Year in review: Queensland's biggest stories in 2014
Some of the biggest news stories in Australia in 2014 happened in Queensland.
From wild weather to the G20, there has been plenty keeping ABC News online readers clicking this past year.
Brett Peter Cowan found guilty
On March 13,serial child sex offender Brett Peter Cowan was found guilty of murdering Queensland teenager Daniel Morcombe in 2003.
After more than seven hours of deliberation, a Supreme Court jury in Brisbane found the 44-year-old guilty of murder, indecent treatment of a child and interfering with a corpse.
In his victim impact statement to the court, Daniel's father Bruce said he remained haunted by thoughts of how long his son was held captive and what was done to him.
He told Cowan: "Ten years ago you made a choice that ripped our family apart. I often wonder about the other victims you have left in your wake."
Cowan abducted Daniel while the 13-year-old waited for a bus at Woombye on the Sunshine Coast on December 7, 2003.
Cowan was given a life sentence with a minimum non-parole period of 20 years for the murder.
Supreme Court Judge Roslyn Atkinson told Cowan his crimes were "horrific and disgraceful", and he "tragically and pointlessly snuffed out a young life".
Months later, in November, Cowan asked the Queensland's Court of Appeal in Brisbane to overturn his conviction and life sentence in jail for the murder of Daniel.
RIP Sophie Collombet
Thenaked body of Sophie Collombet, a 21-year-old business student, was found by a passer-by at South Brisbane's Kurilpa Park, near the William Jolly Bridge, on March 28.
The French exchange student was the fourth international student to be killed in Brisbane since November 2013.
In April, more than 2,000 people gathered in Brisbane for a march and candlelight vigil in Sophie's memory.
They were addressed by Niels Kraaier, the president of the Postgraduate Student Association at Griffith University, where Ms Collombet studied.
He described her as "the personification of joie de vivre" - the joy of living.
A 25-year-old man was later charged with murder, deprivation of liberty, rape and armed robbery.
Queensland's largest drought-declared area ever
Back in March, the drought was declared Queensland's most widespread on record, with almost 80 per cent of the state drought-declared.
Queensland's Agriculture Minister John McVeigh announced the largest drought-stricken area ever for the state, with 15 new shires added to the list.
It took the number of drought-declared shires to 38, and it was the first time large sections of the Queensland coast were included.
Shires of Banana, Bundaberg, Cherbourg, Fraser Coast, Gladstone, Goondiwindi, Gympie, Moreton Bay, Noosa, North Burnett, South Burnett, Southern Downs, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba and Western Downs were added to the already long list on March 1.
At the time, Mr McVeigh said the failed wet season was the reason so many shires had been declared at once.
As of December 1, there were 44 entire local government areas and three part local government areas drought declared, with another 74 Individually Droughted Property declarations.
Cyclone Ita tears across North Queensland coast
Tropical Cyclone Ita reached category five intensity in the hours before it crossed the North Queensland coast near Cape Flattery late on April 11.
It dropped to a category four storm when it made landfall, but it was still the strongest cyclone to impact Queensland since Cyclone Yasi in 2011, with wind gusts of 300kph.
The cyclone passed near Lizard Island causing some damage to buildings and vegetation, but the tourist resort remained relatively unscathed.
Cooktown received the most damage with 16 buildings destroyed or severely damaged, including the Cooktown pub.
About 200 buildings received mostly minor damage and there were no reports of fatalities or serious injuries.
Hope Vale was another community of concern, with communications and other services knocked out.
As the storm moved further south, flooding developed cutting access to communities including Ingham.
Most communities across the region were impacted in one way or another, as seen in pictures on social media.
Queensland politics: By-elections and an MP disendorsed
There has been no shortage of headlines revolving around Queensland politics throughout 2014 - from Labor's Kate Jones announcing her return to challenge Campbell Newman for her old seat of Ashgrove to the dispute over individual contracts for senior medical officers.
This year also saw the LNP suffer not one, but two by-election defeats.
The first was in February in the state seat of Redcliffe, where Labor's Yvette D'Ath won the seat.
The by-election was held to elect a replacement for disgraced former LNP state parliamentarian Scott Driscoll.
Ms D'Ath said voters were far more angry with Mr Newman than with disgraced former MP Scott Driscoll.
Another was held on July 19 in the seat of Stafford, following LNP's Chris Davis's resignation from the party.
Mr Davis had earlier been sacked by Mr Newman for criticising State Government policies, including clashing with his own party over contracts for senior doctors, before later questioning proposed changes to the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC).
The Stafford by-election was won by Labor's Anthony Lynham with a huge swing of 18.6 per cent.
Another big story for the current government saw Moggill MP Bruce Flegg disendorsed by the party executive in October only to be given another chance to contest his seat for the party after an LNP branch meeting in the electorate voted against endorsing former Australian Medical Association Queensland President Dr Christian Rowan as the new candidate.
However, Dr Flegg was defeated in the second preselection battle to Dr Rowan.
Clive Palmer's Palmer United Party (PUP) also had its fair share of drama in the sunshine state.
The PUP spent the later half of the year without a state president after Carl Judge, the sole PUP MP in Queensland, left the party.
Just two months prior he had taken over from former Queensland PUP leader Alex Douglas, who resigned from the party to become an independent, accusing the party of cronyism.
In the closing days of 2014, a new PUP Queensland leader was announced.
John Bjelke-Petersen, the son of former Queensland premier Sir Joh, was announced as the party's leader in Queensland on December 28.
Allison Baden-Clay
On July 15, former Brisbane real estate agent Gerard Baden-Clay was given a life sentence for murdering his wife Allison in April 2012.
A Supreme Court jury found the 43-year-old guilty of murdering the mother of three at their Brookfield home and disposing of her body under the Kholo Creek Bridge, more than 13km away.
Justice John Byrne sentenced Baden-Clay to life in prison, with a non-parole period of 15 years.
The former real estate agent had always maintained his innocence.
Days later, lawyers for Baden-Clay filed an appeal against his murder conviction, claiming the verdict was unreasonable.
Tim Carmody saga
With the appointment of Paul de Jersey to the position of Queensland Governor, someone was needed to step up to the role of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the state's top judicial job.
The man chosen was Chief Magistrate Tim Carmody, but not everyone was happy about the appointment.
The state's former solicitor-general Walter Sofronoff said Judge Carmody did not have the experience or peer support to take the job and should rule himself out.
It was also condemned by former corruption inquiry chief, Tony Fitzgerald QC, who questioned Judge Carmody's experience and whether he has been too supportive of government policies.
Judge Carmody, 58, had served as counsel assisting the Fitzgerald Inquiry into corruption in the late 1980s.
He hit back at criticism against him, and said most of his harshest critics did not have the courtesy to raise their concerns with him.
That was followed by the resignation of Peter Davis QC as president of the Queensland Bar Association in protest over the appointment, which he described as "horrendously controversial".
Outgoing Chief Justice de Jersey eventually called for stability within the legal system and an end to the debate about his successor.
Judge Carmody was eventually sworn in at a private ceremony in Brisbane's court district.
It is the first time in almost a century the state's new chief justice has been sworn in behind closed doors, as controversy rages about his suitability for the job.
On July 29, Mr de Jersey was officially sworn into the Governor's office at an elaborate ceremony at Parliament House in Brisbane.
He became the 26th person to assume the position, taking over from Penelope Wensley.
Teneriffe murder-suicide
Indonesian woman Mayang Prasetyo was killed and dismembered by her partner in their Brisbane apartment.
The 27-year-old's remains were found in a unit at Teneriffe on Saturday October 4.
Her partner, Marcus Volke, 28, fled from the Teneriffe unit when police arrived following reports by neighbours of a foul smell.
Officers found Ms Prasetyo's dismembered body inside the unit.
Volke's body was later discovered in a nearby industrial bin where he had taken his own life.
At the time of the incident, police said Ms Prasetyo's death appeared to be the result of domestic violence.
A candlelight vigil was later held for her.
Australian Transgender Support Association Queensland president Gina Mather said the vigil reflected on the issues of domestic violence and support for the transgender community.
Controversial VLAD anti-bikie laws upheld
The Queensland Government's controversial anti-bikie laws have been making headlines since their introduction in 2013 - and 2014 was no exception.
The Queensland Government introduced the laws after a public brawl involving Bandido motorcycle gang members on the Gold Coast in September 2013, calling it a "line in the sand".
In November this year, the High Court rejected a challenge to the laws.
The United Motorcycle Council (UMC), on behalf of 17 Queensland clubs, attempted to overturn the Vicious Lawless Association Disestablishment (VLAD) laws.
The case against the VLAD laws was brought forward by Stefan Kuczborski, a 44-year-old Hells Angels member and a tattooist with a minor drug possession conviction, and financed by the UMC.
It had argued the laws, designed to disrupt the activities of 26 motorcycle clubs in Queensland, were an attack on the judiciary, freedom of speech, and the right to associate.
The UMC argued the laws enlisted the courts to carry out Parliament's intention to destroy their organisations, which was at odds with the Constitution.
But the High Court rejected that argument, and said the laws did not require the courts to do any more than exercise their judicial power in the usual way.
In early December, the head of the Gold Coast bikie taskforce has praised the controversial anti-bikie laws for their success in cleaning up the streets in 2014.
RIP Wayne Goss
Wayne Goss, the man who led the Queensland Labor Party to victory after the Bjelke-Petersen era, died aged 63 on November 10 from the recurrence of a brain tumour.
In a joint statement, Mrs Roisin Goss, son Ryan and daughter Caitlin said: "As a family we mourn the man we love; as Queenslanders we join with so many others in gratitude for everything Wayne did for our community and our state.
"In Wayne's own words from 1996, 'Thank you, Queensland. You've been good to me. I hope I've left you a better place.'"
Elected in 1989 in the wake of the Fitzgerald Inquiry, Mr Goss was determined to rid Queensland of the "cancer of corruption".
He campaigned consistently to change the image Queensland had developed after 32 years of the National Party in government, and his election heralded a cultural revolution in the Sunshine State as reforms were initiated.
Known as "Mr 70 Per Cent" for his high public approval rating, Mr Goss was considered by some to be aloof and arrogant, a quality not unlike his favourite comic book hero, The Phantom.
Seven police shootings in less than a year
Since April, there have been seven police shootings in Queensland - with four of them since late November.
On April 6, a man was shot and a police officer seriously hurt during a disturbance on Brisbane's bayside.
A police officer would fire his gun again months later on September 29, when a 42-year-old man was shot dead by police outside an Inala unit block after a four-hour stand-off.
Officers arrived at the scene hoping to speak to the man about an unrelated matter.
They found him holed up in his car in the unit's carpark.
Negotiators spoke with him via a phone they gave him but he held heavily-armed police at bay for hours.
The man later emerged, holding what appeared to be a handgun and police opened fire, letting off several shots.
About a month later on October 21, a 29-year-old man was shot in the head and arms by police at Rochedale on Brisbane's southside.
He survived and emerged from a coma two weeks later.
On November 18, a man died after being shot twice by police at Kippa-Ring, north of Brisbane.
Days later, on November 23, another incident further north on the Sunshine Coast, when a 51-year-old was shot dead by officers at Tewantin.
The following day, a 32-year-old man Troy Foster was shot dead by police on the Gold Coast.
His mother, who watched the shooting, said officers did not explore other options to deal with the situation.
The final police shooting for the year came on December 11, when a first-year Queensland Police officer shot a man who allegedly ran at him with a samurai sword during a domestic dispute in Ashgrove, in Brisbane's north-west.
The man was taken to hospital in a critical condition.
Following the Gold Coast incident, Queensland Police Service commissioner Ian Stewart launched an immediate review of policy, procedures and training for violent confrontations.
It came as criminologist and former officer Terry Goldsworthy said annual firearm training sessions for Queensland police officers were not enough to help develop "instinctive reactions" to potentially life-threatening confrontation.
Brisbane welcomes world leaders for G20 summit
It was the event two years in the making.
Back in 2012, then federal treasurer Wayne Swan announced that Brisbane would host the leaders' summit in 2014.
It was the first time any Australian city would host the event, and planning began almost immediately.
But it was not until the fencing and barricades went up around the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre and other "declared areas" that it was truly upon us.
The event, held on November 15 and 16, brought the most powerful leaders in the world to Brisbane, along with 5,300 delegates and 2,300 members of the international media.
Perhaps the highlight of the whole experience came before the official opening, when US president Barack Obama made an address to invited guests at the University of Queensland at St Lucia.
He outlined his pledge to contribute $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund to help developing nations deal with climate change.
His historic speech made reference to Queensland's Great Barrier Reef, which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned could be at risk if more is not done to reduce carbon emissions.
His speech resonated loudly with the younger generation, whom Mr Obama called to "step in and say, 'it doesn't have to be this way'".
In the end, the G20 was mostly a non-event when it came to unrest and public disturbances, which experts partly attributed to the hot weather.
There were 12 arrests and 24 people excluded on the Saturday, the main day for anti-G20 sentiment.
By contrast, more than 1,000 people were arrested and cars set on fire at the 2010 summit in Toronto.
By the end, the G20 was deemed a success - Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk labelled it the "benchmark G20".
Super cell storm smashes Brisbane
Queensland has encountered its fair share of wild weather over the years, but this one caught many by surprise.
On the afternoon of November 27, two storm cells joined to create a super cell, producing large hail stones that battered windows on homes, cars and highrise buildings.
Winds of more than 140kph flipped planes and helicopters, power was cut to 83,000 homes and businesses, and the army had to be called in to help the overwhelmed State Emergency Services volunteers, who had more than 1,300 calls for help.
More than 6,000 lightning strikes were also recorded during the super cell storm.
The day after, Queensland Premier Campbell Newman estimated the damage bill would reach $150 million.
At last count, the estimated insurance loss from the storm skyrocketed to $804 million.
The Insurance Council of Australia said the storm resulted in 86,800 claims from property and motor vehicle owners – 22,000 for house and contents policies, 4,000 for commercial property and business, 58,000 for domestic motor vehicles and 2,800 commercial motor claims.
The clean up was enormous - and still underway for some as 2014 comes to a close.
Clive Palmer's media advisor Andrew Crook arrested
Clive Palmer's media adviser and confidant Andrew Crook was charged over the alleged unlawful detention and coercion of a National Australia Bank executive on an Indonesian island.
Crook and former senior Queensland detective Mick Featherstone were arrested during raids in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast on Friday December 19.
They were charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice, retaliation against a witness, attempted fraud and obstructing the course of justice.
Crook was granted bail but was ordered to surrender his passport, not to approach an international airport and to have no contact with his co-accused.
Featherstone, a Gold Coast-based private detective at the centre of a year-long probe by Queensland's Crime and Corruption Commission into money laundering and police corruption, was also granted bail on the same conditions.
Eight children killed in Cairns
Less than a week after the Sydney siege, Australia was thrust back into the worldwide spotlight, but not for the right reason.
The bodies of eight children - four girls and four boys aged between two and 14 - were found in a suburban Cairns home on December 19.
Mersane Warria, who was also found with chest and neck wounds, was later charged with eight counts of murder under her full name of Raina Mersane Ina Thaiday.
The 37-year-old will face court again at the end of January.
The children will be farewelled at a funeral service on January 10.
There were emotional scenes in the small suburb of Manoora in the days following the deaths.
A makeshift memorial near the home was decorated with flowers and gifts.
Cairns MP Gavin King said after discussions with the family, local residents, agencies and Housing Minister, it was decided the home would be demolished and a permanent public memorial built on the site.
