As it happened: Brisbane on Thursday, December 5

A teenage boy who caused a crash that killed three women and injured a fourth while speeding in a stolen car has been sentenced to six years’ detention.

Nurse Sheree Robertson, 52, Kelsie Davies, 17, and pastor Michale Chandler, 29 were killed after their vehicles collided after being struck by a stolen car driven by the youth.

A fourth woman, Kaylah Behrens, 23, was critically injured.

Friends and family of the victims filled the Maroochydore District Court on Thursday, as District Judge Gary Long concluded a sentencing hearing for the youth that began in November.

Judge Long said the youth’s offending resulted in catastrophic events and “horrendous consequences from your egregious behaviour”.

The youth, now aged 14, of Bundaberg, had previously pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of a vehicle causing three deaths and grievous bodily harm while speeding.

He also pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property, two counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, stealing and unlicensed driving.

Judge Long said no sentence could undo the “grave losses and impacts that have resulted from this offending”.

The youth had been involved with child protection services since the age of eight and had been exposed to serious domestic violence and drug use.

Judge Long said he had to take this background into account, as well as the youth’s cognitive impairment from a traumatic brain injury that affected his rational decision-making and impulse control.

The youth had convictions recorded and will be released in just over two years, after serving 60 per cent of the detention period and already spending 583 days in custody.

AAP

Thanks for joining us this Thursday. We will be back with more news from Brisbane and beyond tomorrow, so do join us.

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

Voters are on track to be offered billions of dollars in energy relief in the run-up to next year’s federal election as Treasurer Jim Chalmers seeks to prevent a large increase in electricity bills that would add to inflation pressures.

A widening of coercive control laws to cover groups such as cults and changes to the tax breaks afforded to religious organisations are among reforms proposed after the exposure of extreme teachings at a secretive Australian church.

Data on Australian listening habits from Spotify shows some curious local variations. For example, while every other major Australian city had Billie Eilish among their most-played artists, and Kanye West was still popular in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, neither made Brisbane’s top five.

Overseas, Brian Thompson, the chief executive of UnitedHealth’s insurance unit, has been fatally shot outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel in what appeared to be a targeted attack by a gunman lying in wait.

Bitcoin has breached $US100,000 for the first time, surging to its highest price in history after US President-elect Donald Trump nominated a cryptocurrency advocate to chair America’s financial markets regulator.

After 14 years wedged on the corner of Vulture and Thomas streets, West End indie record store Jet Black Cat Music is closing its doors – however, its online store will continue to trade.

And as a much-loved West End business closes, a new intimate, club-like venue has been unveiled in the suburb, with a star bartender using innovative techniques (and Japanese ice) to push the boundaries of cocktail making.

Locals who woke up to overcast skies today could be forgiven for expecting a change in the weather, but hot, humid conditions are slated to last into the weekend.

Brisbane is tipped to reach low-intensity heatwave conditions, with temperatures in the mid-30s by Sunday before storms early next week.

Meteorologist Shane Kennedy said dew point temperatures were expected to sit around 22 to 23 degrees, indicating a level of humidity close to tropical environments such as Cairns or Townsville.

“Even though this morning it was temperatures around 25 (degrees), the ‘feels like’ temperature was already up around 30 degrees,” he said.

“From tomorrow, we’re expecting some drier air will move in … but it’s still likely to peak at the mid-30s on Sunday.“

Kennedy rainfall was expected either Sunday evening or Monday morning.

A teenage boy who caused a crash that killed three women and injured a fourth while speeding in a stolen car has been sentenced to six years’ detention.

Nurse Sheree Robertson, 52, Kelsie Davies, 17, and pastor Michale Chandler, 29 were killed after their vehicles collided after being struck by a stolen car driven by the youth.

A fourth woman, Kaylah Behrens, 23, was critically injured.

Friends and family of the victims filled the Maroochydore District Court on Thursday, as District Judge Gary Long concluded a sentencing hearing for the youth that began in November.

Judge Long said the youth’s offending resulted in catastrophic events and “horrendous consequences from your egregious behaviour”.

The youth, now aged 14, of Bundaberg, had previously pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of a vehicle causing three deaths and grievous bodily harm while speeding.

He also pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property, two counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, stealing and unlicensed driving.

Judge Long said no sentence could undo the “grave losses and impacts that have resulted from this offending”.

The youth had been involved with child protection services since the age of eight and had been exposed to serious domestic violence and drug use.

Judge Long said he had to take this background into account, as well as the youth’s cognitive impairment from a traumatic brain injury that affected his rational decision-making and impulse control.

The youth had convictions recorded and will be released in just over two years, after serving 60 per cent of the detention period and already spending 583 days in custody.

AAP

Brisbane City Council has installed three new solar-powered rubbish bins in the Queen Street Mall to raise money for charity when people recycle cans and bottles for a 10¢ donation.

People can scan the barcode of their container, and if it is recyclable, 10¢ will be donated to The Lord Mayor’s Charitable Trust.

The new bins will allow people to recycle cans and bottles while donating to the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Trust.Credit: Brisbane City Council

The new bins are outside the Wintergarden entrance, outside Uptown, and outside EzyMart on Albert Street.

“We know the iconic Queen Street Mall will be packed with Christmas shoppers, holiday makers and visitors over the summer break, and this exciting initiative will make giving back even easier,” Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said.

“The charitable trust will receive 100 per cent of the profits collected which can then assist people experiencing hardships such as homelessness, domestic and family violence or illness.”

Donations to the trust can also be made on property owners’ rates bills, and at the most recent Christmas grant round, 94 Brisbane charities received a share of $250,000.

Brisbane has poached Australia’s elite speed cycling centre of excellence from Adelaide, in what the state government hopes is the first of many sports to relocate to Queensland ahead of the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games.

Both the national track sprint and BMX racing programs will relocate to the Sleeman Sports Complex at Chandler.

AusCycling executive general manager of performance Jesse Korf said that would mean an immediate influx of 70 staff and athletes, with that number entering three digits well before Brisbane 2032.

AusCycling’s Jesse Korf at the Anna Meares Velodrome on Thursday.Credit: Cameron Atfield

Korf said “few places on the planet” had facilities like the Anna Meares Velodrome and the Brisbane BMX Centre so close together, as was the case in Chandler.

It would also give Australian cyclists more of a home ground advantage come Games time in 2032.

“The opportunity to train here, to go through that evolution and have an eight-year runway is just an incredible opportunity,” he said.

“It also allows for more familiarity, which should lead to more performance.”

Olympic and Paralympic Games Minister Tim Mander said the government aimed to lure more national sporting bodies to Queensland ahead of Brisbane 2032.

“It’s a very strategic advantage to be in the location of where the Games are going to be, no matter what sport it is, to acclimatise to the local conditions, to get used to it,” he said.

“We’ve got to take advantage of our home advantage.”

The Broncos’ prospects of returning to the top of the NRLW podium have received an emphatic boost, following the signing of Dally M Medal winner Tamika Upton.

The Jillaroos star, widely regarded as the leading women’s player in the game, has inked a three-year deal with the club she debuted with before moving to the Newcastle Knights - who have released the 27-year-old on compassionate grounds.

A four-time premiership winner, Upton comes with a further two Karyn Murphy Medals for being the grand finals player of the match, and will join a lethal back three which boasts fellow representatives guns Julia Robinson and Stacey Waaka on the wings.

Tamika Upton playing for the Maroons in the State of Origin this year.Credit: Getty

“I’m very excited to return home to my family, and in particular the club where I started, with all the girls that I started with - it’s really gone full circle,” Upton said.

“I’ve watched all the games closely and I’ve had some of my really good friends still playing for the Broncos, so I’ve even gone to Sydney to watch their games live when I’ve been able to.

“Family is extremely important to me, so it means the world to be closer to them. It would be incredible to win a third premiership with the Broncos.”

Cryptocurrency bitcoin has hit $US100,000, surging to the highest price in its history in the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory and expected pro-crypto regulation in the US.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency has soared in value by more than 40 per cent in just four weeks, after US president-elect Trump promised to “end Joe Biden’s war on crypto.”

The crypto sector outspent oil companies, banks and Elon Musk on the US election.

“The sky is the limit for bitcoin now,” Jason Titman, the CEO of Australian crypto brokerage Swyftx, Jason Titman,” told this masthead.

“We started the year with BlackRock and other large investment funds entering the crypto market. We’ve ended it on the verge of sensible regulation in the US. You could not have sat down and scripted a better scenario.

“There is a sense of euphoria among local investors right now... This is a momentum rally. Pure and simple.

“Local spot volumes are running at mid-pandemic levels and the nomination of Paul Atkins as SEC chair has just added to the sense of a carnival atmosphere.”

A 47-year-old man has been extradited from NSW to Queensland and charged with the murder of a man who was found dead in Caboolture South over the weekend.

Police were called to a commercial storage facility on Morayfield Road about lunchtime on Sunday, where they found the man’s body inside a caravan stored at the site.

Investigators said the man, aged 60, had been assaulted and moved into the caravan earlier that day.

This morning, police found a man allegedly involved in the 60-year-old’s death in Ballina, NSW.

That man, aged 47, was charged with murder as a domestic violence offence, and appeared in Ballina Local Court today to face extradition proceedings.

He was remanded in custody and transported to Caboolture, where he is expected to appear in Caboolture Magistrates Court tomorrow.

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) is the latest group to condemn the Queensland government’s proposed youth crime laws, cautioning against the targeting of vulnerable young children.

RACP’s Paediatric and Child Health Division president Professor Nitin Kapur said the organisation had consistently argued it was inappropriate for children under 14 years of age to be in the criminal justice system.

He said the Making Queensland Safer Bill was likely to worsen health outcomes and over-representation of First Nations children.

We are keen to work with the Queensland Government to address the challenges our children face today but are extremely concerned that the government’s approach will set back developmental and social outcomes for vulnerable members of a generation of children.

As child health experts, we have repeatedly warned that detaining children does not address the main causes of anti-social behaviour.

A large proportion of children who come into contact with the criminal justice system have underlying developmental issues and complex needs.

We need to provide these children with culturally appropriate support, health care, education, and help them foster more positive behaviours.”

Earlier this week, the Justice, Integrity and Community Safety Committee heard from advocates, victims and experts in Brisbane and Townsville to consider the legislation’s impact.

The committee is due to table its report on Friday, December 6.

The bill is almost certain to pass, given the LNP, which has a majority in parliament, promised to make it a government priority.

ABC chair Kim Williams’ arch-nemesis Joe Rogan was behind Australia’s favourite podcast in 2024, according to audio giant Spotify, which released its annual “Wrapped” data on Thursday.

The Joe Rogan Experience, which has featured guests such as President-elect Donald Trump, his VP pick J.D. Vance and Elon Musk, finished the year ranked ahead of British podcast The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett, while “wellness bro” and health podcaster Andrew Huberman’s Huberman Lab was third.

Joe Rogan finishes the year on top despite ABC chair Kim Williams’ lack of appreciation.Credit: Digitally altered image. Artwork: Marija Ercegovac.

Williams said his inbox was flooded with hate messages last week after he criticised Rogan at the National Press Club, likening him to other right-wing commentators in modern media.

“They prey on fear, they prey on anxiety, they prey on all of the elements that contribute to uncertainty in society ... They entrepreneur fantasy outcomes and conspiracy outcomes as being a normal part of social narrative,” Williams said.

Rogan’s two-“word” response on social media, “LOL WUT” took Williams’ comments global, revitalising a conversation about the influence figures like Rogan and the newly coined “manosphere” have on culture and politics.

Casefile: True Crime was the only Australian podcast to feature in the top five, with sex advice and comedy podcast Call Her Daddy rounding out the Spotify list.

Call Her Daddy, hosted by Alex Cooper, is seen as the antithesis of Rogan’s show and was the most popular with female audiences. Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on the podcast ahead of her election defeat.

Read more about the Rogan-Williams spat here.