As it happened: Brisbane on Tuesday, January 28

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has dismissed polling that suggests he is unpopular with female voters.

Speaking to the media in Western Australia, he said that as many women were responsible for household budgets, they were upset with the prime minister.

“The reason a lot of women are unhappy with the prime minister at the moment is that, largely, they’re responsible for household budgets for making everything add up.”

He also dismissed today’s Australian Financial Review/Freshwater Strategy polling showing that, among some voting demographics, Dutton is far more popular with men than women.

Thirty-seven per cent of male voters aged between 18 and 34 prefer Dutton as prime minister, compared with 27 per cent of women of the same age. 44 per cent of men aged between 34 and 55 prefer Dutton, compared to 34 per cent of women.

The Freshwater analysis backs findings from this masthead’s Resolve Political Monitor polling, published on December 31, 2024, which found that while male and female voters have similar support for Labor, 29 per cent and 28 per cent respectively, there is a big divergence in their support for more conservative parties.

Male voters have increased their support for the Coalition from 37 to 41 per cent since the election, compared with an increase of just 34 to 36 per cent among women.

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

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

Queensland has become the first state to restrict hormone therapy for young people, ordering public health facilities cease offering such interventions to new patients with gender dysphoria.

A Sunshine Coast social media influencer allegedly hid her one-year-old girl under a blanket before administering an unprescribed drug through a nasal tube, rendering the child unconscious, a court has heard.

The lowest rate of inflation in almost three years may not be enough to deliver mortgage relief to millions of cash-strapped Australians and could force Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to push back plans for the federal election into May.

The vulnerability of the US sharemarket to its highly concentrated reliance on a small cluster of mega technology stocks has been exposed by the release of a large language model from a Chinese artificial intelligence start-up that didn’t exist 18 months ago.

US officials are investigating the appearance of a strain of bird flu identified in the country for the first time, a worrying sign that the virus is evolving in ways that could make it harder to contain.

Plus, if you’re looking to celebrate Lunar New Year in Brisbane, food and culture editor Matt Shea has a list of everything from Brisbane’s flashest restaurants to easygoing market events.

In good news for the environment, global sea turtle populations have started to recover thanks to the success of conservation efforts.

All seven types of sea turtle had dwindled by the end of the 20th century because of hunting, fishing net entanglement and habitat loss.

But the research by Deakin University and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, published today in Nature Reviews Biodiversity found a worldwide increase in sea turtle populations.

A green sea turtle swimming in shallow waters of the Great Barrier Reef.Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

More turtles are nesting on beaches that have implemented conservation measures, such as reducing artificial lighting, which disoriented hatchlings. Hunting has also decreased significantly.

A 2024 analysis found population increases were occurring six times more often than declines, including for green turtles and loggerhead turtles.

Data is limited for hawksbill, olive ridley, Kemp’s ridley, and flatback turtles, but signs are positive. However, Pacific leatherback turtles continue to decline because of their long migrations.

Across all species, climate change remains a threat, including warmer seas leading to skewed sex ratios.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has dismissed polling that suggests he is unpopular with female voters.

Speaking to the media in Western Australia, he said that as many women were responsible for household budgets, they were upset with the prime minister.

“The reason a lot of women are unhappy with the prime minister at the moment is that, largely, they’re responsible for household budgets for making everything add up.”

He also dismissed today’s Australian Financial Review/Freshwater Strategy polling showing that, among some voting demographics, Dutton is far more popular with men than women.

Thirty-seven per cent of male voters aged between 18 and 34 prefer Dutton as prime minister, compared with 27 per cent of women of the same age. 44 per cent of men aged between 34 and 55 prefer Dutton, compared to 34 per cent of women.

The Freshwater analysis backs findings from this masthead’s Resolve Political Monitor polling, published on December 31, 2024, which found that while male and female voters have similar support for Labor, 29 per cent and 28 per cent respectively, there is a big divergence in their support for more conservative parties.

Male voters have increased their support for the Coalition from 37 to 41 per cent since the election, compared with an increase of just 34 to 36 per cent among women.

School zones have returned as holidays wrap up across Queensland.

The 40kmh speed limit areas – generally from 7am to 9am, and 2pm to 4pm – came back into effect this morning.

“Times can vary so always read the sign,” a statement from Queensland Police said.

“Now is a great time to speak to your children about road safety and the ways they can stay safe.”

Last year was the deadliest on state roads since 2009, with 299 fatalities.

In January 2025, 23 lives have been lost.

The Great Barrier Reef has suffered “catastrophic” damage from a marine heatwave, with some of its iconic coral reduced to rubble.

Scientists studied the health of 462 coral colonies near One Tree Island in the southern Great Barrier Reef off Queensland’s coast during a heatwave in 2024.

“What we saw at One Tree Reef was catastrophic,” said Michael Kingsford, distinguished professor of marine biology at James Cook University.

“Rapid high mortality left no opportunity for these corals to recover, some coral even turned to rubble.”

Coral bleaching is a stress response caused by changes to the environment such as increased water temperatures or freshwater flooding.

Coral has single-celled algae called zooxanthellae living inside it which gives it colour and food.

But when the coral gets stressed it expels the algae and turns white.

Scientists found the heatwave bleached two-thirds of the coral colonies by February 2024 which rose to more than three-quarters by April.

Nearly half of the colonies were dead by May.

The study was published in the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography.

Health Minister Tim Nicholls has cited concerns over paediatric gender services in Cairns as the reason to “pause” the provision of hormone therapies to children across Queensland until 2026 at the earliest.

While the majority of young people with gender dysphoria seek treatment in public health facilities, Nicholls said there was “widely contested international evidence” around the use of puberty blockers and gender-affirming hormone therapy.

“Queensland has not yet undertaken its own considered review of that evidence,” Nicholls told reporters today, as he announced a review likely to report back in early 2026.

The former Miles Labor government commissioned an external evaluation of the Queensland Children’s Gender Service last year, but the incoming LNP government stopped implementing the recommendations and ordered no further expansion of the service.

Nicholls, whose party opposes the provision of puberty blockers, said the previous evaluation only asked “how is the service delivered, not whether the service ought to be delivered”.

Allegations around the “apparently unauthorised” provision of services in Cairns will be the subject of two separate investigations, he said, with those findings to also be considered by the broader review.

“While this review is taking place, there is a need to maintain confidence in the public health services … so today I am also announcing an immediate pause on new public patients receiving hormone therapy for those who are under the age of 18,” he said.

Nicholls said patients already receiving hormone therapy would be able to continue, and other services would still be available to young people with gender dysphoria.

Today marks the day Brisbane Metro services start – for real this time – which means new bigger buses for the route between the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and UQ Lakes.

But as our reporter Catherine Strohfeldt writes, there are also significant changes for inner-city stops and routes.

Seven routes that service the city’s western suburbs have been permanently shifted above ground, from CBD busway stations to street-level stops along Adelaide and Ann Street.

The 444 stays underground but stops at a different spot at King George Square station.

Has it made a difference to your commute? Let us know.

Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding is pushing back against new rules that she claims will gag her from speaking to the media, telling 4BC her rivals are “removing the powers of the mayor by stealth”.

The Australian reported today that changes to rules around which councillors can speak on which issues, expected to be passed through council today, would mean Harding could not comment on major city issues.

Harding told 4BC Mornings with Bill McDonald it would mean she could not use council resources to put out media releases, and that council’s media team would refer journalists’ questions to committee chairs instead of the mayor.

She described the move, put forward by long-serving councillor Paul Tully, as “an ongoing targeted campaign to diminish the role and the credibility of the mayor”.

“This has been an ongoing battle. We do have a difference of opinion when it comes to transparency and accountability,” she said. “I want the books open and I want them left open and I don’t think that’s a view shared by all the councillors.”

Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding at the hanging of Mark Rothko’s 1957 #20, at Ipswich Art Gallery.Credit: City of Ipswich

She added that she had notified the minister for local government – the LNP’s Ann Leahy – about the plan. “So we’ll see what happens.”

Tully, who was deputy mayor when the council was sacked in 2018, and has since been re-elected, told The Australian the proposed changes were “intended to clarify the role of committee chairs in talking to the media”.

“It makes sense that the lead spokesperson is the committee chair because they’re the ones that are presenting the reports and recommendations to the council,” he said. “What’s she is saying is an exaggeration, a misrepresentation of the motion ... She is free to speak on issues, on any matter.”

Health Minister Tim Nicholls, a former Brisbane city councillor, said it seemed “extraordinary” the mayor could not comment on behalf of the council, but “as we’ve often said, councils are the masters of their own destiny”.

A crime scene has been declared following a fire at a tobacconist west of Brisbane overnight, the second at the business in two days.

Emergency services were called to Maryland Street in Stanthorpe just after 2.30am to reports of a shopfront on fire.

The fire was quickly put out, but the tobacconist and two surrounding storefronts were extensively damaged.

There was another fire at the same property around 4am on Sunday, although police said it “self-extinguished” before emergency services arrived.

Police are treating the fires as suspicious and urged anyone with information to get in contact.

Broncos stars Payne Haas and Adam Reynolds are expected to be fit in time to take on the Roosters in round one of the 2025 NRL season, with the Brisbane club providing positive updates on the pair.

Haas, the foundation of the Broncos’ forward pack, had minor ankle surgery on Friday and is expected to be sidelined from training for several weeks, according to Brisbane head of performance Dave Ballard.

Payne Haas shows the effects of a tough week in Darwin.Credit: Getty

“The surgery was a minor clean-out of the ankle. In consultation with the medical staff, we felt it was best for Payne to get it done now, before the start of the season,” he said.

“We expect him to spend several weeks with our rehab staff, before he’s integrated back into the full squad, ahead of round 1.”

Meanwhile, halfback and captain Adam Reynolds suffered a neck concern and went under the knife during the Christmas break, but was raring to launch the season.

“Reyno’s rehab is progressing well – he’s already begun non-contact sessions with the squad and is still on track to be ready for round one,” Ballard said.