Friday, 1 August - Yeah, I'm the taxman

Good morning, it’s Friday, 1 August. In your Squiz Today…

• The world is waiting on Trump’s tariffs call

• You may soon be able to take your (small) pet on a plane

• And a very nice spiced rice… 🍚

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Squiz Sayings

Said Loribelle Spirovski, who won the 2025 Archibald Prize People’s Choice Award with her painting of Kalkadunga musician William Barton. A nerve injury made painting with brushes painful for years, so Spirovski painted it with her fingers. That's impressive…

It’s all about tariffs…

The Squiz

As we hit publish this morning, countries around the world are waiting on US President Donald Trump to announce the global tariffs (aka taxes) he'll be imposing on exports to the US. At the moment, there's a 10% baseline tariff on all goods, and then higher rates, known as 'reciprocal tariffs', that differ from country to country. Trump paused those reciprocal tariffs in April, but that pause is set to expire at 2pm AEST today, so any nation without a deal should find out today what the new numbers will be - you can follow along with all the updates here.

Gimme the lay of the land…

Things have been changing rapidly since Trump unveiled his plan back on 2 April - so here’s a good summary. The thing to know is that there’s been a flurry of negotiations between the US and its trade partners in recent weeks… The big one is the European Union deal finalised earlier this week, which will see the US implement a 15% tariff on most goods imported from the EU, while US goods being imported to EU countries will face no tariffs. That followed Trump locking in deals with the UK, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, and yesterday, one with South Korea. Overnight, he paused the reciprocal tariffs for Mexico, one of the US's biggest trading partners, for another 90 days. But plenty of countries haven’t reached a deal yet - including Oz…

So where's Australia at?

You might remember that earlier in the week, Trump made a surprise announcement that he was considering upping his 10% ‘baseline’ tariff on imports from most countries around the world that haven't secured individual deals. FYI - aside from the 50% tariffs on steel/copper we send to the US, the baseline tariff affects the rest of our exports to the US, including our biggest export - beef. Trump said he was thinking about lifting it to 15-20%, but hasn't confirmed anything… Despite that, our Treasurer Jim Chalmers kept optimistic yesterday, saying "our assumption and our understanding is that we've got the 10%, which is the lowest in the world". It won't take long to find out if he's on the money…

Turning water into shine

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Squiz the Rest

Support builds for a Palestinian state

Staying with the Treasurer, Chalmers also weighed into the issue of Palestinian statehood yesterday - he says it's a matter of “when, not if” Australia officially recognises Palestine. That came shortly after Canada joined with France and the UK in promising to do so at a General Assembly of the United Nations in September. Though that recognition will happen only if certain conditions are met, it puts the 3 countries at odds with the US, where President Trump said recognising Palestine was "rewarding Hamas". In Gaza, there are more reports of Palestinians being killed while waiting for humanitarian aid - the Hamas-run Defence Ministry said at least 58 more people were killed on Wednesday - the Israeli military has disputed those reports. The UN human rights office says more than 1,000 people have been killed trying to access aid since May.

Changing tack on tax

It's not long now until the Albanese Government's Economic Reform Roundtable begins on 19 August, and the Productivity Commission has floated a big change to the way our corporate tax works. In an interim report released last night and commissioned by Treasurer Jim Chalmers (there he is again…) the Commission has suggested cutting the company tax rate from 30/25% to 20% for small and medium businesses, and adding a 'cashflow' tax of 5% to big companies - the ones with revenue of over $1 billion a year. Deputy Chair of the Productivity Commission, Alex Robson, says lower company tax could attract more overseas firms to set up shop in Oz - meaning more business investment/competition. He estimates it'd bring in more than $8 billion in investment, so we’ll see how it goes down at the roundtable…

Unleashing pets on planes

You may well soon be able to fly on Virgin Australia flights with your fuzzball in tow - the airline has confirmed that pets will be allowed on flights as early as Christmas this year. There's a size limit - 8kg - and it's cats and dogs only (bad luck, snake fans…) but Virgin chief executive Dave Emerson said all of the remaining regulatory issues were now cleared up. The final hurdle was Food Standards Australia and New Zealand ticking it off, which is because aeroplanes are technically considered restaurants, and you can't bring your pet into a restaurant. Now that particular runway is clear, but there are still some caveats - it's subject to pilot approval, the pet must be in a carrier at all times, and only one pet per person.

Super Netball is down to the pointy end…

…as the Melbourne Vixens and the West Coast Fever will go head-to-head in the Super Netball Grand Final. The 2 teams have both won the whole thing before - and on each occasion they beat the other to do so, with the Fever getting up in 2022 and the Vixens in 2020. But it’s the Fever that will go into this one with a bunch of momentum behind them - they’re riding a record streak of consecutive wins and just need one more for an all-timer of a season. The Vixens have done it tougher - winning a belter of a prelim final against the NSW Swifts last week to squeak into the decider. It all goes down at 7.30pm AEST tomorrow night at Rod Laver Arena - you can watch it on Kayo, Fox Sports or BINGE.

Highs and Logies

Voting is still open today for the 65th Logie Awards, which hand out statuettes for the year’s best in Aussie TV. Comedian Sam Pang is back for his third time as host - that’s the most one person has hosted in a row since Daryl Somers in the mid-1990s. The big award to watch for is the Gold Logie, which is given out for the most popular personality. This year, there are 7 nominees: Ally Langdon, Poh Ling Yeow, Lynne McGranger, Lisa Millar, Sonia Kruger, Julia Morris and Hamish Blake. Here’s a full nominations list, including a brand new award - the Ray Martin Award for Most Popular News or Public Affairs Presenter. It starts at 7pm AEST Sunday night - you can watch it on Channel 7. We’ll see if anyone can top this 2010 acceptance speech from Shaun Micallef…

Friday Lites - 3 things we liked this week

We’re barrelling through the murder mystery series Untamed on Netflix - it makes excellent use of its setting in Yosemite National Park, and stars Aussie actor Eric Bana and honorary Aussie Sam Neill. It's getting a second season, so if you like it, there'll be more…

If you’re looking for a book or 3,599 to read, do we have the list for you… 92yo Dan Pelzer died recently, but his list of the thousands of books he read during his lifetime has been posted online in his memory, diligent note-taking and all. Happy hunting… 

And if you’re looking for a nice rice with a bit of spice, we’ve got just the thing - this dish is called machboos rubyan and while the recipe recommends prawns, you can sub those out for chicken. The chef recommends eating it with your hands, so whip it up and dig in…

Squiz the Day

Friday
US President Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ reciprocal tariffs come into effect

8.30am (AEST) - ResMed FY 2025 earnings

9.30am (AEST) - Garma Festival begins (until 4 August) - Nhulunbuy, NT

12.30pm (AEST) - NSW Police will challenge Palestine Action Group in the Supreme Court over plans for a proposed protest on Sydney Harbour Bridge - Sydney

7.00pm (AEST) - Rugby: The Wallaroos will play Wales’ women's team in the Women's Internationals at Ballymore Stadium - Brisbane, watch on Stan Sport

Bleach* festival gets underway in the Gold Coast  

ABS data release - Producer Price Indexes, Australia, June 2025

Great Barrier Reef Festival (until 3 August) - Airlie Beach, QLD

SALA Festival (until 31 August) - Adelaide, SA

🐾 Start of Pawgust (for Guide Dogs Australia)

GreazeFest celebrates its 25th anniversary - Cleveland, Queensland

Edinburgh Fringe Festival begins, the world's largest fringe festival (until 25 August) 

Switzerland's national day

International Beer Day

Twins Days Festival starts in Twinsburg Ohio, (until 3 August)

Birthdays for director Sam Mendes (1965), actor Jason Momoa (1979) and all Aussie horses 

The 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Accords, which led to the advancement of human rights in Central and Eastern Europe   

Anniversary of:

• English chemist Joseph Priestley discovering oxygen by isolating it in its gaseous state (1774)

• the publication of the first Michelin Guide by the brothers Édouard and André Michelin (1900)

• Mahatma Gandhi founding the Non-Cooperation Movement aiming to end British rule in India (1920)

• te reo Māori becoming an official language of New Zealand (1987)

• the publication of George RR Martin’s A Game of Thrones, the first in his series A Song of Ice and Fire (1996)

Saturday
9.00am (AEST) - Victorian Labor State Conference - Melbourne

9.00am (AEST) - Queensland Education expo - Brisbane

12.15pm (AEST) - NRLW: The Magic Round kicks off at McDonald Jones Stadium - Newcastle, watch on 9Now

7.30pm (AEST) - Rugby: The Wallabies play the British & Irish Lions in their third and final Test at Sydney’s Accor Stadium - watch it on 9Now. 

7.30pm (AEST) - Netball: The Vixens take on Fever in the Super Netball Grand Final at the Rod Laver Arena - Melbourne, watch on Kayo. 

Tasmanian Whisky Week 2025 (until 10 August) - Hobart

Ice Cream Sandwich Day

Birthdays for author Isabel Allende (1942), actor Sam Worthington (1976), and pop star Charli XCX (1992)

Anniversary of:

• the formal signing of the US Declaration of Independence (1776)

• rubber bullets being used for the first time in Northern Ireland during ‘The Troubles’ (1970)

• Ed Sheeran’s Divide tour becoming the most attended and highest-grossing tour of all time, overtaking U2 (2019)

Sunday
10.00am (AEST) - HMAS Adelaide Open Day - Hobart 

1.00pm (AEST) - Palestine Action Group plan to march across the Harbour Bridge in protest of the war in Gaza - Sydney

7.00pm (AEST) - The TV WEEK Logie Awards get underway on Channel 7 - Sydney

10.00pm (AEST) - F1: Hungarian Grand Prix Race, on Kayo - Hungaroring, Hungary

World Breastfeeding Week, hosted by WHO (until 7 August)

Independence Day in Niger

Air Force Day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

🍉 Watermelon Day

Birthdays for actor Martin Sheen (1940), businesswoman Martha Stewart (1941), NFL player Tom Brady (1977), and Kiwi boxer Sonny Bill Williams (1985) 

Anniversary of:

• American-American sprinter Jesse Owens famously winning gold in the 100m (10.3 seconds) in front of Adolf Hitler at the Berlin Olympics (1936)

• the US Senate ratifying the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union (1972)