Monday, 16 February - The new kid in town

Good morning, it’s Monday, 16 February. In your Squiz Today…

• Angus Taylor and Jane Hume kick off the week as the new leaders of the Coalition

• Australia is having its most successful Winter Olympics ever

• and Wuthering Heights steams up a storm at the box office…

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said Professor Philip Howell of Larry the Cat, who is celebrating 15 years as the UK’s first feline. First adopted by David Cameron in 2011, he’s served under 6 different UK PMs in his time - and analysts say his approval rating is just about purr-fect…

The stakes are high for Angus

The Squiz

There’s a new team at the top of the Coalition, with conservative Angus Taylor and moderate Jane Hume taking the reins as leader and deputy leader on Friday. That means former leader Sussan Ley lasted just 9 months in the job - but Taylor said the party’s horrendous polling meant it had to “change or die”. As many analysts have pointed out, though, the Coalition’s problems run deeper than leadership - with a dwindling membership base and minor parties/independents siphoning off votes to their right and left, Taylor has a big, big job on his hands - and this week, he’s expected to name a new team for his front bench…

So how’s he going to tackle it?

In his first speech following his election, Taylor put immigration front and centre. He says reducing immigration numbers would “protect the Australian way of life” and also help with cost-of-living pressures. He says a full policy on that is coming within weeks, and also mentioned lower taxes and housing availability as big issues. As they made the media rounds yesterday, both Taylor and Hume ruled out returning to some of the policies that cost the Coalition at the 2025 election - like not backing Team Albanese’s income tax cuts, or scrapping work-from-home entitlements in the public service. But Hume did mention that nuclear energy - a key plank of Peter Dutton’s unsuccessful 2025 campaign - was still very much under consideration. We’ll see how all of that lands…

And what about Sussan Ley?

After being removed as leader, Ley announced that she’ll quit politics - ending a 25-year career in the federal parliament. That means there will be a by-election for her seat of Farrer, with plenty of hats being thrown into the ring. Under the Coalition agreement, the Nationals can’t challenge a sitting Liberal member - but they can contest a vacancy. So we might have a situation where the Libs and Nats go head-to-head in Farrer, unless Taylor and Nats leader David Littleproud can work out a deal. Pauline Hanson says One Nation will run a candidate, and independent candidate Michelle Milthorpe - who finished second to Ley last year - will have another crack too. We don’t have a date yet, but whenever it happens, it’ll be a big early test for how Taylor’s going…

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Squiz the Rest

The PM’s on the campaign trail…

In South Oz, at least… PM Anthony Albanese was there alongside Premier Peter Malinauskas yesterday to announce a $3.9 billion federal “down payment” towards Adelaide’s new submarine construction hub. It’s due to be completed by 2040 and will cost $30 billion in total, so Albanese says the rest of the funding will “flow continuously” until then. It’s where at least 8 nuclear-powered subs will be built under the AUKUS pact, with 5 produced by the mid-2050s and the final 3 in the 2060s. Malinauskas, who’s preparing for the state election on 21 March, called it a “significant” contribution to the South Oz economy. State Liberal leader Ashton Hurn said she’s hopeful local businesses are included - that it doesn’t become “a glorified IKEA” where internationally-made products are assembled…

And speaking of nuclear power…

US officials are preparing for talks with their Iranian counterparts tomorrow on limiting the Middle Eastern country’s nuclear program, but if they don't go to plan, the White House is ready for plan B: a weeks-long military operation… Thousands of US troops have been sent to the region to dial up pressure on Iran’s government, even though Secretary of State Marco Rubio thinks reaching a deal will be “very hard to do”. US President Donald Trump also hasn’t hidden his desire for regime change in Iran - something many Iranians, including here in Oz, have called for in protests over the past few days. If the US does launch military action, officials say state/security facilities and nuclear infrastructure could be targeted, which Iran says it would retaliate against - so there’ll be a lot of eyes on how tomorrow’s negotiations go…

Pointing the finger at the Kremlin

The UK and 4 of its European allies say Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed using dart frog toxin, according to analysis of smuggled biological samples taken from his body. Navalny, a high-profile critic of President Vladimir Putin, died suddenly in a remote Arctic penal colony 2 years ago after being found guilty and jailed for charges he called politically motivated. From the start, his supporters suspected he was poisoned (something Russia has a history of…) and now, UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said a lethal toxin called epibatidine was detected. The Kremlin dismissed it as “an information campaign”, but Cooper says “only the Russian government had the means, motive and opportunity” to use the poison. Navalny’s wife, Yulia, thanked the UK/European allies for “uncovering the truth”.

Aussies are up to their gold tricks

We’ve now registered our best-ever gold medal haul at the Winter Olympics, with Jakara Anthony and Josie Baff bringing our tally to 3 over the weekend.  After missing out in the single moguls, Anthony won gold in the dual moguls to become our first-ever 2-time Winter Olympics gold medallist. She’s an absolute champion - and if you’re able to watch Josie Baff’s supporters’ reaction to her gold medal in the women’s snowboard cross without misting up, you’re doing better than us… Add a bronze from Matt Graham in the dual moguls overnight, Cooper Woods’ gold and Scotty James’ silver, and you have our most successful Winter Games ever - chef de mission Alisa Camplin says it’s a “mind-blowing” achievement.

And speaking of gold…

Emerald Fennell’s buzzy, steamy adaptation of the Emily Brontë novel Wuthering Heights is heating up the box office… It’s projected to take $56 million at US cinemas to win the weekend. That means it’s well on track to recoup and exceed its $113 million budget, making it another hit for producer/star Margot Robbie and her female-focused LuckyChap Entertainment production company after the success of Barbie in 2023. And as we’ve mentioned, the film has been controversial, particularly over its overt sexuality and range of changes to the original novel - but the team at the Brontë museum in England were big fans, and you’d think they know their stuff…

Apropos of Nothing

You may remember that last month NASA had to conduct its first-ever medical evacuation of the International Space Station, with 4 astronauts returning home. They’ve now been replaced, with 4 new astronauts taking a SpaceX rocket to give the ISS a full crew once again.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has announced the state will get an extra Monday public holiday this year and next year, due to ANZAC Day falling on the weekend. That’ll bring NSW up to 12 public holidays, meaning Tassie is the only state languishing on 11. Sorry, Tassie…

Congrats to Annabel Sutherland, who won her second Belinda Clark Award for the best women’s cricketer in Oz last night. It was a bit of an unusual ceremony - rather than a glam gala dinner, Sutherland received her award at the SCG before heading out for a training session…

Squiz the Day

10.00am (AEST) - Queensland Commission of Inquiry into Child Safety first public hearing, with a key focus on the intersection between the child safety and youth justice systems - Toowoomba

Cricket: Day one of round 8 of the Sheffield Shield, featuring Queensland v South Australia, Western Australia v Victoria, Tasmania v NSW

Lorde kicks off her Ultrasound tour in Australia in Brisbane

Presidents' Day in the US

JB Hi-Fi, Bluescope Steel, Bendigo Bank and Treasury Wine Estates first-half results 

A public holiday in North Korea to mark Kim Jong Il's Birthday (also known as the Day of the Shining Star)

Do a Grouch a Favor Day

Kyoto Protocol Day 

Birthdays for athlete Cathy Freeman (1973) and singer The Weeknd (1990)

Anniversary of:

• Pope Gregory the Great decreeing “God bless you” as the correct response to a sneeze (600)

• Howard Carter discovering Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb and sarcophagus (1923)

• the deaths of 21 Australian nurses in the Banka Island Massacre in WWII (1942)

• Fidel Castro becoming the 16th Prime Minister of Cuba after overthrowing Fulgencio Batista (1959)

• the Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria (1983)

• the Kyoto Protocol coming into force following its ratification by Russia (2005)

• the death of 2 men who became trapped 125m underground in the Dugald River zinc mine (2023)