At the Australian Pork Limited (APL) general meeting, a vote was passed to phase out the small cages which are used to control breeding sows during their pregnancy. But APL CEO Andrew Spencer said removal of the stalls would come at a cost which farmers, regulators, retailers and consumers would need to absorb.

“The phasing out of gestation stalls will come at a significant cost to farmers with initial modelling estimating it will cost up to $95 million,” he said.

He said the decision shows a move past the scientific debate over sow stalls and animal welfare and reflects consumer’s concerns over the issue.

“Major retailers in Australia are clearly indicating there is a growing unrest among customers about the industry’s use of gestation stalls,” he said.

More to come on this issue…

Background:  A leading pork industry researcher called Coles’ customer driven push to stop Australian pork producers using sow stalls was called animal welfare hogwash. > Pig pen ban may be premature <

3:20pm Tues 26th Oct : Councilor for Tennyson Nicole Johnston was suspended from the Council Chambers today after seeking clarification on a ruling from the Chairperson.

Council Chairperson, Krista Adams, officially warned Cr Johnston after she was allegedly disruptive while an LNP member addressed the chambers. Cr Johnston then asked for clarification on the ruling which resulted in Cr Adams suspending her from the chamber for eight days.

Cr Johnston said she had not tried to disrupt the chamber but had said to another labor member ‘they have been trying to get this done for a long time’.

“I was simply talking to another councilor,” she said.

She said Chairperson Adams had passed a previous ruling to the chamber that supportive comments made to councilors addressing the chambers would not be seen as disruptive.

“I have been singled out to be ejected when other councilors have been making supportive comment right through the meeting,” she said.

The Chairperson is appointed by the majority party to uphold law and order in the chambers at council meetings.

INTERVIEW WITH CR JOHNSTON > Cr Johnstone suspended <

(Photo: Cr Johnston outside her electoral office)

11am Wed 27th Oct: Brisbane City Council Opposition Leader Shayne Sutton today slammed an eight day suspension of Tennyson Labour councilor Nicole Johnston.

Council Chairperson Krista Adams yesterday ruled Cr Johnston was disruptive to the council meeting and suspended her from the chamber.

But Opposition leader Shayne Sutton said this was heavy handed use of the chairperson’s responsibilities.

“If Campbell Newman and his LNP Administration don’t like what you are saying, they will try and shut you up or kick you out,” she said.

3:30pm: The Chairperson of Brisbane City Council, Krista Adams, did not want to comment on allegations of LNP heavy handed tactics after the suspension of Cr Johnston from the council chambers.

In a very brief email reply to Cr Johnston’s comments yesterday and opposition leader Shayne Sutton’s comments today, Cr Adams only said:

“Cr Johnston was suspended from Council for failing to comply with the direction of the Chair of Council”.

5:20pm Police closed off parts of Adelaide street earlier this afternoon after a Department of Immigration employee received a suspicious package.

The  Bomb Squad attended but reported the incident as a false alarm.

The street was reopened to both pedestrian and vehicle traffic at about 5pm

(photos – John Corlett)

(The Brisbane river has turned a lovely shade of brown, Photo – John Corlett)

2pm: Brisbane’s Citycats and City ferries are taking it easy on the water today because of fears debris flowing down from recent flooding may damage the boats.

2pm Pro abortion rally photos:

View Full Album

Saturday 9th October,12:20pm: A pro abortion rally will be held in Queens park, Brisbane at 1pm today.  Rally spokesperson, Kathy Neumann said the anti abortion laws should be changed to give women the right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.

“The laws should be repealed so that the threat of prosecution is removed but also so that abortions can move to be freely accessible,” she said.

She said the laws may force some women to use dangerous methods of abortion and called for no limits on how far into a pregnancy an abortion can occur.

“Abortion should be freely available, it women’s bodies and they have the right to decide what happens to their bodies,” she said.

Full interview here: > Kathy Neumann <

Protesters talk about their view of the current abortion laws > Vox Pop <

Listen to audio here

5:30 pm: Bicycle advocacy group spokesperson, Ben Wilson, said although the amount of the fine for riding a bike in King George Square was not contested, he had lobbied council for bike access through the area for some time. He believed the recently constructed, bike stunt promoting layout of the square and this was the main reason for the original fine.

“The new design of king George Square had bit of infrastructure that could act as jumps as ramps. I think the council was a bit overly cautious about it.” …..“they though they had a real problem with a redeveloped King George Square with extreme sports getting on their bikes and doing stuff,” he said.

Full interview here

Tuesday 2nd October 10am: Spokesperson for the Bicycle Users Group (BUG) Brisbane, Paul French,  said he did not know of any submissions to council to review the King George Square bicycle laws. He said although some parts of Brisbane’s administration were not aware of the bicycle issues, recently the council had become more bicycle focused.

“I think the word, the idea, is starting to filter through but there clearly some areas of council that haven’t got the message yet”, he said.

He said BUG was happy with council’s decision to remove the fine and urged cyclists to be sensible when riding in King George Square.

Interview here