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A Queensland toddler is recovering in hospital after being left on a minibus for almost six hours, in a relief for family who had feared the worst.

Three-year-old Nevaeh Austin had been rushed to Rockhampton Base Hospital in a critical condition after being discovered unconscious in the van outside Le Smileys Early Learning Centre at Gracemere.

The little girl was later flown to Queensland Children's Hospital in Brisbane, where she remains.

Nevaeh is now in a "stable condition" in the intensive care unit, the Children's Hospital confirmed to AAP on Thursday.

"She's doing alright, she's tired," her grandmother Pamela Parker told Ten News.

"She's breathing on her own. She's her happy self. I honestly believed that last night when I left them at the hospital to fly down to Brisbane that would be the last time I would see her."

Her family remain at her side, as authorities investigate how she had been left in the bus.

Nevaeh was the only passenger after being collected from her home about 9am on Wednesday.

The minivan was parked at the centre's front door, but the two staff failed to ensure she left the vehicle.

As temperatures climbed to almost 30C, Nevaeh remained strapped into her seat, clutching her bag.

Almost six hours later, a staff member setting off for the after-school pick-up finally discovered the unconscious preschooler.

"It would appear that Nevaeh was the only child on the bus," Police Detective Inspector Darrin Shadlow said.

"When they have returned to the centre, the driver and one other person who were on the bus at the time, had forgotten that she was there."

The centre's staff were cooperating with the investigation "to a degree", Insp Shadlow said, adding there were clear breaches in safety procedures.

He didn't speculate on potential charges being laid, but vowed to leave no stone unturned in the probe.

Education Minister Grace Grace said her heart went out to Nevaeh and her family, and the toddler should simply had not been left on the bus.

She said state laws changed in 2020, placing obligations on all services transporting children.

"My department, as the Regulatory Authority, is working closely with the QPS to ensure we gather all of the facts surrounding this tragic event," Ms Grace said in a statement.

"The Regulatory Authority does not hesitate to take serious action when services fail to ensure children's health and safety, and where other tragic incidents have occurred, the necessary action has been taken."

Queensland Ambulance Service operations manager Jason Thompson said the situation is distressing for paramedics.

"I get goosebumps just as I speak about it now," he told reporters on Thursday.

"It's a trying time no matter what the situation is, you could put yourself in their shoes (childcare centre staff), they would be very distressed.

"When a child is sick it is traumatic and when one is critical and unconscious, your heart goes out to them."

The incident is similar to the tragic death of Maliq Nicholas Floyd Namok-Malamoo, known as Meeky, in Cairns in February 2020.

Maliq died from heat stress when he was left on a bus for almost six hours after being picked up to go to a childcare centre.

The three-year-old was found still buckled into his seat, and could not be saved.

Maliq's mother, Muriel Namok, said her thoughts are with the Gracemere girl's family and the incident brought back memories of her son's death.

"Just sick, I felt really sick in my stomach. Angry, but definitely sick, I know this feeling all too well," she told Nine's Today program on Friday morning.

Education Queensland introduced its Look Before You Lock policy in October 2021, but Maliq's godmother Rowena Bullio said more needed to be done.

"It's too unbelievable. There is a feeling of disbelief, and there is anger now."

© AAP 2022

For self-taught artist Claus Stangl, getting Academy Award-winning director Taika Waititi to pose for his prize-winning portrait was a lucky coincidence.

Stangl on Thursday took out the $3000 Packing Room Prize, an Archibald Prize category that's awarded by gallery staff who receive, unpack and hang the portraits.

The Sydney-based artist says he sees portrait painting as a way to sometimes meet people he admires, and took a shot at coaxing the filmmaker into a studio.

Waititi agreed to sit for him in June last year while in Sydney making the upcoming film Thor: Love and Thunder.

"He's one of my favourite writers. His scripts are just beautiful," Stangl told AAP.

"It was really fortunate. I knew if I reached out to him whilst the last Archibald was going, I might get a little window of time when he's in the country."

Stangl's creative partner Stuart Miller happened to know Neil Sharma, who worked with Waititi on Thor, so the artist managed to send through some ideas on how they should approach the portrait.

He settled on a 3D-style painting to express Waititi's playfulness, wit and charm, and wanted it to feel nostalgic as a "homage to the graphics in the film of our era".

"Taika is born in '75, I'm born in '80; it's more about what sort of visuals he may have been exposed to as a boy," Stangl said.

"My memories are cereal boxes with 3D, posters with 3D, films coming out in 3D.

"Also, (it was) a big challenge. I like to challenge myself with each picture I make."

Waititi, posting a photo of the portrait on Instagram on Thursday, said the win was "an absolute kick in the baramundies for Ockers as they try to figure out how the f*** a New Zealand supermodel won one of their most beloved awards".

"And what's better than a 2D painting of this gifted, cocky, Kiwi son of a gunslinger ... is that's a 3D painting! More Taika, more reason to live!

"Thank you Claus, thanks Archie, and thank you, 'Straya."

Head packer Brett Cuthbertson holds 52 per cent of the vote for the Packing Room Prize, and this year was his last on the judging panel. He will retire after 41 years with the Art Gallery of NSW.

"In this world full of war and COVID, (it) is pretty miserable at times. This guy has a vision and a twisted sense of humour that we all need right now," Mr Cuthbertson said, referring to Waititi.

"The painting immediately grabbed my attention. I love the look on his face and his pose. It's the first time I've seen a 3D painting come in, but it's kind of a fake 3D."

Stangl's portrait of Waititi is one of 52 finalist works for the Archibald Prize, selected from more than 800 entries.

The artist said he was already "scheming" next year's entry.

"But just being in the show is all you ever really ask for when you enter the Archibald," he said. "This right now is just a cherry on the cake."

The winner of this year's Archibald Prize will receive $100,000.

The $50,000 Wynne Prize will go to the best landscape painting of Australian scenery or figurative sculpture, while the $40,000 Sulman Prize will be awarded to the best subject painting, genre painting or mural project.

The remaining winners will be announced on May 13.

© AAP 2022

Small businesses are key to the Liberal-Nationals' economic plan while Labor is hitching its success to more jobs in the clean energy sector.

Future small business owners are being promised good economic conditions to set up shop, as the prime minister continues to play up the government's fiscal credentials.

But Labor leader Anthony Albanese is pitching a clean energy economy as part of the opposition's commitment to a 43 per cent emissions reduction by 2030.

Scott Morrison says 400,000 new small businesses will be created over the next five years if his government is returned at the May 21 election.

But he did not have the "magical" ability to lift wages and lower the cost of living.

"I don't believe I have a magic pen that makes wages go up or makes prices go down," he told reporters while campaigning in the western Sydney electorate of Parramatta on Thursday.

"Anthony Albanese is walking around in this election, pretending that he has some special magical powers to make wages go up and costs go down."

Yet Labor says the prime minister's small business pledge is not as ambitious as he is trying to claim.

As part of Labor's powering Australia plan, more than 600,000 new jobs will be created by 2030, with five out of six of those in regional Australia.

"Climate change represents a jobs and economic growth opportunity for Australia," Mr Albanese told reporters in Sydney.

"Only Labor can end the climate wars and what we need is to do just that so businesses can have the certainty to invest confidently going forward."

The coalition is offering lower taxes, less red tape and energy efficiency to encourage more small businesses to set up shop, building on its efforts to support a similar number in the past five years.

"The energy and drive which has got us through this pandemic, which we've backed in as a government ... will ensure the Australian economy continues to create the jobs," Mr Morrison said.

Yet the peak body for small businesses in Australia says the coalition's plan builds on existing initiatives but does not provide a clear path to address future challenges.

"We are calling for policy that will address the next two years of growth, because small businesses are ready to thrive and grow," Council of Small Business Organisations Australia Alexi Boyd told AAP.

"What we need is encouragement for them to continue that, which means removing some of the pain points including industrial relations and competition reform."

Government policy to make it less complicated to run a business, and easier to hire someone and comply with tax and super requirements are some of the changes the council would welcome.

Meanwhile, the opposition leader stressed the need for economic reform while making his election pitch to industry leaders in a speech to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"A country cannot keep drawing from an old well, because the well eventually dries out," he said.

"Australia needs a new playbook to seize the future."

Among the measures Mr Albanese proposes is universal child care, which he says will support workforce participation.

Earlier this week, the Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates for the first time in almost 12 years, taking the cash rate from 0.1 per cent to 0.35 per cent.

The rate hike has put cost of living pressures at the centre of the election campaign, with both leaders claiming they would be better at managing the financial squeeze being felt by Australian households.

© AAP 2022