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Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 10 May 2022; Hits: 93

Emergency warnings during Brisbane's recent deadly floods were delayed because authorities were bickering about the wording.

Former Queensland governor Paul de Jersey's report into the February disaster says by the time residents were warned, some homes had been underwater for more than a day.

His review of the official response to the floods, which killed 14 people and damaged thousands of homes across the southeast, was released on Tuesday.

"The experience within the community, reflected by respondents, suggests that warnings to evacuate came too late, with houses already flooding up to a day and a half before that warning was issued," Mr de Jersey's report said.

"There seemed to be some delay in the review and approval by QFES (Queensland Fire and Emergency Services) of the wording of the EA (Emergency Alert) and timing of the issue of the EA."

The probe found that warnings through social media, mainstream media and emergency systems caused confusion with the "inconsistent and confusing" messages broadcast.

"Some of these communication channels were not accessible by all, and loss of power and digital illiteracy meant some residents found it difficult to stay informed," the report said.

"Some commented that the multiple channels and likely the speed at which each one could be deployed meant that sometimes the messages were inconsistent and confusing."

Mr de Jersey, a former chief justice, has made 37 recommendations, including a review of the flood alert system to find a more efficient way to distribute mass warnings.

He also recommended the flood resilience home program be continued and stormwater backflow prevention devices be installed.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner promised the council would implement all 37 recommendations.

"We'll be getting on to make sure these lessons are learned," Cr Schrinner said on Tuesday.

He said it was Brisbane's biggest three-day rain event with more than 20,000 properties across 177 suburbs impacted by a combination of river, creek and overland flooding.

"This event prompted the biggest-ever clean up of our city with more than 60,000 tonnes of flood-impacted belongings removed from over 3000 streets during our special flood edition of kerbside collection," Cr Schrinner said.

Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 10 May 2022; Hits: 114

Australian singer-songwriter Nick Cave has confirmed the death of his son Jethro Lazenby, aged 31.

"With much sadness, I can confirm that my son, Jethro, has passed away," the frontman of rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds said in a statement on Tuesday.

"We would be grateful for family privacy at this time."

Fashion model, rapper, actor and photographer Lazenby - born in Melbourne in 1991 - was Cave's son with model Beau Lazenby.

He was the eldest of Cave's four children, all boys.

One of Cave's twin sons with his current wife Susie Cave died in an accidental fall from a cliff near Brighton, England, in 2015. Arthur Cave had taken LSD before he fell.

Jethro Lazenby, who used the name Jethro Cave to help his modelling career, died in Melbourne after he was released from prison last week. Details of his death have not been revealed.

He had been in custody since shortly after he assaulted his mother during an argument in her Melbourne home on March 7 and left her bruised and bleeding, the Herald Sun reported.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful assault and to breaching court orders. He was released from a remand prison on strict bail conditions on Thursday.

A magistrate ordered him to undergo substance abuse treatment and to avoid contact with his mother for two years. He was to return to court in June to be sentenced for the assault and for stealing from a convenience store.

He had been imprisoned in 2018 for assaulting a girlfriend.

His lawyer told a magistrate last month that his client had a longstanding diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Lazenby told the London-based Evening Standard newspaper in 2012 that he was seven or eight when he first met his famous father.

Cave told The Guardian in 2008 he would always regret his lack of contact with his son in early childhood.

"But I now have a great relationship with him," Cave said.

"It was difficult at the time, but it turned out great in the end."

Lazenby is survived by a younger half-brother Luke Cave, also born in 1991.

The musician's second child, only days younger than his first, was born in Brazil to his then-wife Viviane Carneiro, a Brazilian fashion designer and journalist.

Lazenby is also survived by half-brother Earl Cave, Arthur's twin. The twins were born in 2000.

Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 10 May 2022; Hits: 93

The Queensland government has ordered a Commission of Inquiry into police responses to domestic and family violence after survivors raised concerns about their treatment.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the probe is in line with recommendations from the Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce led by former Court of Appeal president Margaret McMurdo.

The four-month inquiry will look at how adequately police have dealt with domestic violence cases.

"Let me make this very clear: our police service does an exemplary job, countless lives have been saved because of the men and women in our police service," the premier told parliament on Tuesday.

"But many survivors report that they did not receive an adequate response at their particular point in time."

The state government has also promised to tighten stalking laws and introduce bill to criminalise coercive control by the end of 2023.

Coercive control includes isolating a partner from family and friends, monitoring their movements, controlling their access to money and psychological and emotional manipulation.

That form of abuse disproportionately affects women in Queensland.

The government has also allocated $375 million to expand domestic violence courts, boost support services, plan a First Nations strategy and fund perpetrator programs "to change men's behaviour".

High-risk police teams and co-responder programs with domestic violence services will be expanded, and there will be extra funding for education programs in schools.

Sue and Lloyd Clarke, whose daughter Hannah and her three children were burned to death in their car by her estranged husband in 2020, welcomed the plan.

"Now we just have to work on the other states. We've got Queensland to listen and they've listened well," Ms Clarke told reporters.

"And now if we can move on to other states, if we can get this a national law, that can be fantastic."

Vanessa Fowler, whose sister Allison-Baden Clay was murdered by her husband Gerard in 2012, said community awareness of coercive control was crucial.

She said her sister suffered coercive control in the lead-up to her killing, and outlawing that form of abuse may have helped her.

"In Allison's case, there was coercive control, and we as a family didn't recognise that because at that time there wasn't a lot of education around it," Ms Fowler told reporters.

"People were not talking about it. It was a dark conversation, and it was swept under the carpet.

"But of course since her death, we have highlighted the fact that that can happen to anyone, that domestic abuse doesn't discriminate, and so now people are talking about it."

Former police commissioner Bob Atkinson, who sits on the government's Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Council, said funding for prevention programs was vital.

He said Queensland police received 120,000 domestic and family violence calls in 2021.

Mr Atkinson said on average two Australian women were being murdered every week and 10 needed hospital treatment for injuries every day.

He's hopeful that momentum to deal with domestic and family violence continues.

"We've got a way to go. This is tremendous what's happened today," Mr Atkinson said.

"We can't afford to lose the momentum that exists."

The Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce is due to hand down its final report into the experience of women in the justice system in June.

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Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 10 May 2022; Hits: 93

Queensland's premier has ordered a royal commission into police responses to domestic violence because some women have "fallen through the cracks".

Annastacia Palaszczuk says the probe is in line with recommendations from the Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce led by former Court of Appeal president Margaret McMurdo.

The four-month Commission of Inquiry will look at how police have dealt with domestic violence cases.

"Unfortunately, some women have fallen through the cracks, and we want to do everything we can to prevent that from happening," the premier told reporters on Tuesday.

"There are hundreds of new recruits coming through the police service, and we acknowledge that they are responding to more and more domestic and family violence call outs than ever before.

"So we need to make sure that if there are examples of where things can be done better, that we can improve the systems, and the response."

Ms Palaszczuk refused to confirm if the probe would examine "cultural issues" highlighted in Justice McMurdo's report, saying the terms of reference would be released on Wednesday.

The state government also promised introduce a bill to criminalise coercive control by the end of 2023.

Coercive control includes isolating a partner from family and friends, monitoring their movements, controlling their access to money and psychological and emotional manipulation.

That form of abuse disproportionately affects women in Queensland.

The government has also allocated $363 million to expand domestic violence courts, boost support services, plan a First Nations strategy and fund perpetrator programs "to change men's behaviour".

Police teams and co-responder programs with domestic violence services will be expanded, and education programs in schools will receive extra funding.