Peter Steenstrup has not lived with his family for more than five years.

The former builder, husband, and father has been unable to return to his pre-war, colonial home in Brisbane's leafy suburb of Sherwood since becoming a paraplegic due to a spinal tumour in 2020.

Living alone, away from his wife, takes a toll, he told 9news.com.au.

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"I'd much rather be at home with the family, of course," Steenstrup said.

"Oh my God, yes.

"I would be able to be much more productive, and I would enjoy my life much more than I do now."

Because his surgery happened at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Steenstrup spent nine months in hospital before appropriate accommodation was found for him.

Since then, he's moved several times, into a variety of emergency accommodation and SDA (specialist disability accommodation) homes.

He says in the midst of the national housing crisis, finding safe and appropriate housing is even harder for the 4.4 million or one in five Australians estimated to be living with a disability.

"It's becoming more and more difficult for anyone to simply go out and buy their own home, first time or otherwise, and anyone with a disability would immediately be left behind or put in an even more difficult position, not to mention the fact that we have a much larger, older generation which is getting older every year in Queensland," Steenstrup said.

In light of the housing crisis, recent changes to the National Construction Code in 2022, designed to make new homes more accessible and energy efficient, are under the spotlight.

The Liveable Housing Standard added requirements for accessible features such as step-free entry, wider doorways, roll-in shower access and reinforced bathroom walls to allow for installation of grab rails.

An interim report by the Queensland Productivity Commission released last month recommends the Queensland government "opt-out" of the requirements.

The report argues the changes have increased construction costs for builders – which are passed on to consumers – and that the benefits do not justify the costs.

According to Master Builders Queensland, the accessibility and energy efficiency requirements together add between $22,500 and $44,500 to the cost of building a new home.

Executive Manager of Advocacy and Member Services Michael Hopkins said the industry body wants to see the requirements made voluntary.

"In the midst of a housing crisis, and an affordability crisis, we need to be looking for ways to be able to deliver more housing at an affordable level," Hopkins said.

"We're not advocating for these requirements to be scrapped altogether, in fact, we know parts of the industry have adapted well to these standards, and where homeowners would like to incorporate them we think that's perfectly appropriate.

"But in other cases where the cost might be the difference between a project proceeding or not proceeding, we'd like to give homeowners the choice as to whether they adopt those higher standards or not."

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Spinal Life Australia wants the requirements to remain mandatory.

They argue the accessibility requirements save millions in taxpayer dollars down the track by reducing the need for home modifications, hospital stays and aged care admissions.

CEO Mark Townend said the lack of reliable data about supply and demand of accessible housing is a major issue.

"The costs to the community of lack of accessible housing is estimated to be between $3 billion and $6.7 billion," he said.

"It is clear that a much higher provision of accessible housing is required, and that relying on the construction industry to deliver this on a voluntary basis has not delivered any measurable results.

"Spinal Life Australia will continue to advocate for people with disability, and strongly urge the Queensland Government to reject the QPC's recommendation and uphold the Liveable Housing Standard."

Steenstrup intends to return to his family home when he can raise the finances to make the necessary adjustments, which involve raising the home and building underneath.

He says the cost of making it accessible for him in the process is no more so than it would be otherwise.

"There's no extra real-world costs involved, we've just got to lay it out in a way that's specific to my needs," he said.

He wants the state to retain the Liveable Housing Standard to ensure there is enough accessible homes for Queensland's growing and ageing population.

"We need this in place as a bare minimum just to support our population," he said.

"We're a quarter of the way into the 21st century and this idea sends us backwards.

"Very shortly, we're gonna have the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

"They're gonna see Queensland, how we treat the most vulnerable in our society."

The Queensland government is waiting for the full report by the Queensland Productivity Commission, due to be handed to the treasurer on October 24, before considering any of its findings or recommendations.

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Most Australians will remember the Black Summer bushfires that burnt more than 24 million hectares and claimed 33 lives at the tail end of the 2017 to 2019 drought.

A handful are aware of the Federation drought that brought the nation's farmers to their knees between 1895 and 1902, in what became one of the worst droughts on record.

But something worse is coming, according to scientists like Dr Georgina Falster.

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"Australia, as a continent, is naturally prone to megadroughts which last 20 or more years," she told 9news.com.au.

A climate scientist, she's spent years digging into Australia's past to predict and prepare for extreme weather events in the future, from megadroughts to deadly floods.

Combining modern weather observations, climate model simulations, and natural archives like tree rings and ice cores, she discovered that megadroughts have always been a natural part of Australia's climate.

"It's just luck that we have not had one in the past century," Falster said.

But that's about to change.

"It's impossible to predict exactly when one will happen, [but] in the coming centuries, there will definitely be at least one mega drought somewhere in southeastern Australia."

And if we don't start preparing for it now, she fears the fallout could be catastrophic.

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Megadrought on the horizon

A megadrought is an exceptionally severe drought that lasts more than 15 years and covers wide areas.

Lakes and rivers dry up, water becomes scarce, crops fail, and wildlife populations collapse, usually leading to a mass exodus of people as they try to escape affected areas.

Australia has experienced these megadroughts throughout history and, according to Falster's research, will likely do so again.

Whether or not the nation is prepared for it is up to us.

"If we do have a megadrought today, the big problem would be that it would be against the backdrop of human-caused climate change," Falster said.

"Which actually has been shown by my research and others to make the impacts of droughts worse."

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Warmer temperatures and more extreme weather events caused by climate change could have catastrophic effects in the case of a megadrought here in Australia.

In fact, we need only look to North America to see just how devastating it could be.

The south-west US has been in the grips of a megadrought for the last 25 years that has caused agriculture to collapse, natural ecosystems to wither, and tens of millions of people – those who can afford it – to relocate away from affected areas.

Falster predicts that without adequate preparation, the same could happen here.

"What I really want is for governments and water management authorities to realise this, and at least have it in their minds that this is something that we could and should be prepared for," she said.

We've already seen a spike in extreme weather events like devastating bushfires and flood events in recent years, so being prepared by developing water management plans and expanding initiatives like the Future Drought Fund (FDF) will only benefit Australians.

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Everyday Australians can make a difference

Though an impending 20-year megadrought sounds scary, Falster said everyday Australians are the key to making a difference.

Even small acts like using public transport, buying second-hand and reducing waste can benefit the environment and contribute to social change, which fuels political action.

"I think the important thing to remember is that at no point is it too late to do something about climate change," she said.

"There's no point at which we just throw our hands up and say, 'it's a lost cause'.

"Every little thing that we can do makes a difference."

And she's just been given the opportunity to make even more of a difference.

Falster was named one of the 2025 L'Oréal–UNESCO For Women in Science Fellows, awarded $25,000 to further her research and stands to inspire the next generation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) fields.

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Research has shown that young women are increasingly invested in combating climate change and Falster is excited to see more girls grow up to become climate scientists.

"The fact remains that it is still quite difficult [to be a female scientist], and it's a male-dominated field," she said.

"All I can hope for is that one day there will be absolutely no barriers to any woman to pursue anything they like.

"Because at the end of the day, big challenges like climate change need a diverse range of people addressing the topic.

"Just white men doing science is insufficient."

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When Jane* says she was written up at work for "rolling her eyes" at a manager, it was the last straw.

She'd put up with alleged bullying from that manager for months and finally broke down.

"I had a panic attack and I called my mum," she told 9news.com.au.

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"I'd never had a panic attack before and I was like, 'I've just done everything for this company, I've dealt with this bullying … I don't know what to do.'"

Jane is not alone.

New Allianz data revealed that workplace bullying and harassment is still the leading cause of psychological distress claims in Australia.

It accounted for almost 42 per cent of all active claims in 2024, up from 39 per cent in 2023.

Almost two in three claimants in 2024 were women, the highest proportion in five years, and Aussies aged 50 to 60 had the highest proportion of claims.

Meanwhile, millennials saw the highest spike in psychological distress claims related to workplace bullying.

Allianz Australia national manager of mental health strategy and delivery Brianna Cattanach said the spike in claims is due in part to a growing awareness of what constitutes bullying and harassment and how the compensation claims process works.

"People are identifying a broader range of behaviours that cause psychological harm and distress, beyond the traditional view of overt bullying," Cattanach told 9news.

"This includes subtle forms of harassment and microaggressions that were previously more overlooked."

Claims often highlight issues like workplace relationship breakdowns, poorly executed performance management and feedback processes, unchecked incivility, inappropriate workplace behaviors, and a culture that undermines psychological safety.

The surge in claims may also be linked to the changing nature of workplace bullying and harassment, which is increasingly playing out online and via social media.

Jane's alleged bully targeted her on TikTok, far from the four walls of their physical office.

They were a new manager who Jane claimed struggled with basic duties and expected her to pick up the slack.

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"This manager, who was obviously getting paid way more than me, didn't understand Google Docs," Jane told 9news.com.au.

"But they were quite good at the talk."

Within a few weeks of starting the job, the manager started acting "passive aggressive" towards Jane, she claimed.

Then the TikTok videos started.

Jane's manager was regularly posting clips talking about their workplace and allegedly made disparaging remarks about an unnamed colleague.

Context clues made it clear who the manager was talking about, calimed Jane.

"We would disagree on something silly and then I'd go home and I'd see a TikTok about why my opinion was wrong, and why nobody should do this," Jane claimed.

But when she reported it to upper management, she says she was told nothing could be done.

Jane was allegedly told that because the manager never named her in the clips, there was no evidence of alleged bullying.

"They didn't take it seriously," she said.

Unwilling to quit her job in a cost of living crisis, she put up with it until the manager finally resigned.

But not before they filed a complaint about Jane "rolling her eyes" at them, which Jane denied ever happened.

She was issued a formal warning, then was diagnosed with acute stress syndrome and had to take time off.

Upon her return, she submitted a full report about the alleged bullying she'd endured.

Eventually the warning was revoked but her trust in that workplace was shattered.

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Jane's experience is not unique.

Australia ranks among the worst countries globally for workplace bullying, according to a 2021 World Risk Poll.

Nearly one in two Aussie workers report being bullied, harassed, or exposed to inappropriate behaviour at work in their lifetime and it can cause lasting damage.

Many victims experience long-term psychological harmPTSD, depression, and anxiety, which can negatively affect their careers.

Workers who make psychological distress claims related to workplace bullying can access psychological treatment and support services to address those issues.

Interventions like mediation and facilitated discussions to rebuild workplace relationships and trust are also an option.

Jane chose not to take her claim further but encourages any Australians who feel bullied or harassed in the workplace to "document everything" and advocate for themselves.

"Read your contracts, know your complaints processes, know your warnings processes, even if you think you'll never need them."

Though she's in a new role now, the alleged bullying still affects her.

"I get quite anxious and paranoid now with dealing with upper management," she confessed.

"It damaged my trust [like] not being able to trust your co workers or management to protect you against psychological things, because it's not as easy to prove as physical."

*Name changed for privacy and legal reasons.

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It's a decade long mystery – what happened to Ray and Jennie Kehlet in WA's outback.

But cold case investigators are following new leads, revealing three new items of interest have been found.

Three prospectors went on a camping trip to Sandstone, 750 kilometres from Perth, hunting for gold – but only one came home.

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Husband and wife Ray and Jennie set off with their friend Graham Milne in 2015 and now, more than a decade on, the trip is still marred by mystery.

Ray Kehlet's body was found 12 metres down an unused mineshaft – a coroner finding he was murdered.

Jennie too – but her body has never been found.

What happened to Ray and Jennie Kehlet is a question still haunting their loved ones.

Ray's brother, Dave Kehlet, has never given up on finding out what happened to his brother and sister-in-law.

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"You just needs answers, you need to know what happened so you can accept it," Dave said.

Now, his prayers could be answered with a potential breakthrough that could help solve the buried secret that's haunted the Goldfields.

Cold case investigators have revealed three key items: A set of gloves, women's work boots, and a distinctive key.

According to Dave, investigators believe the boots could have been with Jennie when she died.

He added that the car was found in the bush, half a kilometre from camp, but the key has never been found.

"People might have found those items and not thought anything of them, it gets people talking as well," he said.

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The items of interest now part of an appeal with signs scattered across Sandstone and Bell Chambers.

Dave met with the lead investigator of Ray and Jennie's cold case for the first time this week. He says that meeting left him feeling hopeful.

"I don't think you can accept anything until you've got those answers," he said.

Sandstone's landscape is vast and rugged but the area could soon be cleared for gold mining.

Police are constantly travelling to the site hoping to find something before the land is "disturbed".

China's newest aircraft carrier has sailed through the Taiwan Strait, the navy said on Friday.

The body of water separates China from Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing says must come under its control.

The sailing could serve as a warning to the US and others against support for Taiwan, though China played down any such motive.

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The Fujian, which is doing sea trials ahead of its commissioning, was heading to the South China Sea to conduct training and scientific experiments, the navy said in a short post on social media.

The navy said the carrier's activities were not targeting anyone else.

A social media account affiliated with state media quoted an expert saying the Taiwan Strait was the normal and most reasonable and efficient route for the carrier to reach the South China Sea.

It was the first time the Fujian had passed through the strait, the post by the Yuyuantantian account said.

The US Navy sends warships through the strait periodically, as do some of its allies, in a warning to Beijing against any attempt to use force to establish its claim to the island.

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Taiwan and China split in a civil war that brought the communists to power in 1949.

The defeated Nationalist government fled to Taiwan and set up its own government on the island.

The US does not officially recognise the government in Taiwan, but it provides weaponry for its defense and says that any resolution of the differences between China and Taiwan should be peaceful and not by military force.

China's military said last week that it was on high alert after the Canadian frigate Quebec and the Australian destroyer Brisbane sailed through the strait.

It accused the two warships of provocative actions that it said heightened security risks.

Japan's military said it had spotted China's latest carrier for the first time on Thursday afternoon.

The Fujian, together with two guided-missile destroyers, was sailing southwest about 200 kilometers from the disputed Senkaku islands, or the Diaoyu islands in Chinese. Both countries claim the remote and uninhabited territory.

Its latest sea trial, the ninth since May 2024, sparked renewed speculation that the ship will be officially put into service soon.

The state-owned Global Times newspaper quoted an expert saying the commissioning is expected by the end of this year.

It noted that China's previous carrier, the Shandong, was commissioned in late 2019, one month after it made its first trip though the Taiwan Strait en-route to the South China Sea.

The Fujian is China's third aircraft carrier, joining the Shandong and the Liaoning.

A man has been charged after allegedly stealing a hearse from a Gold Coast funeral home and crashing it at an intersection.

Events began about 4.50am today when the 38-year-old allegedly broke into Integrity Funerals at Tonga Place in Parkwood and stole a hearse.

Less than 10 minutes later, the vehicle collided with a van and car at the intersection of Olsen and Musgrave avenues and Napper Road.

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Images from the scene of the crash shows all the vehicles severely damaged.

The impact caused the Mercedes van to tip on its side.

Police soon arrived and arrested the man driving the hearse before he was taken to hospital for observation.

A man driving one of the vehicles was trapped inside his car before being freed by firefighters, while a 51-year-old female driver of the other vehicle was uninjured.

A 38-year-old Broadbeach man has been charged with entering a premises and committing an indictable offence, unlawful use of motor vehicle, dangerous operation of a vehicle and adversely affected by an intoxicating substance and driving without a licence.

The funeral home told 9News staff have been left "shaken" by the incident but "no changes funeral services from today".

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A humpback whale has been freed from fishing line and ropes off South Golden Beach, north of Brunswick Heads.

The rescue operation, conducted in high winds and rough seas, involved multiple organisations.

The whale's plight was initially reported by a member of the public to ORRCA, the NSW whale rescue organisation.

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The Sea World Foundation and Marine Rescue Brunswick Heads were called in to assist.

Initial efforts to lasso the entangled rope proved unsuccessful, leading the team to deploy a large buoy to allow closer access for cutting the lines.

The whale appeared to cooperate during the rescue, remaining relatively still as the team worked.

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After several attempts, the fishing line and rope were completely removed, allowing the whale to swim freely.

"Yeah that final cut, all the gear comes off, it's always a great feeling, even more so today," Sea World Foundation skipper Andy Mulville said.

Humpback migration season typically concludes by early November.

This article was produced with the assistance of 9ExPress.

Five Hato Hone St John vehicles responded, including three ambulances.

A neo-Nazi leader has been handed a community work order for intimidating a police officer and his wife.

Thomas Sewell, 32, was today found guilty of three charges of intimidation of a law enforcement officer, and his wife, over targeted threats to expose his personal information.

He faced Melbourne Magistrates Court in person, from the court dock while on remand for separate matters.

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Sewell threatened to "dox" a police officer and his wife on podcasts in October and November last year, including threats to release personal information and wedding photos.

"I'm working out how to dox him because those doxing laws haven't come into effect yet," he told a podcast.

"Like his wedding photos, we've got it all downloaded, he's a f—ing idiot."

The police officer gave evidence about feeling "highly anxious" over his and his family's safety.

The officer's wife said she felt "really intimidated and threatened" in a statement to the court.

"I felt like we were in danger," she said.

Sewell claimed he was holding police to account and using his implied "freedom of communication" about public affairs when he spoke about the officer and his family.

But magistrate Michelle Hodgson rejected these arguments, finding he had targeted the officer's private life.

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The magistrate found he had "sought to weaponise personal information, personal insult and public exposure to instil fear" in the officer and his wife.

His offending was "objectively very serious", she said as she shut down Sewell's claim it was at the lower end.

"Police officers are frontline forces of the law, if they are intimidated from carrying out their duties – because of threats of exposure, humiliation or retaliation – the justice system itself is undermined," she told the court.

"A threat to dox can expose family, friends and home life, it uses technology to make private information available to a potentially hostile audience.

"Once online, it's virtually impossible to contain."

She said the maximum term of 10 years in prison for the offending, or two years if heard in the magistrates court, reflected the offending involved "a high degree of harm and trauma".

However, Hodgson decided not to hand Sewell any prison time.

She ordered he complete 200 hours of community work over 18 months, which will commence once he is released from custody for the separate offending.

Sewell had self-represented in a contested hearing over the charges, which ran for more than a week.

On day two of the hearing, September 2, he was arrested outside the court over an alleged attack on an Indigenous protest site, known as Camp Sovereignty, and taken into custody.

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Hodgson found him guilty of intimidation against a police officer and his wife, and also guilty of two counts of contravening personal safety orders.

He was found not guilty of two other contraventions of those orders, and of failing to comply with a police direction to hand over passwords to his devices.

After the hearing broke for lunch, police were seen arresting a member of Sewell's neo-Nazi group.

Victoria Police later confirmed a 20-year-old Yea man was arrested outside the court on William Street over Sewell and his group's alleged attack on Camp Sovereignty on August 31.

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Clive Palmer says he is "always under persecution" after a magistrate ruled the mining magnate's human rights may have been impeded in a long-running case.

The billionaire businessman enjoyed a win today, successfully having his matter referred to the Supreme Court over claims he and his family had suffered as a result of delays in the case.

Palmer, 71, faced Brisbane Magistrates Court after filing an application for a human rights referral to the Supreme Court in his Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) matters.

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After magistrate Cameron McKenzie ruled in his favour on human rights grounds, a "very grateful" Palmer spoke to media outside.

"They have to take the Human Rights Act seriously," he said.

"Of course, I'm always under persecution from somebody at some time because of my views and my controversy.

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"But it's important if you can make precedence for other people so they get the benefit of it."

Palmer was charged by the independent financial regulator in 2018 along with Palmer Leisure Coolum.

The charges relate to an allegation Palmer and his business broke the law when he attempted to buy out timeshare investors in his Sunshine Coast resort but did not follow through on a bid within the required two-month period.

The magnate was again charged by ASIC in 2020 following an investigation.

He was accused of improperly transferring more than $12.1 million through his company Mineralogy to Media Circus and Cosmo Developments, ultimately using the funds for the Palmer United Party 2013 federal election campaign.

Palmer had argued his human rights may have been impeded in his Queensland fraud case because prosecutors failed to disclose documents against him for years.

McKenzie ruled in favour of Palmer on Friday, saying both sets of proceedings would be referred to the Supreme Court.

But he had some sympathy for the prosecution after the delays in progressing the matter, saying "it does rest heavily with Mr Palmer".

"The prosecution has been taken on a number of side steps and tangents with these proceedings," he said.

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"Mr Palmer has unsuccessfully taken issue with nearly every decision made in this court, and indeed, numerous occasions in other courts.

"Those other proceedings would most likely have taken prosecution's focus away from their disclosure obligations in this court."

In 2018, Palmer Leisure Coolum was charged with proposing a bid and then failing to make an offer within two months, and Palmer was charged with aiding and abetting the company to commit an offence.

In 2020, he was charged with two counts of dishonestly using his position as a director and another two counts of fraud by dishonestly gaining a benefit or advantage.

Palmer today said the charges had "no substance".

"Justice always wins and we've got to stick with the system we've got – but make sure that it works," he said.