☕️ NRL player suspended for racist slur

Happy (riddle) Wednesday!

It’s time for another rebus puzzle.

In case you’re unfamiliar, a rebus puzzle conveys a phrase or a word that is a common idiom or expression.

Can you guess what this means?

Answer is in the tidbit!

I’ve got 10 seconds

Quote of the day

“Every time I've opened my mouth, you've started talking; now shut up and let me have a go.”
Federal MP Bob Katter to Senator Ross Cadell, at a press conference outside a hearing for the Senate inquiry into supermarket pricing.

Stat of the day

665
The number of whooping cough cases in Queensland so far this year, compared to 11 in the same period last year.

Today in history

1781
Uranus was discovered by astronomer William Herschel. It was also the first planet discovered with a telescope.

I’ve got 30 seconds

Some headlines from this morning:

• The 2026 Commonwealth Games may have found a host country, with the Games’ Federation offering Malaysia a cash incentive to put on the event. In 2023, former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced the state would not go ahead with plans to host the games, citing budget concerns. The Commonwealth Games Federation has now made a formal offer to the Olympic Council of Malaysia worth nearly $AU200 million to plan and host the competition.
  

• Donald Trump says he will release any rioters serving a prison sentence for the January 6 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, if he wins the presidential election. More than 1300 people have been charged since the riots in Washington that led to the deaths of least seven people. The attack started as a pro-Trump rally after current President Joe Biden’s election victory, but quickly turned violent. In a post on Trump’s platform Truth Social, the former U.S. President Trump said if he wins the November election, one of his first acts in office would be to, “Free the January 6 Hostages being wrongfully imprisoned!”

I’ve got 1 minute

The NRL has handed Spencer Leniu an eight-week suspension for using a racist slur

The NRL has handed Sydney Roosters player Spencer Leniu an eight-week suspension.

Leniu was accused of using a racial slur against Ezra Mam, a First Nations Brisbane Broncos player, during the teams’ season opener in Vegas this month.

Leniu pleaded guilty to the charge and has apologised to Mam.

It means he will miss almost a third of the NRL season.

The incident

Mam made a formal complaint against Leniu in the second half of their opening-round match earlier this month.

Leniu was subsequently put on ‘report’ by the referee, which prompted an investigation by the NRL’s judiciary body.

Leniu initially dismissed accusations of racism, saying the comment was said in the heat of the game. Days later, he acknowledged the impact of his words and said he wanted to “take ownership” of the incident.

Judiciary panel

The judiciary panel investigated the incident, and considered Leniu’s guilty plea, before deciding an appropriate penalty.

Mam didn’t attend Monday night’s judiciary hearing. However, he described his anger and disappointment at Leniu’s slur in a statement.

The panel reached a “unanimous decision” to rule Leniu out of play for the Roosters until round 10 in May.

Roosters’ response

Roosters CEO Joe Kelly said that Leniu and the club ”apologise unreservedly” to Mam, his family, and all First Nations communities hurt by Leniu’s slur.

During the hearing, Leniu expressed shock and regret over the incident, saying: “I really am sorry to Ezra and his people”.

Kelly said that Leniu had “learnt a great deal” from the incident, and they would encourage him to increase his education about First Nations cultures.

Thurston’s response

Retired NRL great Jonathan Thurston said Leniu’s eight-week suspension didn’t go far enough, telling Nine that the NRL “failed” to take a meaningful stand against racism.

Thurston suggested a 12-match suspension should be the default penalty for players found guilty of racism.

I’ve got 2 minutes

The Federal Govt has agreed to a $4 billion housing deal for the Northern Territory.

The Federal Government has agreed to a 10-year, $4 billion housing deal that hopes to halve the number of overcrowded homes in remote parts of the Northern Territory.

The agreement will build as many as 2,700 new homes in remote First Nations communities in the Northern Territory, and help meet Indigenous housing objectives under pre-existing agreements.

The agreement will be jointly funded by the Federal Government and NT Government.

NT housing

The highest levels of overcrowding in Australia were found in the NT, where 54% of houses in remote communities were overcrowded according to a 2022 National Audit Office report.

The Australian and NT governments agreed to a $550 million plan in 2019 to build more homes in remote NT. Most funding was to deliver at least 1950 new bedrooms.

By September 2021, only 19% of bedrooms had been delivered. The housing target was met, behind schedule, in December 2023.

The new deal

The new deal aims to build up to 270 new homes each year for 10 years.

It’s been backed by all four of the NT’s Land Councils, which help First Nations people negotiate deals for the use of their land with governments and businesses.

New homes will be specified for the needs of particular remote communities. However, modelling for the agreement is generally based on the construction of three-bedroom homes, given that many families live in remote communities.

Closing the gap

The deal also hopes to address a Closing the Gap target aiming to have 88% of First Nations people living in appropriately-sized (not overcrowded) homes by 2031.

About 81% of First Nations people weren’t living in overcrowded housing across Australia in 2021. While this was an improvement from 2016, the 2031 goal is currently not on track to be met.

About 94% of non-Indigenous Australians live in appropriately-sized dwellings.

PM’s statement

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said ensuring a secure home was a “precondition for a successful community”, and that the deal would empower First Nations communities across the NT.

He added the agreement will provide meaningful work opportunities for First Nations people in remote communities.

Albanese and his Cabinet (senior members of government) will meet in the NT tomorrow. Further funding announcements to support the NT are expected over the coming days.

Opposition response

Acting Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Perin Davey said the Coalition would embrace “any action taken to address Indigenous disadvantage where it exists”.

However, Davey said the government announcement lacked detail. She called for a formal audit of government spending to ensure funding is directed to effective programs.

“Aboriginal Australians living in the Northern Territory have been crying out for help... we need to make sure they are getting the programs they need, and the funding is getting there.”

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Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths have been accused of anti-competitive practices and unfair prices against a backdrop of record profits. Concerns of price-gouging have escalated into multiple formal investigations, including a Senate Inquiry. So what exactly are the supermarkets accused of, what are the inquiries trying to achieve, and will any of it actually lead to cheaper groceries?

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Give me some good news

Scientists have discovered a way to treat infertility after successfully showing a skin cell can be used to create an egg capable of being fertilised.

Using the skin cell of a mouse, researchers from Oregon Health and Science University discovered its chromosomes could be engineered to create an egg, which could then be fertilised with sperm. Senior researchers said the goal is to scale up the process to assist humans with fertility.

TDA tidbit

Two pilots in Indonesia have taken the term “auto-pilot” to the next level, after falling asleep mid-flight.

Both the pilot-in-chief and the second-in-command dozed off for nearly half an hour mid-flight, with 153 passengers on board. The plane drifted off course but no one was harmed during the incident.

A report issued by Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee said air traffic controllers made “several attempts to contact” the pilots when it realised the plane was drifting from its path.

It noted one of the pilots was in the middle of moving house with one-month-old twin babies. I mean, fair enough!

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Rebus puzzle answer: Forgive and forget.

TDA asks