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Nielsen data reveals australia’s top travel trends and the brands spending big to attract aussie tourists, 4 minute read | april 2024.

• Industry’s biggest ad spenders revealed as travel marketing budgets jump 8% quarter-on-quarter
• Top local and overseas destinations revealed
• Most popular Aussie travel websites
• The winners and losers of the frequent flyer war

Sydney – April 30 , 2024 – As many Australians return from a much-needed retreat over the recent school holiday break, millions are already planning their next getaway, embracing travel rewards schemes, while being wooed by travel brands spending millions to get their business.

Nielsen Consumer & Media View (CMV) data shows that 76% of Aussies plan on travelling domestically in the next 12 months, while more than half (52%) have their eye on an overseas destination.

Top domestic destinations

Younger Aussies (25 to 39) are the most likely to be bitten by the domestic travel bug, with 78% planning to holiday locally in the next 12 months. Sydney narrowly beats Melbourne as the preferred place to visit, followed by The Gold Coast, Regional NSW, then Brisbane.

Top overseas destinations

The even younger 18 to 24 age group are the most likely to travel overseas, with 58% planning to travel abroad in the coming year. The UK tops the list of desired OS destinations, followed by New Zealand, Japan, The USA and Indonesia.

While most Aussies are looking for a beach getaway when it comes to staying close to home, they prefer a trip involving plenty of sightseeing, followed by some rest and relaxation, once they leave the country.

Top travel websites

Data from Nielsen Digital Content Ratings (DCR) saw Qantas claim top spot when it comes to travel websites,  followed by Trip Advisor with 5.82 million and 5.02 million users respectively in Q1 of this year. Booking Holdings Network was the third-largest platform in terms of users with 2.5 million.

Average user engagement time on most travel platforms was also consistent from Q4 2023 to Q1 2024, although Anytrip.com.au and Royal Caribbean Cruises led the pack. On average, Anytrip users spent almost 80 minutes interacting with the platform, while Royal Caribbean users spent almost 40 minutes on the platform.

Top frequent flyer programs

The number of Australians who are members of a frequent flyer program also increased, with 57% of all Australian consumers now part of some sort of travel rewards scheme. Qantas remains the market leader with a 45% share of the market, followed by Virgin (31%), and other smaller players making up the remaining 24%.

Top travel advertisers

In addition, Nielsen Ad Intel data also shows that the travel and tourism industry spent more than $153 million on advertising in Australia in Q1, 2024 – an increase of 8% from the previous quarter, with TripADeal the biggest spender, followed by Virgin Australia, then the Flight Centre-owned Ignite Travel. 

Nielsen Ad Intel’s Australia Commercial Lead, Rose Lopreiato, said: “Australians’ love of travel continues to defy cost of living pressures, as shown by an 8% jump in travel ad spend this quarter. You can’t get a stronger indicator than that when it comes to how marketers and advertisers are spending in order to maximise ROI, forge lasting connections with brands and consumers, and do so in the most economical way possible. From competitive ad spend analysis, to knowing what your competitors are saying in market and the deals and offers you’re up against, Ad Intel helps you understand which ads are driving your competitors spend and where”.

Glenn Channel, Nielsen’s Pacific Head of Advanced Analytics added: “More than ever, brands need data that gives them the edge on their competition. That means going above standard demographic information, and understanding consumers, in this case travellers, as unique groups, who are motivated by more than just the urge to get away. Nielsen CMV enables brands to see consumers through an advanced audience lens, delivering a more holistic picture of behaviours and preferences with surprising linkages and purchase triggers that other consumer insight providers can’t match.”

About Nielsen

Nielsen shapes the world’s media and content as a global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics. Through our understanding of people and their behaviours across all channels and platforms, we empower our clients with independent and actionable intelligence so they can connect and engage with their audiences – now and into the future. Nielsen operates around the world in more than 55 countries. 

Learn more at www.nielsen.com and connect with us on social media (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram). 

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Dan Chapman Assoc. Director, Communications, Nielsen APAC [email protected] +61 404 088 462

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Tourism and transport

Overseas arrivals and departures, australia.

In February 2024:

• Short-term visitor arrivals: 857,950 – an annual increase of 257,240 trips
• Short-term resident returns: 775,630 – an annual increase of 136,060 trips
• Total arrivals: 1,786,650 – an annual increase of 411,140 
• Total departures: 1,491,730 – an annual increase of 423,320

Transport: Census

• The average number of motor vehicles per household is 1.8.

673,969 households don’t have a motor vehicle, primarily amongst lone households.

91 per cent of households (91.3 per cent) reported having at least one vehicle and more than half (55.1 per cent) reported having two or more vehicles.

Cars continued to be the most popular mode of transport to get to work in every state and territory. 52.7 per cent (6,347,498 people) of the Australian workforce drove to work by car only, compared to 61.5 per cent (6,574,571 people) in 2016. 

Using trains as the sole mode of transport to get to work decreased from 488,012 in 2016 to 170,326 in 2021. 

2.5 per cent of people (306,045) walked to work. Northern Territory had the highest proportion of people who walked to work at 7.6 per cent (8,115 people).

Of the 12 million people employed on Census day, 2.5 million people (21.0 per cent) worked from home, compared to 500,000 (4.7 per cent) in 2016. 1.4 million people (11.8 per cent) didn’t go to work on Census day, compared to 1 million people (9.4 per cent) in 2016.

Overseas Travel Statistics, Provisional

Provisional estimates of overseas trips in June 2021 show:

• A total of 103,500 arrivals
• 40,500 Australian citizens arrivals (39%), 9,100 permanent visa holders (9%), 43,800 New Zealand citizens (42%) and 10,900 temporary visa holders (11%)
• A total of 99,500 departures

Motor Vehicle Census, Australia

• There were 20.1 million registered motor vehicles as at 31 January 2021.
• The national fleet increased by 1.7% from 2020 to 2021.
• Toyota topped the list of passenger vehicles for the 16th consecutive year with 3.0 million registrations.
• Diesel vehicles increased to 26.4% of the national fleet, up from 20.9% in 2016.

Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, Australia

• 19,768,518 estimated number of vehicles
• 238,499 million kilometres travelled, an average of 12.1 thousand kilometres per vehicle
• 33,019 megalitres of fuel consumed
• 223,949 million tonne-kilometres of freight moved

Sales of New Motor Vehicles

Contains monthly information on sales of new motor vehicles in each state/territory sourced from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries

Tourist Accommodation, Australia

This release contains information on the supply of, and demand for, tourist accommodation facilities

Tourist Accommodation, Small Area Data, Australia

Information on the supply and demand for tourist accommodation facilities including number of establishments and occupancy by type and star rating

Australia’s journey to work

Electric passenger vehicle use, experimental estimates, visitor arrivals - calendar year - 2020, microdata and tablebuilder, view available microdata and tablebuilder.

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Leading tourism regions in Australia FY 2020, by number of international visitors

Leading tourism regions in australia in financial year 2020, by number of international visitors (in 1,000s).

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October 2020

financial year 2020

international visitors aged 15 years or older

Individual region totals will not sum to the Australian total as international visitors may have visited more than one region while in Australia Australia's financial year runs from July 1 to June 30; for example, financial year 2017 starts on July 1, 2016 and ends on June 30, 2017.

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• Travel Advice

Bonza enters administration as flights are cancelled across the country amid airline scaling back routes

As passengers scramble to find alternative flights, major news has emerged about the airline’s future.

Jetstar launches huge return for free sale

Swift plane stalker reveals wild details

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Budget airline Bonza has entered voluntary administration, leaving travellers stranded across the country.

The airline had already slashed flights across the country with the carrier’s CEO in discussions around the “viability” of the business.

As of Tuesday morning, multiple flights operated by the airline leaving from major airports across the country have been cancelled.

Some of the flights that have been canned include those departing from the Sunshine Coast scheduled to land in Gladstone and Rockhampton. Several that were due to leave from Melbourne airport have also been cancelled.

Hall Chadwick, an accountancy and business advisory firm, has been appointed as administrator.

The company explained to news.com.au that all flights are grounded pending discussions, and customers with bookings from now until May 2 are being told not to go to the airport.

In a statement from the airline’s CEO Tim Jordan, services will be “temporarily suspended” while discussions surrounding the “viability of the business” take place.

“Bonza has temporarily suspended services due to be operated today, as discussions are currently underway regarding the ongoing viability of the business,” Mr Jordan said on Tuesday.

In a further statement sent to news.com.au, Mr Burton apologised to customers impacted by the airline’s sudden wave of cancellations.

“We apologise to our customers who are impacted by this and we are working as quickly as possible to determine a way forward that ensures there is ongoing competition in the Australian aviation market.”

Following the disruption, rival airlines Qantas, Virgin Australia and Jetstar all stepped in to offer assistance for those in need.

Virgin Australia announced on Tuesday morning that they would assist any passengers in need of a seat or who have been left stranded by the Bonza cancellations.

“We are aware of the temporary suspension of Bonza flights,” the airline posted on X.

“We will immediately support any passengers stranded mid-journey by offering complimentary seats on Virgin Australia-operated flights to the airport nearest to their final planned Bonza destination.

“For those Bonza guests at an airport, please see a Virgin Australia customer service representative or call our Guest Contact Centre.”

Qantas and Jetstar offered a similar service, providing flights for the “significant impact” the cancellations have had on passengers.

“For Bonza customers who are due to travel today or who are stuck away from home, Jetstar and Qantas will assist by providing flights at no cost where there are seats available,” the statement read.

However of Bonza’s 36 routes, there are only six overlapping routes with either Jetstar or QantasLink — including Melbourne to the Gold Coast, Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast, Avalon to the Gold Coast, Gold Coast to Cairns, Melbourne to Mildura and Melbourne to Alice Springs.

Bonza launched in January last year, after more than a year of planning and spruiking quirky aircraft names and cabin crew uniforms.

The airline, which focused on flights to regional destinations including Cairns, Gladstone and Albury, also flies to Melbourne. However, Sydney and Brisbane are off the airline’s route path.

Earlier this month, Bonza announced they would be reducing the frequency of flights to some of its most popular routes, including Gold Coast to Cairns from five weekly roundtrips to three, Gold Coast to Townsville down from five weekly roundtrips to three and Gold Coast to Melbourne Tullamarine will be reduced from four weekly roundtrips to one as of May 1.

In an interview with the ABC ,a man from the Sunshine Coast, whose wife works for the airline, claimed 20 cabin crew were called into a meeting early on Tuesday and told the airline had “finished”.

“She went to work this morning, as per usual, they just went in — there were two crews there — they were just basically told that Bonza has finished,” he told the ABC.

“They’ve been told that they’re not flying until further notice.

“They’ve all been told that the bottom line is that Bonza will no longer be flying.

“They’re pretty devastated. It’s their job. She’s been in it from day one. It’s a bit of a blow for Maroochydore and the Sunshine Coast.”

The administrators have established a hotline for customers for any queries they may have on 03 8678 1600.

Know more about this story? Email [email protected]

The budget airline has just announced a massive sale across its entire domestic and international network with prices starting from $86.

Taylor Swift’s private jet tracker doubled down on releasing flight data, and recently released a YouTube video of all of the star’s flights from 2023.

Jetstar has revealed its new TV ad and an Aussie TikTok star who features in it has shared a hilarious behind-the-scenes clip that’s now gone viral.

National Tourism Satellite Account 2019-20

An annual data product examining Australia’s tourism performance through an economic lens.

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National tourism satellite account 2019–20.

The Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) examines Australia’s tourism performance through an economic lens. This summary of the TSA looks at the impacts of COVID-19 on this performance and sheds light on where these were felt most deeply.

We use TSA data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to report on:

• the value of goods and services consumed by visitors
• the resulting contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), international trade and employment.

This information helps industry and governments monitor performance and support strategies for recovery and future growth.

Disruptions in the tourism sector

Australia’s tourism industry experienced sustained growth from 2009 to 2019. Previous TSAs therefore held a positive outlook. This is in stark contrast to the present situation.

The impacts of COVID-19 on the visitor economy are unprecedented. Sudden restrictions to mobility have caused immediate and severe disruptions to the tourism sector. These include:

• the closing of international borders which has significantly reduced international arrivals
• state border closures and internal mobility restrictions that have significantly impacted the domestic tourism markets. Both interstate and intrastate
• people being more hesitant to travel due to physical distancing and the increased need for safety.

Key results

Total tourism consumption fell by 19% or $29.5 billion in 2019–20. This resulted in:

• $50.4 billion in direct tourism GDP to the economy. This was 18% or $10.8 billion less than the previous year
• tourism GDP as a share of the national economy falling from 3.1% in 2018–19 to 2.5% in 2019–20
• direct tourism employment of 621,000 people. This was 4.8% of the Australian workforce and 6.6% lower than in 2018–19
• tourism exports falling to $31.2 billion. This is down 21% from 2018–19. Tourism exports are from international visitors spending money on Australian goods and services
• tourism imports falling to $42.1 billion. This is down 27.8% from 2018–19. Tourism imports are the money Australian residents spend when travelling overseas.

Notes on the data

The  TSA produced by the ABS  is the basis for this report.

The TSA summarises industry performance over the entire financial year, it therefore tends to smooth out fluctuations in performance. Fluctuations in performance were a significant issue for 2019–2020. For that financial year, tourism performance for the first two quarters was strong. However for the second half of 2019–20:

• Australia’s summer bushfires had significant impacts on tourism activity during the early part of 2020. This was during what would normally be peak trading periods.
• COVID-19 has had a major impact on the visitor economy from February 2020. This saw a dramatic slowdown in tourism activity in the June quarter of 2020.

help Hover on line markers over relevant quarter to show total figures

Source: Tourism Research Australia, International and National Visitor Surveys, June 2020

Tourism consumption results

Tourism consumption in Australia decreased 19.3% (or $29.5 billion) to $123.1 billion in 2019–20. This decline comprised:

• international visitors – down 21% from $39.6 billion to $31.2 billion
• Australians on domestic overnight travel – down 20.1% from $87.2 billion to $69.7 billion
• Australians on day trip travel – down 14.2% from $25.8 billion to $22.2 billion.

Taking a longer-term view, international travel is unlikely to return to previous levels for several years. Domestic tourism will therefore be a more important part of Australia’s visitor economy and critical for longer-term recovery.

The fall in tourism consumption had varying impacts on spending across Australia’s visitor economy. While all products were significantly affected, the most severe impacts were for:

• Transport – down 25.2%
• Travel agency and information centre services – down 21%
• Recreation, cultural and gambling – down 19.3%
• Accommodation and food services – down 18%.

As most international students have stayed on in Australia during the pandemic, spend on education has seen a more modest decline – down 7.5% from $8.7 billion to $8.0 billion.

help Hover over bars to show total figures

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian National Accounts: Tourism Satellite Account, Tourism consumption, June 2020

GDP from tourism

GDP from tourism was $50.4 billion in 2019–20. This was a decrease of 17.6% compared with 2018–19.

This fall in GDP was much worse than for the rest of the economy. In 2019–20, national GDP grew by 1.7%. As a result, tourism’s share of the national economy fell from 3.1% in 2018–19 to 2.5% in 2019–20.

help Hover over bars to show total figures.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian National Accounts: Tourism Satellite Account, GDP, June 2020

Exports and imports

Tourism’s export value comes from international visitors spending on Australian goods and services. Imports are counted from Australian residents’ spending during overseas travel.

The value of tourism exports was $31.2 billion in 2019–20. This is down 21% compared with 2018–19. This is consistent with the 27.9% fall in visitor numbers over the same period. Due to this fall, tourism has slipped from being Australia’s largest service export to our second largest behind international education.

Over the same period:

• tourism became Australia’s 5th largest export overall, down from 4th in 2018–19
• tourism’s share of total exports fell from 8.4% to 6.6%.

Tourism imports were also dramatically affected by closing the Australian border.

The number of trips taken by Australians travelling overseas in 2019–20 fell by 23.8% from 11.2 million to 8.6 million. This is reflected in a 27.8% fall in the value of tourism imports from $58.3 billion to $42.1 billion.

help Hover on line markers over relevant year to show total figures.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian National Accounts: Tourism Satellite Account, Tourism exports and imports, June 2020

There were 621,000 workers employed in tourism in 2019–20. This is 6.6% less than the 664,900 working in 2018–19.

Over this same period, Australia’s workforce grew 0.1%. As a result, tourism’s share of Australian employment fell from 5.2% to 4.8%.

The fall in tourism employment had the greatest impact among part-time workers. There were 8.5% fewer part-time tourism workers in 2019–20, compared with 4.9% fewer full-time workers. The extent of job losses was also slightly higher among females. There were 7.0% fewer female workers in 2019–20 compared to 6.2% fewer males.

These employment numbers are on the full financial year and under-represent the current situation due to these factors:

• Many tourism employees are currently not working. However, they remain on company payrolls while on Jobkeeper support.
• tourism jobs peaked at 748,200 jobs in the December quarter 2019
• the number of tourism jobs then fell 18% over the first six months of 2020 to 611,700 jobs
• jobs held by females declined by 21%, compared with a 14% decline in jobs held by males over that six-month period.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics Tourism Satellite Accounts: quarterly tourism labour statistics, experimental estimates, June 2020

Explanatory notes

The Australian TSA is prepared by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and funded by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade).

This  2019–20 edition of the TSA  (Cat. No. 5249.0) was published on the ABS website on 10 December 2020.

• Estimates in this edition are based on Tourism Research Australia’s International Visitor Survey (IVS) and National Visitor Survey (NVS), year ending June 2020.
• Aggregates for the whole Australian economy are sourced from the 2019–20 Australian System of National Accounts (Cat. No. 5204.0).
• All economic estimates in this issue are recorded at current prices used at the time of the observation. This is regardless of the change of value over time.
• Estimates and times series for consumption, GVA and GDP are also available in constant price (chain volume measures). This is to remove the effect of inflation and capture the real value of tourism services.

Since the 2013–14 issue, the TSA also includes estimates for hours worked (as a proxy for labour productivity).

Notes on the conceptual framework

The TSA framework was jointly developed by these organisations

• Commission of the European Communities
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
• United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
• World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).

The framework was approved by the United Nations (UN) Statistical Commission (EUROSTAT et al. 2000). It has been revised in UNWTO (2008) and  Tourism Satellite Accounts: Recommended Methodological Framework  (2008).

The framework has been widely applied in Australia and internationally, so the recommended methodology for TSAs is not reproduced in this report.

Changes in this issue

• Revisions of the source data and estimation methods of a selection of tourism products and industries have also been included. This is to refine and improve estimates of tourism consumption, output and value added. Refer to  ABS TSA 5249.0  for details on these changes.

Methodology and glossary

The  Australian TSA methodology with glossary of terms  are on the ABS website.

Contact TRA

mail   tourism.research@tra.gov.au

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Australia news live: woman, 19, found dead in North Bondi and man assisting police with inquiries

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Albanese says ‘practical, immediate measures’ needed to address men’s violence ahead of national cabinet

Anthony Albanese has been speaking to the media from Brisbane. Asked about tomorrow’s national cabinet meeting on men’s violence against women, Albanese was asked what he hopes to walk away with.

He didn’t “want to pre-empt” the discussions that will take place tomorrow, but said:

One of the things I know from speaking with state premiers is that they want to have the discussion at a national cabinet, is ways in which best practice can be replicated. So what are the lessons, for example? Victoria has already had a royal commission and part of the agenda tomorrow will be the premier of Victoria, Jacinta Allan , reporting on those issues as well, and how that’s gone. In addition to that, [South Australian premier] Peter Malinauskas chairs the federation body of all the chiefs and they’re preparing a paper which will be presented tomorrow. So we need to acknowledge that this is an issue which is long-term, does require attitudinal change, does require a whole range of measures, but we also need practical, immediate measures and responses as well. And I look forward to a constructive discussion tomorrow morning.

Crossbench pens letter to PM urging action to target domestic violence

The crossbench has penned a joint letter to the prime minister, calling for urgent action to tackle family and domestic violence.

The letter was signed by 11 MPs, including Zali Steggall, Zoe Daniel, Kylea Tink, Allegra Spender, Kate Chaney, Monique Ryan, Sophie Scamps, Helen Haines, Andrew Wilkie, Andrew Gee and Rebekha Sharkie .

It states that a “robust national effort” is needed to “improve risk identification and justice system intervention in cases of male violence against women”.

We need to treat gender-based violence with the same level of urgency we show acts of terrorism, and at a rate of a woman every four days, it is killing more Australians.

The MPs say the desire for a royal commission into the issue is “well intentioned” but they question: “what would it uncover that we don’t already know?”

Instead, they are calling for immediate actions, next steps and long-term cultural change.

Immediate action would include a sentencing review, and a nationally coordinated mechanism to count and analyse the deaths of these women. And next steps would target exacerbating factors like violent pornography, misogynistic social media influencers and problem gambling, the letter said.

You can read the letter in full online .

Lifeline records busiest day on record after emotional fortnight

Demand for Lifeline Australia has spiked to an all-time high as high-profile deaths of women and demands for action on domestic violence bring emotions to the fore, AAP reports.

The crisis support service received 4,371 calls, messages and webchats on Sunday, making for its busiest day on record and 20% above the yearly average.

Analysis of the types of matters received on Sunday was not available. But Lifeline domestic violence sector manager Angela Lynch said a link could be drawn to the wall-to-wall media coverage of domestic violence and sexual violence:

More in the community are hurting and for those who are or have been directly impacted by either domestic violence or sexual violence, those conversations can land in a very different and very personal way. They could have general feelings of anxiety or being unsafe and it can bring up personal issues of what they lived through and the injustice perhaps of what they’ve encountered.

Rising living costs and the national housing crisis have compounded stresses on the community, Lifeline said.

Lifeline : 13 11 14

Commonwealth Games interim report: investigation ‘hampered’ by state blocking access to key documents

A Victorian parliamentary committee probing the government’s shock cancellation of the 2026 Commonwealth Games says its investigation was hampered by the state blocking access to key documents.

The committee has handed down its interim report into the Victorian government’s cancellation of the major sporting event, after it cited major cost blowouts.

The report says the committee “exhausted most avenues open to it” to obtain the documents from the Victorian government, after it made a claim of “executive privilege.”

It also found the timeframe for the Victorian government and Commonwealth Games Federation to negotiate the axed 2026 event was too short and initially enabled consultants only six weeks to create a business case.

Qantas offers free seats to stranded Bonza customers

Jetstar and Qantas have said they will provide flights at no cost for stranded Bonza passengers, where seats are available and where routes overlap.

This follows a similar offer from Virgin Australia earlier today .

In a statement, Qantas noted “today’s news about Bonza will have a significant impact on many people’s travel plans” and said:

For Bonza customers who are due to travel today or who are stuck away from home, Jetstar and Qantas will assist by providing flights at no cost where there are seats available.

Qantas said of Bonza’s 36 routes, only six overlap with Jetstar or QantasLink.

Qantas said if there is another close alternative route that it operates, customers booked to travel today or stuck away from home “can also travel at no cost”. Bonza customers can contact Jetstar on 13 15 38 or Qantas on 13 13 13.

Australia undercounting methane emissions by at least a factor of two, report finds

Australia has made much of its emissions reduction efforts, at least compared to the inflated baseline of 2005.

That year, not coincidentally, was when land-clearing and other carbon pollution was near a peak, so not doing very much meant it looked like Australia was emitting less. (That the land sector somehow manages to remain a perennial carbon sink despite weaker land-clearing laws is itself a dubious result .)

Anyway, The Superpower Institute has published analysis today suggesting that Australia’s emissions of methane – a potent greenhouse gas that has been the largest source of global heating in the past decade – is much higher than reported in the official national inventory.

Major emitters, such as coalmines and gas fields, may be polluting at twice the rate reported.

Rod Sims, formerly chair of the ACCC and now the institute’s chair, called the findings “ simply astounding”.

Most problematically, these estimates to the national inventory are never externally verified. This leaves huge questions about the veracity of these estimation methods, but more importantly about the actual volume of greenhouse gas emissions from different sites and facilities and therefore the national inventory as a whole.

Peter Raynor, the institute’s chief scientist and an emeritus professor, said the group’s Open Methane tool indicates the government should fund a minimum of 12 new monitoring sites around Australia that can be calibrated with satellites that are also detecting these emissions.

Cutting methane is our single best strategy to combat global heating this decade while we make the changes needed to reduce Australia’s emissions to zero. But methane emissions are not being credibly measured.

Separately, our colleague Adam Morton has this clear-eyed look at how one of Australia’s biggest methane polluters, Woodside, are offering little more than rhetoric when it comes to climate action:

Hotline for stranded Bonza customers launched

The government has opened a hotline for Bonza passengers stranded across the country after the budget carrier abruptly cancelled all services today, amid discussions about its ongoing viability.

The hotline number is 1800 069 244.

Transport minister Catherine King said her department had been in contact with Bonza “and our expectation is that they keep passengers informed of their options and their consumer rights”.

I am aware of reports this morning of Bonza flights being cancelled. I have spoken to Qantas and Virgin CEOs this morning and both airlines stand ready to assist stranded passengers needing to get home.

Airline passenger numbers still ‘well below’ pre-pandemic levels, new report says

Meanwhile, the Australian Airports Association (AAA) has also noted a new report stating passenger numbers remain “well below” pre-pandemic levels.

The annual ACCC airport monitoring report for 2022-2023 shows passenger numbers have seen a year-on-year increase of 127.4% but remain below pre-Covid levels.

Chief executive James Goodwin said:

While domestic aviation has led the recovery 2022-23 passenger levels are still 10.4% lower than 2018-19. International operations have been slower to recover, remaining at 31% below pre-Covid levels.

Goodwin said the reason for the incomplete recovery is constrained airline capacity, “particularly from the two main domestic carriers”.

The rebound in airport revenues simply reflects the increased number of travellers, with the reporting period the first without Covid border or travel restrictions.

Airports association monitoring Bonza situation, it says

The Australian Airports Association (AAA) says it is monitoring budget airline Bonza’s current situation closely.

As Elias Visontay reported earlier , Bonza has cancelled a raft of flights across the country, and sources told the Guardian that its fleet of Boeing 737-Max 8 aircraft had been repossessed.

In a statement, AAA chief executive James Goodwin said:

Airports worked to support Bonza to enter the Australian market and we are monitoring the emerging situation closely while we assist affected passengers at terminals across Australia.

Sarah Hanson-Young calls on Plibersek to halt Darwin land clearing

Continuing on from previous post:

The clearing has drawn condemnation from conservationists, Darwin community members and independent and Greens MPs.

The Greens environment spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young called on the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek , to urgently protect the site, which was habitat for significant species such as the critically endangered eastern curlew:

The Minister recently made a big splash about saving Eastern Curlew habitat in Toondah [Harbour] in Queensland, but that same critically endangered bird deserves protection in Lee Point Darwin as well.

The independent senator David Pocock tweeted that the clearing was an example of Australia’s broken system of environmental protections.

The clearing comes a month after the developer, Defence Housing Australia , was given the green light to start the development, which it had paused for several months while Plibersek considered an emergency application by Larrakia traditional owners for protection of the site on cultural grounds.

Plibersek notified the applicants late last month that after considering the evidence she was not satisfied that the specific area that would be developed met the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Act requirements for a “significant Aboriginal area in accordance with Aboriginal tradition”.

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NT government unveils new saltwater crocodile management plan, stops short of mass culls

On the murky waters of the Adelaide River, saltwater crocodile cruise operator Tony Blums has watched the rise of the iconic but deadly species over the past four decades.

WARNING: This story contains the name of an Aboriginal man who has died, used as per the wishes of his family.

"At the present time, we now have a situation where every 50 to 100 metres, we've got a crocodile pretty much over two metres in length," Mr Blums said.

His observation isn't outlandish.

Since saltwater crocs were protected from mass culls and hunting in the Northern Territory in 1971, the species has boomed from 3,000 to an estimated population of 100,000.

Now, in a bid to rein in the threat of saltwater crocodiles to human safety, the ABC can reveal hundreds more are set to be removed from Top End waterways every year.

The Northern Territory government will allow 1,200 crocs to be removed annually, a figure being unveiled in its newly finalised 10-year crocodile management plan.

The new quota is a substantial increase from the previous figure of 300, but stops short of a widespread cull of the species, a possibility put out to public debate earlier this year.

The decision comes less than a year after a 67-year-old tourist was bitten by a two metre saltwater crocodile at Wangi Falls – a popular tourist destination south of Darwin.

NT Environment Minister Kate Worden said the latest move "was about public safety".

"We want to be able to go to our national parks and know that there's waterholes that we can safely swim in," Ms Worden said.

"So that's what we will be doing, increasing that live harvest, taking out the juveniles, taking out some older crocodiles as well, to make sure that those public spaces are really safe."

The government is also making changes so more crocodile eggs can be taken from the wild.

"We've talked to scientists, we've talked to people in the industry," Ms Worden said.

"We've got scientific evidence to back up those decisions."

Plan to fuel remote crocodile economy

The new 10-year management plan also seeks an "increased focus" on working with traditional owners to help fuel the crocodile economy on Aboriginal land and sea country.

One of those who has long been calling for more involvement of Aboriginal landowners in crocodile management is Jida Gulpilil, son of the trailblazing Yolŋu actor David Gulpilil, who starred in landmark Australian films including Crocodile Dundee.

"People do want to live and prosper on their own homelands," Mr Gulpilil said.

"And what better way to be able to do that than as part of their land management and conservation efforts?"

Mr Gulpilil wants his business in north-east Arnhem Land, Gupulul Marayuwu Aboriginal Corporation, to be at the forefront of the new developments, including by allowing a quota of "high-end clients" into Arnhem Land to hunt for saltwater crocodiles.

"We are seeking the support and approval towards the sustainable use of saltwater crocodile live harvest commercially," he said.

"You have the potential to bring in high-paying clients to live harvest saltwater crocodiles around our community areas ... the opportunities there will be very rewarding."

Mr Gulpilil said it would be a vastly different model to so-called "safari hunting" but would allow permitted clients to take a trophy such as a skull or a skin of a crocodile pegged for removal.

"This is not Africa, this is Australia, we don't do safari," he said.

"We are reframing it to be more of a sustainable management system, [as] part of our land management and conservation efforts."

Ms Worden said the NT government is "open to those ideas."

"Whether it's trophy hunting or it's starting a small enterprise in a remote community, what we do want is to get Aboriginal people across the Northern Territory working," she said.

The crocodile industry is worth an estimated $25 million in the NT annually.

Experts 'shocked' over culling debate

Crocodile attack specialist Brandon Sideleau said while he doesn't "have any big problems" with the NT government's new live crocodile harvest quota, he had some reservations.

"I do have a problem if they're going to be removing exceptionally large animals, unless they're in an area that poses a serious danger to people," Mr Sideleau said.

"A lot of these crocodiles are iconic, they're very important to tourists … and they're also very ecologically important, they keep the other crocodiles in check."

Mr Sideleau was critical of the NT government's decision last year to reignite a public debate about culling the species, which he called "disappointing and irresponsible".

"We haven't had a fatal attack since 2018 – that's the longest we've gone without a fatal attack since the 1990s," Mr Sideleau said.

"That's significant, it means the [former] management plan really works, and I was very shocked."

NT crocodile management pioneer Grahame Webb said he also believed the culling debate was triggered for overtly political reasons.

"In this case we had one tourist bitten by a crocodile, and suddenly it became a political issue, with some of the politicians saying 'oh, there's too many crocodiles, we've gotta cull all the crocodiles'," Mr Webb said.

Ms Worden denied the recent culling debate was fuelled by politics.

"We have seen a big increase of crocodiles, saltwater crocodiles who are an apex predator and a risk to human safety," she said.

"You speak to anybody here … it's becoming an issue for people.

"So it's timely that as a government, we look at that, and see what's possible to make sure that we can decrease that risk."

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