As it happened: Brisbane on Thursday, May 1

A 22-year-old Helensvale man being held in custody on eight child abuse offences has been charged with another 119 offences.

After being charged earlier this month over alleged offences involving one victim, the man has now been charged with offences relating to another nine victims.

Police will allege electronic devices seized at the man’s home on March 3 were examined and provided evidence of further child abuse and grooming. He is accused of grooming children for carnal knowledge, to make child exploitation material, as well as unlawful stalking, intimidation, harassment and abuse.

“Our investigations do not stop once a person is charged. We will continue to follow every lead and piece of evidence to ensure the full extent of offending is uncovered and we seek justice for all victims,” Detective Inspector Paul Fletcher said in a statement.

The man is due to reappear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on May 8.

Thanks for joining us for our live coverage today. We’ll be back tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some of today’s main headlines:

A female teacher previously facing trial accused of grooming a 15-year-old male student for sexual abuse has had all charges against her dropped.

Most Australians believe wind turbines are not really green. We debunk this and other climate myths.

Woolworths customers are paying slightly less for long-life pantry, cooking, freezer and snack items as the supermarket giant has cut prices to keep customers in the grocery price war, as its sales fall behind Coles.

An elite NSW Ambulance paramedic had to drive from Penrith to collect life-saving ballistic vests and helmets before rushing them to Westfield Bondi Junction because his specialist unit was unable to enter the dangerous mass murder scene without them, the inquest into the April 2024 tragedy has heard.

Polling says young and middle-aged men have not turned towards conservative politics in Australia as they did at the US election. So what’s going on?

A Labor MP in one of the country’s tightest election battles has been forced to apologise after his father made homophobic comments towards a Liberal Party volunteer.

After Donald Trump’s embrace of various bro podcasters helped lock in the male edgelord vote and pave his return to the White House, it was no surprise that Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton would race to the mics ahead of Saturday’s poll.

A 22-year-old Helensvale man being held in custody on eight child abuse offences has been charged with another 119 offences.

After being charged earlier this month over alleged offences involving one victim, the man has now been charged with offences relating to another nine victims.

Police will allege electronic devices seized at the man’s home on March 3 were examined and provided evidence of further child abuse and grooming. He is accused of grooming children for carnal knowledge, to make child exploitation material, as well as unlawful stalking, intimidation, harassment and abuse.

“Our investigations do not stop once a person is charged. We will continue to follow every lead and piece of evidence to ensure the full extent of offending is uncovered and we seek justice for all victims,” Detective Inspector Paul Fletcher said in a statement.

The man is due to reappear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on May 8.

A Brisbane couple who paid for a surrogate mother to give birth to their child overseas could face criminal charges.

The baby was born last year, with a donated egg.

The family had reportedly been trying to have a child for 15 years, and agreed to pay at least €84,000 (about $A140,000) to the surrogacy service under the agreement.

The ABC first reported the case, which was referred to the Queensland director of public prosecutions after the family sought a parenting order.

Paying for surrogacy is illegal in Queensland, and carries a maximum penalty of three years in jail.

“[We] are aware of the matter and are conducting inquiries,” Queensland police said. “No further information is available at this time.”

The parenting order was not granted. “It is curious, to say the least, why the applicants have filed an application which will leave them to open to potential prosecution,” the ruling said.

Queensland’s peak body for the social service sector, QCOSS, has criticised legislation introduced to parliament yesterday that would allow police to issue on-the-spot protection orders for people experiencing domestic and family violence.

QCOSS chief executive Aimee McVeigh described the legislative changes as “a measure geared towards police efficiency” that “will do nothing to improve the safety and wellbeing of women and children”.

“The legislation provides no additional protections for victim survivors. What it does is save police paperwork and time,” McVeigh said.

Despite women and children overwhelmingly being the victim survivors of DFV, McVeigh said many reports and inquiries had shown police were “continually and regularly identifying men as the person most in need of protection when in fact they are the perpetrator”.

“What these measures will do is take away judicial oversight of police decisions and make it more likely that women and children go without the protection they need.

“The domestic and family violence sector has opposed these reforms for a long time, and they have sought further consultation so that the government can better understand the risks of this legislation.”

The Crisafulli government introduced the legislation on the eve of Queensland’s annual Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month, which begins today. The proposed reforms will be examined by a committee before any vote.

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie has joined Premier David Crisafulli in promoting the LNP’s performance so far in government.

“What a six months it’s been delivering for Queenslanders,” Bleijie told parliament.

Queensland Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie.Credit: Jamila Filippone

“And I’d say, Honourable Premier, after six months, as Ken would say to Barbie, ‘baby, we’re just getting started’.”

Bleijie, who also told parliament he was a “big fan” of the pop group Aqua, will today introduce new planning laws for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games and for the assessment of renewable energy projects.

The Crisafulli government will override legislation seen as potential stumbling blocks to Olympic delivery, ensuring projects such as the Victoria Park stadium and aquatic centre can be built without legal obstacle.

The overriding legislation, to be introduced today, will override 15 existing pieces of legislation – including the Queensland Heritage Act, the Environmental Protection Act and the Local Government Act – to ensure work can progress as quickly as possible.

“This will empower the independent Games authority to get on with the job of delivering the plan that has been set, with appropriate checks and balances in place,” Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said.

“With the largest infrastructure investment in Queensland’s history, it’s important there are clear pathways to delivery, with the appropriate oversight of Government in the right places.”

Save Victoria Park spokeswoman Rosemary O’Hagan said the move would only strengthen the group’s resolve.

“We are outraged but not deterred by the Crisafulli government’s plans to bulldoze the city’s planning, environment, nature and heritage laws in order to destroy Victoria Park-Barrambin, for two Olympic stadiums,” she said.

“It’s a slap in the face to the community, and to democracy.”

Another heavy day of early voting has pushed the proportion of people who won’t be filing into a polling booth on Saturday beyond one-in-four Australians.

Figures from the Australian Electoral Commission shows another 800,000 people voted yesterday, taking the total pre-poll so far to more than 4.8 million people.

That is 26.5 per cent of those enrolled to vote. At the same point in 2022, about 22.5 per cent of people had cast their ballot.

The busy early voting queue in Fairfield, Sydney, earlier this week.Credit: Max Mason-Hubers

In some seats, about 40 per cent of electors have voted. They include Hinkler in Queensland (40 per cent), Fowler in south-west Sydney (39 per cent), Gilmore in regional NSW (38 per cent) and Gippsland in regional Victoria (37.5 per cent).

The pre-poll does not include the 140,000 people who have cast ballots with the AEC’s special teams or remote booths, or the 1.1 million who have returned their postal votes.

Combined, that takes total votes to 6 million or a third of the 18.1 million on the roll.

Of course, not all 18.1 million will vote. At the last election, just under 90 per cent of people voted. If that’s repeated, then 36 per cent of Australians have completed their democratic obligation.

Albanese has made a tongue-in-cheek suggestion Kyle Sandilands should be a go-between for Trump after the KIIS radio host joked he had spoken to the US president’s son.

On The Kyle and Jackie O Show this morning, Sandilands probed the prime minister on tariff policy, and said he was talking to “their camp”.

“When did you speak to Donald? You did not speak to him,” co-host Jackie “O” Henderson interrupted.

Sandilands laughed it off and suggested Australia could “sort of bend the knee” in the ongoing trade negotiations.

“If they would lift our steel tariffs and aluminum tariffs, if we would accept more American vehicles for sale in this country, why wouldn’t you just agree to do that right now and get rid of all those problems?” Sandilands asked the PM.

“American vehicles are of course welcome here … My argument with our American friends is pretty clear, which is, we have a free trade agreement. We don’t put tariffs on their stuff, they shouldn’t put tariffs on our stuff,” Albanese said.

“Maybe I’ll get you, Kyle, to negotiate after the election, if we’re successful.”

During a morning blitz on commercial radio the PM has detailed his confusion about the endorsement he received from ‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic of the famous Netflix series.

Exotic posted on Instagram yesterday: “Keep Australia safe and awesome. All of my friends in Australia vote for @albomp.”

It took the PM by surprise.

“I must admit, I haven’t thought about Joe Exotic for a [long time] and wasn’t aware of what he was in jail for,” said Albanese on Nova Perth.

Host: I’ve no idea what Tiger King knows about Australia but he has got a mullet, so maybe a connection [there]?

PM: He might have seen the earlier photos of me with my mullet, my earring and all that.

Asked if he would ask US President Donald Trump to pardon Exotic if re-elected, the prime minister said he would be more focused on lifting negotiating on the White House’s tariffs, but pointed to how Labor facilitated the release of Julian Assange.

Radio shock jock Kyle Sandilands has quizzed the prime minister on whether he used illicit drugs.

In an interview on KIIS 106.5 this morning, Sandilands said he was reconsidering voting for the Liberals after he asked Dutton about legalising marijuana and the Coalition leader said his party was not interested.

Anthony Albanese with Kyle Sandilands and son Otto at the broadcaster’s wedding two years ago.Credit: Twitter

“It is up to the states, as I’ve said,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese replied, and would not be drawn on his personal opinion.

“Can you ever imagine you and I blowing a spliff together?” Sandilands asked the prime minister.

“I can’t imagine that, Kyle, but each to their own,” Albanese said.

“You’re more of a bong guy, right?” Sandilands asked.

“Mate, I’m off the beers at the moment,” Albanese said, before trying to redirect the conversation to policy, recalling when his government froze the beer excise.

But Sandilands would not be deterred.

“What about the nose beers?” the radio host asked.

Albanese laughed along and co-host Jackie “O” Henderson expressed surprise the prime minister knew the colloquial term for cocaine.

“I do live in Marrickville, or I used to before I moved to Canberra,” Albanese said.