The father of a baby girl whose lifeless body washed up on a Gold Coast beach has pleaded not guilty to her murder.
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The 49-year-old entered the plea in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday with a three-day trial was set down for November 2020 - some two years after the incident.
The nine-month-old girl was allegedly thrown into the water at Tweed Heads in NSW, where she drowned before her body drifted north for about 30km.
After days floating in the current, the infant's body washed ashore at Surfers Paradise beach and was found by passers-by about 12.30am on November 19, 2018.
Her older brother was later placed into foster care and her parents charged over the death.
The family had been sleeping rough in the area about the time of the girl's death.
Court documents in early 2019 referred to diary entries in which the mother wrote her daughter was "evil" and an "abomination".
The mother-of-two was allegedly heavily influenced by religion and believed she was Mary, the mother of Jesus.
One entry called for her partner to be released.
"Free that black man from his chains for he is innocent I do say. For he did slay the one you call the devil," she wrote.
She was charged with recklessly failing to provide her daughter with the necessities of life but was discharged on mental health grounds.
Neither parent can be named as doing so would reveal the identity of the girl and her older brother.
The father will remain in custody until the judge-alone trial begins November 2.
Australian Associated Press