8AM Zedlines
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Brisbane Transit Centre to be demolished in 2020
The old Brisbane Transit Centre on Roma Street will be demolished and replaced by the Cross River Rail’s new underground station and a new live entertainment venue.
Construction will begin in 2020, with Roma Street bus and trains remaining open and accessible during the five-year construction period.
Deputy Premier and Treasurer Jackie Trad said "The Brisbane Transit Centre is well past its prime, but by 2025 this end of the city will be totally transformed".
Brisbane CBD to gain retractable security bollards
Fairfax media revealed $2.8 million in the latest Brisbane City Council budget is being dedicated to retractable security bollards in King George Square.
The project titled under City Hall Precinct Maintenance and Enhancement will replace the existing temporary bollards installed in January 2017.
Lord Mayor Graham Quirk is making good on his statement from December 2016 to make the structures permanent features of the city.
Labor says Liberal Party win will embolden ABC privatisation
Federal Labor said a Liberal Party win at the next election will embolden the Liberal Party’s desire to privatise the ABC.
The Liberal Party members have called for the broadcaster to be privatised nationwide excluding regional areas, although senior government ministers have strongly denied any plans.
The notion passed at the Liberal national press conference this past weekend, although it is non-binding and may not impact on Government policy.
Senator involved with citizenship scandal to make return
Former Senator Larissa Waters is set to return to Federal Parliament after her involvement in the dual citizenship scandal, where multiple MPs and Senators were found to have breached Section 44 of the Constitution.
Ms Waters’ return comes after her replacement Andrew Bartlett announced he would leave the Senate at the end of August.
Ms Waters will be the first Senator from the citizenship scandal to return to her seat while Mr Bartlett will focus on campaigning for the lower house seat of Brisbane.
Greek PM survives vote of no confidence
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has successfully endured a vote of no confidence after a decades old dispute with the naming of neighbouring Macedonia.
The vote of no-confidence was rejected 153 votes to 127 votes, with some fellow party members voting against the PM.
The name of Macedonia has been implied to Greeks they have a territorial claim as it has historically been cited as the birthplace of Alexander the Great.
US and South Korea to announce end of military drills
The United States and South Korea will reportedly end their large-scale military drills according to news agency yonhap.
The suspension will likely only affect major joint exercises, not routine military training, with a provision the large drills would restart if North Korea fails to denuclearise.
The reports came after the Singapore Summit where President Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un agreed to end “war games” which left both South Korean and US officials stunned.
Tangents: New Bodies
- Jamming is one of the most intuitive forms of music, just taking that urge to let your noises flow out and connect with others; libidinal and natural and when it comes together, so satisfying. It’s a musical comfort food.
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever: Hope Downs
- As Aussie as a peeling sunburn or a the remnants of a melted Cornetto sticky between your fingers, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever follow up 2017’s French Press EP with debut LP Hope Downs. They’re the Australiana version of The Strokes, had Julien Casablancas been a surf instructor on the side, or an answer to Real Estate who do nine weet-bix for breakfast before heading out on stage.
DEN: Deep Cell
- Sydney’s Den are a gothic industrial punk band who are reconnecting with and revitalising the aesthetics of the genre's mainstream peak while engaging with the aesthetics of the more widely reinvigorated hardcore punk scene. Den play dark and heavy music that could be characterised as hardcore punk adorned with a heavy dose of gothic theatre.