As it happened: Brisbane on Tuesday, December 10

Queensland Police say they are “absolutely committed” to protecting minority groups including Jewish residents after threats emerged online.

A 52-year-old Holland Park man was arrested by the state’s counter-terrorism unit this week after he allegedly sent threats to a Victorian Jewish community centre.

“This is an extremely serious offence,” Commissioner Steve Gollschewski told reporters on Tuesday.

“We know the focus on this at the moment, and the Queensland Police Service is absolutely committed to making sure that every Queenslander and people from minority groups feel safe.

“They have that right, and we are committed to supporting them. We have an excellent relationship with the Jewish community here in Queensland and we remain in dialogue with them and committed to making sure they are properly supported.”

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

In case you’re just catching up, here are some of the stories that made headlines today:

Premier David Crisafulli has moved to make good on his campaign promise there would be no changes to abortion laws under an LNP government: by stopping parliament from discussing the topic.

There will be no Christmas cheer for the nation’s army of mortgage holders after the Reserve Bank board used its final meeting of the year to keep official interest rates steady.

A Qantas flight has made an emergency landing at Brisbane Airport on Tuesday morning, with passengers told midair the brakes had malfunctioned.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called out the influence of News Corp’s alleged bias, warning colleagues during a cabinet meeting that Rupert Murdoch’s media empire was openly working to back Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

What began as a trickle has become a flood, with Brisbane’s sunny climate, a vibrant hospitality scene and the looming Olympics luring Melbourne restaurateurs north.

Back in Bris Vegas, synth-rock’s favourite Las Vegans the Killers proved they’re still a world-class live act with a greatest-hits show – despite one fan collapsing and another kicked out.

And in sport, Broncos marquee man Payne Haas is confident coach Michael Maguire has the tools to transform this young Brisbane squad into “men”, but revealed a once-maligned NRL star had added his voice to the club’s revival mission.

Police and SES operatives have today resumed their search for a 20-year-old hiker who went missing from Mount Beerwah on the weekend.

The 20-year-old Mountain Creek man was last heard from about 1pm Sunday, when he was believed to be hiking around Mount Beerwah, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

The missing 20-year-old was expected to still be wearing the clothes pictured, and within the Mount Beerwah area. Credit: Queensland Police

Search efforts – including SES drones, Polair, and extensive ground searches – began from Sunday afternoon, but faced some delays due to storms in the evening.

Police said today they suspected the man was still on the mountain, and released an image of the 20-year-old.

They expected the man was still wearing the outfit pictured – a light blue long sleeve Salty Barra fishing shirt and shorts – and urged anyone with relevant information to come forward.

Investigations remain ongoing.

An unlicensed man has been charged after an alleged hit-and-run killed a motorbike rider west of Brisbane on the weekend.

A grey Nissan Navara allegedly struck a blue Yamaha motorcycle on Ripley Road in Lyons about 11.40am on Sunday.

The unlicensed 28-year-old Minden man behind the wheel of the ute allegedly fled the scene as the 60-year-old rider died.

He is charged with driving without a licence, dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death and failing to remain at the scene of a crash.

The man will appear at Ipswich Magistrates Court today.

Rape and serious sexual assault has been alleged at a home massage business north of Brisbane.

A 34-year-old Sunshine Beach man has been charged after reported offences at the Sunshine Beach property in November.

He is accused of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assaults.

Police believe there may be further victims that are yet to come forward.

“We appeal to anyone with further information relating to the matter or victims of similar incidents … to come forward,” Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Chris Duhig said in a statement.

The man is due to appear at Maroochydore Magistrates Court on December 16.

Brisbane City Council’s transport chair Ryan Murphy has defended the plan to build a $35 million bikeway from the end of the new Kangaroo Point green bridge.

The bikeway – spanning from the bridge’s Deakin Road underpass to the Lytton Road bike path – would create a 4km-long uninterrupted path for active transport from the CBD out towards the city’s eastern suburbs.

However, the plans have received backlash as a too-little-too-late alternative for a promised Riverwalk project in Kangaroo Point, and were not expected to be completed until 2027 at the earliest.

Murphy told ABC Radio Brisbane this morning that private properties backing into the Brisbane River had ballooned costs and sunk the project.

“Ultimately, this is not about creating something fancy,” he said.

“It’s about actually keeping cyclists and security users safe on a dedicated connection … and when this thing is done, it will create a four-kilometre dedicated connection.”

For details of the council’s Kangaroo Point active transport study and the scrapped Riverwalk plans that informed the project, read the full article.

The LNP government has flagged a $500 million “shortfall in the budget” to fund the state’s residential care system, accusing the former Labor government of under-budgeting.

Residential care is designed as a short-term solution for children and teenagers unable to live with their parents at home, extended family, or in foster care.

Speaking on ABC Radio this morning, child safety minister Amanda Camm said the Labor government had budgeted $658 million for this financial year, leaving a half a billion dollar gap required “to pay the bills by June 30”.

She said under Labor, the number of children under 12 in the system had more than tripled.

Asked why this was the responsibility of the Miles government, Camm said there had been “very little or no funding when it comes to supporting families and interventions”, and supporting children placed back into kinship care.

She also took the opportunity to draw a correlation between “the broken child safety system and the youth justice crisis” in Queensland, ahead of the LNP’s controversial youth crime laws being debated in parliament during the last sitting week of the year.

“There were recent reports by the Queensland Family and Child Commission that highlighted 721 children under youth justice supervision had experienced out-of-home care, including residential care, and it became the pipeline that has bred youth crime in this state,” Camm said.

“That is a system that is in crisis and that is broken.”

Queensland Police say they are “absolutely committed” to protecting minority groups including Jewish residents after threats emerged online.

A 52-year-old Holland Park man was arrested by the state’s counter-terrorism unit this week after he allegedly sent threats to a Victorian Jewish community centre.

“This is an extremely serious offence,” Commissioner Steve Gollschewski told reporters on Tuesday.

“We know the focus on this at the moment, and the Queensland Police Service is absolutely committed to making sure that every Queenslander and people from minority groups feel safe.

“They have that right, and we are committed to supporting them. We have an excellent relationship with the Jewish community here in Queensland and we remain in dialogue with them and committed to making sure they are properly supported.”

A review of home-schooling in Queensland has found 35 children were living in homes where there was domestic violence, a suspected child harm report, or a child protection substantiation.

The Queensland Family and Child Commission looked at a random sample of 500 children registered for home education, finding 7 per cent lived in a high-risk environment between August 2021 and August 2023.

The review also found there was limited published data on children registered for home education and low visibility and oversight of their wellbeing, few opportunities for children to participate in decisions regarding their home education, and a lack of systems to support information sharing between government departments and police.

The QFCC said it was concerning 35 children experienced a “safety event”, but it was based on a sample, and comparison with schoolchildren was difficult.

“This finding should not be used to imply that children registered for home education are at higher risk of harm than their peers, however, it does confirm that there are negative safety events occurring for home-schooled children where there is less professional scrutiny of their situation,” the report said.

In September, a review called for Queensland to overhaul its home education regulator, while former education minister Di Farmer previously dumped plans to force parents to teach the Australian curriculum.

Home-schooling numbers have more than tripled in Queensland since before COVID, with more than 10,000 students registered last year.

Premier David Crisafulli has moved to make good on his repeatedly uttered but never explained campaign promise there would be no changes to abortion laws under an LNP government: stopping parliament from discussing it.

The motion without notice will see rules changed to ban any bill or amendment to change the Termination of Pregnancy Act, or any motion or amendment “seeking to have this house express its views” on the law.

“I said from day one, it was not part of our plan. I said there will be no changes,” Crisafulli said, before MPs launched into a snap 30-minute debate that erupted into personal attacks and interjections.

Opposition Leader Steven Miles accused Crisafulli of being “so weak he cannot control his own party”, citing some LNP MPs who have pushed for winding back or repealing the laws.

Miles said Labor would oppose the motion, likely to pass on the government’s numbers, which would also bar any reforms to improve abortion laws.

Katter’s Australian Party leader and Traeger MP Robbie Katter said he was “almost lost for words” about the move to ban debate on an issue for which he said he was unsure there was any parliamentary precedent.

Queensland MPs are back in parliament for the last sitting week of the year, and gearing up for debate and passage of the LNP’s controversial youth justice laws.

(Some are perhaps a bit bleary-eyed after a cleaner accidentally rang the bells that alert them to rush to the chamber for a vote at 4am.)

While some largely administrative bills will be introduced, and some remaining first speeches heard, the bulk of the focus will be on the Making Queensland Safer Bill.

The government has moved to have this automatically wrapped up by 5.30pm Thursday, before the traditional lighting of the Christmas tree and end of year drinks.

Labor’s manager of opposition business Mick de Brenni painted the time limit, often used by the former government, as “stifling” debate. Labor has flagged it will move amendments to address concerns of victims groups.

The LNP also moved to establish its promised committee inquiry into elder abuse, with one into volunteering to be set up later in the week.