As it happened: Brisbane on Tuesday, January 21

Premier David Crisafulli has again refused to say what support, if any, the Queensland government might give The Star Entertainment Group as it struggles to avoid administration.

Crisafulli said on Tuesday he did not want to make any public statements that might be perceived by the market to reflect on “the viability of a company or not”.

But he reiterated taxpayer support would be available to keep casino workers employed.

“I don’t have any interest in the corporate suits of Star – zero,” Crisafulli told reporters.

“My only focus are (sic) on the workers. But I don’t know the viability of Star, that’s for them to say.”

To support the workers, Queen’s Wharf in Brisbane will need to stay open, Crisafulli said, and whoever runs the precinct will need to start delivering what had long been promised.

He said Star’s obligations in relation to Queen’s Wharf “weren’t met” and the LNP government would also re-examine the negotiations that occurred under Labor.

Thanks for joining us today. If you’re just catching up, here’s what’s been making news:

Within moments of being sworn in for a second term, US president Donald Trump unleashed a wave of executive orders allowing him to bypass Congress to deliver on his election promises, accusing the Biden administration of fuelling the nation’s “decline” over the past four years.

Across the Atlantic, French President Emmanuel Macron has called on Europe to “wake up” and spend more on defence in order to reduce its reliance on the United States for its security.

An independent inquiry will be launched into Queensland’s child protection system after significant failures were identified in the case of one of Australia’s worst paedophiles.

Billionaire Adrian Portelli has donated $50,000 to charity on behalf of a Nine reporter who was stood down after allegedly accepting a cash prize from the Melbourne-based entrepreneur.

Australian Olympic great Ariarne Titmus says she won’t be retiring from swimming and has confirmed her intention to compete at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

Plus, in the latest instalment of our Heartlands series, food and culture editor Matt Shea visits a cherished Nudgee Beach takeaway shop.

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned of heatwave conditions across much of Queensland over the next three days.

Maximum temperatures will be in the mid-40s for inland areas, and high 30s along the coast, including Brisbane.

The hot weather will also put the state’s electricity network to the test, almost a year after it last experienced peak demand.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a heatwave warning for much of Queensland, including Brisbane.Credit: Bureau of Meteorology

A national ban on the use, supply, manufacture and installation of engineered stone came into effect in Queensland on July 1 last year.

The move was intended to protect workers from silicosis, a lung disease likened to asbestosis for its link to common building materials and slow creep through the industry.

But state and territory governments were lobbied over the unintended consequences of the ban, and the Heads of Workplace Safety Authorities discussed the need to allow the reinstallation of engineered stone benchtops, panels or slabs that have been temporarily removed to allow other work to be undertaken.

“It was agreed, as an interim measure, for each jurisdiction to provide a two-year exemption prior to future legislative amendments,” said a spokeswoman from Queensland’s Office of Industrial Relations.

“Victoria and South Australia have also implemented the exemption.”

Premier David Crisafulli has again refused to say what support, if any, the Queensland government might give The Star Entertainment Group as it struggles to avoid administration.

Crisafulli said on Tuesday he did not want to make any public statements that might be perceived by the market to reflect on “the viability of a company or not”.

But he reiterated taxpayer support would be available to keep casino workers employed.

“I don’t have any interest in the corporate suits of Star – zero,” Crisafulli told reporters.

“My only focus are (sic) on the workers. But I don’t know the viability of Star, that’s for them to say.”

To support the workers, Queen’s Wharf in Brisbane will need to stay open, Crisafulli said, and whoever runs the precinct will need to start delivering what had long been promised.

He said Star’s obligations in relation to Queen’s Wharf “weren’t met” and the LNP government would also re-examine the negotiations that occurred under Labor.

Luke Twyford, the head of the LNP government’s child protection inquiry, has previously criticised key elements of its policy platform on young people.

Twyford is the chair of the Child Death Review Committee, which has powers set to be used to conduct the inquiry, and also the head of the Queensland Family and Child Commission.

The commission has previously criticised Queensland’s youth detention system, and told a federal inquiry that young people felt the social media ban, which had bipartisan support, was “victim-blaming young people”.

While Twyford said on Tuesday he continued to work with the government in relation to youth detention, and reiterated it was “not the most effective way to keep the community safe if we want to rehabilitate young people and make them positive members of society”.

Attorney-General Deb Frecklington said Twyford was someone of “incredible standing” with the background and experience necessary to conduct a thorough inquiry.

“I think we couldn’t have got a better person,” Frecklington said.

The head of Queensland’s child protection inquiry will request documents from state and federal police and the education department in relation to the Ashley Paul Griffith case.

Twyford, the chair of the Child Death Review Board, was today announced as the head of a Queensland government inquiry into the Blue Card system and child protection policies.

At a press conference with Premier David Crisafulli and Attorney-General Deb Frecklington, Twyford said he wanted to produce a report later this year that would help prevent child sexual abuse in Queensland and nationally.

While Frecklington said children had been put at risk by the former Labor government’s failure to implement recommendations from a 2017 Blue Card review, Twyford would only say that would be a key focus of the inquiry.

“There are still open recommendations from the Blue Card review of 2017,” Twyford confirmed, adding that the failure to adequately respond to those findings was not best practice policymaking and “doesn’t respect the review process”.

Frecklington said she would also discuss the issues at a national level.

Premier David Crisafulli has announced an inquiry into what he has described as Queensland’s “broken child protection system”.

Honouring an LNP election promise, Crisafulli said the inquiry followed not only the “horrendous breach of trust” in the Ashley Paul Griffith case, but other child protection failures in recent years.

Attorney-General Deb Frecklington said the Blue Card system, allowing people to work with children, had “let down” many parents and providers and would be the central focus of the inquiry.

She said the former Labor government had failed to act on the failures exposed in the Tiahleigh Palmer case.

The inquiry will be headed by Luke Twyford from the Child Death Review Committee, which has the power to conduct a more extensive review.

Premier David Crisafulli and Attorney-General Deb Frecklington are speaking in Brisbane.

A dingo has bitten a three-year-old child on the leg on K’gari.

The child was bitten near Kingfisher Bay on the island, formerly known as Fraser Island, about 5pm on Saturday, while with family on the beach.

“The parents picked up the child and tried to scare the dingo away, but it wasn’t deterred,” a Department of Environment spokesperson said.

“People on two nearby yachts came to assist, with one using a kayak paddle to attempt to deter the dingo and maintaining distance between the visitors and the dingo. The dingo kept a distance but was not deterred.”

Rangers are now attempting to identify the tagged dingo.

A man has been charged over a police incident in Annerley, where an officer was shot in the leg earlier this month.

The man has been accused of two counts of attempted murder, trespassing, wilfully assaulting a police officer, and other assault offences after the incident on Tamar Street on January 10.

Police said that when officers arrived, the 26-year-old Acacia Ridge man was brandishing a piece of wood and was agitated.

“It is further alleged an altercation occurred where the man lunged for the male acting sergeant’s service firearm, which resulted in the acting sergeant being shot in the left thigh,” police said.

After a struggle, in which the accused also allegedly bit another officer, he was shot twice by police, and taken to hospital.

He is scheduled to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court today.