☕️ Bonza goes into voluntary administration

Good morning!

Here is today’s riddle: Three tortoises are crawling. The first tortoise says: two tortoises are crawling after me. The second tortoise says: one tortoise crawls after me and another one in front of me. And the third tortoise says: two tortoises are crawling in front of me, and another one behind me. How can this be?

The answer is the tidbit!

I’ve got 10 seconds

Quote of the day

“I’ve concluded that repairing our relationship across the political divide can only be done with someone else at the helm.”
Outgoing Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf on his resignation from the top job, after relations with a minor party needed to maintain government fell apart.

Stat of the day

$US200 million ($AU307m)
How much the U.S. communications watchdog has fined leading telcos for failing to adequately protect their customers’ location data.

Today in history

1931
The Empire State Building was officially opened by U.S. President Herbert Hoover.

I’ve got 30 seconds

Some headlines from this morning:

• A university in Melbourne has admitted to underpaying its casual staff by $2.85m. Swinburne University and its affiliate Swinburne College self-reported the unintentional error that impacted almost two thousand employees between 2017 and 2023. It comes after the union representing uni staff raised concerns of underpayments in the sector in 2022. The uni has apologised and says it’s working on repaying affected staff.

• Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has announced he won’t return as leader after recent elections. Polling in the South Pacific nation showed no clear winner after last week’s vote. The Solomon Islands signed a security agreement with China in 2022, raising concerns from the Australian Government about increased tension in the Pacific region. Sogavare became PM in 2019. It’s not yet clear who will take over as leader.

Recommendation of the day

I’ve got 1 minute

Low-cost airline Bonza has gone into voluntary administration after it “temporarily suspended” all flights

Low-cost Australian airline Bonza has entered voluntary administration. It comes after the Australian carrier announced the cancellation of all flights on Tuesday morning.

A notice filed to the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) on Tuesday shows Bonza has appointed an external accounting firm to wind up its business operations.

The budget airline launched in January 2023.

Bonza

Last year, Bonza became the country’s first low-cost independent airline to launch in more than 15 years.

Australia’s domestic aviation industry is dominated by two main companies: Qantas (which also owns Jetstar) and Virgin.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission had suggested Bonza’s entry into the aviation market would help bring down the cost of flights.

Cancellations

On Tuesday morning, Bonza announced it had “temporarily suspended” all planned flights. It apologised to customers impacted by the cancellations.

“We’re working as quickly as possible to determine a way forward that ensures there is ongoing competition in the Australian domestic aviation market,” it said.

Hours later, it appointed an independent accounting firm to wrap up its operations.

Response

Minister for Transport Catherine King confirmed she spoke with Qantas and Virgin, and said that “both airlines stand ready to assist stranded passengers needing to get home”.

King said she expected Bonza to “keep passengers informed of their options and their consumer rights.”

I’ve got 2 minutes

New government data shows the rate of women killed by a partner in Australia increased by nearly 30% in 2022/23 compared to the previous year.

It comes after Australian governments agreed on a goal to reduce the number of women killed by their partners by 25% per year, starting in 2023. This target is part of the National Plan to End Violence Against Women.

Here’s what you need to know.

National Plan

In 2022, the Federal, state, and territory governments launched a 10-year plan to end violence against women.

It was the second plan of its kind, following one launched in 2010. That plan failed in its goal to reduce the prevalence of violence against women.

The Government said for the first time, the new plan included the “importance of engaging men and boys”. The plan had four key areas: prevention, early intervention, response, and recovery and healing.

Under the National Plan, there are two five-year ‘action plans’. One of the key targets of the first action plan was a 25% reduction per year in female victims of intimate partner homicide.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth was asked at the time if this goal was too ambitious. She replied: “[The targets] are ambitious, but we need to start aiming for something.”

New data

Today, the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) revealed the number of women killed by a partner last year increased by 28% compared to the year prior.

The data shows that of the 34 women killed by an intimate partner last year, all were killed by a male partner.

It also found the rate of homicide is far higher for First Nations women.

It comes as there has been a rise of the number of women killed in the first four months of this year, compared to last year.

While there has been a rise in the past year, the report said the number of women killed by a partner has seen an overall decrease of 66% in the last 34 years.

The 25% reduction target is set to start in the year 2023/24. The numbers released by the AIC today are for the year 2022/23.

AIC Deputy Director Dr Rick Brown said: “The figures in this latest report provide an important baseline to measure progress... to reduce female [intimate partner homicide] by 25% per year over five years.”

1800 RESPECT:
Call: 1800 737 732
Text: 0458 737 732
Video: 1800RESPECT.org.au

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Give me some good news

Australian researchers have made a breakthrough towards developing a long-term flu vaccine that would protect recipients from multiple strains of the virus.

The discovery from the University of Melbourne brings scientists a step closer to developing a replacement for the yearly flu jab.

Flu vaccines are usually updated yearly to keep up with mutations of the virus. However, new research could see a universal vaccine formulated.

TDA tidbit

Here’s a story that’s ruffled bird watchers’ feathers.

U.S. man Michael Sanchez was taking photos of a waterfall in Oregon around sunrise when he saw what he thought was a little blackbird.

He took a couple of photos before it flew off. When he went home to look at his photos he noticed the bird was blue, and turned to the internet to find out what bird it was.

To Sanchez’s surprise, he might have accidentally taken the first-ever photo of the Blue Rock Thrush in the U.S. The bird is native to Europe and Asia, and has only been unofficially spotted, not photographed, once before in America.

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Riddle answer: The tortoises are crawling in circles.

Want more from The Daily Aus? Listen to our podcast!

This week, a hate speech trial against One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson began in the Federal Court.

It comes after Hanson was accused of racially discriminating against Greens Deputy Leader Mehreen Faruqi in a social media post from 2022. Hanson and Faruqi have both faced questioning so far in the hearing.

On today’s podcast, we’ll explain what Hanson said, the context of the case, and what could happen next.

TDA asks