As it happened: Brisbane on Wednesday, January 22

A 30-year-old senior constable has been charged with the possession of child abuse material.

He was charged with one offence for reportedly accessing child abuse material, which police allege was obtained while off-duty.

Police have suspended the Brisbane region officer from service.

Queensland Police said the allegations had yet to be substantiated, and the man was expected to appear in court on February 13.

In an unrelated case, a 27-year-old constable from the northern region has been charged with the same offence. He has also been suspended, and will appear in court on February 18.

“In keeping with our commitment to high standards of behaviour, transparency and accountability, we have undertaken to inform the public when a member of the service faces serious allegations of misconduct,” said police.

Thanks for joining us for live coverage of today’s news. If you’re just catching up, here are some of the stories that have been making headlines.

Australians have swung more support behind Opposition Leader Peter Dutton amid new signs of frustration over the cost of living, as 46 per cent of voters say they expect their real wages to fall this year.

The nation’s drinking water providers have called for a blanket ban on the entire family of “forever chemicals” in Australian consumer goods to stop the pollution of tap water with the cancer-linked toxins.

More than half of Australia’s coal-fired generators are over 40 years old, rapidly approaching the end of their life spans and experiencing declining reliability, according to analysis commissioned by the Climate Council.

A probe into antisemitism at the Australian National University found there was no case to punish a student who was videoed making an apparent nazi salute, even though a deputy vice chancellor conceded the gesture were made “on a superficial level”.

US president Donald Trump calls them hostages. For the faithful camped outside a Washington prison, the Capitol rioters are more like heroes. And now they are free.

And as our sports reporter Nick Wright writes, Jamayne Isaako was on the verge of joining the NRL scrapheap before he joined the Dolphins. Now the extent of his comeback from exile can be revealed.

A 30-year-old senior constable has been charged with the possession of child abuse material.

He was charged with one offence for reportedly accessing child abuse material, which police allege was obtained while off-duty.

Police have suspended the Brisbane region officer from service.

Queensland Police said the allegations had yet to be substantiated, and the man was expected to appear in court on February 13.

In an unrelated case, a 27-year-old constable from the northern region has been charged with the same offence. He has also been suspended, and will appear in court on February 18.

“In keeping with our commitment to high standards of behaviour, transparency and accountability, we have undertaken to inform the public when a member of the service faces serious allegations of misconduct,” said police.

The Queensland Ambulance Service has warned residents in Brisbane and the south-east to remain vigilant to signs of heat stress, as severe heatwave conditions are forecast to continue across the week.

“Anyone can be affected by the heat at this time,” said senior operations supervisor Doug Buchanan.

Metro North senior operations supervisor Doug Buchanan.Credit: Catherine Strohfeldt

“It’s important to make sure that you can keep an eye on both yourself and those around you, especially … someone next door that you can check in on.”

Buchanan advised people to call 000 immediately if they noticed symptoms of heat-related stress, including dry mouth, nausea, dizziness, and an altered level of consciousness.

He said Brisbane’s local response teams were prepared for an increase in call-outs amid the severe heatwave conditions, but urged locals to take preventative measures in the heat.

“Simple steps that people can take [to avoid heat stress] include trying to stay out of the heat of the day, avoiding physical exertion, sipping cool water, and using cold packs or a wet towel,” he said.

“Queenslanders shouldn’t be complacent with the heat because it can affect people of all ages and all walks of life at any time of the day … even at nighttime.”

Temperatures in the low-to-mid-30s tomorrow may feel like the state’s heatwave is easing, but the slight reprieve will be shortlived.

The Bureau of Meteorology says tomorrow will be several degrees cooler than today’s high-30s, but the change will only offer “limited relief”, with temperatures expected to bounce back up on Friday.

“We are likely to see a south-easterly change moving across south-east Queensland tomorrow, [but] the heat will return for the end of the week,” said senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury.

“This change will also generate the risk of some severe thunderstorms through south-east Queensland tomorrow, with damaging winds and large hail the main phenomena of concern.”

The bureau predicted the true end of the moderate-to-severe heatwave hitting most of the state’s south and central regions would arrive in time for the weekend.

“At this stage, a broader southerly change is forecast to move across the region later on Friday or early Saturday,” a bureau spokeswoman said.

“Either way, the result will be a notably milder day on Saturday due to the cooler southerly winds, as well as conditions on Saturday ranging from partly cloudy to cloudy throughout south-east Queensland.”

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie has accused the former Labor government of misleading Queenslanders over plans for athletes villages needed for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

On Wednesday, Bleijie said it would cost more than $3.3 billion to build athletes villages across Brisbane, Kooralbyn, the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast, but the former government only allocated a fraction of that.

“Labor must come clean with Queenslanders and explain whether they either forgot that more than 22,000 athletes needed accommodation or if they deliberately misled Queenslanders before the election,” Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said.

An artist’s impression of the athletes village at Hamilton.Credit: Queensland Government

However, the Labor opposition said private investment had been sought for projects, under the oversight of Economic Development Queensland, and the initial funding was for initial works.

“This is a similar model to the delivery of the Commonwealth Games village on the Gold Coast, which went on to become permanent housing,” an opposition spokesperson said.

“Money was allocated in the budget for the first and most progressed project at Northshore Hamilton, with additional funding to be budgeted as planning continued for villages on the Sunshine and Gold coasts.”

Treasurer David Janetzki will hand down the budget update on Thursday.

AAP

Let’s talk about a cyclone named Sean.

The heatwave gripping Brisbane has been attributed to the long-reaching effects of Cyclone Sean, which is currently spinning over water off Western Australia.

But the cyclone is not entirely to blame, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

“Tropical cyclones and the associated thunderstorms which accompany them cause a lot of air to rise high up in the atmosphere,” a bureau spokeswoman said.

“This air then spreads out [away from the tropical cyclone] and sinks back towards earth a few hundred to thousands of kilometres away. When air sinks in the atmosphere, it warms up, meaning we often see increased temperatures in areas several hundred kilometres away.”

Nowhere in Queensland is escaping the heatwave.

Workers at the Carmichael coal mine near Clermont in central Queensland, where the temperature is expected to hit 38 degrees today and 41 degrees tomorrow, have resorted to taking ice baths to keep cool.

Workers cool off in ice baths at Carmichael mine near Clermont in central Queensland.Credit: Bravus Mining and Resources/Facebook

In Blackall and Longreach, in central Queensland, it was 40 degrees by midday.

The temperature in Brisbane is currently 34.3 degrees and rising, but it feels more like 38.8 degrees with the humidity.

Tributes continue for Brisbane-based pastor Willie Strickland who was killed after his ute was swept off a flooded causeway near Murwillumbah in northern NSW.

The 53-year-old Seventh Day Adventist Church pastor was in northern NSW for a wedding and was leading a convoy of three to their accommodation after the wedding rehearsal when his white ute was washed downstream on Saturday evening. His body was found after an extensive search on Monday.

The body of Brisbane-based pastor Willie Strickland was found on Monday.Credit: Facebook

“We are shocked and devastated by this tragic loss,” his son Cheonton Strickland wrote on Facebook

“Dad was a charismatic and loved man, who gave his life in service and ministry of the gospel. He touched many people’s lives through his work.”

The Seventh-day Adventist Church said it was deeply saddened by Strickland’s death.

“Please join us as we continue to pray for the Strickland family as they navigate this challenging time, seeking comfort and strength in God’s love and the support of their community,” it wrote on Facebook.

In another tribute, the Gold Coast Central Church said: “His compassion and care touched many lives, and he was dearly loved by all who knew him.”

AAP

A truck rollover on a Gateway Motorway off-ramp in Kuraby this morning has prompted an exclusion zone as emergency services work to contain 20,000L of hydrogen peroxide.

Fire, ambulance, and police services were called shortly after 6am to the Compton Road off-ramp, and are expected to work through to the mid-afternoon containing the spill.

Paramedics assessed one patient and found they had not been injured, as police cordoned off roads affected by the spill.

A police spokesman said the Gateway Motorway had not been closed, but Compton and Acacia roads and the off-ramp had been sectioned off.

More than half a dozen fire crew – including specialist teams – were on-site to contain the spill, using splash suits and air bags.

Hydrogen peroxide is commonly used as a bleach or antiseptic, with both household and industrial uses, and can be corrosive at high concentrations.

Turning to the tennis for a moment and the man vying for an 11th Australian Open title: Novak Djokovic.

What’s a good tennis match without a bit of spice and controversy? Djokovic played in the quarter-final against Carlos Alcaraz last night, where a mysterious leg injury raised some questions.

But during the match Djokovic took a medical timeout for a sore leg.

Seven-time singles champion turned commentator John McEnroe said on ESPN: “This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this routine. Don’t be fooled.”

When the American’s brother and co-commentator Patrick McEnroe asked, “Did you see this coming?” John replied, “Yes”, tennis and news websites and Serbian media report.

Meanwhile, it’s officially Demon day – the day when Australia’s Alex de Minaur faces Jannik Sinner in one of the biggest matches of his career.

Follow our live coverage of all the action from day 11 of the Australian Open, here.

Knives should be kept locked up behind counters in stores following last week’s stabbing of a Coles worker in Ipswich, a union says.

Claudia Campomayor Watt, 63, suffered critical injuries after she was allegedly stabbed in the back while working at Coles on January 13.

A 13-year-old boy was charged with attempted murder and remains in custody to face court in February.

Coles stripped knives from sale at stores across Australia “out of an abundance of caution” as it conducts a review following the stabbing.

However, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association has called for all retailers to remove knives from the shelves and instead keep the utensils under lock and key.

“We put cigarettes behind the counter, we put spray can paints into locked cabinets so that people cannot come up and just grab them off the shelf,” the union’s Queensland secretary Justin Power said.

“Most major retailers put mobile phones and expensive items into locked cabinets.

“It is not too much of an ask to say these items for sale which can be used as a weapon to assault a staff member or a customer should be put under the same lock and key.”

In Queensland and Victoria, shoppers must be over 18 to be able to purchase a knife in a supermarket. Other states like NSW and ACT it is an offence to sell a knife to a child under 16.

The union has asked for an urgent meeting with Queensland Premier David Crisafulli to discuss its call for greater restrictions on knife sales.

AAP