As it happened: Brisbane on Friday, October 17

A tradie has taken down a man after he allegedly attempted to rob a service station on the Gold Coast.

4BC Breakfast host Peter Fegan has finished up on air for the station.

Fegan hosted the show every weekday from 5.30am to 9am.

Interim hosts will cover the show for the remainder of the year.

Fegan was announced as host in 2024 after the departure of Laurel Edwards, Gary Clare and Mark Hine.

He had previously hosted 4BC Weekends.

Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Amanda Rishworth has defended the government’s widely criticised proposed changes to the Freedom of Information Bill.

Critics say the reforms – which include a ban on anonymous FOI requests, strengthening the government’s ability to deter “frivolous” requests, the introduction of a processing cap, and increased fees for requests made by journalists, researchers and academics – reduce transparency and threaten democracy.

“FOI is a really important part of our democracy, but the legislation really has been stuck in the ’80s. What we have now is automation that is leading to a lot of, perhaps vexatious, frivolous requests, vague, anonymous … and the amount of time that’s taking up,” Rishworth told ABC’s Radio National today.

“When we want to be responding to FOI requests, we want to be responding to the genuine requests that people have. Tying up resources of more than a million hours is really, really significant, so we want to make sure that’s … what these laws are about, making sure that the genuine requests are being prioritised.”

The reforms are being discussed in a parliamentary committee hearing today. The federal opposition has said it will stand firmly against the reforms.

A 17-year-old boy who presented himself to police yesterday has been charged for allegedly beating a woman outside a nightclub in August.

Police said the 22-year-old woman was hospitalised for serious head injuries after she was involved in an altercation on Brunswick Street, in Fortitude Valley, about 4am on Sunday, August 24.

Officers suspected two groups had clashed on the footpath, and two men and a woman fled the scene following the alleged assault.

Police had released footage of the incident on Wednesday, asking the trio to contact police, and said the 17-year-old Sunnybank Hills boy went to Calamvale Police Station early yesterday morning.

He was charged with one count of grievous bodily harm, and was expected in Brisbane Children’s Court on November 11.

Investigations continued, with officers urging anyone with information to come forward.

Former Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has joined the University of Queensland’s governing body, the UQ Senate, following voting from staff, students and alumni.

Palaszczuk joins former Brisbane lord mayor Sallyanne Atkinson AO and veteran journalist Lee Duffield as an elected former graduate within the 36th senate – with Atkinson and Duffield having both continued from their positions in the 35th senate.

The three alumni senate members join elected academics and students, who will sit on the senate for just two years, as well as appointed members, making up a total of 22 people.

Members will be appointed on January 1 next year.