Overview
- The 16‑year‑old has pleaded not guilty to a Commonwealth charge of acts in preparation for or planning a terrorist act after a trial opened in mid‑June 2026.
- Prosecutors say forensic reads of the boy’s phone, laptop and diaries show months of research, purchases and testing of explosive materials aimed at the Liberal Party and Brisbane’s Labour Day march.
- Police searches in September 2024 allegedly uncovered diary sketches, receipts, devices, books and chemicals later tested as calcium hypochlorite, and investigators say an al‑Qaeda kitchen manual was downloaded.
- The prosecution will argue the defendant was influenced by Ted Kaczynski and extremist manuals while the defence will tell jurors entries about autism, loneliness and self‑harm show the records do not prove a criminal intent.
- The case turns on state of mind and legal definitions of planning under terrorism law and could shape how courts treat online material, youth mental health and radicalisation in future prosecutions.