Another child bitten by dingo on K’gari
Caitlin Cassidy
A 12-year-old boy has been bitten on the back by a tagged dingo at Kingfisher Bay, K’gari, in the fifth attack at the popular Queensland tourist destination this year.
The boy was playing in shallow water near Yidney Rocks around 12.15pm on Sunday with another child and an adult when the male dingo approached him from behind.
Nearby fishers ran to assist and attempted to deter the dingo with a stick, who subsequently moved away but followed the group back to their accommodation.
The group were carrying a dingo stick but put it on nearby rocks before entering the water. The boy was treated by paramedics for superficial puncture wounds and a laceration. He did not require further treatment.
When rangers attended the scene, the dingo was still in the area. Rangers have identified the dingo from photographs and provided safety information.
The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) are investigating the incident.
It follows another incident late in January, when a three-year-old girl was bitten by a dingo on K’gari while on a walk with her family at a beach near Kingfisher Bay.
Key events
Chalmers dismisses suggestion he would be next Labor leader if party loses election
Taking a final question, Jim Chalmers was asked if he would become the next Labor leader if Labor loses the federal election?
But the treasurer shot this down, saying “I’m not even thinking about that.”
100% of my time is spent putting together the budget, putting together our economic policies with our colleagues, working around the clock not just to see the return of the Albanese Labor government, but also to make sure that we can continue to make progress in the economy.
Chalmers on RBA decisions, March budget
Just jumping back to Jim Chalmers interview on Channel 7, he was asked whether speculation he has been privately telling MPs not to speculate on what the RBA may do is true?
The treasurer said he says “the same thing to my colleagues behind closed doors that I say publicly”.
I don’t predict or pre-empt those discussions that are underway right now. I say that to my colleagues as well. They will announce their decision in due course.
On the budget scheduled for March, and whether the government can commit to that at this stage, Chalmers said “that’s what we’re working towards.”
The final decision on the timing of the election will be up to the prime minister, as is always the case. But Katy Gallagher and I are working very hard with the expenditure review committee to put together that budget for March.
Chalmers says no major party has policy on breaking up insurers
The treasurer was also asked whether the government would consider divestment powers for the insurance industry to bring down premiums – as floated by Peter Dutton yesterday.
Nationals leader David Littleproud was asked about this today, and whether it passed the joint party room, but said it wasn’t a policy.
Asked about the prospect of breaking up insurers, Jim Chalmers told reporters just now that “no major party has a policy for that”.
We know because David Littleproud shafted the leader of his party this morning. So Peter Dutton’s so-called policy didn’t last 24 hours, and when you can’t get the National party over the line on something, then you’ve got a problem.
And so, whether it’s what Angus Taylor has said about this before, what Peter Dutton said yesterday or what David Littleproud said today, Peter Dutton’s so-called policy has already fallen down in a heap, just like his free lunches policy has as well.
He argued the Coalition still had “no costed, coherent or credible economic policies”.
Jim Chalmers said he wasn’t going to “apply a political lens to decisions taken by the Reserve Bank.”
They will take their decisions based on the economics, not the politics. And the respectful role that I will play in that is to not engage in a running commentary about their deliberations.
Chalmers addressing media in Canberra
Sticking with Jim Chalmers, he has been giving a press conference in Canberra.
The treasurer was asked how confident he is Labor can win the election, no matter the outcome of tomorrow’s RBA rates decision? He responded:
We know that this election will be really tight. It will be contested, and that’s as it should be. Elections in this country are typically very tight at the federal level, and I expect that to be the case once again.
On the latest polling results, Chalmers said his focus is on “the numbers in the economy, not the numbers in the polls”.
Chalmers avoids predicting outcome of RBA rates decision tomorrow
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has been speaking with Channel 7 ahead of tomorrow’s RBA interest rate decision – with a rate cut expected.
Chalmers said he didn’t want to “make predictions or pre-empt the discussions” occurring within the RBA board.
We’ll know tomorrow afternoon whether the independent Reserve Bank’s decided to cut interest rates or not. But I do accept your broader point, and that is that these cost-of-living pressures are pretty widespread … The cost of living has been the number one focus of this government, and that will continue to be the case no matter what the Reserve Bank decides independently tomorrow.
Another child bitten by dingo on K’gari
Caitlin Cassidy
A 12-year-old boy has been bitten on the back by a tagged dingo at Kingfisher Bay, K’gari, in the fifth attack at the popular Queensland tourist destination this year.
The boy was playing in shallow water near Yidney Rocks around 12.15pm on Sunday with another child and an adult when the male dingo approached him from behind.
Nearby fishers ran to assist and attempted to deter the dingo with a stick, who subsequently moved away but followed the group back to their accommodation.
The group were carrying a dingo stick but put it on nearby rocks before entering the water. The boy was treated by paramedics for superficial puncture wounds and a laceration. He did not require further treatment.
When rangers attended the scene, the dingo was still in the area. Rangers have identified the dingo from photographs and provided safety information.
The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) are investigating the incident.
It follows another incident late in January, when a three-year-old girl was bitten by a dingo on K’gari while on a walk with her family at a beach near Kingfisher Bay.
School student-to-teacher ratio at lowest point since 2006
Caitlin Cassidy
Continuing from our previous post: Another improvement was student-to-teacher ratios. There were 320,377 full-time equivalent teaching staff in 2024, a 2.8% rise on 2023.
Cassandra Elliot said with a rise in the number of teaching staff, the average student-to-teacher ratio across Australian schools fell to a 2006 low of 12.9 students to one teacher.
Independent schools had the lowest student-to-teacher ratios with 11.7 students to one teacher. Meanwhile, government and Catholic schools had 13.1 and 13.3 students to one teacher respectively.
There were 4.1 million students enrolled across 9,653 schools in 2024, a 1.1% rise on the previous year.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander school student enrolments were up 3.7% on the previous year. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students now make up 6.6% of all school students.
Caitlin Cassidy
Proportion of students finishing year 12 rises
The proportion of students staying in school until year 12 has increased for the first time since 2017, new Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show.
The ABS figures, released on Monday morning, show the proportion of students staying at school from year 7 until year 12 rose to 79.9% in 2024, up from 79.1% the previous year.
The proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students staying at school until year 12 also rose from 55.9% in 2023 to 56.7% in 2024.
Cassandra Elliott, ABS head of education statistics, said the overall growth was largely driven by students at government schools, which was up 1.3% to 74.3% in 2024.
This compared to a 0.9 percentage point rise to 88.1% for students at non-government schools.
Final submissions due in Tasmanian jumping castle tragedy
A court will hear final legal submissions in a case against the operator of a jumping castle at the centre of a tragedy that killed six primary school students, AAP reports.
Chace Harrison, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Zane Mellor, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan and Peter Dodt died after the incident in Tasmania in December 2021.
Three other students were injured in the accident at Hillcrest primary school in Devonport, which made global headlines.
They were enjoying end-of-year celebrations on the school’s oval when a wind gust lifted the castle and several inflatable balls into the air.
Rosemary Gamble, who was charged in November 2023, has pleaded not guilty to one count of failure to comply with health and safety duty.
Lawyers on both sides of the case will make their final submissions on Monday, following a 10-day hearing in Devonport magistrates court in November.
