Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller announced he would not seek re-election earlier this year.

It comes as the exiled government’s human rights minister visits NZ for the first time.

Fed-up business owners have released footage of teenagers attacking one of their staff members in broad daylight on the Gold Coast.

The vision shows security guard Mick Gauci being approached at a Harbour Town chemist in front of customers and staff during an incident that took place in March.

Chemist manager Gema Hall said she was "shouting for help", while others tried to step in to stop the situation.

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"I was thinking, you know, how can I help Mick," Hall said.

Gauci said he had to go to hospital for a check-up following the incident.

"(I had) bruises and cuts to the back because I was pushed into a display," he said.

"A few bumps to the head from being kicked in the back of the head."

Earlier the security guard had accused two teenage girls of shoplifting and it was their boyfriends who allegedly attacked the guard a short time later.

Three teenagers were charged over the incident in late March, while a fourth was cautioned.

"I think everybody's feeling unsafe in the community, unfortunately," Hall said.

Staff at the store see incidents of shoplifting regularly but violent incidents are rare.

The business released the footage to show the brazen nature of some members of the community.

State Opposition Leader David Crisafulli described the vision as something that "should not be part of a modern Queensland".

Residents on Brisbane's north side have also released security footage to highlight escalating incidents of youth crime.

In videos shared with 9News, teenagers struck the same streets of Bridgeman Downs several times, despite a police presence in the area.

A police officer's home was also targeted in the last few weeks.

Vulgar messages were left in graffiti on the officer's personal belongings during the incident.

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A truck driver involved in a serious school bus crash involving 45 children west of Melbourne yesterday has been granted bail.

Jamie Gleeson, 49, from Balliang East, appeared before Melbourne Magistrates Court today, where he faced four counts of dangerous driving causing serious injury over the crash at Eynesbury.

The crash occurred while the children were heading home from Exford Primary School, near the intersection of Exford Road and Murphys Road.

READ MORE: Seven children in serious condition after horror school bus crash west of Melbourne

It's alleged Gleeson was behind the wheel of a truck that collided with a school bus carrying 45 students from Exford Primary School.

Prosecutor Ben Kerlin said the bus driver had noticed the truck approaching quickly from behind before it was struck about 3.40pm.

Gleeson, a truck driver for 18 years, told police he would normally "take it easy" in school zones and was accelerating out of the 60km/h zone outside Exford Primary School when he noticed flashes of sunlight coming through the trees.

He said he hit the brakes after seeing the brake lights on the bus in front of him, but he didn't have enough time to stop before hitting the back.

"If I could have swerved around it I would have," he told officers during his interview with police on Wednesday morning.

His lawyer said this was Gleeson's first time in custody and he had no prior driving or other criminal matters.

Magistrate Andrew McKenna agreed to grant bail for Gleeson, noting there would be a delay in bringing the case to court.

Prosecutors have asked for 16 weeks to prepare the brief of evidence against him, given the size of the collision scene and the number of children who will need to be interviewed.

McKenna said Gleeson had co-operated with police at the scene.

The father-of-two's bail conditions include that he not drive a heavy vehicle.

Police earlier told reporters there would "likely be more charges" laid against a truck driver after a school bus carrying 45 children overturned west of Melbourne yesterday, leaving some with serious injuries.

Victoria Police Superintendent Michael Cruse said the investigation was continuing into the crash.

He said "speed would be considered" as part of the investigation.

"It's sort of unimaginable. The children were in their classrooms and just a short time later were seriously injured so close to school," Cruse said.

Seven children remain in serious conditions at the Royal Children's Hospital with "life-changing" injuries.

Royal Children's Hospital chief executive officer Bernadette McDonald said the children had suffered multiple and traumatic injuries, including partial and complete amputations of arms, multiple crushed limb injuries, severe lacerations to the head and body, and head injuries.

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The bus driver, a 52-year-old Melton West man, was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The charges against Gleeson specifically relate to four children – two each aged nine and 10.

Wearing an orange and blue hi-vis shirt, Gleeson sat with his hands crossed in his lap while appearing by video-link from Sunshine.

Eynesbury is about 44km from Melbourne, near Melton, and the crash occurred near Exford Primary School.

Exford Primary School is a coeducational school for years prep to six with 279 students enrolled.

Gleeson is due back in court for a committal mention on October 18.

– Reported with AAP

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Principal says off-site school visits were paused immediately after last student’s death.

An overturned boat has been found in the area Australian and international crews are searching for a Chinese fishing vessel, which went missing off Perth's coast reportedly carrying almost 40 people.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority received a distress signal at 5:30am yesterday and continued to coordinate the search today.

Reports on Wednesday said 39 people were missing more than 24 hours after the Chinese fishing boat operating in the Indian Ocean capsized.

READ MORE: Seven children in serious condition after horror school bus crash west of Melbourne

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said the accident happened about 3am (5am AEST) Tuesday.

The report said the crew includes 17 from China, 17 from Indonesia and five from the Philippines.

AMSA described the search area as a remote location in the Indian Ocean, about 5000 kilometres north-west of Perth.

"Late yesterday bulk carrier Navios Taurus sighted an upturned hull in the search area. No survivors have been found as yet," AMSA said in a statement.

"The Australian Defence Force aircraft will return to the search area today after refuelling overnight."

"Weather conditions yesterday were extreme with 120km/h winds and seven-metre seas. Conditions have abated today with 40–50km/h winds and two–three-metre seas."

The Australian Defence Force also provided a P-8A Poseidon aircraft to assist in the search for survivors. 

READ MORE: Toddler dead, 23 people missing after hippo attack in Malawi, Africa

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Qiang have ordered Chinese diplomats abroad, as well as the agriculture and transportation ministries, to assist in the search for survivors.

“All-out efforts” must be made in the rescue operation, Xi was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.

Li ordered unspecified measures to “reduce casualties and strengthen safety management of fishing vessels at sea to ensure safe maritime transport and production,” Xinhua said.

No word was given on the cause of the capsizing.

Indonesia and the Philippines have also expressed their willingness to join in the search.

The Philippine Coast Guard Command Centre said Wednesday it was monitoring the situation and coordinating with the Chinese Embassy in Manila, as well as search and rescue teams operating near the vessel’s last known location.

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Merchant and fishing vessels in the area were also searching for survivors Wednesday.

A Perth-based Challenger rescue aircraft will drop a buoy to help with drift modelling to further assist in the search, the agency said.

The Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028 was based in the eastern coastal province of Shandong, operated by the Penglai Jinglu Fishery Co Ltd, according to reports.

Another Chinese vessel, Lu Peng Yuan Yu 018, is operating near to the upturned hull and has been asked to conduct a grid search for survivors, according to the Indonesian agency.

China is believed to operate the world’s largest fishing fleet. Many of them stay at sea for months or even years at a time, supported by Chinese state maritime security agencies and a sprawling network of support vessels.

Chinese squid fishing ships have been documented using wide nets to illegally catch already overfished tuna as part of a surge in unregulated activity in the Indian Ocean, according to a report released in 2021.

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Norway-based watchdog group Trygg Mat Tracking found that the number of squid vessels in the high seas of the Indian Ocean — where fishing of the species is not regulated — has increased six-fold since 2016.

The US Coast Guard was also involved in a dangerous confrontation with Chinese vessels not far from Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands in 2022 during a mission to inspect the vessels for any signs of illegal, unreported or unregulated fishing.

Chinese fishing vessels operating illegally are known to sail "dark," with their mandatory tracking device that gives a ship’s position either switched off, transmitting intermittently, or providing false identifiers.

– Reported with the Associated Press

A Black Caps legend was among the top cricketers to visit local kids.

Video footage shows a group kicking, punching and stomping on someone lying on the ground.

A grieving son is calling for energy companies to do more after his mother, who was on life support, died during a power outage in the NSW Central West.

Gloria Shea, 80, relied on a life support machine for oxygen while suffering from emphysema at her home in Dubbo.

The great-grandmother's machine switched off during an unexpected blackout while she was sleeping about 5am on May 8.

READ MORE: Truckie charged over horror school bus crash west of Melbourne

Neither Shea nor her son Brian, who lives on the same property, were notified by their energy company or the network provider Essential Energy.

"She wasn't ready to die," Brian said.

"She was full of life and energy, she had planned what she was doing the next day.

"If there was some sort of automated system that sent out a text message, I could have been there in 30 seconds, in under a minute."

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"We could have assisted her, we could have got her oxygen bottles to her.

"She does have oxygen bottles in the home but at night you rely on the oxygen generator."

The oxygen machine was rented and didn't come fitted with a back-up battery.

If there is a planned energy outage, providers need to give customers using life support four days' notice but in the case of an unexpected blackout, they aren't required to make contact.

READ MORE: Toddler dead, 23 missing after hippo attack

Instead, they urge vulnerable customers when they first sign up to have a back-up battery or generator and to call triple-zero in an emergency. 

An Essential Energy spokesperson said the team had personally contacted the family to extend their "deepest condolences".

"On Monday 8 May 2023, an unplanned power outage occurred around 5am when a member of the public contacted our 24/7 Customer Contact Centre to report sparks from a transformer on a power pole," the spokesperson said.

"To ensure public safety, Essential Energy remotely de-energised the local network.

"A field team was dispatched to the site and undertook repairs so that power could be restored as safely and quickly as possible.

READ MORE: Seven kids seriously hurt in horror Melbourne bus crash

"The power supply was interrupted twice for short durations and was fully restored approximately one hour after the fault was first reported."

The spokesperson advised customers who rely on continuous power supply to seek advice from their medical practitioner and have "contingency plans in place".

The energy provider said about three per cent of their 880,000 customers were registered life support customers.

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The iwi had been given close to $1 million but it’s not enough, chair Bayden Barber says.