As it happened: Brisbane on Tuesday, January 28

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has dismissed polling that suggests he is unpopular with female voters.

Speaking to the media in Western Australia, he said that as many women were responsible for household budgets, they were upset with the prime minister.

“The reason a lot of women are unhappy with the prime minister at the moment is that, largely, they’re responsible for household budgets for making everything add up.”

He also dismissed today’s Australian Financial Review/Freshwater Strategy polling showing that, among some voting demographics, Dutton is far more popular with men than women.

Thirty-seven per cent of male voters aged between 18 and 34 prefer Dutton as prime minister, compared with 27 per cent of women of the same age. 44 per cent of men aged between 34 and 55 prefer Dutton, compared to 34 per cent of women.

The Freshwater analysis backs findings from this masthead’s Resolve Political Monitor polling, published on December 31, 2024, which found that while male and female voters have similar support for Labor, 29 per cent and 28 per cent respectively, there is a big divergence in their support for more conservative parties.

Male voters have increased their support for the Coalition from 37 to 41 per cent since the election, compared with an increase of just 34 to 36 per cent among women.

Health Minister Tim Nicholls has cited concerns over paediatric gender services in Cairns as the reason to “pause” the provision of hormone therapies to children across Queensland until 2026 at the earliest.

While the majority of young people with gender dysphoria seek treatment in public health facilities, Nicholls said there was “widely contested international evidence” around the use of puberty blockers and gender-affirming hormone therapy.

“Queensland has not yet undertaken its own considered review of that evidence,” Nicholls told reporters today, as he announced a review likely to report back in early 2026.

The former Miles Labor government commissioned an external evaluation of the Queensland Children’s Gender Service last year, but the incoming LNP government stopped implementing the recommendations and ordered no further expansion of the service.

Nicholls, whose party opposes the provision of puberty blockers, said the previous evaluation only asked “how is the service delivered, not whether the service ought to be delivered”.

Allegations around the “apparently unauthorised” provision of services in Cairns will be the subject of two separate investigations, he said, with those findings to also be considered by the broader review.

“While this review is taking place, there is a need to maintain confidence in the public health services … so today I am also announcing an immediate pause on new public patients receiving hormone therapy for those who are under the age of 18,” he said.

Nicholls said patients already receiving hormone therapy would be able to continue, and other services would still be available to young people with gender dysphoria.

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie has called on the federal Labor government to prioritise funding to support the LNP’s pledge to extend rail services to Maroochydore.

The Miles government only planned to extend rail to Caloundra, and Infrastructure Australia has now left the remainder of the project off its draft priority list.

In a press conference with Sunshine Coast Mayor Rosanna Natoli on Monday, Bleijie said Queenslanders had voted for change and wanted “generational and transformational infrastructure”.

Bleijie, the member for Kawana, said federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King had previously cut funding to Queensland, and the latest draft cut the number of priority projects in the state from 29 to seven – with none on the Sunshine Coast.

“The federal Labor government appear not to have Queensland as a priority,” he said.

King said the list was a draft, Commonwealth infrastructure funding to the state had increased, and if the Queensland government wanted projects on the final list “it needs to have done the work”.

“I seek advice from Infrastructure Australia as to whether something is investment ready, has the cost benefit work ... done,” King said.

“Because what we had inherited was, frankly, a lot of press releases, a lot of press releases telling me that there was money set aside for projects – chronically underfunded – and what we’ve had to do is really make sure we’ve got a disciplined process.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has dismissed polling that suggests he is unpopular with female voters.

Speaking to the media in Western Australia, he said that as many women were responsible for household budgets, they were upset with the prime minister.

“The reason a lot of women are unhappy with the prime minister at the moment is that, largely, they’re responsible for household budgets for making everything add up.”

He also dismissed today’s Australian Financial Review/Freshwater Strategy polling showing that, among some voting demographics, Dutton is far more popular with men than women.

Thirty-seven per cent of male voters aged between 18 and 34 prefer Dutton as prime minister, compared with 27 per cent of women of the same age. 44 per cent of men aged between 34 and 55 prefer Dutton, compared to 34 per cent of women.

The Freshwater analysis backs findings from this masthead’s Resolve Political Monitor polling, published on December 31, 2024, which found that while male and female voters have similar support for Labor, 29 per cent and 28 per cent respectively, there is a big divergence in their support for more conservative parties.

Male voters have increased their support for the Coalition from 37 to 41 per cent since the election, compared with an increase of just 34 to 36 per cent among women.

Health Minister Tim Nicholls has cited concerns over paediatric gender services in Cairns as the reason to “pause” the provision of hormone therapies to children across Queensland until 2026 at the earliest.

While the majority of young people with gender dysphoria seek treatment in public health facilities, Nicholls said there was “widely contested international evidence” around the use of puberty blockers and gender-affirming hormone therapy.

“Queensland has not yet undertaken its own considered review of that evidence,” Nicholls told reporters today, as he announced a review likely to report back in early 2026.

The former Miles Labor government commissioned an external evaluation of the Queensland Children’s Gender Service last year, but the incoming LNP government stopped implementing the recommendations and ordered no further expansion of the service.

Nicholls, whose party opposes the provision of puberty blockers, said the previous evaluation only asked “how is the service delivered, not whether the service ought to be delivered”.

Allegations around the “apparently unauthorised” provision of services in Cairns will be the subject of two separate investigations, he said, with those findings to also be considered by the broader review.

“While this review is taking place, there is a need to maintain confidence in the public health services … so today I am also announcing an immediate pause on new public patients receiving hormone therapy for those who are under the age of 18,” he said.

Nicholls said patients already receiving hormone therapy would be able to continue, and other services would still be available to young people with gender dysphoria.

A crime scene has been declared following a fire at a tobacconist west of Brisbane overnight, the second at the business in two days.

Emergency services were called to Maryland Street in Stanthorpe just after 2.30am to reports of a shopfront on fire.

The fire was quickly put out, but the tobacconist and two surrounding storefronts were extensively damaged.

There was another fire at the same property around 4am on Sunday, although police said it “self-extinguished” before emergency services arrived.

Police are treating the fires as suspicious and urged anyone with information to get in contact.