BRISBANE — A teenager was on trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court last week after pleading not guilty to one count of acts done in preparation for or planning a terrorist act. The teenager cannot be named due to his age.

The teenager was accused of researching and testing homemade explosives to attack members of the Liberal party and a public place. Peter Dutton was one of the teenager's alleged targets, as was Brisbane's Labour Day march. The teenager filmed himself testing incendiary devices in his backyard.

Defense barrister Laura Reece told the jury during her closing statement on Monday that the teenager engaged in "clearly dangerous experimentation" with household chemicals. Reece said the central issue at trial was the teenager's state of mind or intention at the time of the acts. "He was a troubled kid," she said. "He was experimenting not only with explosives but with ideas and beliefs." She added that he was "seeking out extremist material from wildly contradictory sources from the dark corners of the internet." Reece also stated the teenager wrote in his diary he was suicidal and heard voices.

Crown prosecutor Sally Flynn told the jury that the teenager was serious when he wrote of copying US domestic terrorists like Ted Kaczynski and Timothy McVeigh. "Technology has left a very clear indication of his acts and a very clear indication of his thoughts," Flynn said. She continued, "There is a very powerful body of evidence in that case that comes directly from the defendant." Flynn said the teenager possessed a terrorist bomb manual, a military handbook on improvised munitions, and a video of the Christchurch shooting massacre.

The teenager was about to turn 16 in July 2024 when he texted a school friend about bombing the Liberal party over its support for nuclear power. Jurors were told a conviction was possible even without a terror attack having occurred. Reece told the jury the teenager's talk of bombing the Labour Day march was an "edgy joke." On the day of the Labour Day march, the teenager stayed at home and chatted to his friend about accounting homework. The jury heard the teenager's parents had started separating just before his alleged offenses. Justice Sean Cooper is due to give directions to jurors on Tuesday before they begin deliberations.