Moreton Bay region Archives - North Lakes Today

Evan Han of North Lakes-based PK Taekwondo has secured his place on the Australian team for the 2026 Oceania Taekwondo Championships after winning a bronze medal in the Cadet -41kg division at the Junior World and Oceania Championship Team Selections in Sydney.

Han came through five fights in a single day at the selections event to earn his team berth, a physically and mentally demanding feat that underlines just how competitive the pathway to an Australian singlet is. His third-place finish in the Cadet -41kg division was enough to lock in his place on the squad heading to the championships on 28 and 29 March.

That result carries real weight. The 2026 Oceania Taekwondo Championships is a World Taekwondo-sanctioned G-4 event, placing it among the most significant regional competitions on the international taekwondo calendar. The championships take place at the Whitlam Leisure Centre at 90A Memorial Avenue, Liverpool, in Sydney.

A Club with a Long Record of Producing Champions

Han’s selection continues a strong run for PK Taekwondo, the North Lakes club that has operated from Unit 4/9 Flinders Parade since becoming a full-time centre in January 2021. The club runs under Kukkiwon standards and holds affiliations with World Taekwondo, World Taekwondo Oceania, Australian Taekwondo and Australian Taekwondo Queensland, and has produced medallists at local, state, national and international levels of competition.

Han’s competition record at the club stretches back several years. At nine years old, he won a bronze medal in the 10-11 Years Black Belt 25-28kg division at the Australian National Championships held at Nissan Arena in Brisbane, with Head Instructor Master Kangho Park leading the coaching team. He also claimed a gold medal in the World Taekwondo Oceania online flying side kick competition, part of a 36-medal haul PK Taekwondo amassed across state and Oceania competitions. More recently, competition records from the 2024 National Championships confirm Han competing for PK Taekwondo at national level.

That consistency across age groups and competition levels reflects what the club aims to build in its athletes from an early age.

Jeffrey Park Goes Deep at Junior World Championship Selections

Han was not the only PK Taekwondo athlete to make an impression at the Sydney selections. Clubmate Jeffrey Park reached the quarter-finals of the Junior World Championship selections in the Junior -55kg division before his run ended against the eventual gold medallist. Park has been among PK Taekwondo’s established competitors, winning gold medals at both the ATQ Open and World Taekwondo Oceania online competitions in earlier seasons.

Park’s progress to the quarter-finals of a national selection event against the field’s eventual winner points to the depth PK Taekwondo continues to develop across weight categories and age groups.

What the Oceania Championships Represent

For any Australian taekwondo athlete, making the national team for a World Taekwondo-sanctioned Oceania Championships represents a significant step in the sport’s high-performance pathway. The Oceania Taekwondo Union governs the sport across the region and oversees championships that bring together competitors from across the Pacific, with the 2026 event one of the region’s flagship competitions for the season.

PK Taekwondo operates elite sparring and poomsae classes specifically for registered competitors, alongside its broader community programmes, providing the structured training environment that produces athletes capable of competing at this level. Head Instructor Master Kangho Park coaches the competitive team, with Pauline Boyama also serving as coach at national events.

Follow Evan Han and PK Taekwondo

The 2026 Oceania Taekwondo Championships take place on 28 and 29 March at the Whitlam Leisure Centre, Liverpool, Sydney. Families wanting to follow PK Taekwondo’s competitive squad or enquire about training programmes can visit pktkdaus.com or find the club at Unit 4/9 Flinders Parade, North Lakes. Registration and event details for the championships are available here.

Published 2-March-2026.

Residents in Dakabin said it felt like “living in a sauna” after the power went out just after 7:00 p.m., leaving homes sweltering in the evening heat.

Homes in Dakabin were plunged into darkness just after 7:00 p.m. this week as another line of severe storms rolled across south-east Queensland. With air conditioners and fans suddenly cut off, residents took to social media to vent about the stifling conditions.

“To everyone in Dakabin who is currently living in a sauna, I think I’m definitely buying a generator,” one resident wrote in a Facebook group.

The outage in Dakabin came on top of days of rolling storms and blackouts across the region. By early Friday morning, 28 November, more than 3,000 homes and businesses across Queensland were still without power, including hundreds in Brisbane and more than a thousand in the City of Moreton Bay.

ENERGEX OUTAGE FINDER

Storms, blackouts and brutal humidity

Thursday’s storms were the fifth straight day of severe weather for south-east Queensland. Thunderstorms swept repeatedly across Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan, the City of Moreton Bay and the Gold Coast, bringing hail up to 4–5 centimetres in places, destructive wind gusts and almost two million lightning strikes recorded between Sunday and Thursday.

Residents described homes turning into “saunas” after the power went out, with hot, humid air hanging in the still rooms through the night. With no air-conditioning and limited ability to cool down, households were left to ride out the conditions in the dark.

Power crews worked to repair downed lines and damaged infrastructure, with repeated storm cells and widespread damage affecting restoration efforts across the south-east. In some areas, lines were still down late into the week, forcing families to throw out spoiled food and find ways to cope with the heat without power.

Heatwave on top of a storm belt

The blackout in Dakabin did not happen in isolation. Queensland is in the grip of a severe heatwave, with temperatures running between 2 and 8 degrees above the November average in many areas.

In the Greater Brisbane region, the mercury climbed into the mid-30s, with the “feels like” temperature nudging 40 degrees at times as humidity surged. Brisbane reached 33.8 degrees just before 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, while Amberley hit 35.5 degrees with an apparent temperature close to 38.4 degrees. Further inland, towns such as Birdsville, Longreach and Julia Creek topped 40 degrees, as hot air from central Australia spread across Queensland and New South Wales.

Meteorologists say that combination of heat and moisture has fuelled the repeated storms hitting Queensland this week. A hot, humid air mass sits over the state like a lid, while a low-pressure trough moving in from the west acts as a trigger, helping to “knock over the first domino” and kick off severe thunderstorms.

Low to severe-intensity heatwaves are continuing across central and eastern Queensland, with severe conditions affecting the north tropical coast, central coast, Wide Bay/Burnett coast and the south-east coast, extending into northern New South Wales. Authorities warn that the heat is making it difficult for people to manage heat stress, particularly during extended periods of hot days and warm nights.

Warnings to stay cool and stay prepared

The Bureau of Meteorology has urged residents across south-east Queensland to take the heat and storms seriously, advising people to stay indoors where possible, stay hydrated and check in on vulnerable family and neighbours. Severe thunderstorms are expected to be most likely from late morning to late afternoon, with the possibility of continuing into the evening in some areas.

Fire danger ratings remain high in several inland districts, including the Central Highlands and Coalfields, Central West, Channel Country, Darling Downs and Granite Belt, Maranoa and Warrego, and Northern Goldfields and Upper Flinders. In the south-east, fire danger is lower, but authorities say the combination of storms, wind, heat and lightning remains a hazard.

Daily routines continue between storm cells, even as neighbours swap stories about the blackout and how they coped without power. With forecasters warning of more storms on the way and heat lingering into the weekend, Dakabin’s “sauna” week may not be the last time the suburb faces hot conditions during a blackout.

Published 28-Nov-2025

Tag: Moreton Bay region

PK Taekwondo’s Evan Han Earns Australian Team Spot for 2026 Oceania Taekwondo Championships