Monday, 24 March - We don't need no education

March 24, 2025

Good morning, it’s Monday, 24 March. In your Squiz Today…

  • The work-from-home debate is reignited

  • Canada is heading to the polls

  • And a rare ‘sharktopus’ sighting…

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Squiz the Weather

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Squiz Sayings

“We are happy to say that … he will be at home."

Said doctors looking after Pope Francis, who was discharged from Rome's Gemelli hospital yesterday. He’ll still need a couple of months of rest as he recovers from the double pneumonia he was diagnosed with - but it’s always nice to be in your own bed…

The WFH debate is back

The Squiz

We’re still waiting on a federal election date to be set, but campaigning is in full swing - and workplace flexibility is shaping up as one of the big issues… Yesterday, PM Anthony Albanese threw his support behind continuing work-from-home (aka WFH) set-ups for workers if he remains in the top job. It’s at odds with Coalition leader Peter Dutton’s recently-announced policy… He says federal public servants should return to the office permanently - and that working mothers could enter “job-sharing arrangements” to cover their flexibility needs.

What’s the issue?

Public servants are being called out for a couple of reasons… Firstly, about 61% of them work from home at least part of the time - up from 22% pre-pandemic. It affects a smaller number of employees in the private sector - about 36%, compared to 40% who were WFH during the pandemic. Secondly, our political leaders have a say in public servants’ working arrangements - and that then acts as a benchmark for private companies to reference. Albanese’s pitch is that returning to the office full-time would be a hit to hip pockets (something the Australian Council of Trade Unions agrees with…) - and that the Coalition’s return-to-office plans could set the average worker back an extra $5,000 a year. Dutton, on the other hand, says his focus is on efficiency in the public service.

So what’s going to happen?

Let us know if you have a crystal ball - we certainly don’t… We have a full election cycle to get through before our next government is confirmed - so there’s a bit to play out before any changes to working arrangements are enacted. Another thing to clock is the Coalition is keen to cut public service jobs - 36,000 of them, in fact - to bring the headcount back to pre-Albanese Government levels. So there’s a bit going on there… And just a reminder - the federal election is due by 17 May, so we’ll be hearing a lot about this (and other policies…) over the coming weeks. Something to flag for this week: Treasurer Jim Chalmers is due to release the Federal Budget tomorrow, and we’ll get the Coalition’s response on Thursday…

Squiz the Rest

Canada is heading to the polls

Less than 2 weeks into the job, Canadian PM Mark Carney has called a snap election, saying he needs "a strong, positive mandate to deal with US President Donald Trump". The friendship between the 2 countries has turned sour after a trade war broke out due to tariffs Trump has imposed on Canadian imports. Carney is the former banker who took over from long-time Liberal PM Justin Trudeau in mid-March. He says the tariffs are a "significant threat" to Canada, and that "our response must be to build a strong economy and a more secure Canada". The election will be held on 28 April, where Carney's main rival will be the Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, who has already begun campaigning on tax cuts, creating jobs and "unleashing" natural resources. 

Rolling back research grants

The Trump administration has axed funding grants to 7 Aussie universities after it sent surveys to academics questioning whether research projects were aligned with its agenda. The 36-point questionnaire covered attitudes toward transgender people and ties to communism - and asked whether they’d had funding from China. It followed a memo in January that claimed the US Government had a “duty to align federal spending and action with the will of the American people”. American funding for research grants amounted to about $400 million last year, which is around half the amount received from the Aussie Government - so it’s a fair chunk. Universities Australia CEO Luke Sheehy said it was an “alarming development” and said Aussie institutions would have to look further afield. 

Bleaching bad

Scientists say 2 of our world heritage-listed coral reefs have been badly damaged by simultaneous coral bleaching in the past year, which they’ve called “profoundly distressing”. The Great Barrier Reef off Queensland’s far north coast and Ningaloo on the west coast, have both recorded widespread bleaching - where corals lose nutrients and the algae that give them their colour - due to warmer sea temperatures. In the case of Ningaloo, scientists say the highest amount of accumulated heat stress on record was reached, and 90% of corals in shallow waters have died. But there is some hope - if bleaching isn’t severe, corals can recover. However, there are concerns that only fast-growing types will thrive, which could have impacts on biodiversity and the animals that live in them.

The Hawks swoop on a finals win

The Illawarra Hawks are this year’s National Basketball League champions, defeating Melbourne United to claim the best-of-five finals series 3-2. In case you’re not up to date with your Aussie hoops, Melbourne United used to be called the Melbourne Tigers - that’s the team where Aussie basketball legend Andrew Gaze plied his trade for 22 years. They’ve now got superstars Chris Goulding and Matthew Dellavedova on their books, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Hawks, who broke a 24-year drought to win 114-104. Dellavedova was named MVP, but in what commentators said was a classy move, he handed the award to the Hawks point guard Will Hickey, saying “This really belongs to you”... And while we’re talking classy moves, Aussie F1 driver Oscar Piastri took out the Chinese Grand Prix from his first pole position for team McLaren yesterday. 

Salmon hats are so 2024… 

Remember the orcas wearing salmon hats? Well, turns out they're so last year… The latest accessory marine animals have been seen sporting is a fast ride - specifically, this octopus hitching a ride on the back of a shark. The footage of the ‘sharktopus’ was taken by a team from the University of Auckland, who thought the orange blob on the head of the shortfin Mako shark may have been a wound from a bite or a fishing hook. On closer inspection, they realised it was a Maori octopus that was clinging on with its tentacles - which would’ve come in handy - the shortfin Mako is the fastest shark in the world, hooning through the waves at up to 50km/hr. The team said the rare encounter showed how much we still don’t understand about the ocean and marine life. Or interspecies transportation arrangements…

Apropos of Nothing

A Sydney man’s learned the hard way that practical science experiments can go too far… He’s in hot water after importing plutonium (which is radioactive…) to his parents’ suburban house as he tried to collect every element of the periodic table. He’s now facing Pu-nitive charges…

Congratulations are in order for our most expensive border collie… Working dog Liz, who was bought at auction for $40,000 (a new national record…) has given birth to 9 puppies on the Queensland cattle farm she now calls home. Talk about some pricey pups…

Residents of a suburban street in Adelaide have banded together to save a special tree… The 200yo river red gum, which sits smack bang in the middle of the street, was in declining health until locals called on council to organise a special watering system. Now, there’s green shoots…

Squiz the Day

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is back in court facing insurrection charges

US officials will meet separately with Ukrainian and Russian negotiators to further discuss the conditions of a ceasefire on energy infrastructure the 2 sides have agreed to - Saudi Arabia

The Australian Rowing Championships begin (until 30 March) - Tasmania

World Tuberculosis Day 

Birthdays for designer Tommy Hilfiger (1951), actor Jim Parsons (1973), NRL player Darren Lockyer (1977), and actor Jessica Chastain (1977)

Anniversary of:

  • Elvis Presley joining the army (1958)

  • the death of former Governor-General Sir John Kerr (1991)

  • Federal Parliament overturning the world's first euthanasia law that was passed in the Northern Territory (1997)

  • the Aussie cricket ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town (2018)

  • the 'March for Our Lives' rallies held in Washington DC and around the world to protest gun violence (2018)