Friday, 23 May - C'mon c'mon let's stick together

May 23, 2025

Good morning, it’s Friday, 23 May. In your Squiz Today…

  • The Federal Coalition’s break-up has been put on pause

  • NSW’s troublesome trough moves south

  • And some lemon puddings that make everything better

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

”The whole world can see what's possible.”

Said Greek athlete Kristian Gkolomeev about the Enhanced Games, where (you guessed it…) performance enhancers are allowed. Ahead of next year's inaugural event, Gkolomeev has just broken a swimming world record, although it won’t be counted… It’s disconcerting for athletes who prefer their juice from a carton…

A pause on a divorce

The Squiz

After pulling his party out of a coalition with the Liberals on Tuesday, Nationals leader David Littleproud has suspended that decision while the 2 sides negotiate a new Coalition Agreement. Littleproud says he wants agreement on 4 policy sticking points: ditching the existing ban on nuclear energy, a $20 billion future fund for the regions, the power to divest (aka break up) the big supermarkets and better mobile coverage in the bush. Unless the Liberal Party says yes to all 4, the Nats could pull another Fleetwood Mac and go their own way again.

Why the change of heart?

Ever since the split, Liberal leader Sussan Ley has been saying that the primary reason was the Nats refusal to commit to something called "cabinet solidarity", which means that while the 2 parties can have internal debates, their frontbenchers must provide a united front to the public and vote the same way in the parliament. Yesterday morning, Littleproud said that while he initially asked for an exemption from that, Ley knocked that back, but the Nats reckon they can now live with it. It opened the door for the leaders to meet again, and shortly after that, the Nats said they were pausing the breakup while negotiations on the 4 key policy areas could take place.

What happens now?

It’s tricky because Ley had put every policy up for review after the Coalition’s heavy election defeat, but the parties will try to get these 4 settled so they can move on. We could see some movement on that next week, but they’ll have to sort it out by 22 July at the latest, which is when federal parliament will sit for the first time since the election. But as you might imagine, after a pretty rocky week, any discussions might not be all plain sailing - reports say while 3 of the policies are likely to get a tick, the power to break up the big supermarkets might prove a tougher sell, despite former Coalition leader Peter Dutton committing to it last year. So we’ll have to wait and see how much Ley-way the Nationals end up getting…

Sweet dreams are made of this

Sleep is the best, right? If you’re tossing and turning over picking a new mattress, Sleep Republic is a top choice for comfort and support. Recommended by CHOICE and backed by the Australian Spinal Research Foundation, their award-winning 'mattress-in-a-box' is all about comfort. Experience the Sleep Republic difference with a 100-night trial, and get ready to dream.

Squiz the Rest

Epic sogginess heads south

Three people are dead and another person is missing as the flood crisis across NSW’s Mid North Coast and Hunter regions has got much worse. Some areas recorded 300mm of rain in the 24 hours to late yesterday, taking the total to 500-600mm for the week so far. To give you an idea of how much that is, the average annual rainfall in Melbourne is around 650mm… The culprit is a stagnant coastal trough that settled in and refused to budge. It’s forecast that the heavy rain will stop there today and flood waters will start to recede, but until then, 48,000 people remain isolated and the Pacific Highway - the main road that links Sydney to Brisbane - is cut in several places. The rain is now shifting to parts of the southern Hunter, Blue Mountains, Sydney and the Southern Highlands, and then down to the NSW South Coast. Stay safe if you're in the affected areas, alright?

Israeli embassy staff killed

Elias Rodriguez, a 30yo man from Chicago, is in custody in Washington DC after he approached 4 people outside the Capital Jewish Museum and opened fire using a handgun yesterday. A young couple were killed - Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim. They were staff members from the Israeli embassy and about to become engaged. Reports this morning Rodriguez will face hate crime charges - witnesses heard him chanting "free Palestine" as he was taken into custody. Israel's Embassy in Washington wrote on X that they were young people “in the prime of their lives.” Some commentators have noted the intense criticism levelled at Israel in recent days over its conduct in Gaza. Its PM Benjamin Netanyahu said the shooting was a demonstration of the "wild incitement against the State of Israel."

Alzheimer's hope on the horizon

A new treatment to help slow the decline of patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease has just been approved for use in Australia. Donanemab is given as an intravenous infusion once a month for up to 18 months, and clinical trials have shown it can help people have a better quality of life for longer. Professor Amy Brodtmann says because it's not suitable for people with more advanced disease, "we need to manage expectations", but it is a "chink in the armour". It's also worth noting the drug isn't subsidised by the Government - that means it costs patients over $4,000 per injection. Donanemab is already being used in the US and UK, and experts reckon it can slow the decline by 30%. Alzheimer's is the most common type of dementia and one of our leading causes of death…

Ange has a huge win

The former Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou pulled off a historic first yesterday - he’s the first Australian manager to win a major football trophy in Europe, with Tottenham Hotspur defeating Manchester United 1-0 to take out the Europa League - the second biggest club football competition on the continent. Spurs have had a rough season in the domestic English Premier League - they’re in 17th, their lowest spot in decades. But Postecoglou famously promised that he always wins things in his second season - he did it in his previous gig with Scottish club Celtic, and he's done it again. Whether it will be enough to save his job after such a low finish in the Premier League is TBD, but given Spurs last won a trophy in 2008, he might have earned some serious brownie points with the fans…

Baby on broadcast

A pregnant news anchor in Albany, New York has taken the phrase ‘the show must go on’ quite literally as she delivered the morning headlines while in labour on live TV. Minutes before going on air for her Wednesday morning show, Olivia Jaquith realised her waters had broken, but rather than flag an ambo, she opted to soldier on and complete the entire 3-hour program, joking about it with her co-host Julia Dunn. At one point, Dunn, who'd been timing the contractions, said they got as frequent as 2 minutes apart. The pair wrapped up the show with no extra bumps and were all smiles afterwards. No news yet, but word is she was expecting a boy…

Friday Lites - 3 things we liked this week

We went deep into the world of F1 racing this week ahead of Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix - where young gun Oscar Piastri is continuing his campaign to become our first Aussie World Champ in 45 years. This feature covers his rise to racing stardom - or you can listen to our new Squiz Shortcut on him before the big race.

Learning about history is often a bit easier with a dash of humour, and British comedian David Mitchell’s book Unruly is a perfect example. Mitchell, who you might know from his work on TV shows Peep Show and Would I Lie To You?, covers the history of England’s Kings and Queens with a lot of well-written wit - and you’ll pick up a few useful facts along the way… 

It’s only a week until winter officially begins, but we’re into the cold-weather-approved dessert recipes already, starting with these baked lemon puddings. Serve with cream and get it in your gob.

Squiz the Day

Friday
9.00am (AEST) - The Old Station Airshow is on in Raglan, Queensland

12.00pm (AEST) - Victorian Treasurer Jaclyn Symes is set to deliver a post-budget address at a CEDA event - Melbourne 

4.30pm (AEST) - Football Australia’s AGM - Sydney

4.55pm (AEST) - Women's Rugby Union: Pacific Four Series - Wallaroos v defending champions Canada - Brisbane, watch it on 9Now

6.00pm (AEST) - The Stella Prize Literary Award will be announced at the Sydney Writers Festival. Here’s the shortlist 

6.00pm (AEST) - Vivid Sydney begins with the theme of ‘Dream’ (on until 14 June) - Sydney

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare will release its Essential Vaccines: performance report 2023-24

Cabaret Fringe Festival begins (until 1 June) - Adelaide

1770 Festival begins, an annual commemorative event held in the Town of 1770, Queensland - the “only number on the map in Australia” (until 25 May)

Anniversary of:

  • US Founding Father Benjamin Franklin announcing his invention of bifocals (1785)

  • Mao Zedong starting the Great Leap Forward movement in China (1958)

  • the Good Friday Agreement being accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland (1998)

  • Indian PM Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning re-election in a landslide (2019)

Saturday
8.00am (AEST) - Beef Week begins in Casino, NSW (until 1 June) 

World Schizophrenia Awareness Day

👑 Get your bling ready, it’s International Tiara Day 

Birthdays for musician Bob Dylan (1941), American businesswoman and actress Priscilla Presley (1945), and cinematographer Roger Deakins (1949)

Anniversary of:

  • Samuel Morse tapping out "What hath God wrought" in the world's first telegraph message (1844)

  • Amy Johnson becoming the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia (1930)

  • American management consultant Marilyn Loden first coining the term "glass ceiling" to describe invisible career barriers for women (1978)

  • the completion of the world's largest cat-proof fence (44km) at Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary, in central Australia (2018)

Sunday
8.20am (AEST) - Humpty Dumpty Balmoral Burn - Sydney

10.00pm (AEST) - Soccer: AFC Women’s Champion’s League final - Melbourne City v Wuhan Jiangda, watch it on TenPlay

8.00pm (AEST) - Tennis: French Open, day one of play at Roland Garros - Paris, and watch on 9Now

11.00pm (AEST) - F1: Monaco Grand Prix, watch it on Kayo. Here’s what you need to know about the race, and if you’d like some background on Aussie driver Oscar Piastri’s ride to the top of F1, we’ve got a Squiz Shortcut for you here

Birthdays for actors Sir Ian McKellen (1939), Mike Myers (1963), and Cillian Murphy (1976)

Anniversary of:

  • author Oscar Wilde being sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment for "gross indecency" (1895)

  • athlete Jesse Owens equalling or breaking 4 world records in 45 minutes - known as "the greatest 45 minutes ever in sport" (1935)

  • the airing of the last episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, ending her 25-year run (2011)

We’re aiming high…

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