Union organiser who sent email raising complaint about official loses bid to get job back.

“So he hits me and goes back to life, but mine is changed forever,” was King’s reaction.

A Victorian construction company has announced it has gone into administration, just weeks after building giant Porter Davis collapsed.

Mahercorp, which is the parent company of Eight Homes and Urbanedge Homes, has today sent a letter to its customers to announce it is entering voluntary administration.

But director and chief executive Steve Maher insisted the company is not in liquidation.

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"I want to emphasise that Mahercorp has not collapsed and is not in liquidation. My intention is to work with the administrator on a plan that I hope allows us to restructure the business, creating more sustainable footing and to complete your home," the letter from him reads.

Maher has said construction of customers' homes will be put on hold for five weeks.

He has cited "unprecedented challenges" builders are facing, particularly skyrocketing costs, as the cause.

"Materials and labour costs are at record levels and rising inflation is putting huge pressure on builders," the letter reads.

"Entering voluntary administration was the only option after being advised earlier this week that the insurer for our supplier of essential safety equipment would no longer support our business."

Mahercorp is a Victorian company.

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Humpback whales have their own form of skincare and day spas, research claims.

Humpback whales use sandy and shallow bays to exfoliate dead skin cells off themselves by rolling around in the sand, research from Griffith University suggests.

As groups of humpback whales, called pods, migrated south between August 2021 and October 2022, a team of researchers monitored their movements, making the discovery.

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"On all occasions of sand rolling, the whales were observed on video to be slowly moving forward with their head first into the sand followed by rolling to one side or a full roll," Marine ecologist Dr Olaf Meynecke said.

"During the different deployments, the sand rolling was observed in the context of socialising. The behaviour was either following courtship, competition or other forms of socialising."

The whales were monitored and filmed using suction cup trackers which had high-definition video cameras integrated into them.

Marine Biologists observed the pod of whales fully and partially rolling their bodies around in the sand on the seafloor, in about 45 metres of water.

The activity provides social and health benefits for the whales.

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"Humpback whales host diverse communities of skin bacteria that can pose a threat for open wounds if bacteria grow in large numbers," Meynecke said.

"Removing excess skin is likely a necessity to maintain a healthy bacterial skin community. Humpback whales can remove some barnacles and skin through surface activity such as breaches but not all."

Barnacles can drag whales down and cause them to lose energy.

Marine biologists also noticed that the exfoliation benefited the ocean's ecosystem, as they observed small fish feeding on the dead skin cells that fell off the whale's skin. 

Families of people killed in the Las Vegas Strip massacre in October 2017 will receive shares of almost all the $2 million estate of the man who unleashed the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history and killed himself before police reached him, according to a probate case that ended Thursday in Nevada.

In the next several weeks, the money will be distributed to the families of 61 victims of the shooting, said Alice Denton, the Las Vegas attorney who handled the case with her partner, Jarien Cho, at no cost to the estate of the gunman, Stephen Paddock.

“We have done what we set out to do,” Denton said of the more than five-year process to appraise, sell and distribute proceeds from Paddock's assets, including two homes and an investment property in Nevada, a vehicle and 49 guns.

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“We worked to ensure that the victims' families received the most that they could,” Denton told The Associated Press.

“The guns were destroyed, and the funds will be distributed to the families of the deceased victims according to the direction of the shooter's mother."

"None of the money is going to anyone in the Paddock family."

Fifty-eight people died the night of the shooting, and authorities said two died months later from their wounds. More than 850 people were injured.

The list of recipients of shares of Paddock's estate was sealed by the court, and Denton said she could not disclose the identity of a 61st person or how they died.

“This is not intended in any way to compensate for the loss of these lives. It can’t," Clark County District Court Judge Gloria Sturman said as she closed the case, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

The guns – including assault-style rifles that authorities found had been fitted with “bump stock” devices to make them fire more rapidly – were purchased for $93,000 by an anonymous donor in January 2019 with the provision that they be turned over to the FBI, according to court records.

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Thirty-six of the weapons were destroyed, according to documents the FBI provided on February 28 to the estate, and 13 were kept by the bureau for training purposes.

Las Vegas police and the FBI said they never found a conclusive motive for Paddock to rain gunfire from a 32nd-floor suite at the Mandalay Bay resort into an open-air concert audience of 22,000 people across Las Vegas Boulevard.

Recent disclosures of material collected by the FBI and letters released by Las Vegas police have provided new looks at the case, but no additional answers.

Paddock was a 64-year-old retired postal service worker, accountant and real estate investor with a penchant for guns and gambling, and homes in Reno and Mesquite, a retirement community more than an hour’s drive from Las Vegas.

His investment property was in suburban Henderson.

His father was a notorious bank robber and federal prison escapee once listed on the FBI most-wanted list. Stephen Paddock held a private pilot’s license, and he sometimes wagered tens of thousands of dollars at a time playing video poker.

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Police and the FBI concluded that Paddock meticulously planned the shooting, burned through more than $2.2 million of personal savings and distanced himself from his girlfriend and family in the months before the Las Vegas shooting.

A settlement totaling $1.19 billion was reached in September 2020 between casino company MGM Resorts International and its insurers with more than 4,400 relatives and victims of the shooting to resolve lawsuits involving plaintiffs from nearly every state in the US, at least eight Canadian provinces, the United Kingdom, Iran and Ireland.

Four dogs will be put down following an attack that left a toddler seriously injured in Queensland last week.

A three-year-old girl sustained serious head and neck injuries from the dog attack, which involved one of four of her grandmother's dogs.

Four dogs, described as German Shepherds and Mastiff breeds, were removed from the Yatala property following the attack on April 12, and will now be put down.

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The local council confirmed that complaints had been made about the dogs prior to the attack.

Officers had visited the property previously on several occasions. 

The decision to euthanise the dogs come as the Queensland Premier moved to fast-track a review into dangerous dog laws. 

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A toddler has died after being hit by a car in the driveway of a property in regional Queensland, south of Townsville.

The 15-month-old boy was struck about 4.40pm yesterday by a car being driven by a woman, police said.

The incident happened at a property at Carstairs, near Ayr.

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The boy was rushed to hospital but later died. 

Queensland Police are investigating the infant's sudden death and investigations are ongoing.

Gendy nooch, cozzie livs, tiger toast, password child and murder noodle.

These are the words of the month, which Macquarie Dictionary is considering making the 2023 Word of the Year and possibly including in their next edition.

Some of the words have been submitted by the public and this month the dictionary is calling for more new word submissions.

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https://twitter.com/MacqDictionary/status/1648861592421801987?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

According to the dictionary, the term gendy nooch is a shortening of gender-neutral, which means something not relating or specific to a particular gender.

Cozzie livs has quickly become slang for the rising cost of living, which is affecting most Australians this year.

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Another new phrase is tiger toast, which refers to "toast with a topping of Vegemite and strips of cheese" according to the dictionary.

Password child is another new phrase meaning "a child favoured over their siblings, as shown by the use of their name in the parent's passwords".

The final top pick for April words of the month is murder noodle, which refers to "a snake, especially one that is venomous".

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The 2022 Word of the Year was Teal, defined by the dictionary as "a political candidate who holds generally ideologically moderate views, but who supports strong action regarding environmental and climate action policies, and the prioritising of integrity in politics (so called as many of the candidates use the colour teal in their electoral material).

Last year's people's choice word was bachelor's handbag, referring to the plastic bag containing a takeaway roast chicken often purchased from supermarkets.

You can submit a word to the dictionary or vote for any of these words to be included here.

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From construction giants like Porter Davis to smaller start-ups like Milkrun and retailers like luxury fashion brand Alice McCall, the rate of businesses going under is rising but experts warn it is only going to get worse.

A recent analysis by NAB shows there has been a bounce back in businesses collapsing with a huge 30 per cent rise in insolvencies in 2022 after a slowdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But with economic headwinds placing pressure on Aussie consumers and businesses alike, experts are worried there will be a far higher rise in collapses in 2023 as companies face a looming recession.

READ MORE: What to do if you can't make mortgage payments

Various industries are being impacted by the insolvency rebound with construction collapses jumping by 28 per cent, accommodation and food services by 14 per cent and retail trade by 7 per cent.

There are different causes for industry collapses with construction impacted by supply chain issues and rising building costs, visitor levels not returning to pre-pandemic levels being a blight on accommodation and discretionary spending slowing for retailers.

Is the rise in insolvencies right now a bad thing?

The rise in insolvencies right now might not be a bad thing for Australia, insolvency experts claim.

Insolvency firm Jirsch Sutherland's managing partner Bradd Morelli told 9news.com.au this backlog is "zombie companies" which are businesses that should have been shut down or restructured two years ago but faced no pressure to and now the Australian Taxation Office is cracking down.

"We saw smaller businesses that needed to go but no one was pushing pressure on them so they could stick their head in the sand," he said.

"We're starting to see a rise in larger businesses that have ATO challenges, that's leading to the increase in voluntary administration and restructurings."

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Morelli said it was a process of "weeding out the weak" businesses at the moment as we see the murmurings of a global recession, which Australia is not expected to escape this time, which will impact more companies.

"You need these mild downturns because what that does is flushes out the cowboys and flushes out the guys on the margins and gets rid of people who might be underquoting," he said.

"Some of the better businesses, although they might have challenges as the market slows down, they'll come out stronger."

He said businesses that are "no good" – meaning they aren't paying taxes, superannuation or struggle to pay clients or staff – are not good for the Australian economy.

"Guys that hang on are a drain on the economy," he said.

So instead of thinking about the current rise in insolvencies as a blight on the Australian economy, Morelli said it can reallocate assets from unproductive to productive businesses to strengthen the market.

Cost of living crisis could cause 'good' businesses to go under

However, the insolvency landscape is transitioning as cost of living pressures weigh down and experts forecast "good" or successful businesses will be tested and may fail at the end of the year – meaning yet another rise in collapses.

Morelli warned relentless interest rate rises, inflation and supply chain issues are starting to change consumer behaviour leading to another rise in collapses by the end of this year.

"I think that will lead to another big increase in the number of insolvencies at a personal and corporate level," Morelli said.

He said Aussies will start to tighten their purses and no longer go out for date night or to the pub but hospitality businesses and retailers will feel the consequences of the consumer behaviour changes.

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Australian Retail Association (ARA) CEO Paul Zahra said the tide is turning for the retail sector as a tough economic environment bears down.

"What we're seeing now is a slow down in discretionary spending and shoppers are saving every dollar where you can," he said.

Zahra said in good times "sales hide all evils" but in tough times companies get tested and have to bring costs down but some companies don't survive.

"We're seeing a real collision between the cost of living crisis and the cost of doing business crisis," he said.

"You have to expect there will be more collapses occur but sadly it is small businesses particularly that are under significant pressure because they have thinner margins to operate."

What can we do about it?

There's some harsh advice from Morelli for businesses struggling to balance the books and fear liquidation is knocking on their door as cost of living pressures bear down.

"Have cash flows and monitor them and be prepared to make changes," he said.

"If people have to let a couple of staff go it can be a hard decision but make that decision.

"Businesses hang on to people but at the end of the day the businesses fail because of that."

Zahra said it is likely the unemployment rate will go up like the Reserve Bank of Australia has forecast from the current historically low rate of 3.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent by June 2025.

But even if people get let go there are still more than 36,000 vacancies in the retail and hospitality sector to snap people up after the COVID-19 pandemic drove foreign workers away due to the harsh border restrictions.

He said there's no simple answer to what businesses can do to survive the rising economic turbulence.

In terms of interest rates, the ARA wants the central bank to be conscious of its decisions but at the end of the day, the bank has its own priorities – inflation.

Zahra said businesses need to have a unique value proposition and a sustainable business model to survive financial hardship.

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The information provided on this website is general in nature only and does not constitute personal financial advice. The information has been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any information on this website you should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs.

A married couple shot their daughter's former partner four times and left him to die after a far from amicable divorce and custody tensions, a court has been told.

Nolene June Jordan and Cedric Harper Jordan have pleaded not guilty to murdering Shane Barker, 36, at his home in Campbell Town in Tasmania on August 2, 2009.

The pair were charged in May 2020 following an extensive police investigation.

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During opening submissions on Friday, Crown Prosecutor Daryl Coates said the Jordans hated Barker and wanted him out of the life of their daughter, Rachel.

He said the couple left their house with a .22-calibre rifle at 6pm to travel to Barker's home.

Coates said Barker went to shut the gate on his property when he was shot three times in the back and once when he was laying on the ground.

Barker and Rachel had a daughter together and there was a "continual source of frustration" surrounding his access to her, Coates said.

Rachel was also unhappy about a proposed financial settlement with Barker, the court was told.

"The separation not (being) an amicable one was an understatement," Coates told the Supreme Court of Tasmania in Launceston.

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Coates said it was the Crown's case the Jordans had "had enough" and formed an agreement to kill Barker.

"(They) went to Barker's house where they shot him and left him to die," he said.

It was highly likely Jordan pulled the trigger because he was an experienced shooter who owned guns and ammunition, Coates said.

Barker earlier in the evening had dinner with his parents before returning home with an empty biscuit tin and some ironed shirts, he added.

His body was found by police in the hallway of his home.

Coates said a lack of disturbance to the property pointed to a premeditated killing by somebody who knew where he lived.

Opening submissions in the trial, which is expected to run for several months, continue.

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