CANBERRA, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has warned locals not to get "complacent" while swimming at the beach as yet another hot summer kicks off.
The warning comes after the National Coastal Safety Report, released on Sunday afternoon, showed there were 130 beach drownings in 2015-16, a 24 percent increase compared to the previous year.
Turnbull said it was important for locals and tourists alike to be aware of dangerous beach conditions, which can often change in the blink of an eye.
"Complacency leads to tragedy, that's why we have to be alert all the time," Turnbull said in comments published in Monday's newspapers. "You cannot take anything for granted."
According to the report, nine in 10 drowning deaths were males, while just 10 percent of fatalities were international tourists in 2015-16, a figure which is 4 percent lower than the previous year.
Surf Life Saving Australia's Graham Ford said that "one death is one too many," while CEO Melissa King said locals, not tourists, were more likely to get into trouble in the surf.
"It's a myth that it's international tourists who are the ones who are getting caught up in trouble, it's actually locals," she said.
Australia's two most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria, led the list for drownings by states, with 53 and 22 respectively. Injuries, swimmers getting caught in rip tides and existing medical conditions were all believed to be leading reasons for the high death toll.
