The Greens will today launch a plan to “end homelessness”, saying they can offer access to permanent homes and wrap-around support services to all 37,800 people experiencing chronic homelessness across Australia.Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said his $5.2 billion plan included 50,000 supportive tenancies over four years – 20,000 of them for at-risk youths – and construction of 40 supportive accommodation buildings.Another $7.5 billion would be spent doubling federal funding to states and territories for homelessness services and public and community housing.Max Chandler-Mather will announce the Greens’ homelessness policy.Credit: Paul HarrisIt would be funded by taxing big corporations, including banks.“Instead of requiring people to get their lives together to prove they are worthy of a home, the Greens plan to end homelessness says everyone deserves a secure place to call home, and provides rough sleepers with permanent housing and the wrap-around support services they need to actually stay there long-term,” Chandler-Mather said.Last week, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner announced Brisbane’s rough sleepers would be given 24 hours to move on – with empty tents removed from parks – as he claimed all had rejected offers of accommodation.Schrinner was heckled in Tuesday afternoon’s council meeting, with one person in the public gallery calling out: “You’re a joke.”Latest postsLatest postsThere are major delays for train commuters this morning, after a vehicle hit a rail bridge at Yeronga.Translink is reporting Beenleigh and Gold Coast line trains travelling towards Brisbane city are running express between Yeerongpilly and Boggo Road/ Park Road.Beenleigh line trains travelling away from Brisbane city are running express between Roma Street and Moorooka.Gold Coast line trains travelling away from Brisbane city are running express between Roma Street and Altandi.There have been delays on some services, with the 6.19am Central to Coopers Plains train delayed up to 45 minutes, while the 7.33am Beenleigh to Central train was cancelled between Beenleigh and Rocklea.A women’s prison west of Brisbane has not been “properly considering” the human rights of inmates in solitary confinement.The finding was one of dozens to come out of a newly released government review into the Southern Queensland Correctional Centre at Spring Creek.The Southern Queensland Correctional Centre.The facility held 289 prisoners when inspections took place in November and December 2023.About 44 per cent were Indigenous.Poor-condition clothing and food, long waitlists to see doctors and mental health professionals, limited support for victims of abuse and trauma, hygiene and cultural recognition were flagged as areas of concern.The report makes 37 recommendations, including replacing all uniforms, updating nutrition guidelines, recording considerations when limiting human rights for prisoners, delivering specialist mental health and trauma support, and offering an increased range of cultural items at the canteen. Missing man Daniel Petersen of Spring Hill.Credit: QPSMore than two years after the last sighting of a Brisbane man, police are seeking information on his whereabouts.Daniel Petersen from Spring Hill last made contact with family on March 17, 2023.The 31-year-old was known to be living a transient lifestyle across Brisbane.He was last seen in person along Leichhardt Street in Spring Hill on March 9, 2023.Police are appealing for information after “exhaustive investigations” turned up no new leads. Advertisement Pope Francis is no longer using mechanical ventilation to help him breathe at night, and his doctors believe he will continue to improve, the Vatican says, in the latest positive update as the 88-year-old pontiff battles pneumonia.Francis has been in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital for nearly five weeks for a severe respiratory infection that has required evolving treatment.Pope Francis in the private chapel on the 10th floor of Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.Credit: Holy See Press Office“The clinical conditions of the Holy Father are confirmed to be improving,” said the latest detailed medical update on his condition.The pope had been using non-invasive mechanical ventilation overnight during his hospital stay, which involves placing a mask over the face to help push air into the lungs. Such ventilation had been “suspended”, the statement said. But it said the pope is still receiving oxygen via a small hose under his nose.The pope has been described as being in a stable or improving condition for two weeks, but the Vatican has not yet given a timeframe for his discharge, saying his recovery is going slowly.Francis is prone to lung infections because he had pleurisy as a young adult and had part of one lung removed. He has been receiving both respiratory physiotherapy to help with his breathing and physical therapy to help with his mobility. He has used a wheelchair in recent years due to knee and back pain.Questioned on how the government will pay for its various Medicare and PBS pledges, Health Minister Mark Butler says all will be revealed in Tuesday’s federal budget.“[Treasurer Jim Chalmers] will make clear all of our revenue and spending measures. But this is a really important investment in the health of Australians,” Butler told Nine’s Today.Health Minister Mark Butler.Credit: Alex EllinghausenThe Albanese government plans to bring the patient co-payment for subsidised medicines down to $25 from $31.60, cutting up to a fifth of out-of-pocket costs for the 20 million Australians who can’t access concession prices when they buy scripts under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.“Making sure that people can go to the doctor when they need to, making sure they can afford the scripts that their doctor then says is important for their health, is a really critical investment in the country’s future, making sure people can go to work, making sure they can participate in society fully,” Butler continued.“There’s nothing more important than our health. And that’s why that’s at the centre of everything we’ve done over the last three years. And everything we promise to do in the next three if we’re re-elected.”Millions of Australians would pay $6.60 less each time they pick up a medicine script under Labor’s latest pledge to woo voters and wedge Coalition leader Peter Dutton with cheaper healthcare policies.LoadingThe Albanese government plans to bring the patient co-payment for subsidised medicines down to $25 from $31.60, cutting up to a fifth of out-of-pocket costs for the 20 million Australians who can’t access concession prices when they buy scripts under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.As 8 per cent of people report delaying or going without prescription medicines because of expense, the policy gives Labor another cost-of-living measure to push ahead of the May election, which the government wants to be fought over healthcare. Advertisement The Greens will today launch a plan to “end homelessness”, saying they can offer access to permanent homes and wrap-around support services to all 37,800 people experiencing chronic homelessness across Australia.Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said his $5.2 billion plan included 50,000 supportive tenancies over four years – 20,000 of them for at-risk youths – and construction of 40 supportive accommodation buildings.Another $7.5 billion would be spent doubling federal funding to states and territories for homelessness services and public and community housing.Max Chandler-Mather will announce the Greens’ homelessness policy.Credit: Paul HarrisIt would be funded by taxing big corporations, including banks.“Instead of requiring people to get their lives together to prove they are worthy of a home, the Greens plan to end homelessness says everyone deserves a secure place to call home, and provides rough sleepers with permanent housing and the wrap-around support services they need to actually stay there long-term,” Chandler-Mather said.Last week, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner announced Brisbane’s rough sleepers would be given 24 hours to move on – with empty tents removed from parks – as he claimed all had rejected offers of accommodation.Schrinner was heckled in Tuesday afternoon’s council meeting, with one person in the public gallery calling out: “You’re a joke.”Today is forecast to be the wettest day of the week in Brisbane, with the Bureau of Meteorology predicting an 80 per cent chance of showers after a slightly damp evening. However, they should ease off into the weekend.Here’s the seven-day outlook:Here’s what’s making news further afield this morning:Millions of Australians would pay $6.60 less for medicine under Labor’s latest pledge to woo voters and wedge Coalition leader Peter Dutton with cheaper healthcare policies.US medical giants have slammed Australia’s pharmaceutical benefits scheme in a plea to Donald Trump to impose tariffs on Australia because it subsidises medicines for millions of patients.Defence spending increases are set to be fast-tracked in next week’s federal budget as the Albanese government moves to shore up its national security credentials ahead of the May election.Disney’s live-action Snow White remake has been getting buzz, but for all the wrong reasons.Disney’s Snow White is mired in controversy. But does it pass the kid test? We review it – with a little help.US President Donald Trump made a bid to take over Ukraine’s nuclear power plants during a phone call with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, telling him American ownership would offer the “the best protection”.Police are investigating after several vehicles were set on fire at a Tesla service centre in Las Vegas.Credit: APAnd Elon Musk’s Tesla has been kicked out of a Canadian car show over safety concerns after a spate of attacks, which the Trump administration has condemned as “domestic terrorism”. Advertisement Good morning, and welcome to Brisbane Times’ news blog for Thursday, March 20.Today the city can expect showers and a top temperature of 28 degrees.In local news you need to know:An audit of south-east Queensland’s stadiums has unearthed a litany of defects, but government documents also reveal sections of The Gabba and Suncorp Stadium will need more than mere maintenance before the 2032 Olympic Games.A popular Brisbane restaurant that’s among US musician Billie Eilish’s favourites has closed after six flavour-packed years.Za Za Ta served its last diners on Sunday night.Credit: Courtesy of Ovolo HotelsOpposition Leader Peter Dutton is pushing past internal party reluctance to embrace his deportation referendum idea even as top constitutional experts warn of the danger of giving politicians the power to rip up citizenship.In sport, Broncos coach Michael Maguire has shaken up Payne Haas’ game, prompting a former top forward to make comparisons with a struggling Cowboys star.In career-best form and on long-term Australian contracts, a pair of Queensland rugby stars are squarely in the frame for a Wallabies berth against the British and Irish Lions.