love a big horse then you’ll want to go to the Scenic Rim Clydesdale Spectacular at Boonah Showgrounds, with massive Clydesdales, tiny Shetland ponies, Scottish pipe and drum bands, whip cracking and much more.

The hit play Fourteen, based on Shannon Molloy’s memoir of being bullied at high school in regional Queensland, continues its encore season at QPAC’s Cremorne Theatre.

Feel like a refreshing libation? The Great Australian Beer Spectapular (GABS) comes to the Convention Centre on Saturday and Sunday with over 500 beer taps, co*cktails, whisky, wines and more.

In that vein, a ‘drunk’ version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice debuts in Northshore this weekend from the makers of A Very Naughty Christmas, punningly titled Plied and Prejudice.

And the best movies from Spain and Latin America are screening in the Spanish Film Festival at Palace Cinemas.

Brisbane City Council has declared it will become more proactive in reducing carbon emissions, rather than relying on buying carbon offset certificates.

Some public lighting will be converted to LED lighting, including the lights at the Sherwood bus depot and at council pools, and pools will also get heat pump upgrades.

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In 2022 the city council paid $6 million to buy certificates to “offset” more than 520,000 tonnes of carbon it emitted.

Those certificates funded wind and solar farmers in India, and a project on Cape York that aimed to cut greenhouse gas emissions from savanna fires.

Environment committee chair Tracy Davis said today council would now be more practical, and “100 per cent of emissions investments would be local”.

Brisbane Lions prodigy Will Ashcroft’s comeback from a severe knee injury could be just two weeks away, as the defending grand finalists plot their charge back to premiership contention.

The 20-year-old made an emphatic start to his AFL career last season, before suffering a ruptured ACL in the club’s triumph over Geelong.

But Lions coach Chris fa*gan, speaking ahead of the clash with St Kilda at the Gabba, hinted Ashcroft’s return loomed, with his side sitting ninth but nearly four wins out of the top eight.

“We think Will will be somewhere around round 16, round 17 - he’s progressing really well,” fa*gan said.

“We’ll just see how that goes, and hopefully get no injuries in the meantime.”

The clash with the Saints will also feature Brisbane’s Fight MND: Big Freeze event in support of victims of motor neurone disease.

Two backbench MPs have been found in contempt over a clash with pro-Palestinian protesters outside Queensland parliament.

Katter’s Australian Party members Robbie Katter and Nick Dametto stood at a fence holding up “condemn Hamas” signs at protesters in March.

Protesters flocked to the fence shouting “shame” at the MPs before one person grabbed the sign from Dametto and scrunched it up.

The matter was referred to the ethics committee, which today tabled a report to parliament finding both MPs in contempt for disorderly conduct on parliamentary grounds.

“Members have a duty to uphold the highest standards of behaviour and to preserve the dignity of the parliament,” the committee found.

“The members in this matter are long-serving members of parliament who ought to know better.”

The pair escaped a recommendation of suspension over the incident. The committee said it would take a “stronger position” if it happened again.

Dametto, the MP for Hinchinbrook, apologised during parliamentary proceedings today, while Traeger MP Katter was absent.

A quadrupling in the number of people being taken to hospital after overdosing on GHB in the past two years has alarmed Queensland authorities.

The staggering increase in GHB intoxication-related presentations was recorded at emergency departments across the state’s south-east, according to data released today.

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GHB, or gamma-hydroxybutyrate, is an illegal drug that acts as a depressant and has sedative and anaesthetic effects. It’s often ingested to provide feelings of euphoria, relaxation, sociability and an increased sex drive.

In recent years, the drug has gained popularity among 18-25-year-olds as a “party drug”, but it’s also known as a “date rape” drug commonly used in drink-spiking.

The data, gathered by Princess Alexandra Hospital’s clinical toxicology unit, shows presentations for GHB account for almost a quarter of emergencies.

“PAH data shows that GHB-related presentations are now the second most common recreational intoxication causing people to need emergency care behind methamphetamines,” toxicology nurse practitioner Benjamin Learmont said in a statement.

“GHB now accounts for 24 per cent of emergency presentations related to drug use that require admission to our intensive care unit.”

A four-week-old baby boy who went missing from Fortitude Valley yesterday has been found.

Police issued an amber alert this morning, hoping to find the baby and a 37-year-old woman.

Within an hour, they issued an update to say he had been found safe and well. The woman has also been found.

Police thanked the public for their help.

The Queensland Firebirds have sacked coach Bec Bulley after a disastrous run of results that left the club at the bottom of the Super Netball ladder.

Bulley’s departure was officially announced last night, less than two years into her four-year deal.

Assistant coach Lauren Brown will fill in as caretaker coach for Sunday’s match against the Melbourne Mavericks.

The Firebirds (2-7) opened their season with a one-goal loss to the Adelaide Thunderbirds before following it up with a three-goal win over the Giants.

But just one win across the past seven games – including a 71-67 defeat to the struggling Giants last week – spelled the end for Bulley.

In her only other season at the helm, the Firebirds posted a 4-10 record to only narrowly avoid the wooden spoon.