It’s a homecoming for Boetz, who grew up in Brisbane before moving to Sydney where he trained under Thai food expert David Thompson, and spent 14 years as executive chef at two of Australia’s best Thai restaurants: Longrain Sydney (now-closed) and its Melbourne outpost.

Once open, Boetz says the eatery will focus on simple dishes that are suitable for both sharing or enjoying on their own. Expect plates of khao man gai (braised chicken and rice); steamed duck and winter melon soup; salt and pepper cuttlefish; and fried whole fish with green chilli nam jim alongside an international-leaning wine list.

The store, which will be fitted out with dark tiles and shelving, will sell jars of house-made curry pastes, imported Thai products like fish sauce and rice, and fresh produce like snake beans, apple eggplants and Thai basil. Boetz says there will be some pre-prepared curries too, which will just need to be finished at home.

“At this point, the curries will have protein in them but they won’t have any vegetables,” he says. “[At home] you can simmer them and add your apple eggplants or whatever – we’ll help guide you to what [vegetables and herbs] would go with what [curry].”

Shortgrain by Martin Boetz, 2 McLachlan Street, Fortitude Valley, opens in August.

The Palaszczuk government will commit $14 billion to fund one of Australia’s most expensive renewable energy projects, the Borumba pumped hydro project in south-east Queensland.

It is one of two mega pumped hydro projects the government is relying on to enable it to shut down the state’s five coal-fired power stations by 2035.

Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick told AFR Weekend that the total cost for the 2 gigawatt Borumba project in the Sunshine Coast hinterland – which will be able to supply 24 hours of continuous energy into the grid – would be $14 billion.

The government will commit $6 billion in equity funding in next week’s budget, and the rest will come from borrowing from state-owned company Queensland Hydro.

Mr Dick said Queensland’s strong economic position post-pandemic had allowed the Palaszczuk government to fund cost-of-living measures, pay down debt and fund key infrastructure, such as Borumba, in next Tuesday’s budget.

“Within nine months of our [$62 billion] Energy and Jobs plan, we are making a substantial investment which we can do because of the strength of our budget and economy,” Mr Dick said.

The Borumba projects is expected to be completed by 2029, while the Pioneer-Burdekin project is not due to be operational until 2035.

Brisbane home prices have risen for a fifth straight month and are now on track to surpass their boom-time peak in just three months, according to new figures.

 

The May PropTrack Home Price Index released Thursday reveals the market rebound in the Queensland capital is continuing to gather pace, with prices rising another 0.33 per cent in May to be up nearly 2 per cent so far this year.

 

Brisbane home prices are now just 1.5 per cent off the peak they reached in April 2022, at the height of the property boom.

 

PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh said if Brisbane home prices continued to grow at a monthly pace of 0.47 per cent — the average pace of growth seen over the past three months — they would eclipse that peak by the end of September.

 

Compared to pre-pandemic levels in March 2020, prices are still a whopping 45 per cent higher, maintaining Brisbane’s spot as the second strongest performing capital city.

 

Every market in Brisbane rose in the past quarter, with prices in the inner-city region gaining nearly 3 per cent and Brisbane south up 2.2 per cent.

 

Ms Creagh said strong demand and low housing supply was offsetting the deterioration in affordability from rising interest rates in Queensland.

 

She said the Reserve Bank’s decision to increase the cash rate in May did not impact the rebound in home prices in the state.

 

“Supply constraints have eased slightly with respect to total stock for sale, but the flow of new listings remains soft,” Ms Creagh said.