QLD News Don't miss out on the headlines from QLD News. Followed categories will be added to My News. O n an especially muggy early morning this month, my seven-year-old daughter and I were walking the big hills near our Logan home in Queensland. She was puffing and chatting away, and in her characteristically inquisitive way she asked me what my favourite year was. I said I couldn’t decide; we spoke about some of the good ones. I asked her what her favourite year was and without hesitation she said “next year”. I’ve been thinking a lot about that optimism. I thought about it again watching Sam Konstas bat in the first session on Boxing Day, with the freedom and fearlessness of a teenager. Bringing joy to Australians at the end of what was an especially tough year in 2024. Inflation has come down a lot but people are still struggling with cost-of-living pressures. Higher interest rates have hit household budgets hard. There’s been a lot of uncertainty and conflict in the world that’s weighed on our economy here. Aussie cricketer Sam Konstas has helped bring joy to Australians over the festive period. Picture: Michael Klein As a government, our focus has been fighting inflation and rolling out cost-of-living help. After a difficult couple of years we shouldn’t forget the progress we’ve made together as Australians. Our economy has continued to grow while other countries like the UK and New Zealand went into recession. Inflation has more than halved since we came to office, it’s now at its lowest in almost four years and within the Reserve Bank’s target band. The RBA’s latest minutes describe their increasing confidence that inflation is sustainably headed where we want it. Real wages are growing and more than a million jobs have now been created on our watch, a record for any government in a single term. The combination of tax relief, falling inflation, and wages and jobs growth means real disposable household incomes are also growing again in the latest numbers. They were going backwards when we came to office. Our policies have helped ease some of the pressure on people. We delivered a tax cut for every taxpayer and took a slice off electricity bills, with energy bill relief for every household. We made childcare and medicines cheaper; strengthened Medicare; delivered more rent assistance; provided student debt relief; cracked down on the supermarkets to get a fairer go for farmers and families. And we’ve done all this in a responsible way, while getting the Budget into surplus twice, shrinking the deficit this year, and pushing debt down by $177bn. Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Michele Bullock. Picture: NewsWire/ Monique Harmer Even as we’ve made progress together in the aggregate numbers, we know it doesn’t always translate to how people are feeling and faring. We see that in consumer surveys where confidence is still below where it’s been historically. But since mid-year, those consumer confidence numbers have come up, with our income tax cuts playing a part. We spent last summer working on these tax cuts, to ensure they delivered benefits to every taxpayer – not just some. It was one of the most important decisions we made as a government, the one I’m proudest of, but it didn’t come without political risk. Peter Dutton even called for an election over the tax cuts. So Australians would be worse off if Mr Dutton had his way on tax. It’s another important reminder that the biggest risk to household budgets in 2025 would be a Coalition government that would come after Medicare again, push electricity prices up and wages down. We can’t jeopardise the progress we’ve made together as Australians, in our economy. There will still be challenges to meet in 2025, still people under pressure who need help. The outlook for China remains uncertain, and conflict and trade tensions are likely to weigh on the global economy next year. Inflation has bounced up and down in the US, Euro area and the UK. Despite all this, when we look at the direction of our economy now, we can be more optimistic about the year ahead. The worst of the inflation challenge is behind us, better days are ahead of us. 2024 was difficult but 2025 will be better. We’ve been planning and preparing for a soft landing in our economy, and that’s what economists are now expecting. They expect inflationary pressures to ease further, growth to improve and unemployment to remain at or near historically low levels. There are lots of reasons to be cautious and not complacent, but also lots of reasons to be confident and optimistic about the coming year. Jim Chalmers is Federal Treasurer Originally published as Jim Chalmers: Why Australians should be optimistic about 2025 Join the conversation Add your comment to this story To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout More related stories Gold Coast Watch preview: Documentary on Alexa Leary’s brave comeback New documentary Alexa’s Story with Alexa Leary and her parents charts her defiance of medical prediction to come back from a horror cycling crash. Watch the preview before it is out January 1 Read more QLD News ‘Frightened’: Claudine’s heartbreak over loss of sister, mother A Queenslander who lost her entire family in one of the state’s worst-ever car crashes has a message for drivers during the festive season. See the video. Warning: Distressing Read more
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Nine business days into her tenure as the executive director of Fish and Game, Stephanie Simek was called Thursday to present the department’s vision for the next state budget. Complicating her early-tenure task: At a time when agencies are preparing for a tighter budget ahead, Fish and Game faces significant, long-standing financial challenges, those within the department have said and a bipartisan legislative study committee concluded in a November report. “Testimony given throughout our study committee meetings indicated the Fish and Game Department is headed to a financial shortfall,” the report warned. “It needs either to increase General Fund funding, increase fees, find areas to cut spending, or look hard at reducing some of the services it offers.” The report pointed to the fact that “Fish and Game is continually tasked with many additional and time-consuming activities beyond just game management,” and that it faces “a multitude of funding challenges across its divisions,” including “many responsibilities and expenses that don’t directly affect sportsmen and wildlife.” Fish and Game has a wide range of tasks, such as managing hunting and fishing licensing and rules; executing search-and-rescue missions for hikers, children, Alzheimer’s patients, and those in mental health crises; helping homeowners with wildlife issues; and maintaining programs related to nongame and endangered species, among many others, the report said. It gets only a tiny sliver of its budget from the general fund, while about a quarter each comes from license fees and federal funds, and nearly a quarter comes from off-highway recreational vehicle funds. New Hampshire, like the rest of the globe, also faces mounting environmental problems that complicate the agency’s work. Simek pointed to stressors like “climate change, declining species populations, habitat changes,” and diseases. About 70 percent of “dedicated revenue for fish and wildlife agencies in the Northeastern United States is generated through license sales and federal grants,” Simek said. “The remaining 30 percent is typically through general fund or special sources, such as permanent fees or specialty stamps or lotteries, depending on the state.” In New Hampshire, she said, “my understanding is ... about 3.5 percent of our budget is general fund.” Simek noted in her presentation, which came near the end of three-day budget hearings at the Legislative Office Building in Concord, that Fish and Game’s budget proposal was crafted before her arrival at the department, but she was clear about the challenges the department faced. A lack of sustainable funding has been cast as a serious threat to the department’s survival by those close to it. “I don’t know how much longer Fish and Game can go on unless we get sustainable funding,” Ray Green, chair of the Fish and Game Commission, told the study committee this summer. He said the commission felt the department needed to get more of its budget — perhaps 15 to 20 percent — from the general fund to achieve that sustainability. The study committee report, citing its limited time and resources, said it could not recommend a specific sum of money that the department may need from the general fund. Simek warned the budget panel about the impact cuts could have on the agency and the wildlife and public it is tasked with serving. By the time she made this case for support, Gov.-elect Kelly Ayotte was back in the hearing room. Ayotte will present a budget proposal early next year soon after she takes office. “I am realistic that we are already operating on a very skeleton budget,” Simek said. “We’ve met the 4 percent decrease, but I’m not sure that we’re likely to fill the entire gap without legislative support. If there are financial cuts to our funding, we will need to likely cut services, and as a new director for an agency that’s mandated to serve the public and our natural resources, reducing services is very concerning to me and will result in collateral and direct negative impacts on our natural resources, our public, and our economy. I really don’t want to see that happening, so I’m hoping we’ll have your support.” Kathy LaBonte, the department’s business division chief, said the department had 192 full-time employees. It has five unfunded positions, which remain unfunded in the new budget, she said. “We did meet the governor’s targets for use of Fish and Game funds,” she said. “However, in order to do that and maintain all programs and services, we used up the entire balance in the Fish and Game Fund at the end of the biennium, leaving only approximately $100,000 in there.” A sheet prepared by the department showed a growing projected gap in the coming years between the department’s unrestricted revenue and Fish and Game Fund expenses. By 2027, the department is budgeted to have nearly $5 million more in expenses than it does in revenue, the sheet projected. It is not the first time Fish and Game has stared down this reality. Scott Mason, who until recently was the department’s executive director, cited two instances, in 1932 and 1957, where the head of the agency warned it lacked the funds it needed to run, according to October meeting minutes of the study committee. Services were cut and license fees raised in both instances, he said, according to the minutes. “If the Legislature does not act to increase the amount of General Funds appropriated to the department,” said the summary of his remarks, “the following biennial budget will require dramatic cuts in personnel and services, an increase in license fees, more General Funds, or a combination of all three.” Though the report didn’t make any specific funding change recommendations, it said the department should continue to assess whether additional general funds will be necessary to cover the costs of employee pay raises, retirement, and information and technology expenses. Sen. David Watters, a Dover Democrat who chaired the study committee, has filed a request for a bill that would require the general fund to cover the department’s “retirement contributions and technology services.” The report also recommended that Fish and Game bill other departments that use its services. It should also review the fee for the Hike Safe Card Program, which goes toward the cost of search-and-rescue efforts, and speak with the state’s congressional delegation to see if the federal government could reimburse it for search-and-rescue missions done in the White Mountain National Forest, the report said.Cardinals are average through 12 games and the frustration is it feels as if they could be better
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Basketball season is here. Subscribe to the DRC for $1 a month over the next six months to follow all that transpires with North Texas and area high schools. North Texas has fired volleyball coach Kristee Porter after three seasons. The school announced the move Sunday afternoon. “We appreciate Coach Porter’s contributions to UNT Volleyball over the past three seasons,” UNT athletic director Jared Mosley said in a statement. “As we look forward, we are focused on finding the right coach that will develop student-athletes, build a strong future and put our volleyball program in position to compete for championships.” UNT fell to Rice in the opening round of the American Athletic Conference tournament in four sets on Friday. The Mean Green finished 10-18 this season. Porter compiled a 43-49 record, including a 27-24 mark in conference play, in her time at UNT. The Mean Green finished a game over .500 in each of her first two seasons. UNT reached the semifinals of the Conference USA tournament in 2022 and played in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship in 2023. Porter, a former UCLA standout, came to UNT from McNeese State. She guided the Cowgirls to the Southland Conference finals in 2021. UNT was in danger of missing the AAC tournament heading into the final weekend of the regular season this fall before pulling out five-set wins over Wichita State and Rice at home. The Mean Green were unable to build on the momentum that two-game winning streak provided in the conference tournament and is now in the market for a new coach. UNT will begin a national search for a new coach immediately. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request.
What billionaires and their advisers say keeps them from giving more and fasterU.S. women's national team goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, known for her unflappable demeanor in the face of pressure, is retiring from international soccer. Naeher was on the team's roster for a pair of upcoming matches in Europe but those games will be her last after a full 11 years playing for the United States. Naeher was the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. team that won the Women's World Cup in 2019 and the gold medal at this year's Olympics in France. She's the only U.S. goalkeeper to earn a shutout in both a World Cup and an Olympic final. She made a key one-handed save in stoppage time to preserve the Americans' 1-0 victory over Brazil in the Olympic final. Mallory Swanson, who scored the only goal, ran down the length of the field to embrace Naeher at the final whistle. Naeher announced her retirement on social media Monday . “Every tear shed in the challenging times and disappointments made every smile and celebration in the moments of success that much more joyful. This has been a special team to be a part of and I am beyond proud of what we have achieved both on and off the field," she wrote. “The memories I have made over the years will last me a lifetime.” Naeher has been known throughout her career for her calm and steady leadership. She is one of just three goalkeepers to make more than 100 appearances for the United States. Naeher made her debut with the national team in 2014 and was a backup to Hope Solo at the 2015 World Cup, which the United States won. She became the team’s regular starter following the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and was on the squad that repeated as World Cup winners in 2019. For her career, Naeher has appeared 113 games with 110 starts, 88 wins and 68 shutouts. She had four shutouts over the course of the Olympic tournament in France. Story continues below video In all, she was on the U.S. roster for three World Cups and three Olympic teams. The 36-year-old has also played for the Chicago Red Stars in the National Women’s Soccer League since 2016. She plans to play for Chicago next season. The United States is headed to Europe for a match against England at Wembley Stadium on Saturday and on Dec. 3 against Netherlands in The Hague. In addition to her save at the Olympics, Naeher has had many other memorable moments. In the 2019 Women's World Cup semifinals against England, she stopped Steph Houghton’s penalty kick in the 83rd minute. The Americans won 2-1 before downing the Netherlands 2-0 in the final. Earlier this year in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup, Naeher made three saves during a penalty shootout with Canada and also converted a penalty kick herself — tucking the ball neatly into the corner of the net. Afterward she said: “Winning is the best feeling.” AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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