That was the day after Gurner's Lane won the Melbourne Cup.

For whatever spice it might add to the intriguing Tony Jones story, it seems that it is only misinformed Townsville detectives who believe that former Supt Merv Stevenson is in any way connected.

If anyone at the coronial inquest had bothered to ask me if I thought MHS was involved I'd have told them this:

A witness came forward in 1983 to say that he saw Tony drinking with a "station owner" type man at the Rising Sun Hotel (Townsville). When we eventually found out about this sighting police were asked by private investigator Mick Buckley to put together a sketch of the man, which they did. (Sketch 1)

It was when this sketch was faxed to the Charters Towers Police Station that one of Merv's former colleagues pointed out the likeness to Merv.

Our investigations over the days that followed took us to some interesting places.

The witness however was never happy with the sketch done by the police artist and a Townsville Bulletin artist offered his help to create a likeness that the witness was entirely happy with. (Sketch 2)

The second sketch did not look like Merv.

But it did look like an old tin miner from Greenvale. I interviewed and photographed the tin miner and gave the photo to a case detective who put it on a photo board with the mugs of 20 or so other weathered old fellers - including MHS.

With magnifying glass in hand the witness studied each photo. He got to Merv and just kept going, finally fingering the tin miner.

It was then that I called a none-too-happy Mervyn Stevenson. I told him that as far as we were concerned he was not a suspect for my brother's suspected murder.

It took police a while to act on the tin miner lead but for reasons not entirely clear to me they discounted him as a suspect.

The focus on Stevenson during my brother's inquest is easily explained. Police investigators on this case do not like talking to us. Rather than talk to the family, the one reliable link to the early days of this case, they would rather fumble around in the dark and hope they get things right. This is one of many things they got wrong.

We know who killed Anthony John Jones, it was NOT Mervyn Stevenson.

Mark Jones

Annastacia Palaszczuk must come clean over her shameful decision to close the Longreach and Emerald ag colleges.

It has now been revealed the man Labor chose to decide the future of the colleges is a Labor donor. Professor Peter Coaldrake donated $1760 to Labor in June 2018 - just two weeks before the handed his controversial report to the Labor Government.

The Palaszczuk Labor Government is already up to its neck in an integrity crisis, with scandals hanging over the private business deals of Deputy Premier Jackie Trad and the Premier's right-hand man David Barbagallo.

There are serious questions for Labor to answer over the savage closure of our ag colleges. When I asked Labor's arrogant Agriculture Minister for an explanation he dodged the question. That's what rural Queenslanders have come to expect. However, the LNP will keep pushing for answers.

This matter must be immediately referred to the Integrity Commissioner.

The decision to close the ag colleges was a hammerblow for rural Queensland and we must be told how this shameful decision came about.

The LNP won't stand by while the anti-regions Palaszczuk Labor Government guts training for the next generation of graziers and farmers.

Tony Perrett MP

LNP Shadow Minister for Agriculture