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Feb 26, 2025 | 
abc.net.au | Holly Richardson |Adam Stephen
In the past week, the total number of cases for melioidosis in Far North Queensland reached record-breaking levels. There have been 87 reported cases in the Cairns and Townsville regions since the start of the year, and 12 people have died. Survivor Debbie-Joy Manttan says people need to take the disease seriously and limit risk factors for exposure.
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Feb 18, 2025 | 
abc.net.au | Conor Byrne |Christopher Testa |Holly Richardson
When floods cut off supply routes to Far North Queensland shelves in the region's large supermarkets were quickly emptied. But smaller, independent stores sourcing produce daily from nearby farms were able to keep fresh stock on hand and saw a surge in customers. Jonssons Farm Market in Stratford reported a 300 per cent increase in customers one day this month — its biggest day in 13 years of business. "Everything we possibly can obtain is from local suppliers," manager David Harris said.
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Feb 11, 2025 | 
abc.net.au | Sophie Mcmanus |Holly Richardson |Conor Byrne
Cases of a deadly soil-borne bacterial disease have exploded in Queensland’s far north, including two people who have died since the start of the wet season. The Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service has recorded 36 cases of melioidosis since November. "It's a very big number of cases for the Cairns and Hinterland region, and we've only just started seeing the effects from the rain," Tropical Public Health Services director Jacqui Murdoch said.
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Feb 8, 2025 | 
abc.net.au | Holly Richardson |James Taylor |Adam Stephen |Chris Calcino
Townsville has recorded its highest monthly rainfall for February, with 991.8mm recorded in the first seven days of the month. Other communities including Rollingstone, Cardwell and Halifax recorded their highest monthly rainfall for any month with totals between 1,277mm and 1,549mm. Localised heavy falls are forecast to increase before easing on Wednesday.
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Jan 2, 2025 | 
abc.net.au | Holly Richardson
A police taser thought to have been lost during the pursuit of car thieves in Far North Queensland has been found — at a police station. At press conference yesterday, Queensland Polic said the taser was believed to have fallen from an officer's belt during a chase over fences in suburban Cairns on New Year's Eve.
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Dec 26, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Holly Richardson
A weevil that is smaller than a sunflower seed and causes enormous damage is botanist Charles Clarke's nemesis. The tiny orchid weevil, Orchidophilus aterrimus, has threatened to ruin the renowned orchid collection at the Cairns Botanic Gardens since it was discovered several years ago. The far north Queensland garden houses tropical plants collected from all over the world, and the weevil's infestation has had devastating consequences.
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Nov 16, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Holly Richardson
Two men who survived nearly 24 hours in the ocean after their boat sank off the Far North Queensland coast have recounted their harrowing ordeal. Good mates Aaron Odgers and Kelvin Delaney were plucked from a shallow reef last Sunday after their weekend fishing trip turned to disaster. The men, who had clung to their sunken boat overnight, suffered hypothermia, dehydration, and severe chemical burns, and say they are lucky to be alive.
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Nov 12, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Sharnie Kim |Holly Richardson |Charlie McKillop
A far north Queensland university is considering closing its Daintree Rainforest research station, including its rare 47-metre-high canopy crane, for financial reasons. Installed in the World Heritage-listed rainforest in 1998, "Lofty" the crane was the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and is one of only six canopy cranes in the tropics worldwide.
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Oct 30, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Christopher Testa |Holly Richardson
A court has ordered a former Queensland state MP to pay more than $150,000 for defaming a local government executive whom he likened to a fictional intergalactic crime boss. Former Local Government Association of Queensland chief executive Greg Hallam sued former Member for Cairns Rob Pyne and former activist Lyn Kennedy, arguing a series of Facebook posts they made caused him public reputational damage, hurt and humiliation.
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Oct 16, 2024 | 
abc.net.au | Holly Richardson
The seat of Cairns is usually considered a safe Labor seat in the Queensland state elections, having only once in history — in 2012 — been won by the LNP. This election is expected to be a lot closer than previous years, with the City of Cairns having a higher-than-usual crime rate, and other social issues, creating a feeling of change in the wind. The electorate of Cairns is now more hotly contested than ever.
