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Wade Graham has conceded the tackle technique he moulded to avoid concussions may need to change again to avoid further bans after copping a four-match suspension at the NRL judiciary.

The Cronulla veteran failed on Tuesday night to have his reckless high tackle charge for a hit on Souths prop Davvy Moale downgraded, resulting in the longest ban of his NRL career.

The result all but ends his hopes of joining the NRL's 300-game club this year, unless Cronulla go deep into the playoffs and he is fit for every game.

But the greater concern for Graham now is his own technique.

Graham told the panel on Tuesday night he had began to aim high in tackles after a history of being knocked out when collected by ball-carriers' hips.

But after Tuesday's verdict he fears that could now put him at risk of further suspensions, after he crept too high and collected Moale.

"There is a risk low now (at the hip), and a high risk high now (of penalty) too," Graham said outside after being found guilty.

"I will have to work on a few things through training for sure.

"If that's the bar they have set moving forward for a reckless tackle, it will be interesting to see how it plays out for the rest of the year."

In a 75-minute hearing, Graham claimed he had rushed out of the line to pressure Cameron Murray and had little time to react when the Souths lock handed the ball to Moale.

He said it was normal for him to aim at the ball or high on the body and he had no time to think about the possible risk of creeping high with the Moale hit.

"I have had a series of concussions so I don't try to aim low anymore ... I just aim at the ball really," Graham told the panel.

"I try and stay away from the hip because attackers move fast. I have hit hips in the past making tackles and I have to look after myself as well as the attacker.

"In those split second decision, things move fast. It's hard to change."

Judiciary counsel Patrick Knowles disagreed.

In a long back-and-forth with Graham, the pair argued over whether Graham had left his feet to launch at Moale.

"This type of tackle has no place in the game of rugby league," Knowles said.

"He is lifting himself off the ground to exert force with his shoulder. That is a reckless angle to go into a tackle.

"Feet off the ground, aiming with the shoulder in an upwards direction.

"That natural consequence is if it goes wrong, the player will strike not the ball but the head or the neck."

Judiciary panel members Bob Lindner and Paul Simpkins agreed the tackle was reckless rather than careless, ending Graham's hopes of downgrading the ban and ruling him out of games against Parramatta, Canberra, St George Illawarra and the Warriors.

The pair unanimously found Graham guilty and claimed he had targeted Moale in a high-body contact without considering the dangers of the tackle.

© AAP 2023

Five years after being charged, a former Queensland mayor has pleaded guilty to offences that arose from a corruption watchdog investigation.

Luke Smith was the Logan City Council mayor when he was charged in 2018 following a Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) probe.

Smith, 52, was accused of agreeing to receive a powerboat from a political donor between July 2016 and September 2016 to progress the development approval of a hotel.

The former councillor - whose full name is Timothy Luke Smith - had been set to face trial in Brisbane District Court this week, with his matter listed for mention on Tuesday.

However in court on Tuesday he pleaded guilty to receipt of a secret commission by an agent and failing in his obligation to update his register of interests.

Smith will also be sentenced on Thursday for the charge of misconduct in relation to public office.

A committal hearing first heard in January 2020 a proposed 15-storey hotel at Springwood would have exceeded the Logan council's building height restriction.

It is alleged Smith obtained a powerboat from a former director of SKL Cables, seven months after the company submitted a development application to council.

The misconduct charge relates to a CCC allegation that Smith interfered in the recruitment process of another person between June and July 2017.

Smith was charged with failing in his obligation to update his register of interests between August 2016 and September 2017.

The entire Logan council was sacked in May 2018 following a CCC investigation.

But separate fraud charges laid against Smith and seven former councillors were dropped in April 2021 after another committal hearing in 2020.

The charges related to the sacking of former Logan council chief executive Sharon Kelsey.

Smith remains on bail ahead of Thursday's sentencing.

© AAP 2023

The Queensland government's "nation-leading" plan to invest $5 billion to link the mineral-rich northwest with the national grid has been praised by crossbenchers and has tentative support from the opposition.

The state government will take over private company CuString's planned CopperString 2.0 project to build a high-voltage line from Townsville to the northwest, which holds vast copper, zinc, lead, silver and phosphate deposits.

The latter is a lucrative component of fertiliser, while the region also holds deposits of rare earth minerals needed to make smartphones and renewable energy parts.

Premier Annastasia Palaszcuk says the line's capacity between Townsville and Hughenden will be increased more than the original plan to allow future renewable energy projects to connect to the grid.

State-owned transmission provider Powerlink will start construction next year, with the project due to be completed by 2029.

"We will build it and the jobs will come," Ms Palaszczuk said in Townsville on Tuesday.

"This is nation-leading, it is nation-leading infrastructure."

Ms Palaszczuk said the project will make power more affordable for consumers in the northwest, which will attract investors to the region.

"The companies will be utilising the power, and that's what you've been lacking in North Queensland, and that's what we are building," she added.

Katter's Australian Party politicians, who've campaigned for the transmission line to be built since 2003, praised the premier's announcement.

"It's about unlocking the underground wealth we have been gifted in the west and building opportunity off the back of that blessing," KAP state leader and Traeger MP Robbie Katter said in a statement.

"The North West Minerals Province has amongst the highest industrial power prices in the world but now, with the building of the CopperString line imminent, this will no longer be our burden to bear."

Federal KAP MP Bob Katter said the investment will expand the northwest minerals sector with nationwide benefits.

"It's not just my electorate, it's the Australian and Queensland economies that will benefit," Mr Katter said.

Queensland's opposition Liberal National Party have also thrown their support behind the project ahead of next year's state election.

However, LNP energy spokesman Pat Weir said he was concerned CopperString's 2020 price tag of $1.8 billion had more than doubled to $5 billion in a little over two years.

Mr Weir said the taxpayers deserved a full itemised rundown of the project's costs as they will be paying for it.

"We've seen cost blowouts before with this government," he told reporters in Townsville.

"That is the biggest fear with this project and we're already $3 billion over price."

In January the government indicated it was keen to take over the project after CopperString 2.0 was given federal approval in December.

That marked a major milestone following years of multiple state and federal election promises over the years.

© AAP 2023