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Melbourne hooker Harry Grant will consider sending Storm immortal Cameron Smith an SOS ahead of the club's sudden-death final against the Sydney Roosters.
The Storm were humbled 26-0 by Brisbane in Friday night's qualifying final, losing to the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium for the first time since 2009.
Like most Melbourne players, Grant was disappointed in his performance as the Storm slumped to a third-straight loss in a final.
Melbourne are 1-3 in finals since Smith ended his legendary playing career following the Storm's 2020 premiership triumph over Penrith.
After smashing Manly in a qualifying final in 2021, the Storm, who claimed the minor premiership that year, lost to the Panthers in a preliminary final.
In a shock week-one exit last year, Melbourne were upset at home by Canberra.
Grant admitted he hadn't called on Smith to tap into his big game experience as much as he could have.
"I haven't probably done as much as I should," Grant said of chatting to Smith about finals football.
"We've got some good coaches and senior players that have been in this position as well, so that's probably where I have been.
"But I might have to pick the phone up and go SOS to Smithy."
Melbourne skipper Christian Welch didn't believe the Storm's recent finals record was a concern ahead of hosting the Roosters at AAMI Park.
"I think if you start looking at historical things, even the whole talk about us against the Broncos up there, it doesn't really matter too much, to be honest," Welch said.
"I think we're just really trying to fix a pretty disappointing performance."
Melbourne proved too good for the Roosters in both games during the regular season, including winning 30-16 at the SCG in round 20.
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Labor leadership speculation and controversial youth detention laws are set to make for a lively day in Queensland parliament.
Fresh from an Italian holiday, Premier Annastacia Palaszcuk is on Tuesday expected to face a grilling from opposition MPs about party instability which dominated headlines in her absence.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles, Health Minister Shannon Fentiman and Treasurer Cameron Dick have all been quizzed about their aspirations for the top job, but Ms Palaszczuk has declared she is energised to lead her government to the ballot boxes in October 2024.
A string of polls indicate Labor are on track to lose government.
With the premier's tenure expected to be under the microscope, parliament will also debate bills that strengthen the regulation of cosmetic surgery, and laws allowing accused rapists to be named before being committed to trial.
Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath will also update the house on meetings between the government and voice for victims representatives.
Tuesday's sitting will be the first time parliamentary sitting since victims of youth crime marched on it's steps.
The government was then hit with criticism for pushing through a raft of youth laws including changes allowing children to be detained in watch houses.
Those amendments went through parliament without committee scrutiny.
"We would prefer to have gone to committee," the premier said.
"However, legal action was being taken and we got legal advice that said that we needed to fix it up as quickly as possible and that's exactly what we did."
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Queensland's premier has rebuffed opposition taunts about her leadership as parliament resumes after a torrent of speculation about her future.
The LNP focused on weeks of discontent among Labor MPs about Annastacia Palaszczuk's leadership a day after the "energised" premier declared she would lead the government to the next Queensland election.
Opposition Leader David Crisfaulli said that despite cost of living pressures, fears about youth crime and a health system under pressure, "the government's focus has been on itself".
"If the premier can't govern her ministers, how can she govern Queensland?" he asked the premier in Question Time.
Ms Palaszczuk replied by insisting the government remained firmly focused on Queenslanders, spruiking its economic record and the state's post-COVID recovery.
"We have the strongest economic growth, we have come out of the pandemic the strongest in the nation," she told parliament on Tuesday.
Peppered by Mr Crisafulli over her 2020 promise to deliver stable and steady government following media reports of Labor MPs leaking against her, the premier said "absolutely".
She returned fire, pointing out the number of opposition leaders she had faced during her three terms as premier.
"I had to write them down because there's so many," Ms Palaszczuk said to laughter from the government benches.
Ministers also rallied to join the premier on the attack, with Treasurer Cameron Dick boasting: "We've got the plan, we've got the people and we've got the leader."
Deputy Premier Steven Miles joined the chorus, touting the government's "strong, united team of experienced ministers".
Several opposition questions about concerns among Labor MPs with her leadership were ruled out of order by the Speaker.
State parliament resumed after the premier returned from a two-week holiday in Italy while leadership speculation raged in her absence.
Reports of discontent among Labor MPs came after a tumultuous week in parliament and a string of polls suggesting the government is headed for defeat at the election in October next year.
Ms Palaszczuk on Monday defended her decision to go on leave, which took some of her colleagues by surprise, and hosed down any leadership concerns.
"I feel refreshed, I feel energised and I'm absolutely determined to lead the party and this government to the next election," she said.
Parliament's agenda this week includes bills that strengthen the regulation of cosmetic surgery and landmark legislation allowing accused rapists to be named before being committed to trial.
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A lacklustre pace of home building is expected to continue over the next two years and keep upward pressure on rents and house prices.
A string of interest rate hikes and a shortage of workers and materials have been keeping a lid on new home building, and fresh forecasts from the Master Builders Association show challenges intensifying rather than easing.
Compared to the last set of forecasts in February, interest rates have ticked higher than first imagined and key legislation expected to boost housing supply has been delayed.
Even with the Labor government's signature $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund finally set to pass parliament, new starts are likely to stay below the MBA's 200,000 dwelling yardstick used to ensure enough homes are being built to keep up with population growth.
In the 2023/24 financial year, the industry is set to hit a low of 170,087 new starts.
Home building is expected to recover throughout 2024/25, but is not expected to crack the 200,000 threshold until 2025/26.
By 2027/28, home building is expected to hit a peak of 241,017 new starts.
The end of the interest rate hiking cycle will help underpin the recovery, especially for higher-density developments that have a lower risk appetite.
Recovery in home values would also likely attract more individuals and investors into the market, after they sank over much of last year.
Bottlenecks holding up projects, namely labour and materials shortages, are also expected to clear and support a recovery in the coming years.
Residential builder Robert Shaw said the labour market was already starting to free up but it was still a long way from pre-COVID levels, especially for subcontractors.
West Australian-based Daly & Shaw Building was also finding it easier to access materials but there was still patchy availability, which was leading to delays.
"Before COVID, you were always dealing with something but you could guarantee timelines and guarantee fixed prices," Mr Shaw told AAP.
"But now, I can't fix timelines and total fixed price contracts because there's still a lot you aren't in control of."
A wave of infrastructure projects is also expected to keep the construction industry busy while home building tapers off.
A healthy pipeline of transport and other major projects is tipped to keep the total value of building and construction activity growing over the next three years.
Total activity is expected to peak at $246.2 billion in 2026/27.
© AAP 2023
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