The bus driver sacked after a 5 year old girl was trapped on his bus insists he is not the only person to blame.

Ross Belsham lost his job after he failed to ensure that no more students remained on his bus after he completed his school run.

Alyssa Jayde New, who fell asleep on her way home, was trapped on the bus at the depot for hours, as a result.

Mr Belsham says he did not know Alyssa was on the bus at all.

He says there was no duty teacher present at the school, and that Alyssa’s mother never presented at the bus stop to pick up her daughter.

Listen to his chat with Ben here.

State Education Minister Grace Grace has responded to a new campaign launched today to have the government pay for compulsory swimming lessons for primary school students.

Ms Grace told Ben the state government is already providing resources to schools that want to provide lessons but she’s not prepared at the moment to take a deep dive and make lessons mandatory.

Queensland is the only state in the country that does not have a compulsory state government funded swimming program in its primary schools.

Experts are calling on the government to introduce a compulsory program, to ensure more lives can be saved.

Swimming legend Laurie Lawrence spoke to Ben this afternoon.

He believes it is vital that children are taught to swim while at school.

A suspected car thief was arrested this week after a neighbourhood rallied to track him down.

A video of the arrest is being watched across the country, and now has more than 100,000 views.

Ben spoke to Tyson John, the man who started the search, and filmed the video of the arrest, this afternoon.

Listen to what he had to say about the incident, and the spirit of community in Townsville here.

A super blue blood moon is expected to grace our skies tonight.

So what is this rare phenomenon? And when can we see it?

Ben spoke to Dave Reneke, editor or Astro-Space News Magazine to find out.

Regular sunscreen use by all Australians could reduce rates of melanoma by 34%, according to new Queensland research.

14,000 people across the country were diagnosed with melanoma in 2017.

Professor David Whiteman, from the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute says we all need to get into the regular habit of wearing sunscreen.

Listen to his chat with Ben here.

The dream of one lucky Foo Fighters fan came true last week.

Joey McClennan, 22, was invited by lead singer Dave Grohl to perform a song onstage with his favourite band.

He joined Ben in the studio today to discuss his incredible experience.

Maverick MP Bob Katter can now add ‘author’ to his list of accomplishments.

His new book “Conversations with KATTER...On politics, life and things that matter” is out now.

He joined Ben this afternoon to discuss the book and life in Canberra.

Should we raise the tobacco purchase age to 21?

That’s the idea being suggested by some of the nation’s leading oncologists.

The Medical Oncology Group of Australia believes increasing the tobacco purchase age, from 18 to 21, could save around 1,500 lives a year.

Listen to Ben’s chat with oncologist Dr Brian Stein here.

Police say the quick actions of a neighbour may well have saved the life of a teenage girl who was struck by a car in Ipswich this morning.

The girl became trapped by the car after she was hit as it reversed down a driveway.

The neighbour rushed to the scene, and used a jack to lift the vehicle off of the girl’s body.

She was rushed to Lady Cilento Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Listen to Ben’s chat with Acting Senior Sergeant Adam Cooper here.