Friday, 22 August - Say goodbye to turning tables

August 22, 2025

Good morning, it’s Friday, 22 August. In your Squiz Today…

  • A shakeup to the NDIS raises some questions

  • The government wraps up its Economic Reform Roundtable

  • And this biryani is a breeze… 🍃

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

“Everything went according to plan, there were no glitches.”

Said project manager Stefan Holmblad Johansson after successfully moving the entire Swedish church we mentioned on Wednesday to its new home. Locals, livestreamers and even King Carl XVI Gustaf were on hand to see the church get there on time…

A shake-up surprise

The Squiz

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler made a significant announcement at the National Press Club on Wednesday (which is why we keep putting those addresses in Squiz The Day - noteworthy stuff can happen…). He talked about the creation of a new ‘Thriving Kids’ program to move kids with autism and developmental delays off the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and said he expects the states to match federal funding dollar-for-dollar. But he didn’t give them a heads-up, and yesterday his counterparts made it clear that they have questions...

Back it up a bit…

Hang onto your hat… The NDIS was designed for 410,000 people with profound disabilities, but it now supports 740,000 and costs taxpayers $46 billion a year. One-in-50 people live with a significant disability - but when it comes to young children, one-in-5 have been diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum or have a developmental delay and are eligible for NDIS support. That means the scheme will likely cost $105 billion a year in a decade, growing at 10.6% annually. We're not maths geniuses, but even we know that's way above the 8% target. Butler wants to slash that to 5-6%. This isn't new news… Two years ago, a big NDIS review recommended taking people with less severe disabilities off the scheme, but negotiations stalled, and here we are. 

So where to from here?

The Feds will "hold the pen" on designing Thriving Kids, Butler says. From July 2027, new children with mild to moderate issues won't get NDIS access - they'll be diverted to the new program instead, where therapy and support services will be delivered through schools, childcare and health services. Current participants will also stay on until then. And the money's a thing, so those conversations will be important... Will states actually cough up their share? Victoria's Premier Jacinta Allan wants more details, and NSW Premier Chris Minns won't sign a "blank cheque". And stakeholders who operate in the space also have heaps of questions... And another issue to consider - Butler needs parliament to approve the changes, so things could get messy in the Senate. TBC…

Turning water into shine

If you're hitting reset or doing a mid-year refresh, Skipper’s #1 just-add-water home and body care range is for you. Chuck one of their tablets into some water, and you can save some cash and reduce waste. The range includes universal cleaners, body washes, laundry sheets and more, and you can build your own bundle and get up to $120 off. Skip to it...

Squiz the Rest

Israel prepares to take over Gaza City

The Israeli military (IDF) says that the first stages of its offensive are underway, calling up 60,000 reservists and moving into the outskirts of the city, which it has described as a stronghold of Hamas. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are evacuating, and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for the operation to stop - he says it is “vital” that there’s an immediate ceasefire and for the release of all hostages taken from Israel on 7 October 2023. Israel hasn’t responded to the most recent ceasefire proposal agreed to by Hamas - the Israelis want a promise that all 50 remaining hostages will be released all at once, rather than in stages. While that’s going on, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is continuing to go after PM Anthony Albanese, again calling him “weak” in an interview with Sky News last night.

An argument at the table

Team Albanese’s 3-day Economic Reform Roundtable has ended with Treasurer Jim Chalmers coming out of it with 10 priorities. Sure, the management consultants say you shouldn't have more than 5, but let's roll with it… Simplification covers a few of those - aka regulation, development approvals, foreign investment processes - and others include ensuring we're training people for jobs of the future, and that we have housing for them. As you might imagine, AI was a big talking point, and it looks like the tech companies and unions are working out a way to pay for Aussie content used to train artificial intelligence programs. But a touchy exchange between Chalmers and his Coalition counterpart Ted O'Brien over setting limits on government debt got tongues wagging. It couldn't be all kumbaya after all…

Speaking of AI…

The Commonwealth Bank changed its mind yesterday on cutting 45 jobs in its customer service division and replacing them with an AI ‘voicebot’. Our biggest bank caused a bit of a ruckus last month when it announced the decision - the Finance Sector Union (FSU) called it “outrageous” and raised the issue with the Fair Work Commission. Yesterday, CommBank apologised to the employees it let go, telling the Commission that the volume of customer service calls it was dealing with ended up increasing after introducing the voicebot and said it wasn’t “thorough enough” in working out which human roles would still be needed. On top of saying sorry, it offered the workers the option of coming back to work. That would make for some excellent watercooler convos… 

It’s a big weekend of sport…

First up, it's the final round of the men's AFL home-and-away season, and there are 9 teams in the running for finals with only 8 spots available - you can see every permutation of the possible results here. One thing for sure is Adelaide Crows player Izak Rankine won't be playing for a while - he's been suspended for 4 matches for making a homophobic slur during play last weekend. Moving on to tomorrow morning, the Women’s Rugby World Cup will kick off in England - the Wallaroos play their first game against Samoa tomorrow night. And the Wallabies' comeback will (hopefully) continue against the Springboks on Sunday morning. And in tennis, the main draw of the US Open kicks off late Sunday night. Load up that second screen if you’re a sports fan…

Neck minnit, an unusual giraffe returns

The giraffe in question is Wonkito, who first popped his head up in 2019 when he was snapped by wildlife photographer Philip J Briggs in Kenya. Wonkito is no ordinary giraffe - he has an unusually crooked neck, which led to Briggs and others being concerned that he wouldn’t survive in the wild. Those concerns only grew after he wasn’t seen again for 6 years, but Briggs says that he’s spotted Wonkito again, and while his neck is still crooked, the rest of him is doing just fine, thank you very much. Briggs said his coat was looking healthy and he’s “sired multiple offspring, living proof that he is thriving in this landscape”. Briggs says Wonkito will remain the “Kink of the Jungle”. Ok, but some algorithms would take that nickname in a very different direction…

Friday Lites - 3 things we liked this week

To close out Book Week, we liked this article from The Conversation where a range of experts make their picks for the best Jane Austen heroine. You can read all the arguments here and even vote in the poll yourself, but it looks like Elizabeth Bennett’s gonna be tough to beat…

Amanda Knox - the American student in Italy who was convicted of killing her British roommate Meredith Kercher in 2007 before being let free - has long suffered others’ assessment of her. Now, she’s telling her own story - on this podcast episode (where we’ve rarely heard anyone explain themselves so articulately) and this drama (created with her friend Monica Lewinsky). If you’ve seen her pop up in the news recently, that’s why…

We’ve been turning to this quick lamb biryani for nights when we want something tasty but we’re stir-fried out. This one has nowhere near the fuss-factor of the real deal, and the added surprise of sultanas. Serve it with yoghurt, some green spinach leaves and dig in.

Squiz the Day

Friday
7.30am (AEST) - The Liberal National Party state conference begins (until 24 August) - Brisbane

8.00am (ACST) - South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas will attend The Advertiser’s Bush Summit to discuss the biggest issues facing regional South Australia - Mount Gambier 

9.30am (AEST) - Freedom Day Festival - Kalkarinji, Northern Territory

10.00am (AEST) - Outgoing NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb will be farewelled at a ceremony at the NSW Police Academy as a new cohort of probationary constables join the ranks - Goulburn

11.30am (AEST) - Governor-General Sam Mostyn will deliver Diversity Council Australia's Anna McPhee Memorial oration, reflecting on her first year in office - Melbourne

2.30pm (AEST) - Cricket: Australia v South Africa, game 2 of 3 in the ODI series - Mackay, Queensland, watch on Kayo

A meeting of federal, state and territory education ministers to discuss the Victorian childcare safety review and potential childcare safety reforms - Sydney 

Israel has said that it will respond to Hamas’ proposal for a ceasefire by today

The Royal Flying Doctor Service Outback Air Race takes off from Uluru

Birthdays for actors Ty Burrell (1967), Kristen Wiig (1973), James Corden (1978), and pop star Dua Lipa (1995)

Anniversary of:

  • the adoption of the first Geneva Convention by 12 nations, which established the standards of international law for humanitarian treatment in war (1864)

Saturday
10.00am (AEST) - The Spirit of Tasmania IV is due to arrive in Hobart

12.00pm (AEST) - Shinju Matsuri, Festival of the Pearl, begins (until 7 September) - Broome, WA

7.30pm (AEST) - Opening night of Opera Australia's production of La Boheme at the Opera House - Sydney

9.00pm (AEST) - Rugby: Australia’s Wallaroos will play Samoa in their first match of the Women’s Rugby World Cup - Manchester, UK, watch on Stan Sport. 

9.00pm (AEST) Stage 1 of the Vuelta a España kicks off - Turin, Italy, watch on SBS On Demand

National Flag Day in Ukraine

Anniversary of:

  • the Battle of Stalingrad – 40,000 died in the WWII battle (1942)

  • the World Wide Web being opened to the public (1991)

  • the release of Jeff Buckley’s only studio album Grace (1994)

  • Hurricane Katrina forming over the Bahamas, later becoming a category 5 hurricane that devastated the New Orleans area of the US (2005)

  • the birthdays of Gene Kelly (1912), River Phoenix (1970), and Kobe Bryant (1978)

Sunday
1.10am (AEST) - Rugby: Australia will play South Africa in round 2 of the Men’s Rugby Championship - Cape Town, South Africa, watch on Stan Sport 

8.00am (AEST) - The 2025 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge starts in Darwin 

9.30am (AEST) - A commemorative ceremony for the 75th Anniversary of Australian Service in the Malayan Emergency - Canberra

2.30pm (AEST) - Cricket: Australia v South Africa, game 3 of the ODI series - Mackay, Queensland, watch on Kayo

8.40pm (AEST) - MotoGP: Grand Prix of Hungary, - Budapest, Hungary watch on Kayo

11.30pm (AEST) - Tennis: Round 1 of the men's and women’s singles starts at the US Tennis Open - New York, US, watch on Stan Sport or 9Now. 

Independence Day in Ukraine

Birthdays for actor Stephen Fry (1957), author John Green (1977), and actor Rupert Grint (1988)

Anniversary of:

  • the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, burying Pompeii and Herculaneum and killing 15,000 (79)

  • the invention of the potato chip by chef George Crum in New York, according to popular legend (1853)

  • Amelia Earhart becoming the first woman to fly nonstop across the US (1932)

  • Tim Cook becoming CEO of Apple after the resignation of Steve Jobs due to health reasons (2011)

  • Scott Morrison replacing Malcolm Turnbull as PM after a leadership spill (2018)

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