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A Queensland councillor accused of murdering his stepfather will retain his elected position at least temporarily after being released on bail with a $250,000 surety.
City of Gold Coast councillor Ryan Donald Bayldon-Lumsden, 30, has been charged with murdering Robert Malcolm Lumsden, 58, at the family's Arundel home about 3pm on August 23.
Bayldon-Lumsden was not present in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday for his bail application hearing, which lasted nearly two hours.
Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate said Bayldon-Lumsden would remain a councillor "in all sense" unless Local Government Minister Steven Miles decided otherwise.
"My view has always been that he's innocent before proven guilty, so right now he's a councillor, and he will do his best to operate as a councillor," Mr Tate told reporters.
"I've already written to the minister and the ball is in his court."
A spokesperson for Mr Miles said the deputy premier was awaiting further advice.
Defence barrister Craig Eberhardt KC told the bail hearing his client had been subject to an ongoing abusive and controlling relationship with his stepfather.
"This is an offence committed against an appalling background and significant history of domestic violence," Mr Eberhardt said.
He said Mr Lumsden tripped and fell after Bayldon-Lumsden responded to being threatened during a heated argument by pushing his stepfather back.
Mr Eberhardt said Bayldon-Lumsden feared his stepfather would grab a kitchen knife and kill him, so he placed both arms around his neck and applied a chokehold with the intent of rendering him unconscious.
Mr Lumsden instead turned purple and was unable to be revived.
Mr Eberhardt said Bayldon-Lumsden intended to plead not guilty due to self-defence or preservation of life in an abusive domestic relationship.
Justice Lincoln Crowley noted Bayldon-Lumsden had told police during a nearly three-hour interview that his stepfather had controlled his finances, employment and relationships.
"He told police he was too scared to leave as his stepfather threatened he would report (him) for misconduct in relation to bringing home confidential files on the Gold Coast city council," Justice Crowley said.
Justice Crowley said Bayldon-Lumsden's mother Katrina provided sworn statement that backed up the claims Mr Lumsden had engaged in abusive behaviour.
Police objected to bail on the grounds that Mr Lumsden's autopsy showed extended and significant force had been applied to his neck, resulting in a broken bone and burst blood vessels in his eyes.
Crown prosecutor Matt LeGrand said Bayldon-Lumsden's Google searches two days before the incident showed him researching manslaughter and queries such as "If you kill someone in self-defence, will you go to jail?".
"(The online searches) are not a linchpin for the case but they are relevant circumstantially," Mr LeGrand said.
Justice Crowley said the matter might not go to trial until 2025 and Bayldon-Lumsden was not an unacceptable flight risk.
"I'm satisfied (Bayldon-Lumsden) has shown cause that his continued detention is unjustified," Justice Crowley said.
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The son and grandchildren of two Victorians who died from suspected death cap mushroom poisoning will speak at their public memorial service.
Hundreds of locals filed into Korumburra Recreation Centre on a dreary Thursday afternoon to farewell their much-loved neighbours, Don and Gail Patterson.
The couple, both 70, died in hospital after their daughter-in-law Erin Patterson cooked them a beef wellington at her Leongatha home in Victoria's southeast on July 29.
Neighbours greeted each other and embraced as they walked into the hall, which was packed with chairs as a photo of the couple looked over mourners on a large screen.
The feeling among the tight knit Korumburra community was one of gratitude for the Pattersons, who South Gippsland Shire mayor Nathan Hersey described as "instrumental".
Mourners also had Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, in their thoughts, after she too died following the lunch.
The Korumburra Baptist community has been praying for the recovery of Mrs Wilkinson's husband and local church pastor Ian Wilkinson, who remains in hospital in a critical but stable condition.
"For a lot of people, (the service is) going to mean an opportunity to again, reflect, but also to give thanks for the lives of people who have been instrumental in our community," Cr Hersey told AAP ahead of the memorial.
"It's going to be closure to say goodbye and to have that opportunity to grieve that hasn't been there because it's been so public and been such an unusual circumstance."
The Patterson's son Simon is listed to speak at the service about his parents' family life, while the grandchildren will also share their memories of their "nana and papa".
There is a small police presence outside the community hall on Thursday afternoon.
The couple was recently laid to rest during a private burial after the town was thrust into the spotlight over speculation about what led to the deaths.
The memorial service will reflect the couple's Christian faith.
Police believe the four people were all poisoned by death cap mushrooms.
Ms Patterson, who has not been charged, is considered a suspect.
The 46-year-old Ms Patterson has claimed she made the beef wellington using button mushrooms from a major supermarket and dried mushrooms bought at an Asian grocery store.
Her estranged husband Simon was due to attend the lunch but pulled out, while her children were also out of the house at the time of the meal.
The children ate the leftover beef wellington the next day but Ms Patterson scraped off the mushrooms because they don't usually eat them, she said.
Ms Patterson said she ate a serving and later suffered bad stomach pains and diarrhoea, contrary to the suggestion of detectives that she did not fall ill.
The Victorian Department of Health is required to act if there is a food safety incident.
There have been no ordered recalls of mushroom products in the state since the suspected poisonings.
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The son of two Victorians who died from suspected death cap mushroom poisoning has honoured his parents at a public memorial service.
Simon Patterson said his parents Don and Gail Patterson were family-oriented, always generous to others and open-minded about people of different faiths and cultures.
"Mum and dad were very much a team," he said.
"The fact they died on consecutive days reflected the togetherness they had worked so hard (to achieve)."
Mr Patterson spoke about overseas trips with his father, including to the Mount Everest base camp.
Other younger climbers were struck by his father's fitness when he was then in his 60s, he said.
It was this fitness that saw him survive an emergency liver transplant only weeks ago but then die because he was so unwell, Mr Patterson said.
Hundreds of locals filed into Korumburra Recreation Centre on a dreary Thursday afternoon to farewell their much-loved neighbours.
The couple, both 70, died in hospital after their daughter-in-law Erin Patterson cooked them a beef wellington at her Leongatha home in Victoria's southeast on July 29.
Reverend Fran Grimes opened the service, noting such a massive gathering was not "Don and Gail's nature or style".
"They just got on with living generous lives quietly and without fanfare," she said.
When media flooded the town and described a tight-knit community, what they "actually found was a community that above all was shielding and protecting the family from speculation", she said.
"Behind every story that we hear on the news every night, there's families and communities reeling from that event," Rev Grimes said.
Neighbours greeted each other and embraced as they walked into the hall, which was packed with chairs as a photo of the couple looked over mourners on a large screen.
The feeling among the community was one of gratitude for the Pattersons, who South Gippsland Shire mayor Nathan Hersey described as "instrumental".
Mourners also had Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, in their thoughts after she too died following the lunch.
The Korumburra Baptist community has been praying for the recovery of Mrs Wilkinson's husband and local church pastor Ian Wilkinson, who remains in hospital in a critical but stable condition.
The Pattersons' grandchildren will also share their memories of their "nana and papa".
There is a small police presence outside the community hall on Thursday afternoon.
The couple was recently laid to rest during a private burial after the town was thrust into the spotlight over speculation about what led to the deaths.
Police believe the four people were all poisoned by death cap mushrooms.
Ms Patterson, who has not been charged, is considered a suspect.
The 46-year-old has claimed she made the beef wellington using button mushrooms from a major supermarket and dried mushrooms bought at an Asian grocery store.
Her estranged husband Simon was due to attend the lunch but pulled out, while her children were also out of the house at the time of the meal.
The children ate the leftover beef wellington the next day but Ms Patterson scraped off the mushrooms because they don't usually eat them, she said.
Ms Patterson said she ate a serving and later suffered bad stomach pains and diarrhoea, contrary to the suggestion of detectives that she did not fall ill.
The Victorian Department of Health is required to act if there is a food safety incident.
There have been no ordered recalls of mushroom products in the state since the suspected poisonings.
© AAP 2023
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Qantas is scrapping the expiration date on hundreds of millions of dollars worth of travel credits following a public backlash.
The national carrier has almost $500 million in outstanding flight credits, with an extra $100 million yet to be redeemed by Jetstar customers.
The credits were due to expire at the end of the year and be added straight to the Qantas bottom line.
To encourage more people to reconnect with their credits, the airline is also offering double the number of frequent flyer points from flights booked between September 4 and December 31.
Qantas COVID credits can't be converted to travel bookings after this time.
But CEO Alan Joyce said Qantas COVID credits could be swapped for a cash refund at any time, and Jetstar ones would be extended indefinitely.
Mr Joyce said he hoped the move would help change the fact that people had lost faith in the airline's processes.
"We're doing this because we listened - we know the credit system wasn't as smooth as it should have been," he said in a video statement on Thursday.
But the airline is also facing legal woes on top of customer backlash, with the consumer watchdog alleging it advertised tickets for 8000 flights that had already been cancelled.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is launching action in the Federal Court claiming Qantas engaged in false, misleading or deceptive conduct after continuing to sell the tickets for an average of more than two weeks, and up to 47 days in some cases.
It is also alleging the airline didn't notify existing ticketholders for 10,000 flights that they had been cancelled for an average of 18 days, and up to 48 days, between May and July 2022.
This left customers less time to make alternative arrangements and may have led them to pay higher prices.
The ACCC said Qantas continued to sell tickets for the flights on its website for two or more days, and delayed informing ticketholders their flights were cancelled for the same period of time for about 70 per cent of cancelled flights.
Qantas cancelled a quarter of its flights between May and July 2022, which amounted to about 15,000 flights, the watchdog said.
Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said the commission had conducted a detailed investigation into the airline.
"As a result, we have commenced these proceedings alleging that Qantas continued selling tickets for thousands of cancelled flights, likely affecting the travel plans of tens of thousands of people," she said.
"This case does not involve any alleged breach in relation to the actual cancellation of flights, but rather relates to Qantas's conduct after it had cancelled the flights."
The ACCC is seeking penalties, injunctions, declarations and costs.
Qantas said in a statement it took the ACCC allegations seriously.
"We have a longstanding approach to managing cancellations for flights, with a focus on providing customers with rebooking options or refunds," the airline said.
"It's a process that is consistent with common practice at many other airlines."
It noted the period examined by the ACCC was a "time of unprecedented upheaval for the entire airline industry".
"We will examine the details of the ACCC's allegations and respond to them in full in court," the airline said.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said they were "deeply concerning allegations".
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