As it happened: Brisbane on Wednesday, May 8

The parents of two Australian brothers shot dead in Mexico have spoken publicly for the first time, saying from the US it was time to bring their sons home.

Debra and Martin Robinson have urged people to hold their loved ones closer, following the tragic murder of their sons Callum, 33, and Jake, 30.

The Robinson brothers were on a surfing trip with American friend Carter Rhoad, 30, when they were allegedly killed by Mexican nationals attempting to steal parts of their ute.

Debra and Martin Robinson travelled from Western Australia to Mexico on Friday, where they identified the bodies of their two sons this week.

“Now it’s time to bring them home to families and friends and the ocean waves in Australia,” Debra said.

“Please live bigger, shine brighter and love harder.”

Here’s the full story.

Thanks for joining us. This is where we’ll leave our live updates for today, but we’ll be back on deck tomorrow.

Here are a few of our top stories:

Hunter Valley bus driver Brett Button was affected by prescription drugs when he was behind the wheel of the vehicle that crashed and tragically killed 10 wedding guests.

A Sydney Instagram influencer who brands herself the “glute master” has been accused of posing as a nurse and injecting unknown substances into patients’ buttocks.

A glitzy new steakhouse decked out in black, with white marble counters and sheer curtains, has opened today on James Street.

Fatcow opened on James Street today.Credit: Markus Ravik

Stormy Daniels has taken to the stand in Donald Trump’s hush money trial, causing even the judge to baulk at some of her testimony, in which the 45-year-old started to disclose some intimate details about the former president.

Victim-survivors of domestic and family violence will have access to safe spaces in every police station across Queensland, as police commit to victim-centric and trauma-informed practices.

China and Australia have escalated the blame game over a dangerous aerial encounter above the Yellow Sea, with China’s Defence Ministry claiming the Australian military acted provocatively.

The report of the Greens-lead federal Senate inquiry into supermarket prices landed this week, detailing how to target supply chain pricing practices (including powers to break up the big operators).

This, and the relationship between suppliers and the supermarkets, has also featured on a number of discussions out of Beef Week up in Rockhampton this week hosted on the event’s official BEEF TV platform.

Appearing on one segment today, Premier Steven Miles was quizzed about who had underdog status ahead of the state election (LNP leader David Crisafulli had his go on Monday), spruiked the government’s $1000 energy rebates, and scored three out of five in a beef-themed pop-quiz.

Miles also confirmed leaders of the big two supermarkets were expected to appear before the state’s own parliamentary inquiry in Brisbane on Monday, likely to be its last hurrah before a report of its own by May 31 with what he hoped were “practical recommendations”.

“I hope we start to see a bit of a different attitude, that they come along armed with solutions rather than just being defensive and saying they’ve never done anything wrong, because I think we know they have,” he said.

A man was found with guns in his car near the scene of a house fire where three people, including a three-year-old girl, had to escape early this morning on the Sunshine Coast.

Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Chris Duhig said emergency services were called to the Baroona Street home in Wurtulla about 6am after witnesses reported a man near a car fire, which later spread to the home.

Police then found a man nearby in a car, with three guns – a shortened .22 bolt action rifle, a homemade .22 pistol, which were both loaded, and a gel blaster.

Duhig said the man was known to police, and was also known to the people living at the home, but said police did not believe it was domestic violence related.

He said the mother, her child, and a man who were able to escape the property, believed to be public housing, were traumatised at losing their home and belongings.

“[The mother] was angry as well as distressed as to what had happened because she believes the fire was deliberately lit and obviously lost all her belongings,” Duhig said.

The man was taken into custody, and police investigations were continuing.

Queenslanders have been urged to take up the offer of a free vaccination amid warnings of a potentially significant flu season.

This year, 12,000 cases and 24 deaths have already been reported, but Health Minister Shannon Fentiman says more than 900,000 vaccines delivered so far have put the state in a better position than at the same time during the past three years.

However, acting Chief Health Officer Dr Catherine McDougall, speaking alongside Fentiman on Wednesday, said this still meant only 16 per cent of the state’s population had received the vaccine, which, according to the data, helped reduce hospital admissions last year.

“Winter is coming, and we’re expecting the flu peak to hit us towards the end of June, so for those who aren’t vaccinated, now is the time,” McDougall said.

She also suggested people take the opportunity to get a COVID booster along with their flu shot after hospitalisations rose to 188 today from 160 last week.

Fentiman said Queensland Health would be rolling out a social media campaign to encourage people to do three things to prepare for winter: get the free flu vaccination, stay home if sick, and practise good hygiene through things like hand washing.

Perth grandmother Ninette Simons, who was allegedly violently attacked by a former detainee, has not been visited by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Last week Albanese criticised the community protection board – a body tasked with advising the government on detainees – for failing as it advised the detainee who allegedly attacked Simons did not need an ankle bracelet.

Asked at a Perth press conference if he had visited Simons, Albanese said he had not.

Ninette Simons is still recovering after the terrifying ordeal on April 17.

“I am not currently scheduled to visit Ninette Simons, I think I’ve made it very clear that Ms Simons has been subject to a terrible crime, the allegations are now before the court.”

The prime minister was also asked about the government’s latest deportation laws, which would give them power to jail detainees fighting deportation and block foreign visitors from countries that will not take citizens back.

Albanese said he hoped the laws were passed next week.

On March 27, the government faced a humiliating defeat after the Coalition united with the Greens and other crossbenchers to defer the bill introduced to the House on March 26.

The bill went to an inquiry and a Senate report released yesterday revealed the Coalition is demanding the government rein in the toughest conditions of its deportation bill by beefing up safeguards for families visiting from certain nations and foreigners resisting deportation.

“I hope that the Senate passes that legislation next week,” Albanese said today.

In NSW, Hunter Valley bus driver Brett Button is set to plead guilty to causing the deaths of 10 people after he rolled his charter coach while transporting guests from a wine country wedding in a tragedy that shocked Australia.

Button, 59, will plead guilty to 10 counts of dangerous driving occasioning death and a slew of other driving offences, his lawyers told Newcastle court on Wednesday morning.

Brett Button (right) with his lawyer fronting Newcastle court in April. He pleaded guilty to 10 counts of dangerous driving on Wednesday.Credit: Peter Stoop

He was facing 10 counts of manslaughter, which will be dropped in exchange for his guilty plea, and prosecutors will request Button be arrested and enter custody ahead of his sentence.

The NSW Director of Public Prosecutions accepted Button’s plea late on Tuesday, to the outrage of some of the families of his victims, after months of negotiations with his lawyers.

Updates on this news here.

The peak body for Australian banks says changing how student debts are considered in home-loan applications could play a part in helping young people break into the housing market.

But in their first intervention in the debate, the banks said it should be up to financial regulators to determine whether HECS-HELP debt received special treatment in mortgage assessments, rather than being counted in the same way as credit card debt.

Australian Banking Association chief executive Anna Bligh says changes to how HELP debts are considered in home-loan assessments will not be the panacea for housing affordability but could play a part.Credit: Oscar Colman

A major review of universities earlier this year found crippling debts were forcing some young Australians to choose between buying a home and an education, sparking calls to overhaul the way banks assess student loans.

Australian Banking Association chief executive Anna Bligh said responsible lending rules required banks to assess HECS-HELP debts in the same way as credit card debt, car loans and spousal payments when determining someone’s borrowing capacity.

“Changes to how HELP debts are considered in home-loan assessments will not be the panacea to fixing housing affordability, but it could be a small part of addressing this important issue,” she said.

Here’s the full exclusive.

Grocery prices have fallen as scrutiny piles onto the supermarket giants, but this relief could be temporary as Labor rejects calls to back divestiture laws.

A parliamentary inquiry into supermarket prices handed down its final report yesterday, backing laws to break up big players in the grocery sector.

Among 14 recommendations from the Greens-led inquiry were calls for supermarket-specific divestiture laws, which would be used if grocery chains were found to have misused their market power or “engaged in unconscionable conduct”.

Inquiry chair Nick McKim said supermarket prices had already dipped.

“We have seen prices coming down a little bit recently and that’s in large part because of the scrutiny on the behaviour of the supermarket corporations,” he told Sunrise.

“But what we need is not just temporary falls in prices, we need to see food and grocery prices come down on a long-term basis in Australia.”

A spokesperson from Woolworths Group said the supermarket giant would review the report and work with other inquiries already under way.

The federal government has distanced itself proposals for divestiture, with Labor senators not supporting the recommendation.

Last week’s shock announcement that storied Brisbane live music venue The Zoo would close after 32 years should send a shiver down the spine of every music lover in this city.

And as Cameron Atfield writes in today’s Perspective, if it can happen to The Zoo, then no venue is safe. He argues that the Zoo’s demise is a portent of an existential crisis for venues and artists alike.

John ‘JC’ Collins at the Triffid.Credit: Chris Hyde

“It’s weird at the moment,” says John Collins, the Powderfinger bassist who runs The Triffid and The Fortitude Music Hall.

“The industry seems like it’s a tale of two halves – like one half’s doing really well and the other half is really struggling.”

Read more.

Victim-survivors of domestic and family violence will have access to safe spaces in every police station across Queensland, as police commit to victim-centric and trauma-informed practices.

These are private, designated and secure areas within stations for all community members to discuss DFV and other traumatic matters.

The Assistant Commissioner of the DFV and Vulnerable Persons Command, Christopher Jory, said the areas will give DFV victim-survivors more comfort and support in reporting their experience to police.

“The introduction of private, safe and secure spaces in every Queensland police station marks a significant milestone in our commitment to providing compassionate and effective support to DFV victim-survivors,” he said.

“By prioritising their wellbeing and providing a safe and welcoming environment, we empower survivors to come forward and seek the assistance and support they need to break the cycle of abuse and find safety.”

Read more.