As it happened: Brisbane on Wednesday, April 9

A Brisbane Boys’ College student who was taken into custody over a wild Airbnb party will be dealt with under the provisions of the Youth Justice Act, police say.

Police arrested the 16-year-old boy yesterday after they executed a search warrant at his Kelvin Grove home and seized evidence in relation to the party at the East Brisbane Airbnb property on Saturday night.

The Geelong Street property was trashed by hundreds of young revellers at the out-of-control party, with furniture and appliances including a couch, iron and lawnmower, thrown into the pool.

Brisbane Boys’ College principal Andre Casson told reporters he was saddened and disappointed by the behaviour, adding that the school would conduct an internal investigation into the matter.

In Queensland, the Youth Justice Act provides an alternative to court proceedings for young people who commit certain offences, including property damage. Under the act, young people can receive warnings, formal cautions, or be directed to attend early intervention boot camps and youth justice conferences.

“A 16-year-old Kelvin Grove boy will be dealt with under the provisions of the Youth Justice Act,” a police spokeswoman said in a statement today.

“The homeowner has been provided support throughout the investigation and has been advised of the update.”

Thanks for joining us for our live coverage of today’s news. We’ll be back tomorrow morning.

If you’re just catching up, here are some of the big stories making headlines today.

A radio fault failing to deliver a crucial call and limitations in visibility led to the Sea World helicopter crash that killed four people and injured nine more, a report has found.

Workers who used a south-east Queensland university’s redundancy calculator to look up their entitlements have had their names inadvertently revealed to co-workers, with the institution blaming a “technical issue” for the privacy breach.

High-profile Brisbane surgeon Reza Adib, the partner of former Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, will be called to testify before an inquest into the death of one of his patients.

Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese discussed Bruce Dutton’s heart attack before the first debate of the 2025 federal election, with the pair agreeing not to raise it publicly on the night.

The US is “running up the score” by hitting Australia with tariffs despite already enjoying a trade surplus with the country, Donald Trump’s trade chief says, in comments likely to inflame tensions over the president’s decision to include close allies in his sweeping tariff program.

And Lady Gaga has officially announced the Australian leg of The MAYHEM Ball tour, with three stadium shows planned for Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.

A Brisbane Boys’ College student who was taken into custody over a wild Airbnb party will be dealt with under the provisions of the Youth Justice Act, police say.

Police arrested the 16-year-old boy yesterday after they executed a search warrant at his Kelvin Grove home and seized evidence in relation to the party at the East Brisbane Airbnb property on Saturday night.

The Geelong Street property was trashed by hundreds of young revellers at the out-of-control party, with furniture and appliances including a couch, iron and lawnmower, thrown into the pool.

Brisbane Boys’ College principal Andre Casson told reporters he was saddened and disappointed by the behaviour, adding that the school would conduct an internal investigation into the matter.

In Queensland, the Youth Justice Act provides an alternative to court proceedings for young people who commit certain offences, including property damage. Under the act, young people can receive warnings, formal cautions, or be directed to attend early intervention boot camps and youth justice conferences.

“A 16-year-old Kelvin Grove boy will be dealt with under the provisions of the Youth Justice Act,” a police spokeswoman said in a statement today.

“The homeowner has been provided support throughout the investigation and has been advised of the update.”

Workers who used a south-east Queensland university’s redundancy calculator to look up their entitlements have had their names inadvertently revealed to coworkers.

The University of Southern Queensland has blamed a “technical issue” for the privacy breach, as it pushes ahead with plans to make 150 staff redundant.

Professor Andrea Lamont-Mills, a UniSQ associate dean and branch president of the National Tertiary Education Union, said “the scale of error is just mind-boggling.”

UniSQ last made job cuts in late 2024, when 109 roles were abolished. It has has campuses at Toowoomba, Springfield and Ipswich.

A crash that left a motorbike rider in critical condition is being investigated by police.

About 4.20pm, yesterday a Toyota HiLux ute and Harley-Davidson motorbike collided on the Gateway Motorway near the Deagon on-ramp.

The motorbike rider – a 53-year-old man from Caboolture – suffered critical injuries and was taken to Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

An 18-year-old Burpengary man behind the wheel of the ute was not injured.

Police are appealing for anyone who witnessed the crash or has dashcam footage to come forward.

A radio fault failing to deliver a crucial call and limitations in visibility led to the deadly Sea World helicopter crash, a report has found.

Four people died and nine people were injured when two helicopters collided mid-air on the Gold Coast Broadwater in January 2023, during the peak of the busy summer holiday season.

The Sea World helicopters after one crashed to the ground and the other landed.Credit: AAP

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau handed down its final report into the crash today, more than two years after the collision.

The report found an inbound taxiing call from one of the helicopters carrying five passengers failed to register to the second chopper boarding six people on the helipad.

Former Australian Test batsman Matt Renshaw has secured his Big Bash League fate, inking a new three-year contract with the Brisbane Heat.

Renshaw’s evolution from being pigeon-holed as a patient opener to middle order specialist in the game’s shortest formats has been meteoric in recent campaigns, with the left-hander proving he had the tools to attack from the start of an innings and rebuild as his teammates fell around him.

Renshaw in action for the Brisbane Heat.Credit: Getty Images

He will be joined by new recruits Hugh Weibgen and Lachlan Hearne, with the Queensland duo opting to join the Heat after being Local Replacement Players for the Sydney Thunder and Sixers last season.

“We didn’t get the results we were seeking in BBL14 after such a successful BBL13 season, but there is still a lot to build on,” Renshaw said.

“Personally, I really enjoyed challenging myself in the white ball formats during the season and my immediate goal remains to keep improving myself.”

Lady Gaga has officially announced the Australian leg of The MAYHEM Ball tour, with three stadium shows planned for Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.

They will be her first shows in Australia since 2014’s ArtRave: The ARTPOP Ball.

Gaga will perform at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on December 9.

Read more here.

Senior business reporter Colin Kruger points out that the deal with US casino operator Bally’s Corp will not actually be the rescue of Star’s 8000 staff.

While they were sweating on each pay cheque this year, their jobs were never in jeopardy.

The Queensland government was ready to step in and prevent job losses at any cost if the current owners did run out of cash, Kruger writes.

Too many jobs and too much tourism infrastructure was at stake for any government to do anything else.

The Star has been in a trading halt since the end of February after being unable to file its half-year financial report without a refinancing plan to save it.

The group has been on the brink of collapse for months but staved off administrators by offloading its 50 per cent stake in Brisbane’s Queen’s Wharf precinct and getting a $250 million short-term bridging loan.

The casino group was once worth billions of dollars but has been slapped with fines of $210 million and licence suspensions after money laundering allegations.

A 2022 NSW inquiry found damning evidence of money laundering and counter-terrorism failings at the groups’ Sydney casino while a 2024 probe found more breaches.

A Queensland inquiry found The Star encouraged people banned from gaming in Victoria and NSW to gamble at its casinos in the Sunshine State.

Read more here.

with AAP

In case you missed the latest development with the embattled Star Casino, thousands of workers have been saved after a United States gaming giant swooped in to take on the challenge of reviving the flailing business.

Star Entertainment this week signed a $300 million rescue package with Bally’s Corporation to save the business from administration.

In a late-night update to the ASX on Monday, Star Entertainment revealed Bally’s would pay $100 million by today to keep casino doors open across Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sydney.

Bally’s, which owns and manages 19 casinos in the US, will get a 56.7 per cent stake in The Star.

The United Workers Union welcomed the deal for the 9000 employees across the group who could have been left high and dry if it collapsed.

“Any deal that promises to keep venues in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sydney operating as a going concern is a good result for The Star workers, their families and the communities they live in,” the union’s casinos director Andrew Jones said.

“The alternative without a sensible resolution was thousands of workers facing the unemployment queue.”

As the dust settles on the $300 million investment, senior business reporter Colin Kruger takes a look at Bally’s colourful chairman Soo Kim – a Korean-born, New York-raised hedge fund manager.

Dutton will promise Australians a 3 per cent cut in household energy bills and a 15 per cent reduction in gas prices for big industrial users if he wins government, pledging to flood the Australian market with gas to make energy cheaper and grow the economy.

The Coalition’s energy spokesperson Ted O’Brien has been out doing the media rounds to promote the modelling of its national gas plan that would force companies to keep Australian gas onshore.

O’Brien told ABC Radio National’s Breakfast the policy would have an impact on bills within 12 months of operations, but that it would depend on the existing contracts of the gas suppliers.

“Under our plan, we are going to decouple Australian prices from international prices for gas. This is absolutely key.”

O’Brien was pushed repeatedly to confirm how long it would take for the impact to be felt by households. He then said wholesale gas prices would come down by the “end of this calendar year”.

“That means that then it filters through with contracts. Then by the end of the first 12-month period, industry group households should be seeing the impact.”