Monday, 4 May - You may say I'm a dreamer

Good morning, it’s Monday, 4 May. In your Squiz Today…

• The antisemitism Royal Commission begins its first block of public hearings

• the Victorian Liberals win the Nepean by-election

• And a beer battle over a Beatle

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Squiz Sayings

Said Oluwaseyi Akinbobola, one of many visitors who have been flocking to San Francisco recently for a gander at Chonkers the sea lion. Weighing somewhere between 680-907kg, he’s an absolute unit - and the City by the Bay’s newest tourist attraction…

Out in the open

The Squiz

After releasing its first interim report on Thursday, the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion will begin full public hearings today. We’ll be hearing from Aussies with a lived experience of antisemitism in Australia, who will talk about what they’ve dealt with as the Commission probes the connection with the Bondi Beach terror attack of 14 December last year.

What will they involve?

This first block goes for 2 weeks, and it will focus on defining antisemitism, its impact on Jewish Australians and measuring how widespread it is. The Royal Commission has already received over 5,700 submissions, and Commissioner Virginia Bell says she may make further recommendations at any point over the coming months as hearings continue. A livestream will be available, but some evidence will be withheld - we won’t be hearing any information that could cause problems in the upcoming trial of Naveed Akram, the man charged with 59 offences - including 15 counts of murder - over his alleged role in the terror attack.

And what’s the reaction been to the interim report?

One key bit was that Oz goes ahead with a planned national gun buyback the Albanese Government announced in December, but that’s hitting some resistance... South Australia and the Northern Territory are against it, and on Thursday, Queensland’s Police Minister Dan Purdie said his state also doesn’t support the buyback, though he stressed that the Queensland government’s commitment to stamping out antisemitism was “unwavering”. The federal government says it will adopt all 14 recommendations - including the buyback - so there’s a bit of an impasse. Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said he hoped that adopting all the recommendations “will lead to greater safety” for the Jewish community. 

A budgeting tightrope

We don't have to tell you the global economy's in a rocky spot, and that's why CommBank economists reckon next Tuesday's Federal Budget is shaping up as an interesting one. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax on the table, along with savings from the recent NDIS overhaul... And we could see more tax reform and spending cuts to tackle inflation, which CommBank’s team says may improve our budget position going forward. Dive into their full Budget preview (graphs and all...) here.

Squiz the Rest

Charges laid in the NT

In a press conference yesterday, NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole confirmed that police have charged 47yo Jefferson Lewis with the murder of 5yo Kumanjayi Little Baby in the Northern Territory last week, as well as 2 sexual assault offences. Lewis was arrested on Thursday night, the same day that the 5yo’s body was found, around 5km from the Old Timers/Ilyperenye town camp in Alice Springs. Police have also released footage of a riot that took place in Alice Springs on Thursday night after Lewis was arrested - 5 people are expected to be charged in the coming days over that incident - but things have settled down since, after community leaders called for calm. Lewis is expected to face Darwin Local Court tomorrow.
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The ceasefire stalemate continues

The US and Iran have been going back and forth over the last few days to try and find a permanent end to the war that began in late February. This morning, Iranian state media said that it is reviewing the US’s response to its latest offer - a 14-point plan that involves the US removing forces from Iran’s borders and ending its blockade of Iranian ports. But according to US President Trump, the US response might not have been that enthusiastic - he said on Saturday that he “can’t imagine that (Iran’s proposal) would be acceptable”. Without a resolution, the Strait of Hormuz is still closed - meaning the global fuel supply crisis has no end in sight as yet, including here in Oz. Now we wait on Iran’s response to the response…  

Nepean is still the Liberals’ baby

The seat of former Victorian deputy Liberal leader Sam Groth stayed in his party’s hands on Saturday, with Mornington Peninsula Shire mayor Anthony Marsh taking the win. There was a bit of attention on this by-election as both a sign of how the upcoming Victorian state election in November might go, and whether One Nation could keep up its political momentum. Though they didn’t win the seat, One Nation won about a quarter of the vote - which Victorian Liberal leader Jess Wilson said meant her party had “more work to do” to win back voters. But the by-election fun ain’t done - we’ve got a federal one coming up in the NSW seat of Farrer on 9 May. One Nation’s David Farley is the frontrunner, so that’s shaping as the party’s next big test…
*Want a full breakdown of the state of play in Farrer? We’ve got a Squiz Shortcut that will help you out…

Hey, brewed, don’t make it bad

A French craft beer maker might be wondering if he should have known better after John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono blocked him from selling one of his beers. Aurélien Picard has been selling the lemon-flavoured ‘John Lemon’ beer (with the words Get Bock underneath) for 5 years, 8 days a week - but Ono says it’s a breach of a trademark she filed to protect Lennon’s reputation. If Picard didn’t stop making and selling the beer, he’d be forced to pay over $150,000 - an interesting one for the taxman. As of 1 July, he’ll have to hide his logo away - but he has been allowed to sell the 5,000 beers he has remaining in stock. Life goes on, brah… 

Singing their praises

This year marks 40 years of the ARIA Awards, Australia’s major music industry awards night - and to celebrate, 6 famous Aussie acts will be inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. Gurrumul, Vika and Linda, The Living End, Spiderbait, Kate Ceberano and Jenny Morris have all got the nod to enter the Hall - joining names like AC/DC, INXS and Kylie Minogue. Given the anniversary, this event will be a special one - rather than being inducted during the ARIA Awards themselves (which are in November), there will be a special event at the Carriageworks in Sydney on 11 June. Hopefully the living inductees will get a chance to perform - it’s not every day you can see Prisoner of Society followed up with Pash…

Apropos of Nothing

Famous US horse race the Kentucky Derby was run over the weekend, and for the first time ever, a woman trained the winner. Cherie DeVaux said she was (almost) speechless after her horse Golden Tempo mounted a huge comeback to score a famous win… 

There’s a campaign going on across the ditch to bring the kiwi - NZ’s iconic bird - back to the capital city of Wellington. 250 of the birds have now been relocated, and last week, some of them were able to visit the city’s parliament (the video’s pretty cute…) 

And highly anticipated movie sequel The Devil Wears Prada 2 is a big hit at the box office - it made over $300 million worldwide over the weekend. With that kind of cash, the devil can definitely afford to keep wearing Prada…

Squiz the Day

8.00am (AEST) National Australia Bank will release its first-half results

9.00am (AEST) - First day in the first block of public hearings for the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion (until 15 May) - Sydney

9.00am (AEST) - the NSW Rural Fire Service will present 31 awards to people who have gone above and beyond as part of its annual St. Florian’s Day ceremony

10:30am (AEST) - The National School Food Summit, where 2026 Tasmanian Senior Australian of the Year Julie Dunbabin will call for free school lunches to be rolled out across Australia in her keynote address - South Hobart

12:30pm (AEST) - Coalition treasury spokesman Tim Wilson will deliver a pre-budget address to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry - Melbourne

2.30pm (AWST) - A state memorial service will be held at Optus Stadium for the late sports commentator Dennis Cometti

5.00am Tuesday (AEST) - The 2026 Pulitzer Prize winners announced - watch the livestream 

Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi will meet with PM Anthony Albanese for her first official visit to Australia since taking office

The Reserve Bank of Australia board will begin its 2-day meeting today ahead of an interest rate announcement tomorrow

NAB to release first half-yearly financial results 

ABS data release: Building approvals, March 2026; life expectancy by socio-economic indexes for areas, 2011-2024

International Firefighters’ Day 

Star Wars Day (May the fourth be with you…) 

Anniversary of:

• the birthdays of Audrey Hepburn (1929) and Keith Haring (1958)

• Margaret Thatcher becoming the first female Prime Minister of the UK (1979)