Aussies caught up in Bali boat horror
The fast boat was carrying 75 passengers – including at least five Australians – and five crew members when it got caught in a large surf off Sanur in southeast Bali at about 5pm AEST Tuesday.
The boat, named Fast Boat Dolphin II, had crossed from Nusa Penida and was about 100m from its destination port in Sanur when the boat flipped. Two have died and scores of others are injured after a boat capsized in Bali. Credit: Supplied There were 80 people on board when the boat flipped. Credit: Supplied
The passengers were thrown into the water, with locals scrambling to pull them out of the ocean.
Horrifying footage showed the distressed passengers loaded into inflatable rescue boats and scrambling to leave the water, with one woman carried to the shore seemingly unconscious.
Head of the Denpasar Search and Rescue team I Nyoman Sidakarya confirmed two Chinese nationals had died in the incident, and one crew member was still missing.
The rescue team said 14 people had been transported to hospital.
'We received the initial report to the Bali Province Disaster Management Operations Center (Pusdalops PB) at 4.25pm,' he said.
'We are continuing to gather information regarding the number of passengers and their current condition.' Dozens of people have been injured in trhe incident. Credit: Supplied
Maritime accidents are common in Indonesia due to poorly regulated safety rules, overcrowding and rough sea conditions.
Smartraveller warns Australians travelling to Indonesia to be cautious of rough seas and strong rips at tourist beaches.
In March, a 39-year-old Australian woman was killed and two others were injured after a snorkelling boat capsized off the coats of Bali.
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Societal shocks, as author Naomi Klein has noted, have the potential to be used to roll back progress that takes decades to achieve. We're already seeing this pattern emerge, with some calling to abandon the early learning system in favour of subsidising parents to stay home, with everyone understanding that this burden would overwhelmingly fall on women. I understand why many in this moment do not feel confident in our early learning system, and it is clear that major reforms are needed. But we must not let this crisis undo what generations of women fought so hard to build. I remember starting my career when access to high-quality early learning was virtually non-existent. Women faced impossible choices: abandon careers they'd spent a lifetime developing or cobble together unreliable care arrangements. Too many brilliant women stepped back, their talents lost to our workplaces and economy. The expansion of access to high-quality early childhood education and care changed that, brick by brick, centre by centre. This progress wasn't just awarded to us. Legions of women fought for it. Today, that system enables millions of Australian women to engage in the workforce, benefiting not only individuals but entire communities and our economy. Yet despite this progress, we still have a very long way to go. Australia ranks 34th globally for women's economic participation, despite having one of the world's most educated female populations. This paradox is clear in our workforce: around 70 per cent of Australia's part-time roles are filled by women, representing a striking underutilisation of decades of investment in women and girl's education and skills. Addressing this imbalance is not only fair but economically essential. CEW research conducted by Dr Angela Jackson shows that if women participated in our workforce at the same rate as men, we would unlock a million additional workers. Deloitte notes that achieving gender equality would grow our GDP by over $128 billion. According to the Grattan Institute, even a modest 2 per cent increase in women's workforce participation would inject over $11 billion into our nation's economy. Our economy is crying out for talent, facing critical skills shortages across every sector. Every economist in the country has been warning us about the slump in our national productivity. Nonetheless, we've failed to utilise our single biggest untapped resource: scores of qualified Australian women, over 140,000 of whom still cite early learning costs or availability as barriers to working more. We're leaving this immense talent base on the table at a time we absolutely cannot afford to. Ideas such as replacing early learning support for families with tax deductions might sound like flexibility, but they're a mirage. They disproportionately benefit higher-income families and fail to help those most in need of safe, affordable early education. Real flexibility requires structural reforms: universally accessible paid parental leave shared between partners; targeted tax reforms to reduce effective marginal rates that discourage women from increasing their hours; and most importantly, building a universal early learning system where access isn't determined by postcode or income. We must see early childhood education as essential infrastructure, like our schools and hospitals, vital to thriving communities. This system needs serious reform. New powers to strip funding from failing providers must be the beginning, not the end. We need better oversight, routine quality assessments, fairer wages and more support for our dedicated early educators. The overwhelming majority deserve our respect, not suspicion. In crisis, the temptation is to abandon what seems broken rather than fix it. But our early learning system is too important to abandon. The gains Australian women have made in workforce participation didn't happen by chance; they resulted from deliberate policy choices that strengthened entire communities. This progress remains vulnerable and requires ongoing commitment. Now, more than ever, Australia needs a robust, universal early childhood education system that supports women's workforce participation, economic and community prosperity, and ensures our children get the best start in life. Like every Australian, I've watched the early learning safety crisis with heartbreak. The justified rage and anguish families feel is a response to a profound betrayal of our collective trust. Australia now stands at a pivotal moment. Societal shocks, as author Naomi Klein has noted, have the potential to be used to roll back progress that takes decades to achieve. We're already seeing this pattern emerge, with some calling to abandon the early learning system in favour of subsidising parents to stay home, with everyone understanding that this burden would overwhelmingly fall on women. I understand why many in this moment do not feel confident in our early learning system, and it is clear that major reforms are needed. But we must not let this crisis undo what generations of women fought so hard to build. I remember starting my career when access to high-quality early learning was virtually non-existent. Women faced impossible choices: abandon careers they'd spent a lifetime developing or cobble together unreliable care arrangements. Too many brilliant women stepped back, their talents lost to our workplaces and economy. The expansion of access to high-quality early childhood education and care changed that, brick by brick, centre by centre. This progress wasn't just awarded to us. Legions of women fought for it. Today, that system enables millions of Australian women to engage in the workforce, benefiting not only individuals but entire communities and our economy. Yet despite this progress, we still have a very long way to go. Australia ranks 34th globally for women's economic participation, despite having one of the world's most educated female populations. This paradox is clear in our workforce: around 70 per cent of Australia's part-time roles are filled by women, representing a striking underutilisation of decades of investment in women and girl's education and skills. Addressing this imbalance is not only fair but economically essential. CEW research conducted by Dr Angela Jackson shows that if women participated in our workforce at the same rate as men, we would unlock a million additional workers. Deloitte notes that achieving gender equality would grow our GDP by over $128 billion. According to the Grattan Institute, even a modest 2 per cent increase in women's workforce participation would inject over $11 billion into our nation's economy. Our economy is crying out for talent, facing critical skills shortages across every sector. Every economist in the country has been warning us about the slump in our national productivity. Nonetheless, we've failed to utilise our single biggest untapped resource: scores of qualified Australian women, over 140,000 of whom still cite early learning costs or availability as barriers to working more. We're leaving this immense talent base on the table at a time we absolutely cannot afford to. Ideas such as replacing early learning support for families with tax deductions might sound like flexibility, but they're a mirage. They disproportionately benefit higher-income families and fail to help those most in need of safe, affordable early education. Real flexibility requires structural reforms: universally accessible paid parental leave shared between partners; targeted tax reforms to reduce effective marginal rates that discourage women from increasing their hours; and most importantly, building a universal early learning system where access isn't determined by postcode or income. We must see early childhood education as essential infrastructure, like our schools and hospitals, vital to thriving communities. This system needs serious reform. New powers to strip funding from failing providers must be the beginning, not the end. We need better oversight, routine quality assessments, fairer wages and more support for our dedicated early educators. The overwhelming majority deserve our respect, not suspicion. In crisis, the temptation is to abandon what seems broken rather than fix it. But our early learning system is too important to abandon. The gains Australian women have made in workforce participation didn't happen by chance; they resulted from deliberate policy choices that strengthened entire communities. This progress remains vulnerable and requires ongoing commitment. Now, more than ever, Australia needs a robust, universal early childhood education system that supports women's workforce participation, economic and community prosperity, and ensures our children get the best start in life.
Courier-Mail
7 hours ago
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Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. One of the Australians on board a boat that capsized in Bali, which claimed three lives, has spoken out about the distressing ordeal. Liam Kerr was one of the 80 people on board the Fast Boat Dolphin II, which had crossed from Nusa Penida and was about 100m from its destination port in Sanur at about 5pm AEST Tuesday when it flipped and flew its occupants into the water. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) told NewsWire four Australians were confirmed to be on-board when the boat capsized. Three people were killed, including two Chinese nationals and an Indonesian crew member. Three people died after the boat capsized in Bali, throwing the 80 people into the water. Photo by Dicky Bisinglasi / AFP Speaking to Today, Liam said the boat was returning to the shore when it was hit by a 'freak wave', flipping the boat 'instantly' and tossing people into the water. Standing on the top deck with his friends, the impact of the wave tossed the group off the boat, while others were stuck inside it. 'It was kind of within two, three seconds we went from being everything's fine and normal to (the boat being) upside down, and we're in the water,' he said. Liam Kerr was one of the 80 people on board when they were tossed into the water. Picture: Liam Kerr/ 9News As Liam returned to the surface, he noticed many others were struggling to keep above the water. 'I popped up and there was a younger Indonesian guy who actually couldn't swim and he grabbed hold of me, but I pushed him away because there was nothing I could really do,' he said. 'He was actually one of the guys who passed away, so that was pretty confronting for my mates and I.' The Perth man grabbed his phone and captured the moment the boat was flipped upside down, with the passengers floating nearby as the rescue team worked to pull them from the water. The Australian managed to capture footage of the moments after the boat flipped. Picture: Liam Kerr/ 9News It wasn't until he returned home to Perth yesterday that the reality of the incident sunk in. 'But now I'm back, it all kind of hit me pretty hard last night, I'm just really grateful that we're okay, it could have been a lot worse for one of us,' he said. 'We are kind of just in disbelief and shock that it happened.' He said the reality of the situation didn't sink in until he returned home to Perth. Picture: Liam Kerr /Today Maritime accidents are common in Indonesia due to poorly regulated safety rules, overcrowding and rough sea conditions. Smartraveller warns Australians travelling to Indonesia to be cautious of rough seas and strong rips at tourist beaches. In March, a 39-year-old Australian woman was killed and two others were injured after a snorkelling boat capsized off the coast of Bali. Originally published as 'Freak wave': Aussie reveals distressing moment boat capsized in Bali, killing three
