Brisbane news live: Premier’s new directive to all departments; Highway reopens early after wind turbine crash; PM speaks to Pope Leo XIV about his mother

A man who allegedly touched a woman inappropriately and stuck his hands in her food on a flight from Sydney to the Gold Coast is set to face court today.

The 41-year-old was arrested after landing on the Gold Coast on the evening of February 4 this year.

During the flight, federal police allege, the man placed his hand on the woman’s inner thigh multiple times and also put his hands in her food.

“This incident should serve as a reminder to the community that authorities will not tolerate indecent behaviour at our airports or on aircraft,” AFP detective superintendent Scott Moller said.

The man has been charged with one count of acting indecently and is due to appear in Southport Magistrates Court on the Gold Coast today.

It is not the first time that a premier’s office has demanded to see all media inquiries to all government departments.

As we have reported this morning, Premier David Crisafulli’s office has ordered that all inquiries from journalists to all government departments – including police, fire and ambulance services – be collated in a daily wrap for his department.

His office insists it will not intervene with responses, only keep track of them.

In Victoria, former Labor premier Daniel Andrews made a similar move.

Andrews’ style of iron-fist leadership over all areas of government was exposed in documents which showed his private office intercepted routine media inquiries to health agencies.

The bid to hold tight control of the flow of public information was revealed last year in more than 150 pages of Victorian Health Department memos.

The papers revealed the extensive involvement of the Premier’s Private Office – nicknamed the PPO – in overseeing the responses, including to questions that had been posed to hospitals, the health minister and “independent” bodies.

Examples included an inquiry to hospitals asking if WorkSafe premium increases could impact their services, as well as a request for data on gender transitioning.

Integrity experts who examined the documents said the number and frequency of health-related media inquiries involving the PPO was evidence of centralisation of government power.

Speaking about Andrews, Monash University associate professor Yee-Fui Ng said the “presidentialisation” of politics was increasing across Western democracies. This means power, including media management, is being concentrated in the office of the leader.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke to Pope Leo XIV about his mother after being ushered into St Peter’s Basilica in Rome following the Catholic leader’s inauguration mass.

“I spoke to him about my mother who would be, I’m sure, looking down from Heaven with the biggest smile she’s ever had,” the prime minister told reporters at the Vatican on Sunday.

The conversation took place after a number of world leaders were taken into the basilica to greet the Pope after the mass.

Albanese, who was raised Catholic in a housing commission flat in Sydney, often references his single-parent mother and her influence on his life.

The prime minister also met with other world leaders on the sidelines of the historic event at the Vatican, including Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, European Union President Ursula von der Leyen and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

AAP

Now to a different mode of transport … Richard Jefferay has always been mad about vintage vehicles, even doing up a 70-year-old tractor to mow his lawn.

The 1950s Massey Ferguson has no suspension, no cab and a rough old spring under the seat.

“I just put a bit less air in the tyres to make it more comfortable,” Jefferay said.

The long-time mechanic will want to be pretty comfortable when he drives the same tractor 1200 kilometres along bumpy back roads from Bourke, in western NSW, to the outback Queensland town of Birdsville in August.

Jefferay, from the central-west NSW town of Parkes, will be among nine men making the 11-day trek across the outback on old tractors to raise money for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.

It takes the best part of a day to cover 100 kilometres on the tractors – which have a top speed of 23km/h – with only AC/DC songs, the odd wild animal and the outback red dust to keep them company.

The men thaw frozen meals on the bonnets of the tractors in the morning and eat from camp oven cook-ups on the side of the road at night.

“There’s no showers, no toilets, no cabins on the tractors – we’re just swagging it,” Jefferay said.

The westbound lanes of the Warrego Highway in Ipswich have reopened after a truck hauling a wind turbine became stuck under an overpass on Friday.

The road was reopened earlier than expected last night.

Initial investigations suggest the driver of the oversized truck failed to follow escorting vehicles to an off-ramp, instead continuing on the highway.

However, the Mount Crosby Road overpass remains closed, with possible structural damage.

If it is deemed safe, the overpass will likely reopen before the end of the week.

“The public can continue to expect delays, with traffic control in place and warning signs active,” a spokesperson for the Department of Transport and Main Roads said.

Read more about Friday’s collision here. 

Researchers hope talking to maps may help them find the answers needed to solve Australia’s housing crisis.

In an effort to tackle a multi-front crisis, a cutting-edge government-backed housing analytics lab will open this morning.

Studying housing data, the interactive lab aims to find solutions to housing affordability, by looking at areas to build social homes and boost the waning development pipeline.

Researchers will use Map AI, an interactive tool that shows housing data, to find which areas are best to be developed, and how to feasibly redevelop already high-density areas.

“Map AI allows you to talk to your map and ask questions like ‘show me property here’, so it makes it a lot easier for those who are not data scientists to interrogate the data,” lead of the lab and UNSW professor Chris Pettit said.

“Traditionally planners try to rezone high-density areas around train stations.

“We will use AI to see what value are those properties are and what is permissible to zone, to break down some of those barriers.”

The lab will bring together more than a dozen partners in government and the housing sector, with a focus on NSW, though solutions found can be used across the nation.

State governments in 2023 agreed to begin building a combined 1.2 million homes from mid-2024, with the hope of finishing them over five years.

Less than a year later, the number of approved dwellings is dropping, not rising, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

AAP

A sunnier start to the week is forecast for the River City, after a week of intermittent showers.

The bureau suggests the chance of rain in Brisbane isn’t high today, but showers will hang around this week.

The top temperatures will remain in the mid-20s degrees for the week.

Here’s a glance at the next seven days: