Brisbane news live: Thousands march for Palestine in CBD; Trump heads to Israel as hostage release nears; Ballot opens for Bluey Christmas coins ‘for real life’

Bluey fans have the opportunity to get their hands on some “real life” Dollarbucks this morning, with the Royal Australian Mint opening the ballot for the highly sought after $1 Christmas coins.

This year, the two coins depict Bluey and her little sister Bingo celebrating an Aussie summer Christmas.

A Dollarbuck for Christmas: the Bluey coin that will be available, sold as part of a Christmas tree ornament.

“We know that last year’s Bluey coins brought joy to many families, and we’re delighted to be releasing more this Christmas,” Mint acting chief executive Emily Martin said.

“The Royal Australian Mint has a long and proud history of celebrating iconic children’s television shows like Play School, The Wiggles and Bananas in Pyjamas.

“Continuing the tradition of honouring learning through entertainment is something we hold very close to our hearts.”

The $1 gold Bluey coin presented in a hanging ornament is priced at $20, while the $1 fine silver proof coin in a hanging bauble is $100.

A ballot to win the coins opens very shortly at 8.30am today on the Mint website and closes at 8.30am on Wednesday.

The coins will also be available to purchase outright from this Thursday, October 16, from the Mint shop and authorised dealers.

Inclusion in the Los Angeles Games has ensured a major boost for squash, which now hopes to use the opportunity to continue its run at Brisbane 2032 and become a regular Olympic feature.

Squash was among five sports added to the program for the 2028 Games as the International Olympic Committee looked to tap into new global audiences, ending decades of previously unsuccessful bids for inclusion in the Olympic program.

“In many ways it’s been a real boost and a springboard for the sport. We instantly saw a huge surge in the motivation of players and we’ve seen an increase in funding into the sport for many, if not most, nations,” World Squash president Zena Wooldridge said.

Squash enthusiasts hope it will be included in the 2032 Games in Brisbane.Credit: Joe Armao

Squash will be hoping to make a strong visual impact at the LA Games, with the competition hosted on a single glass court at Universal Studios. It will be played in the evenings with a 16-player field in men’s and women’s singles competitions.

Wooldridge hopes this low-cost approach will ensure longevity at the Games.

“We believe it will help us in terms of the economics and trying to stay in and trying to stay in the Olympics for Brisbane [2032] because we’re low footprint and low cost,” she said.

“We hope that in the middle of that process between now and LA, we can convince Brisbane to keep us in, and that will be a further impetus on top of that.”

Liberal senator Jane Hume has responded to the latest Resolve Political Monitor polling that revealed Australian voters’ approval of Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s performance has tanked following a month of party instability.

“It’ll come as no surprise when I say to you that the only poll that matters to the Coalition is the one on election day,” Hume told Sky this morning.

Liberal senator Jane Hume.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

“This has certainly been a couple of tough weeks for the Coalition. There’s no doubt about that, but Sussan Ley has the toughest job in politics right now,” she said.

“The leader of the opposition is an unenviable position, and she’s doing really well trying to get the Coalition back on track, building our policy agenda that we will take to the next election to be a genuine opposition.

“What those polls are telling us is that when the Coalition talks about themselves, when the Liberal Party is focused inward rather than outward, on the important things that are on Australia’s mind, well that’s when they will punish us.”

Just 33 per cent of voters rated Ley’s performance as either good or very good – a fall of 8 per cent in a single month – while 38 per cent rated her performance as either poor or very poor, up from 32 per cent last month. The finding delivers a net rating of minus 5 for Ley – down from plus 9 last month in a 14 percentage-point decline, well beyond the margin for error.

“Of course we’d like to see the polls looking positive rather than negative. But as I said, it’s early days since a really bruising election … We regroup, build that policy agenda together again, get the team together and focus on what’s important to ordinary Australians, not ourselves,” Hume said.

Representatives of social media giants Meta, Tiktok, YouTube and Snapchat are all meeting with Communications Minister Anika Wells this week to get their marching orders on shutting down the accounts of any child under the age of 16 from December 10 – just under two months away.

Wells won’t catch up until November with Elon Musk’s outfit X (formerly Twitter), which has described the imminent world-first ban as a breach of free speech rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It also estimates that less than 1 per cent of its users are under 16.

Communications Minister Anika Wells will meet with social media giants this week.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

The key item on Wells’ agenda is to demand the social media platforms are ban-ready by December 10, as the government’s ad campaign about the ban rolls out this week.

The laws do not punish under-age children – or their parents – if the ban is circumvented, but the big corporations face fines of up to $59 million if they don’t take “reasonable steps” to lock Australians out until they turn 16.

Last Thursday, e-Safety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant told Senate estimates there were “no significant technological barriers” to implementing the ban, although initial reports from a trial flagged problems accurately pinpointing users’ ages without requiring government ID.

Thousands of pro-Palestine activists marched across Brisbane yesterday to mark the second anniversary of the October 2023 attacks.

Despite strides towards peace in Gaza, protesters say they want to see more done.

The rally started in Queens Gardens before moving through the CBD.

Thousands of pro-Palestine activists marched across the Brisbane CBD on Sunday.Credit: Nine News

While it was a fraction of the turnout for August’s huge march across the river, there was no stopping the protesters filing into the city – even as the mercury soared.

“What we are calling for is, yes, we want the killing to stop and at the same time we want Palestinians to live with dignity and with full human rights,” Justice for Palestine Magan-djin organiser Remah Naji said at the march.

“Every person who had any role in the genocide needs to be held accountable.”

The rally mirrored similar protests around the country, including an estimated 8000 people marching in Sydney and 3500 in Melbourne.

Just as it looked as if lawns could not get any browner, Brisbanites woke to a soggy city after steady showers before dawn this morning.

While the chance of rain appears to lessen as the day goes on, thunderstorms are predicted for this afternoon, with the chance of potentially damaging winds and even hail.

It should clear to overcast conditions tomorrow, before the sun peeps back through the cloud cover from Wednesday.

Here’s how the week is forecast to pan out: