Latest news with #Queensland
Reuters
an hour ago
- Business
- Reuters
Glencore says Australia copper smelter unviable, asks for government help
MELBOURNE, June 20 (Reuters) - Glencore (GLEN.L), opens new tab has called its Mount Isa copper smelter unviable and is waiting to hear back on its requests for assistance from state and federal governments to keep the facility open amid tough global conditions, it said on Friday. The UK-listed miner has been sounding the alarm in local media about its Mount Isa smelting business in Queensland state as its related mining operations are set to close next month. It will then have to procure copper concentrate to process when excess global smelting capacity has pushed global processing fees to historic lows. "A combination of unprecedented smelting market conditions, high costs like energy, gas and labour, and a shortage of copper concentrates is currently making the Mount Isa copper smelter unviable," Glencore said in a statement. Glencore said it has approached both federal and Queensland state governments for support to keep the copper smelter and refinery operating. Several lawmakers visited the plant on Friday including Australia's industry and science minister, Tim Ayres, and Queensland resources minister, Dale Last. The state and federal governments have engaged extensively with Glencore to explore options for a viable path forward for the smelter, which is a critical asset for regional and state economies, the ministers said in a joint statement. "Any closure of the Mount Isa copper smelter would have a detrimental impact on Australia's sovereign capability and other facilities downstream that rely on the smelter," Ayres said in the statement, without giving any details on what options there might be to provide Glencore with any funding. Glencore said that it had put forward ideas for a "regional solution that would bridge the current economic gap and enable the smelter and refinery to continue operating." "We want to continue operating the smelter and refinery and look forward to hearing feedback from both federal and Queensland governments on a possible way forward,' said Troy Wilson, chief operating officer for Glencore's Australian metals business, in a statement.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Pet owner's urgent warning after dog almost dies following trip to beach: 'Scary'
A Queensland woman is warning pet owners to be vigilant after a trip to the beach almost killed her beloved dog. Billy the kelpie had only been out of the car for "one minute" when he found something in the dunes that left him incredibly unwell. Brenda De Pol Cope and her husband are caravanning through Western Australia, and this week found themselves at Song Beach in Denham on the state's isolated west coast. After parking up and letting their two dogs out of the car, Brenda quickly realised that she couldn't see Billy. After spotting him near the dunes, she saw that his mouth was covered in drool. While she didn't realise at the time, Billy had found a sea hare – a type of sea mollusc that is toxic to dogs and other animals. Sea hares are mostly around 20cm in length or smaller, and have a soft body with an internal shell. They have large 'wings' to help them swim and are usually well camouflaged, making them difficult to spot. The couple continued their afternoon, playing fetch with the dogs and returning back to the van for dinner before Billy started showing signs that something was wrong. "We'd settle down, and then he'd start crying again, and then the vomiting started," Brenda told Yahoo News. "It was probably about 9, 10pm. He had us up till 3am vomiting and eventually it was just bile coming out." As well as the consistent vomiting, Billy grew "unbelievably" weak and couldn't get into his bed on the lower bunk. By this point, Brenda and her husband knew it had something to do with Billy's find on the beach. With the closest vet more than three hours away in Canarvon, the worried owner had a phone appointment to see what could be done. "He said, 'you either take him down to Geraldton or you take him up to Canarvon, but I'm going to be honest with you, by the time you get there, he could be dead'," Brenda recalled. "It was scary." Small dogs can die in just six hours from consuming a sea hare. Luckily for Billy, his 23kg build helped him overcome the poisoning. And the biggest thing that helped was the vomiting. Four days later, the 13-year-old kelpie is feeling much better. "He's quite old, so he's still a bit unsteady on his feet, but otherwise he's eating and he seems very happy," Brenda said. She's now looking to buy a muzzle for Billy as an alternative to keeping him on the lead all the time, and she's urging other dog owners to do the same. "Keep them close," she said. "If you want to go off lead, use a muzzle." Sea hares produce a purple ink and toxic chemicals as a defence mechanism against predators. The ink contains a mix of secondary metabolites, some of which can be irritating or toxic to other marine organisms. Their toxicity comes from their diet — primarily red and green algae — which contain compounds that can be harmful if ingested. Dr Tim Hopkins from Northern Beaches Emergency Vet previously told Yahoo News that dogs will usually require immediate attention from a vet. "You'll see immediate symptoms from them having mouthed the sea hare, and then usually within hours, you're seeing those systemic signs," he said. "It's often hard with these inquisitive dogs, they'll find a random washed up item or animal and we do see that [poisonings] sometimes after mass beaching events, with jellyfish and other venomous animals. "It's about knowing what to do if they do get exposed, and then it's really about knowing where your closest emergency vet is." Hopkins said if a dog is exposed to a sea hare, owners can attempt to wash their mouths out, but that "shouldn't be done at the expense of getting prompt veterinary attention". Symptoms in dogs can include vomiting, drooling, lethargy, tremors, seizures and death in severe cases. While not all sea hares are equally toxic, ingestion is risky, and pet owners are advised to keep their animals away from these creatures when they wash up. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
ABC News
2 hours ago
- Business
- ABC News
Developers lodge plans for Australia's tallest building with 101-storey tower in Southport
A consortium has submitted plans for a two-tower development on the Gold Coast that would include the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. Melbourne developer Anthony Goss first proposed One Park Lane in 2022. The group has spent the past two and a half years negotiating with the Queensland government to amalgamate a small parcel of state-owned land adjacent to the site, and obtain approval to build underneath a state-controlled road. The project will include a razor-thin 101-storey tower with 198 residential apartments and a 60-storey office building. The towers will be connected by a sky bridge on the 22nd floor and a three-storey sculptural canopy at their base. If built, the development will rise 393 metres above the Southport broadwater, towering over the spire of the nearby Q1 (322m) and Melbourne's Australia 108 (316m). However, it will not come close to the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (830m). Baracon development manager Brett Rogers said if the project was approved quickly, early works could start before Christmas, but would not say how much the apartments would cost. "This development will help address the desperate need for more housing on the Gold Coast and stimulate broader economic activity," Mr Rogers said. There is no height limit in that part of Southport, which is zoned as a priority development area. The 1,500 square metre site is next to a light rail station and close to a public park where Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate hopes to build a $480 million indoor arena before the 2032 Olympics. He said it was a "vote of confidence" for his vision to transform the suburb into the growing city's business district. "It's great to see an application of this magnitude in Southport, which has the potential to be a great boost to the city's housing stock," Cr Tate said. It would neighbour a 200-unit social housing apartment complex that broke ground this week. An urban planner said the tower contained a relatively small number of apartments for its size and appeared to include 40 levels of full-floor penthouses. Sustainability and urban planning lecturer at RMIT, Liam Davies, said it was healthy to have a mix of people of varying income levels within a single community. "There are two ways of looking at it. The first is that it feels weirdly unjust," Dr Davies said. "A luxury building where people live in apartments that span multiple levels, and then next to it is social housing that has much higher density. "But we can also look at it and see what we want is a distribution of dwellings across an urban area of dwellings to accommodate a variety of households." He said the Gold Coast was likely able to attract these developments because it was a permissive planning environment where people wanted to live, compared to Neom's The Line project in Saudi Arabia. "They're trying to deliver mega permissive things but no-one wants to live there so they never get the capital whereas the Gold Coast has both," he said. Local councillor Brooke Patterson supported the ambitious development and said there was a lot of demand for office space in the suburb. "I don't think they're going to take any issue filling it," she said. Ms Patterson's predecessor, long-serving Southport councillor Dawn Crichlow, said because the site was so small — boxed in by the light rail line on one side and local bowls club on the other — construction would cause traffic chaos. "The whole thing won't work, it's as simple as that," she said. "You will have to change all of Scarborough Street, nobody would be able to get in and out. "They're not looking at the area, they are not talking to the people, they are just looking at pretty pictures. It's a mess."
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Travers 'The Candyman' Beynon 'sued' by his Free Choice tobacco founder stepfather in $55 million legal battle - as notorious playboy drops off the radar
Notorious Gold Coast playboy Travers 'Candyman' Beynon is being sued by his stepfather Trevor in an explosive multimillion-dollar legal stoush. Trevor Beynon, 79, is the founder of the Free Choice tobacco store empire, and was married to Travers' mother, Sandra, when the couple founded the cigarette chain. Now, according to court documents, Trevor is alleging that Travers, 53, used 'sham' documents in an effort to gain more control over the group's assets - which is at odds with what Trevor intended in his will. The Gold Coast Bulletin recently reported that Trevor ceased his role as director of two 'key' Free Choice companies in March. Court documents indicate he is now alleging that he was removed from the position against his will. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. The publication reported that documents lodged before the Supreme Court of Brisbane allege that Trevor met with Travers in 2007 to discuss the future of Free Choice Tobacco. As alleged in those documents, they agreed that Travers would take control of the business on the condition that siblings received a percentage of profits from some of the businesses. It was also claimed that two years after Sandra Beynon died in 2015, Travers enlisted lawyer Matthew Burgess to draw up documents preventing siblings from challenging Travers to a larger cut of the estate. They allege in the documents that they, along with accountant Richard Hoult, created estate planning documents which stated Trevor would gift $55 million to one of Travers' companies - Free Choice Master Holdings - and then loan it back. A separate deed also purported to secure the loan against Trevor's assets, according to the court documents. According to court filings, it allegedly came to a head in January this year, after Trevor and Travers had a disagreement over the management of Free Choice, which resulted in Travers enforcing the interest repayments on the alleged $55 million loan. Trevor claimed in the court documents that he had never paid or received the $55 million, alleging the figure was 'made up'. Trevor also argues the documents had shifted control of his assets to Travers and would prevent his estate from servicing debts after he died. He alleges that he had never signed documents to allow his shares in free Choice companies to be transferred from his ownership, and that he was removed from company directorships without due process. Trevor is asking the court to declare the $55 million a gift and the loan declared fake as well as seeking reinstatement as director of Free Choice companies and that his shares be placed back in his hands. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Travers' lawyer for comment. Questions started to swirl this week following Travers' apparent internet exit. The flamboyant businessman was certainly not shy about sharing glimpses of his lavish lifestyle to social media. His Instagram account, which enticed a million followers to fawn over posts of luxe parties and high-end living, has been apparently deleted. It's the same story for Travers' Candyshop Mansion website which as been offline since May this year. His Facebook and TikTok pages are still active, however they have not seen some action in quite some time. Travers' last post on Facebook was back in April 2023, while his last TikTok post occurred in August 2019. It's apparently a similar story for the Beynon family tobacco empire with the main Free Choice Tobacco site also currently offline. While its string of franchise stores are still operating, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported that Free Choice vacated its Gold Coast head office in February, with the space, owned by one of Beynon's companies, now leased to a new business. It comes amid what appears to be a period of upheaval for Travers with the playboy recently having another crack at offloading his Candyland mansion. Travers first listed the property back in 2023 and, at one stage, it had an eye-watering $25 million price tag attached The Gold Coast Bulletin reported in May that Travers had enlisted another agent to give the property the push it needs to get it over the line. He had engaged the services agents Ivy Wu and Isaac Kim from Ivy Realty to run an expression of interest campaign for the lavish property. Travers originally purchased the property, located in the northern Gold Coast suburb of Helensvale, in 2010. He later purchased neighbouring land, effectively tripling the footprint of the compound. The property sits on a substantial 1.4 acres with 175 metres of private water frontage. The house itself is set across an expansive 2,230 square-metre floorplan and boasts mosaic murals and hand-painted frescos throughout. The opulent home, which has hosted many wild parties over the years, sits behind large two-ton crested gates and features a gorgeous sandstone driveway and marble-clad majestic courtyard. Its highly desirable location is close to a variety of amenities including world renowned Surfers Paradise shopping centres, restaurants and beach. The listing came after Travers welcomed his fifth child, Santiago, back in June last year. He took to his Instagram Stories to confirm that he and wife of 14 years Taesha had welcomed a baby boy as he shared sweet snaps of the little one. Welcome to the world son,' Travers wrote alongside a video of him holding his newborn son's hand. Travers also shares two daughters Velicia, 12, and Serafina, 11, with his wife Taesha and has two other children - Valentino, 24, and Luciana, 22 - from his previous marriage to Ninibeth Leal.
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- General
- News.com.au
Native title group condemns ‘anti-social' behaviour after residents chased away from beach
An Indigenous group holding exclusive native title to a strip of land near a Queensland beach has assured locals that the public may use the land, despite claims that residents have been chased away and made to feel unsafe while attempting to cross the area. The long-running stoush over access to a Burrum Heads beach, near Hervey Bay, was addressed at a community meeting held last month. In 2019, the Butchulla people were granted almost 100,000 hectares of native title land on the Fraser Coast in 2019, which includes 17,000 hectares of exclusive use. Part of the exclusive use land includes a strip of 20-metre wide foreshore in front of Burrum Heads residents' homes. In 2022, a small group of Butchulla people established a camp near the idyllic beach and were chasing away residents. This came despite criticism from the Butchulla Native Title Aboriginal Corporation (BNTAC), which insisted there was a way for 'all to enjoy this beautiful country'. Following the community meeting held at Burrum Heads Community Hall on May 14, 2025, the BNTAC released a statement on Wednesday reaffirming its position. 'We understand the concerns raised at the meeting regarding the actions taken over the last four years to prevent access to the beach at Burrum Heads through an area of exclusive possession of native title land,' the statement said. 'Our position has always been, and continues to be, that the Butchulla people do not seek to prevent the public from accessing public access routes to the beach at Burrum Heads. 'Butchulla people are collectively responsible for our land and all decisions about how land is to be used. 'No one native title holder is able to make final decisions about how the land is to be used or to prevent people from accessing the land. 'All decisions about how land is used must be made in accordance with Butchulla traditional decision-making processes.' BNTAC urged police to 'take action and protect the Burrum Heads community'. 'We understand that the public have made several complaints to the Queensland Police Service over the past four years to report incidents that have occurred while attempting to access the beach at Burrum Heads through an area of exclusive possession of native title land,' the statement said. 'Our position has always been, and continues to be, that the Butchulla People's exclusive possession does not prevent the police from exercising their powers to respond to anti-social incidents and take appropriate action where people are fearful, in peril, or have made a complaint. 'We call upon the police to use the enforcement powers at their disposal to maintain community safety for Burrum Heads residents. 'We are dedicated to working together with the people of Burrum Heads to achieve a respectful, sensitive, and lasting resolution to the concerns that have been raised. 'The Butchulla Court Determination was brought on behalf of all Butchulla People, not one or a few Butchulla persons.' The statement added that 'one of the aspects of Butchulla Peoples' native title is the right of exclusive possession'. 'Butchulla People have the right to exclusive possession and use of land and waters where it has been determined our native title rights and interests are recognised under our traditional laws and customs,' it said. 'However, the right of exclusive possession is not absolute and it is subject to laws of the State of Queensland. 'Specifically, the State of Queensland passed legislation in 1993 to confirm existing public rights of access to beaches and these are capable of being recognised as an 'interest' for the purposes of our determination. 'Butchulla People do not have the right to restrict such interests, and actions to do so are outside Queensland law as well as our traditional laws and customs.' Fraser Coast Councillor Michelle Byrne said in a statement to The Courier-Mail on Wednesday that council's powers were limited but it was engaging with 'all parties to try and find a positive resolution to the concerns of residents'. 'Council appreciates the efforts of BNTAC and the State Government, who hold the tenure of the land, and is actively working with both parties within the limits of our responsibilities for the land parcels in question,' she said. Former federal MP Keith Pitt previously argued that the best solution for the conflict was for the small stretch near the beach to be removed from the exclusive use ruling. Mr Pitt told The Daily Mail in 2023 that his office had been inundated by 'concerned Burrum Heads residents' who 'contacted my office about an area of land under native title'. 'It has resulted in restricted access to the beach and older constituents being chased off the beach,' he said. 'Every Australian is expected to abide by Australian laws and regulations, without exception.'
