Friday, 1 May - No more tears in heaven

May 01, 2026

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

  • An arrest has been made after a tragic outcome in the search for 5yo Aboriginal girl Kumanjayi Little Baby

  • The government will adopt all interim recommendations from the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion

  • And vodka pasta with a kick… 🌶️

🎧 Listen to the podcast

🤓 This email will take you 7 minutes to read

Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

“I like to call them ‘Bublé-bies’.”

Said crooner Michael Bublé, taking credit for population booms 9 months after his “romantic” concerts in the cities he visits. With birth rates falling across the world, he could soon find himself in hot demand…

A tragic outcome

The Squiz

After holding out hope to find a missing 5yo Indigenous girl alive, a 5-day search came to a devastating end yesterday when police discovered her body. The little girl - now known as Kumanjayi Little Baby for cultural reasons - originally went missing from Alice Springs’ Old Timers camp on Saturday night. And late last night, police arrested the man suspected of abducting and murdering her, 47yo Jefferson Lewis. That led to violent clashes at the Alice Springs Hospital, where he was taken… Reports say hundreds of people gathered outside, with police pelted with rocks and a police car set alight - and officers using tear gas and rubber bullets on the crowd.

What do we know?

The body of the little girl was found beside a riverbank around 5km south of the town camp she was last seen in. Speaking to the media, members of Kumanjayi Little Baby’s family described her as a “happy, pretty” girl who loved watching videos on YouTube, and in a message to her yesterday, her mother said she and the child’s brother “miss and love you” and “know you are in heaven”. It also emerged yesterday that Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is part of her extended family. She described the town camps like the one the family was staying in as “absolute hellholes” and said the case should open up a broader conversation about their conditions and community safety for residents.

What happens now? 

Police say Lewis was arrested “at a residence in Alice Springs” - reports claim he’d been beaten by locals and was wandering in a river bed before he was found. They took him to hospital, and a crowd gathered outside, demanding police hand him over to be dealt with by the community. Officers refused and that's when the clashes broke out… No charges have been laid against him as yet - we're expecting that to happen today, along with the results of a post-mortem to determine how Kumanjayi Little Baby died. In the meantime, Northern Territory Police Commissioner Martin Dole said it is "very important that [the] Alice Springs community continues to support one another and it's equally important that police be allowed to do their job".

Planning your winter escape?

You’re not alone - some of the current travel destination favourites for Aussies are Japan, Europe and South East Asia. Wherever you go, nib travel insurance can offer plans to help you travel well, with cover available for travel delays, flexible cancellation limit options, and protection for your valuables. You can find out more here - you get 15% off* with the code SQUIZ15.

Squiz the Rest

Mulling more military moves  

The price of oil shot up again yesterday to over US$126 a barrel following reports that US President Donald Trump has been briefed on preparing for a possible wave of “short and powerful” strikes on Iran to move along stalled peace negotiations. Word is that Trump still sees the US blockade of Iran’s ports as “more effective than bombing” but he’d consider military action if they won’t budge. Other reports claim the President is planning to extend the blockade, which would mean the Strait of Hormuz stays closed for longer. The prospect of the war dragging on had markets in a spin, and oil prices jumped to their highest level since 2022. That said, there are also US plans afoot for a post-war international coalition to reopen the Strait - and Oz is involved…

Royal Commission Recommendations

The inquiry into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion shared its interim report into the December 2025 Bondi terror attack yesterday, with 14 recommendations to boost counterterrorism efforts. You can read through them here, but a few notable recommendations include reviewing counterterrorism teams around Oz, a new national gun buyback scheme, and increasing NSW Police security at high-risk Jewish events in the state. PM Anthony Albanese says all Commonwealth-level recommendations will be adopted, and Jewish leaders have welcomed that… The Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s Alex Ryvchin says “if those recommendations are embraced … hopefully that will lead to greater safety”. Public hearings begin next week, with a final report due in December.

A showdown in Nepean

There’s going to be a few eyes on the Victorian state electorate tomorrow, with a by-election to pick the new MP for former Deputy Liberal leader Sam Groth’s old seat. Nepean takes up much of Vic’s Mornington Peninsula, and has been mostly in Liberal hands - but the party has a big challenge ahead to hold it following Groth's exit. It's likely to be a 3-way battle between the Libs, One Nation and Independent candidate Tracee Hutchison - and with a state election set for November this year, leaders like Premier Jacinta Allan and Liberal leader Jess Wilson will be watching the result closely. If One Nation picks it up, it'll be another piece of momentum as the party keeps performing well in the polls… 

SOO close

The Women’s State of Origin series kicked off last night, with a cracking win for the NSW Blues who scored right on the bell to clinch victory. The current shield-holders got up 11-6 over Queensland in front of 20,000 fans at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle, where they used the home-town advantage to mount a comeback after being down by zip at half time. The win also broke a curse - until last night, it was the only ground where the Maroons were undefeated. Afterwards, some players interviewed said it was the fastest game they’ve ever been in, and commentators say the pace of the opener has laid the ground for an “intense” series. We don’t have to wait long for the next game - the sides meet again in 2 weeks…

Picking up a packing prize

The packing room staff at the Art Gallery of NSW have picked their winner from this year’s batch of finalists - Sean Layh’s portrait of actor Jacob Collins. It’s an oil painting with the fancy title of The tragicall historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke - and winning the prize is not a bad effort from a painter who was self-taught… If you’d like to have a look at some of the contenders for this year’s main prize, here’s a gallery - with some big Aussie names like surfer Layne Beachley, actor Susie Porter and Governor-General Sam Mostyn amongst the subjects. The big prize gets handed out on 8 May - so have a look through and see if you can pick a winner…

Friday Lites - 3 things we liked this week

For a TV series that you can watch in less time than most movies, give Zach Galifaniakis’ new gardening show a go… It’s called - creatively - This is a Gardening Show, and it’s 6 15-minute episodes for gardening-curious newbies. Plus, it’s funny… 

If you’re looking for a good Aussie film to watch, there are worse places to start than this week’s list (paywall) from The Age/Sydney Morning Herald of the 50 best Oz films of all time - click through to find out where some of your faves might have landed…  

At the end of a big week, vodka pasta is the comfort food we turn to. It’s really easy, and the vodka - once it’s cooked out - leaves you with a rich, silky sauce with a bit of a kick. Shave some parmesan on top and serve with a green salad to balance things out. That’s a wrap…

Squiz the Day

Friday
9.00am (AEST) - Public hearing for the Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme - Canberra

11.00am (AEST) - PM Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns will speak at The 2026 Future Western Sydney event - Sydney 

6.00pm (AEST) - The Winter Olympic team's official homecoming celebration - Sydney 

ABS data release: Producer price index, March 2026; National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nutrition and physical activity survey, 2023

ANZ Banking Group's half-yearly financial results released 

May Day - otherwise known as International Workers' Day

Beginning of Brain Cancer, Bladder Cancer, Lyme Disease and Cystic Fibrosis awareness month

Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month 

🫶 Global Love Day

Anniversary of:

  • ‘Penny Black’, the world’s first adhesive postage stamp issued by Great Britain (1840)

  • the Empire State Building opening in New York City (1931)

  • the marriage of Elvis and Priscilla Presley (1967)

  • Tasmania decriminalising homosexuality (1997)

  • Geoffrey Hinton the ‘godfather’ of artificial intelligence stepping down as Google VP so he could speak freely about the risks AI poses (2023)

Saturday
9.00am (AEST) - Australian Olympic Committee AGM - Sydney

3.00pm (AEST) - Football: A-League men's elimination final Auckland FC v Melbourne City, Go Media Stadium - Auckland, watch on 10play 

5.00pm (AEST) - Football: A-League women's semi-final first leg Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City, AAMI Park - Melbourne, watch on 10play 

7.40pm (AEST) - Football: A-League men's elimination final Melbourne Victory v Sydney FC, AAMI Park - Melbourne, watch on 10play

7.00pm (AWST) - Mixed Martial Arts: UFC Fight Night between Jack Della Maddalena and Carlos Prates, RAC Arena - Perth, watch on Paramount+ 

Nepean by-election is on in Victoria

Upper house seat elections for Huon and Rosevears in Tasmania 

The Kentucky Derby - Louisville, Kentucky

⚡International Harry Potter Day

National Brothers and Sisters Day

Birthdays for Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson (1972), Lily Allen (1985), Princess Charlotte (2015) 

Anniversary of:

  • the formation of Great Britain (1707)

  • the deaths of Leonardo da Vinci (1519), J. Edgar Hoover (1972), and Osama bin Laden (2011)

Astronomy Day

National Scrapbook Day

A birthday for Director Wes Anderson (1969)

Anniversary of:

  • New Zealand being proclaimed a colony independent of New South Wales (1841)

  • Margaret Mitchell winning the Pulitzer Prize for Gone With the Wind (1937)

  • the first spam email, sent by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the US west coast (1978)

  • the disappearance of British 3yo Madeleine McCann (2007)