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Beside the Racetrack in Ascot, a New Kind of Retirement Village Is Already on Its Third Stage

Keyton’s Bernborough Ascot beside Doomben Racecourse in Ascot has completed its second building, Poinciana House, sold it out entirely, and broken ground on a third stage, with the precinct emerging as the most watched example of vertical retirement living in Australia as the sector reshapes itself around what a new generation of retirees actually wants.

The project sits within Brisbane Racing Club’s $1.5 billion transformation of the Doomben and Eagle Farm racecourse precincts, about 8 kilometres from the Brisbane CBD.

What Keyton has built there is something Australia had not seen before: a retirement community designed vertically, in a genuine inner-city location, with the lifestyle amenity and design quality that older Australians have increasingly come to expect from premium residential living. Both completed stages have sold out. Stage three is now underway.

“We’re seeing a clear shift in what people want from retirement living,” Keyton CEO Nathan Cockerill said. “Many retirees want to live closer to the action and are choosing to stay close to the city, to services and to family, while also looking for homes that are secure, low maintenance and designed for the long term.”

Five Buildings, One Precinct, Built for Ageing in Place

Bernborough Ascot opened its first stage, Fig Tree House, in late 2020 with 69 one, two and three-bedroom apartments and a suite of resort-style amenities including the Master’s Lounge trackside bar and dining, a private cinema, library, art studio and gymnasium. Fig Tree House sold out entirely.

Poinciana House followed as the second stage, delivering 53 architecturally designed apartments with sweeping views over Doomben Racecourse and the Brisbane skyline. New community facilities arrived with it: an indoor heated magnesium pool, fitness studio, bowling green, consulting rooms with allied health services, salon, café, residents’ lounge and dining, and a rooftop terrace. Poinciana House also sold out.

Construction on Magnolia House, the third of five planned buildings, is now underway with Balmain & Co, the builder who delivered Poinciana House, and is due for completion by mid-2027.

Magnolia House will deliver 72 apartments across two and three-bedroom configurations, three premium trackside-facing penthouses and a rooftop dining and alfresco space. A waitlist for early access is open at keyton.com.au.

The full Bernborough Ascot masterplan spans five residential buildings, with the final two to follow Magnolia House in subsequent stages. When complete, the precinct will represent one of the most significant concentrations of purpose-built retirement living in inner Brisbane.

The Care Piece Is Coming Next Door

What makes Bernborough Ascot more than a premium apartment development is its integration with a broader continuum of care. Opal Healthcare is planning a six-storey, 190-bed aged care facility called Ascot Grove Care Community on an adjacent site within the BRC precinct, with construction planned to commence in 2026.

Photo Credit: *BCC / developmenti.brisbane.qld.gov.au*

When complete, it gives Bernborough Ascot residents the ability to move from independent living into residential aged care without leaving the precinct, the community or the relationships they have built.

Cockerill describes the model as reflecting a fundamental shift in how retirees think about where they choose to live.

“A new generation of retirees no longer view retirement communities as temporary housing, but rather as ‘forever homes’ where both independent living and potential eventual care needs are met within one continuum,” he said.

A Name That Honours a Racing Legend

The Bernborough name is no accident. It honours the legendary Queensland thoroughbred Bernborough. Barred from racing in Brisbane for several years, the “Toowoomba Tornado” went on to win 15 consecutive races after moving south, cementing his place as one of Australia’s greatest turf champions.

Naming the precinct after him ties the retirement village to the rich history of Doomben Racecourse, which it overlooks, and gives the development a strong sense of place that many generic high rise retirement projects lack.

The precinct holds a 6-Star Green Star Communities rating from the Green Building Council of Australia, one of the first retirement communities in the country to achieve that rating, recognising its sustainability credentials and urban regeneration contribution to the Ascot precinct.

For more information about Bernborough Ascot or to join the Magnolia House waitlist, click here.

Published 30-April-2026

Eagle Farm Fuel Site PFAS Contamination Raises Concerns About Brisbane River Pollution

A fuel terminal in Eagle Farm has been placed under an environmental enforcement order after a report found dangerous levels of so-called “forever chemicals” in the soil and groundwater beneath the site, with authorities confirming the chemicals may have been discharged into the surrounding environment, including the Brisbane River.

Read: Diesel Prices Hit $3 in Eagle Farm as Fuel Pressure Grows in QLD

The enforcement order, issued in March 2026, found variants of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS, in soil, groundwater and “washdown” at the facility. “The department considers that the activities being conducted at the premises have the potential to cause harm,” the report stated.

What was found at Eagle Farm?

The enforcement order confirmed PFOS in the groundwater was regularly measured above the 99th and 95th percentile species protection ecological water quality guidelines. The total PFAS sum in groundwater was recorded as high as 93.9 micrograms per litre.

The exact source of the contamination has not been definitively established. A type of firefighting foam that is no longer in use has been noted as a possible contributing factor. The foam may have been used at the facility for firefighting or training purposes.

PFAS are commonly found in the environment at low levels due to their widespread use in consumer and speciality products over many decades. Dozens of industrial sites along the Brisbane River may have used similar equipment historically.

What are PFAS?

Firefighters using aqueous film forming foam (Photo credit: CC BY-SA 3.0/Fire Brigade Neder-Betuwe/Wikimedia Commons)

PFAS is an umbrella term for a large group of human-made chemicals used in industrial and consumer products since the 1950s. According to Queensland’s environmental authority, they are used for their oil and grease repellence and high thermal stability, properties that made them particularly useful in firefighting foams.

PFAS are highly persistent in the environment due to their carbon-fluorine bonds, one of the strongest chemical bonds in organic chemistry. Their persistence, solubility and high mobility mean PFAS can be easily transported great distances beyond the source of their release.

It can take several years for PFAS levels to reduce in the human body, and there is a risk that continued exposure to PFOS and PFOA could result in adverse health effects due to the accumulation of chemicals over time.

The specific variants detected at the Eagle Farm site were PFOS, PFHxS and PFOA, the latter of which is a known carcinogen.

What happens next?

Under the enforcement order, the facility’s operator is required to conduct extensive further sampling and investigate all potential PFAS migration pathways. A final report is due in 2027.

The Eagle Farm findings follow separate reporting in late 2024 that PFOA had been detected in Brisbane’s drinking water at levels among the highest recorded in Australia. Documents obtained under right to information laws indicated efforts had been made to keep that data from public release.

Read: Family-Owned Manufacturer in Eagle Farm Secures Major Export Deal

Queensland authorities advise residents living near contaminated areas to reduce their PFAS exposure where possible. In areas where water contamination has been identified, this includes not drinking the water or using it to prepare food, and avoiding consuming food products grown or produced using contaminated water.

Anyone with concerns about their health or potential PFAS exposure is encouraged to speak with their GP or call 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84).

Published 30-April-2026

New School Crossing Opens at Ascot State School to Improve Safety

Google Maps

A new supervised school crossing has opened at Ascot State School, one of two new Queensland school crossings to open in the first week of Term 2 2026, as the statewide School Crossing Supervisor Scheme continues its expansion to more than 700 schools across the state.

The crossing at Ascot is a practical and visible change for the hundreds of families who navigate the streets around the heritage-listed primary school each day at drop-off and pick-up. Nearby Our Lady Help of Christians Parish School is also set to benefit from a crossing supervisor under the same expansion programme, bringing improved pedestrian safety to two of Ascot’s most active school precincts.

The second Term 2 crossing opened at St John’s Catholic Primary School in Walkerston, with three more sites in Darling Heights, Rockhampton and Mudgeeraba set to follow before the end of May.

A Scheme That Covers More Than 700 Schools

The School Crossing Supervisor Scheme is a statewide programme, designed specifically to reduce the risk of death and injury to children on their way to and from school.

School crossing supervisor program — Photo Credit: *Transport and Main Roads Queensland*

Trained supervisors work at designated crossings during school arrival and departure times, directing both pedestrian and vehicle traffic and providing a visible, consistent presence that helps young walkers navigate busy roads safely.

The expansion currently underway will grow the scheme to more than 1,400 crossings at more than 700 Queensland schools, staffed by more than 2,100 supervisors. Since July 2025, two new crossings have opened and 20 existing crossings have been upgraded to dual crossings. A total of 33 schools across the state are set to receive new or upgraded crossings by the end of the current school year.

Applications for school crossing supervisors are assessed against established eligibility criteria and funding availability. Schools, parents and communities with road safety concerns around their school can also apply for support through the School Transport Infrastructure Programme (STIP), which funds safer crossings, stop-drop-and-go zones, and improved walking and cycling paths.

About Ascot State School

Ascot State School has served the Ascot community for more than a century, opening on 24 May 1920 on its current site bounded by Pringle, Anthony and Massey Streets.

Photo credit: Ascot State School/Facebook

It is one of Brisbane’s most significant heritage school campuses, added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 2017 for its rare urban brick buildings dating from 1920 to 1939, which incorporate educational murals in Block B that are among the few surviving examples of their kind in Queensland.

The school serves students from Prep to Year 6 and sits within a tightly residential precinct close to Racecourse Road and the Doomben and Eagle Farm racecourse precincts. The combination of school pedestrian traffic and local through-traffic has long made the surrounding streets one of the busier school-zone environments in the area, making the new crossing a meaningful addition to the morning and afternoon routine for families on foot.

Anyone interested in becoming a school crossing supervisor in the Ascot area can contact their local TMR road safety officer through this link.

For school road safety information and to apply for the School Transport Infrastructure Programme, click here.

Published 28-April-2026

The Gateway Bridge Has a Past Worth Remembering on Its 40th Birthday

Did you know that the Gateway Bridge, which connects Eagle Farm on Brisbane’s north side to Murarrie in the south, was once called the world’s deadliest bridge? It is a little-known chapter in the bridge’s history that hundreds of thousands of road users who cross it on any given day would likely find hard to believe, yet the statistics from its early years told a grim story.

Read: Higher Toll Fees for Brisbane’s Gateway Bridges

This year marks 40 years since the structure most locals simply call “the Gateway” opened to the public. What began as a bold engineering solution to the city’s chronic traffic gridlock would eventually become the site of more than 120 deaths, and a cautionary tale about the cost of inadequate safety measures.

A city crying out for a crossing

Gateway Bridge under construction, Brisbane, September 1984 Queensland State Archives, Digital Image ID 3514

Back in the 1970s, Brisbane had a problem. Drivers travelling between the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast had no practical way to bypass the city. They either crawled through inner-city crossings or queued for slow, capacity-limited car ferries. Freight and commuters alike faced regular delays.

Then roads minister Russ Hinze championed an ambitious bypass plan. A tunnel was considered but ruled out on cost grounds, so engineers looked upward instead, designing a structure tall enough for ships to pass beneath its deck, yet low enough to avoid conflicting with flight paths into nearby Brisbane Airport.

What followed was five years of construction that, by today’s standards, would make a workplace health and safety officer wince. Crews worked high above the river often clad in little more than shorts and thongs, with no harnesses and, in many cases, no hard hats. Remarkably, there were no major incidents.

A public spectacle and a royal quip

Opening day of the Gateway Bridge in 1986 (Photo credit: Facebook/Brisbane Libraries)

When the bridge finally opened on 11 January 1986, Brisbane went a little wild. An estimated 200,000 Queenslanders turned up to walk across the 1.6-kilometre span before it opened to traffic, with thousands of blue, yellow and black balloons marking the occasion. News reporters called it “a once-in-a-lifetime chance to walk the one-and-a-half kilometre world record span.”

Members of the public declared it “the best bridge in the world.” Its 260-metre main span was a world-leading design for concrete bridges at the time, and the deck rises more than 60 metres above the river.

Prince Phillip at the official opening of the bridge (Photo credit: Facebook/Brisbane Libraries)

Prince Philip formally opened the bridge four months later with characteristic dry wit: “I now declare the bridge to be more open than usual.”

Motorists paid $1.50 to cross, while truck drivers were slugged $7. Not everyone was impressed.

A dark chapter

However, the fanfare faded fast. Without adequate safety barriers, just a low wall separating pedestrians from a fatal drop, the bridge became the site of more than 120 deaths from accidents and suicides before 1993.

A television reporter, broadcasting live from the top of the bridge at the time, pointed out to viewers that there were virtually no safety measures in place and that a small wall was the only thing standing between a pedestrian and a fatal plunge below.

In 1993, safety barriers, crisis phones and suicide prevention measures were introduced, fundamentally transforming the bridge’s character. Events like the Bridge to Brisbane fun run later welcomed people back onto the structure in a very different context.

Twin spans and a new name

Gateway Bridge under construction (Photo credit: Public Domain/Paul Guard/Wikimedia Commons)

By the mid-2000s, Brisbane’s booming population had outgrown the original six lanes. A second, near-identical bridge was built just 50 metres away, opening in 2010 at a cost of around $350 million, compared to the original’s $92 million build. It added a dedicated pedestrian and cycling path.

The pair were later renamed the Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges, in honour of the German-born Queensland Treasury chief who helped shape the state’s finances for decades. He called the recognition “a great honour,” though most locals still just say “the Gateway.”

The removal of toll booths in 2009 in favour of electronic tolling also led to an immediate reduction in crashes. Today, motorists pay around $5.50 to cross, with trucks charged closer to $18. Together, the twin bridges now carry up to 160,000 vehicles a day, a staggering leap from the roughly 12,000 vehicles that crossed in its early days.

Read: Should Brisbane’s Tunnels and Bridges Be Toll-Free? More Than 1,500 Drivers Think So

Forty years on, the Gateway’s story is one of transformation, from traffic solution to tragedy, and ultimately to redemption. Not bad for a bridge most of us barely notice on the morning commute.

Published 28-April-2026

Brisbane Airport’s Biggest Industrial Build Just Became Australia Post’s Most Powerful Parcel Hub

Chelsea O'Reilly/LinkedIn

Australia Post has opened its largest integrated air and parcel processing facility in the country at Brisbane Airport, a 78,000-square-metre hub capable of handling up to 250,000 parcels per day, as the organisation moves to keep pace with Queensland’s surging online shopping appetite and flags a further investment with a new Hobart facility due in late 2027.

The Mookin-Yaba Brisbane North Parcel Facility opened on 22 April, bringing together Express Post, StarTrack premium and international sea-to-shore freight processing under one roof for the first time in Queensland.

Brisbane Airport CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff described it as the largest industrial project ever delivered at the airport precinct, calling it a purpose-built facility designed to support Queensland’s growth and strengthen the state’s logistics connectivity for decades to come.

For residents across Brisbane’s northside, the implications are practical and immediate. The facility sits inside the airport precinct adjacent to Ascot and serves as the primary air freight gateway for parcels moving in and out of Queensland, handling both inbound international shipments cleared through customs and outbound domestic express deliveries.

$17.8 Billion on the Ground

The $17.8 billion Queenslanders spent online last year has pushed existing infrastructure to capacity. The Mookin-Yaba facility scales operations to meet this demand, transitioning from abstract spending data to physical throughput,

Australia Post has opened its largest integrated air and parcel processing facility in the country at Brisbane Airport — Photo Credit: Chelsea O’Reilly/LinkedIn

Australia Post Group CEO Paul Graham said the new facility delivers both an immediate operational boost and a longer-term blueprint for managing growth.

“This facility provides an immediate boost to our operations, and its automation is the blueprint for speed and simplicity so that we can continue to respond to current and projected e-commerce growth across the state,” Graham said. “Queenslanders spent $17.8 billion online last year so we know they love their online shopping. It’s why we’re committed to investing in the right infrastructure that gives us a competitive edge to keep pace with demand.”

The facility accommodates almost 500 team members and is designed to remain the operational anchor for Queensland parcel movements for the foreseeable future.

Built for People and Dogs Alike

The engineering inside the facility is built around high-speed sortation technology, but the design also accounts for the operational realities of border security. Dedicated examination rooms for Australian Border Force and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry are built directly into the facility layout, allowing biosecurity inspections to take place on site rather than at a separate location.

One feature that draws attention is the purpose-built respite rooms for working detector dogs. Climate controlled and designed to provide silence and darkness between duties, the rooms acknowledge that the animals performing biosecurity work at the facility need genuine rest to operate effectively.

On the sustainability side, the facility targets a 5-star Green Star rating and carries a 450 kilowatt solar system. Australia Post will own and maintain a battery to store excess electricity from that system, reducing the facility’s reliance on the grid during peak processing periods.

A Name That Honours the Oldest Communication Network in Australia

Australia Post named the facility in the traditional language of the Yuggera and Quandamooka Nation. Mookin-Yaba translates culturally as “Home of the Message Stick,” drawing a direct line between the ancient system of communication and diplomacy practised by First Nations peoples across this country and the modern function of a facility dedicated to moving messages and goods between communities.

The acknowledgement places the facility in the context of the land it occupies and the people whose Country it stands on.

Hobart Is Next, and Tasmania Is Ready

The Brisbane opening arrived alongside the announcement of Australia Post’s next major infrastructure project: a 12,000-square-metre parcel facility to be built adjacent to Hobart Airport, due for completion in late 2027 and subject to Clarence City authorities approval.

The Hobart facility will be capable of sorting up to 6,000 parcels per hour. Its position next to the airport will give Australia Post direct airside access to its fuel-efficient A321P2F freighter fleet, making it the only express service provider operating out of Hobart Airport and enabling faster delivery across southern Tasmania and into regional and remote areas.

Australia Post general manager network operations south Darren Mackenzie said the investment reflects the strength of Tasmanian online shopping growth.

“Tasmania continues to see strong online shopping growth, with $1.6 billion spent online in the past year, an 11 per cent increase year-on-year,” Mackenzie said. “Suburbs like Howrah are recording some of the highest parcel volumes in the state, and this new facility will help us meet that growing demand while giving local retailers the confidence to grow.”

The Brisbane and Hobart investments form part of a broader national infrastructure programme that also includes recently announced facilities in Adelaide and on the Sunshine Coast, reflecting the scale of the investment Australia Post is committing to its parcel network as online retail continues to reshape how Australians shop.

For tracking, delivery enquiries or business shipping options, visit auspost.com.au.

Published 26-April-2026

Queensland Loses the PGA Championship for First Time in 26 Years as Royal Queensland Prepares for 2032

PGA Championship

The BMW Australian PGA Championship will leave Queensland for the first time since 2000, with the 2026 edition heading to The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney after Brisbane’s Royal Queensland Golf Club enters a significant phase of upgrades in preparation for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The tournament, one of Australia’s most prestigious golf events, will run from 26 to 29 November at The Lakes in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, marking the first time New South Wales has hosted the PGA Championship in almost 30 years. The move brings to an end a 26-year Queensland run that has wound through three iconic venues and helped grow the event into a genuine global drawcard.

For Eagle Farm locals and Brisbane golf fans who have watched the PGA attract up to 50,000 spectators across four days at Royal Queensland over the past five years, the temporary departure stings. But tourism and events leaders are confident the championship will return to Queensland once the Olympic upgrade work is complete.

Why Royal Queensland Had to Step Aside

Royal Queensland will add a new nine-hole layout, a riverside pavilion, and enhanced training and recreational facilities as part of its approved masterplan, with the club confirmed as the venue for men’s and women’s golf events at the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The club was granted its Royal Charter by King George V in 1921 and has hosted the Australian Open three times, but the scale of the Olympic preparation work now underway makes it unsuitable as a PGA host venue in the near term.

Photo Credit: Royal Queensland Golf Club (Nick of Airswing Media)/Facebook

The search for an alternative Brisbane home for the 2026 PGA Championship came up short. No venue within Queensland was found that could comfortably accommodate the event’s full footprint, including the 50,000 spectators across four days, the on-course infrastructure and the operational requirements the tournament now demands at its current scale.

Tourism and Events Queensland CEO Craig Davidson said the venue change reflected Royal Queensland entering a significant phase of works to ensure the course met future world-class standards. “TEQ has a strong and longstanding partnership with the PGA and remains committed to ongoing discussions about future event opportunities for Queensland,” he said.

Tourism Minister Andrew Powell said a temporary relocation was expected given the upgrade timeline. “Queensland continues to lead as Australia’s events capital, with major upgrades to be delivered at Royal Queensland Golf Club ahead of Brisbane 2032,” he said. “We welcome future opportunities to see it return once the upgraded course is complete.”

Photo Credit: Andrew Powell MP/Instagram

Twenty-Six Years of Queensland Golf

The PGA Championship has been held in Queensland continuously since 2000, initially at Royal Queensland before moving to Hyatt Coolum, later renamed Palmer Coolum, for 11 consecutive years from 2002 to 2012, then to Royal Pines on the Gold Coast from 2013 to 2019. The event returned to Royal Queensland for 2021 and has remained there for the past five editions, building the tournament’s international stature alongside its co-sanctioning with the DP World Tour.

The BMW Australian PGA Championship launches the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai each season and has become a key part of Australia’s sporting summer, with the world’s leading players regularly making the trip for what is now a genuinely global event. PGA of Australia CEO Gavin Kirkman described the move to Sydney as an exciting opportunity.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to partner with NSW authorities in bringing the BMW Australian PGA Championship back to Sydney,” he said. “The city is synonymous with world-class sporting events and we are thrilled that we are able to return to The Lakes Golf Club.”

The Lakes is a three-time previous host of the BMW Australian PGA Championship and has staged eight editions of the Australian Open, which it last jointly hosted in 2023.

Queensland Golf’s Broader Picture

While the PGA Championship heads south, Queensland’s women’s golf calendar is growing stronger. The 2026 Australian WPGA Championship was held at the Palms Course at Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club on the Gold Coast from 19 to 22 March, offering a $600,000 prize purse and co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour, with plans to build the event further as a major in its own right.

The PGA of Australia said it was focused on building momentum with the championship for the long term. “The BMW Australian PGA Championship has become a standout event on the DP World Tour and a key part of Australia’s sporting summer,” a spokesperson said. “Planning for future editions of the event is focused on building on that momentum and delivering an even better experience for players and fans.”

With Royal Queensland’s upgraded course and expanded Olympic-standard facilities expected to be complete ahead of 2032, Queensland golf’s flagship event has every reason to come home.

Published 17-April-2026

Eagle Farm Charity Navigates Workforce Changes After Contract Loss

An Eagle Farm-based charity that employs people with disability has reduced its workforce by about 40 positions, following the loss of a major contract.

Read: Help Enterprises Recognised Among 2025 Business Award Finalists in Eagle Farm

Help Enterprises, based at Curtin Avenue E in Eagle Farm, offers employment to people with disability across manufacturing, warehousing, and packaging. In November 2025, the organisation took out the Social Enterprise of the Year title at the Lord Mayor’s Business Awards, with its Chief Executive Steve Wyborn reportedly describing the honour as a powerful acknowledgement of the team’s hard work and dedication.

But by January, dozens of supported employees at the Eagle Farm site had allegedly been called into the office and told their positions no longer existed.

One long-serving worker who had been with Help Enterprises for more than two decades reportedly described feeling completely empty after being told he had lost his job. He allegedly said the announcement came without warning, and that as recently as the work Christmas party the month prior, staff had reportedly been assured their jobs were secure regardless of circumstances.

Job Support Following Contract Loss

In an interview with a media outlet, Mr Wyborn confirmed the redundancies followed a long-standing commercial partner’s decision to bring its services in-house, removing a significant volume of work from the Eagle Farm site.

Mr Wyborn said the organisation had been working closely with all 41 affected employees to support continuity of employment. He said seven workers had already transitioned into new roles within Help’s manufacturing and nursery teams, nine had commenced employment elsewhere, and a further 13 had entered job trials or alternative employment pathways. The remaining workers were reportedly continuing to weigh up their options, with individual check-ins ongoing.

He added that Help remained committed to delivering sustainable, diversified employment for people with disability, and that the organisation was actively repositioning its commercial operations to strengthen future stability.

Below Minimum Wage, and Now No Wage

The redundancies have reignited debate around the vulnerability of supported employment models for people with disability. Help Enterprises, like similar organisations, operates under the supported employee wage system, which legally permits employers to pay workers with disability below the national minimum wage based on assessed productivity and skill levels. As of July last year, supported employees could be paid $7.10 or $14.19 per hour, depending on productivity and skills assessment.

Read: Family-Owned Manufacturer in Eagle Farm Secures Major Export Deal

‘I Still Wish to Work’

For an Eagle Farm worker who spent more than 20 years at Help Enterprises, the impact has been both financial and personal. He reportedly said he now has to carefully budget each fortnight on his pension, something he had not needed to do while working. But it is the routine, getting up each morning, heading in, being around colleagues, that he said he misses most.

He reportedly said that given the chance, he would return to Help Enterprises without hesitation. His situation reflects a reality that disability advocates say is all too common: for many people with disability, supported employment is not just a job. It is structure, social connection, and a sense of purpose.

Disability advocates argued that workers with disability deserve inclusive employment models with equal pay, rather than systems dependent on charity contracts and below-minimum wages.

Published 17-April-2026

Nyrambla: The Ascot Mansion That Hid WWII Codebreakers

Spying in Ascot might sound unlikely—but one historic mansion once played a key role in World War II intelligence. Nyrambla, on Henry Street, was secretly used by Allied codebreakers to decode Japanese military messages, helping shape the course of the war.

A Banker’s Home

More than a century after it was built, Nyrambla still stands proudly at Henry Street in Ascot, after having been many things to many people — home to a banker, an alderman, prominent society personalities, even serving as headquarters for code-breakers in the Second World War.

Nyrambla was originally built in 1885 during a time when grand residences were built on the apexes of the hilly suburb of Ascot.

Designed to be a two-storey family house by Brisbane architect James Cowlishaw, Nyrambla took up three large estates spanning from Windermere and Lancaster Roads. It had separate structures for the servants and the stables.

The house was designed for the manager of the Australian Joint Stock Bank, Mr Henry P Abbott.

Per historical records from Brisbane’s Local Heritage places, the Abbotts came from a family of wealthy sheep ranchers in New South Wales and named their home “Nyrambla” after a station owned by Mrs Abbott’s side of the family.

Shortly after Mr Abbott’s retirement from banking, his family decided to return to Sydney where he died in 1903. When the Abbotts left, the Australian Joint Stock Bank rented out the mansion to Mr Patrick Perkins, a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland who came from a family of Irish brewers.

The Subdivision of Nyrambla

By the early 1900s, Nyrambla was subsequently divided to include more tenants thus creating Henry and Abbott streets around the 15-acre estate, as it has existed today. Mr T. Herbert Brown, the son-in-law of Sir Samuel Griffith, the inaugural Chief Justice of Australia, lived in one of the properties with his wife.

Nyrambla undated photo — Photo Credit: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland

The bank then advertised and sold the estate in allotments of different sizes. An acre of the site with the original house was acquired by Edward David Miles, an alderman in Charters Towers and a Member of the Queensland Legislative Council.

old advert for Nyrambla — Photo Credit: Trove/National Library of Australia

Ten years after owning Nyrambla in the mid-1920s, the Miles family sold the property to George Willoughby Whatmore of Centennial Hall Ltd and the Willoughby Trust Ltd. Generations of Mr Whatmore’s family owned Nyrambla, including Brisbane socialite Andree Daws, Mr Whatmore’s great-great-grandchild, until her death in August 2020.

society announcement — Photo Credit: Trove/National Library of Australia

Nyrambla undated photograph — Photo Credit: Trove/National Library of Australia

Converting Nyrambla into Flats

In 1929, or roughly four years after their patriarch’s death, the Whatmore family agreed to convert Nyrambla from a sprawling mansion into six flats with Cunningham & Jones overseeing the construction. From its main entrance on Yabba Street, the house could now be accessed through Henry Street, much like it is today.

The flats remained family homes, where numerous social events took place among Ascot’s elites.

event clipping — Photo Credit: Trove/National Library of Australia

children's party clipping — Photo Credit: Trove/National Library of Australia

…Then it Became a Spy House

Then in the 1940s, the government requisitioned Nyrambla as a spy house for the Allied Forces led by U.S. General Douglas MacArthur and Australian General Thomas Blamey.

For the next three years, the 18 enlisted servicemen and six officers of U.S. 837th Signal Service Detachment and members of the Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS) and cryptanalyst from the Australian Cypher Section worked at the back garage to decipher intercepted Japanese codes using a Typex machine and IBM tabulators. The decoded messages were transmitted to Allied bases from all over the world.

World War II officers at Nyrambla — Photo Credit: Ozatwar.com

“At Nyrambla, Central Bureau decrypted a Japanese Army Air Service signal intercepted by No. 51 Wireless Section at Darwin. The signal contained the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Japanese Fleet, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto’s itinerary for his forthcoming trip to Rabaul. As a result, on 18 April 1943, Yamamoto’s aircraft was intercepted off Bouganville by US P-38 Lightning fighters and he was killed. In May 1943, the 837th Signal Service Detachment was renamed Special Intelligence Service led by Colonel Harold Doud,” per historical accounts from the Queensland WWI Historic Places.

Nyrambla Today

Nyrambla through the years — Photo Credit: Lost Brisbane

In its modern existence, the former spy house became a nine-bedroom house with seven bathrooms, six-car garage spaces, two sunrooms, with a living room area on the second floor. It had a separate guest wing as well as an art studio for its last Whatmore descendant, the Daws.

Nyrambla interior photos — Photo Credits: Lost Brisbane, Ray White Real Estate, Facebook

Despite countless renovations, Nyrambla kept most of its late Victorian features with a hipped corrugated iron roof, iron cresting and finials, and street-facing gable. Each story of the house is featured with a verandah with a metal curved roof in the typical fashion of 19th-century dwellings.

The verandah levels are fortified with timber posts and top rails with cast-iron balusters, whilst tall, vertical arched windows are featured on the right sidewalls. The house itself is an elongated rectangular structure with U-shaped wings on the backside where the kitchen, the breakfast room, and the maid’s quarters are located.

The long rooms of the main house are divided using folding doors. Six bedrooms and a sitting room fill up the spaces on the second floor, whilst several fireplaces with tiled hearths and marble mantelpieces are found all over the house.

New Owners

The Central Bureau consisting of soldiers from Australia, the USA, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand used Nyrambla until 1945, whilst titles to the property stayed with the Whatmore family. Over seven decades, Nyrambla was called home by many tenants, who were Brisbane VIPs like Jan Powers, Billie Brown, and Blair Edmonds.

A private investor acquired this Ascot historical treasure in May 2021 for nearly $9 million after tight competition among interested buyers.

Updated 15-April-2026

Brisbane Airport Plans Two New Hotels as Demand Remains High

Photo Credit: Brisbane Airport

Brisbane Airport is preparing to expand its accommodation offering with plans for two new hotels, responding to sustained demand that has kept its existing airport hotels consistently at capacity.

Brisbane Airport Expands To Meet Ongoing Demand

The airport precinct is progressing plans to increase hotel capacity, with two new developments proposed across separate locations. Existing accommodation within Brisbane Airport, including the Pullman, Ibis and Novotel, continues to operate at full occupancy, highlighting the need for additional rooms.

Passenger activity has also reached record levels, with 25 million travellers passing through the domestic and international terminals in 2025. The combination of strong passenger growth and the airport’s role as a major transit hub continues to drive consistent demand for accommodation.

Two New Hotel Sites Across The Precinct

The expansion centres on two distinct sites within Brisbane Airport, each offering a different level of service.

One hotel is planned adjacent to the International Terminal, positioned as a mid to upper-tier development. It will be located alongside a proposed multi-level car park and is intended to directly service the International Terminal, providing a closer accommodation option within that area.

The second hotel is proposed for the Skygate precinct, a retail and entertainment area within the airport grounds. This development is planned as a mid-tier offering, positioned next to the Direct Factory Outlet (DFO), the 16-hectare Lander’s Pocket precinct and surrounding specialty retail, including a 24-hour supermarket.

Operator Search Underway

Both projects are currently in an early commercial stage, with an expressions of interest process underway to identify operators to manage the hotels. Submissions are due by 15 May, with final designs, construction timing and project scale to be determined following this process.

The proposed developments are being presented as architecturally designed builds, with released concept visuals indicative only and not reflective of final outcomes.

Long-Term Growth Supports Expansion

The planned additions form part of a broader outlook that Brisbane Airport can support up to five hotels across its precinct. This reflects continued growth in business, leisure and event-driven travel, alongside increasing passenger volumes.

Brisbane Airport connects to more domestic destinations than any other airport in Australia, supporting a steady flow of transit passengers moving through the precinct each night before onward connections.

With existing hotels consistently operating at capacity and passenger numbers continuing to grow, the two proposed developments are intended to expand accommodation availability across the airport.

Published 15-Apr-2026

Hendra Horse Property at 112 Raceview Avenue Listed With Approval for 66 Houses

Photo Credit: Colliers

A large inner-city property at 112 Raceview Avenue in Hendra currently used to house horses has been listed for sale, with approval already in place for a 66-lot residential subdivision.

From Horse Paddocks to Residential Site

The 55,600-square-metre block sits just north of Doomben Racecourse and backs onto Southern Cross Way, placing it within about seven kilometres of central Brisbane. The site is currently home to around 20 horses.

Positioned near established suburbs including Ascot and Clayfield, the land is being offered through an expression of interest campaign. Interest has been reported as strong, with formal offers expected closer to the campaign’s closing date.

Raceview Avenue — Photo Credit: Colliers

Approved Plans in Place

Approval has been granted for the development of 66 houses, along with internal roads and green space across the site. The approval was issued on March 23, 2026.

The proposed subdivision includes an average lot size of about 427 square metres. The approval would lapse on June 19, 2030, if not acted on.

Brisbane property — Photo Credit: Colliers

Demand in Hendra Drives Attention

The offering comes amid continued demand in Hendra, where property values have risen sharply in recent years. The suburb’s median house price now exceeds $2 million.

Agents handling the campaign have indicated solid enquiry levels, though the expected sale price has not been disclosed. The expression of interest process is scheduled to close at the end of April.

Transition Raises Local Concerns

The planned shift from horse paddocks to residential housing has prompted concern among those currently using the land. The property is used by horse owners, and one tenant has been advised that users may need to leave within a timeframe ranging from six months to a couple of years.

A petition opposing the development has attracted more than 600 signatures, highlighting concerns about the loss of space for horse care and changes to the area’s character.

Submissions have also raised issues relating to flooding, traffic, and the level of green space included in the proposal. The site is known to be prone to flooding.

Residential subdivision — Photo Credit: Colliers

Large Infill Site Offered to Market

The 5.56-hectare holding represents a substantial infill land opportunity within Hendra, combining a large land area with proximity to the Brisbane CBD. Its current use as a horse property is expected to change if the approved subdivision proceeds.

The expression of interest campaign for the Raceview Avenue site is set to close on April 30.

Published 12-Apr-2026