Thursday, 1 May - I'm a fire starter

Good morning, it’s Thursday, 1 May. In your Squiz Today…

• Inflation lands in the sweet spot

• The US economy goes backwards as Trump marks 100 days in office

• And the Wallabies lock in a new coach…

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said songstress/space traveller Katy Perry, who was reassuring fans she was OK after being on the bottom of an internet “pile on” by critics that said her brief, free, sojourn to the stars was “out of touch” amid a cost of living crisis. Geez, a girl can’t even kick a life-long goal…

Inflation hits its target

The Squiz

While the headline rate of inflation in Australia held steady at 2.4%, the trimmed mean - the underlying rate that cuts out the more extreme numbers in the data - has dropped below 3% (to 2.9%) for the first time in 3 years. The trimmed mean is something the Reserve Bank watches closely to consider whether to cut interest rates - they’ve said repeatedly that they want it under 3%, and now it is. Their next meeting is on 20 May, and Aussie investors and economists are confident that meeting will produce a rate cut and a bit more relief for Aussies with mortgages. 

What are the numbers telling us?

First of all, it's worth clocking that this data is from January to March, so US President Donald Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs, which were announced on 2 April, aren't a factor… yet. What is a factor in these numbers is electricity subsidies. As they've worn off (particularly for Queenslanders, who had a $1000 cost-of-living rebate last year), electricity prices have gone up by 16.3%. That drove most of what was a 0.9% rise in inflation for the January-March quarter. The reason the inflation rate we mentioned earlier is steady is because that’s an annual rate - and the 0.9 quarterly rise this year is less than the 1% for the same period last year, so it evens out. The start of the year is just pricey, it seems… 

And how will this affect the election?

Treasurer Jim Chalmers was a happy camper with this news breaking 3 sleeps before we head out for our democracy sausage on Saturday. He called it a "powerful demonstration of the progress that Australians have made together in the economy". With cost-of-living considered to be a huge issue in this election, any sign that inflation is coming under control will be celebrated by the government. Adding to the economic soup, house prices rose again nationally by 0.3% last month, and Coalition Treasury spokesman Angus Taylor - who’s set to release costings for its proposed budget today - said the Treasurer and PM Anthony Albanese were "the only people who think the cost of living crisis is over in this country." And, proving you never know what the tail end of the campaign will bring, the PM yesterday received an unexpected endorsement...

Gamifying your energy usage

Over 10 episodes, the third season of Origin Energy's podcast So Watt? brings on a range of experts to share tips to improve your home’s energy efficiency. The fifth episode is all about how to get more from your electrified home… Think rooftop solar, batteries, electric appliances, an electric vehicle and digital tools to help you save money. Something else you’ll learn about is Origin’s Energy Savings Program, Spike - and how you can be rewarded for saving energy during peak usage times. You can learn about that here, or listen to the episode in your favourite podcast player now.

Squiz the Rest

Time flies when you’re the Pres…

US President Donald Trump has clocked his first 100 days back in office with a political rally in the state of Michigan. It wasn’t all celebratory - polls show Americans’ approval of Trump is dropping as the impact of his tariffs begins to be felt, and coupled with that, the US economy has just had its worst quarter since 2022, shrinking by 0.3%. Trump blamed the economic decline on the Biden administration for leaving “bad numbers” and insisted it had nothing to do with tariffs. He told Americans “when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE PATIENT!!!” The Democratic National Committee Chair, Ken Martin, said people across the US “see right through Trump” - but for the President’s part, he says “we've just gotten started, you haven't seen anything yet”.

A high-profile regional trial

Erin Patterson’s murder trial got underway in the Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court yesterday, with both sides giving their opening statements. Prosecutors told jurors that before the deadly lunch in July 2023, Patterson told her estranged husband that she wanted to cook his parents, her in-laws, a “special meal”. To remind you - 3 of them died in the week afterwards, and Patterson is charged with 3 counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, all of which she denies… Patterson’s defence lawyer Colin Mandy said his client now admits to selecting the toxic mushrooms at the centre of the case - something she’d previously denied - but didn’t deliberately seek them out. He told jurors it was “a tragedy and a terrible accident”. The trial will continue over the next 6 weeks.

We built this city - in 3D

The future of construction is here, with 3D-printed buildings rising up… The latest project to score headlines is for a brand Americans know and love - a drive-through Starbucks in Brownsville, Texas - the first 3D-printed Starbucks of its kind. You can read up on how it works here, but the building was created with a large 3D printing machine (the Cobod BOD2 printer, which is fun to say…). It followed a blueprint to pour one layer of concrete on top of another, creating the building’s shell. To give you a visual - it kind of looks like a wasp nest… Experts say 3D construction can be expensive, but helps to alleviate labour shortages, and our state and federal governments are considering it as a tool to combat the housing crisis. Keep an eye out for robot builders near you…

Kiss is next on the list

Our national men’s rugby union team will have a new coach next year, with current boss of the Queensland Reds Les Kiss to take over from coach Joe Schmidt. Kiss is a former league winger from Bundaberg who transitioned to union coaching, having success with international sides like Ireland, and took the Reds to the finals last year in his first season in charge. He won't have long to settle into the top job - 2027 will bring us the Men's Rugby Union World Cup on home soil, in which the Wallabies will be aiming to improve significantly on the 2023 version. That tournament was the first time the team failed to get out of the pool stage of the competition. No pressure… 

Practise what you screech

A 10yo boy from Derbyshire in the UK has soared to new heights over the weekend, taking home the gold at the European Gull Screeching Championship for a second year in a row. Cooper, aka ‘Seagull boy’, squawked his stuff at the competition in Du Panne - a coastal town in Belgium - beating out his 7yo sister Shelby, who finished fourth. That’s quite a sibling rivalry…  Denmark’s Anna Brynald won the overall competition, which involves 5 gull experts marking contestants on the rhythm and variation of their seagull call, as well as their behaviour and dress. That last part means some glued-together bird costumes - you can have a stickybeak at some of those sticky beaks here. Mind your chips…

Apropos of Nothing - Leaps and bounds edition

If you’ve been considering taking up a side hustle, your four-legged friend might be a pawsible cash cow. Pet influencing is turning a tidy profit online, with dogs like Tuna the chiweenie (that's a chihuahua/dachshund cross, FYI…) and his dogfluencer pals pulling in millions of followers - and sponsorship dollars. 

Aussie band Amyl and the Sniffers have won Song of the Year at the Australian Performing Rights Association awards for U Should Not Be Doing That. It's been a big year for the band - they've played Coachella, they'll be at Glastonbury and are generally taking the world by (profane) storm…

And while it could be a regular Tuesday in Australia, Alabama locals were taken aback when a kangaroo - named Sheila, no less - shut down one of the state’s highways after escaping from her enclosure at a petting zoo. Not to worry, her owner says she’s back home safe. Hop hop hurray… 

Squiz the Day

11.00am (AEST) - The finalists of the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes will be announced, along with the Packing Room Prize winner - Sydney

9.30am (AWST) - Rio Tinto AGM - Perth

7.45pm (AEST) - NRL: Game one of the Women’s State of Origin is on at Suncorp Stadium - Brisbane, watch it on 9Now

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor will release costings for the Coalition’s proposed budget, claiming they’ll come in $10 billion/year less than Labor’s, over 4 years

Ukraine’s Minister for the Economy Yulia Svyrydenko will meet with US officials at the White House to lock down a deal over critical minerals - Washington DC

ABS data release - International trade in Goods, March 2025; International Trade Price Indexes, Australia, March 2025

It’s May Day, otherwise known as International Workers Day

Agfest begins in Tasmania (until 3 May) 

Yirramboi Festival opens (until 11 May) - Melbourne

Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival begins (until 4 May) - Margaret River, WA

It’s the start of Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month 

And it’s the beginning of Brain Cancer, Bladder Cancer, Lyme Disease and Cystic Fibrosis awareness month

❤️ Global Love Day

Anniversary of:

• ‘Penny Black’, the world’s first adhesive postage stamp issued by Great Britain (1840)

• the Empire State Building opening in New York City (1931)

• the marriage of Elvis and Priscilla Presley (1967)

• Tasmania decriminalising homosexuality (1997)

• Geoffrey Hinton the ‘godfather’ of artificial intelligence stepping down as Google CEO so he could speak freely about the risks AI poses (2023)