Thursday, 10 July - I need a hero

Good morning, it’s Thursday, 10 July. In your Squiz Today…

• Trump has Aussie pharmaceuticals in his sights

• An update from Qantas on last week’s data hack

• And the Maroons come out on top…

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Squiz Sayings

Said helicopter company Air Zermatt after a missing hiker’s four-legged friend managed to get their attention as they searched for them in the Swiss Alps. The hiker was rescued, but there’s a twist - the dog might be a papillon, not a chihuahua. But it’s a hero either way…

Ringing the pharma alarm

The Squiz

The Albanese Government hasn't minced words in reacting to US President Donald Trump's threat to impose 200% tariffs on pharmaceuticals and 50% tariffs on copper, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers describing it as "very concerning". That's because if the Trump administration goes through with them, it could be a significant blow to some of our biggest exports to the US. And when we say ‘blow’... The US isn’t a huge market for our copper exports, but around 40% of our pharmaceutical exports (worth about $2.5 billion…) were sent there last year. So Chalmers and other economic experts are worried about what a crackdown on them could mean for our economy…

Why the focus on pharma? 

The US lobby, PhRMA, has long had issues with our Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (or PBS) - the one where our federal government subsidises the cost of 930 listed medications, making them cheaper for millions of Aussies. It requires thousands of pharmaceutical companies - including US giants Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer - to negotiate the prices of their drugs with our government. PhRMA has called it an “egregious and discriminatory” trade tool, and has been pushing Trump to impose retaliatory tariffs on our pharmaceuticals. But the Albanese Government says it won't negotiate away the PBS in order to dodge any other tariffs… Chalmers doubled down on that yesterday, saying "we'll work through it in a methodical way, but we make it clear once again … the PBS is not on the table".

So what now?

Trump hasn’t implemented the pharmaceutical tariffs yet, but says they’ll be “announcing something very soon” - and Chalmers says he’s “urgently seeking some more detail”. The Coalition’s Bridget McKenzie has also taken aim at our Ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd… She says these latest tariff threats are another issue in the US-Oz relationship, and that if Rudd “was doing his job, things wouldn’t be as clunky as they seem to be”. Whatever happens, economic experts are warning us not to underestimate the effect of Trump’s growing tariff regime. Yesterday, Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser said it’s “puzzling” that investors appear unruffled by the risk the US trade war poses to the global economy. He says it could take years for the full impact to become clear…

There in times of trouble

The Salvation Army is synonymous with helping out when times are tough, and when a natural disaster hits, it’s often the worst day of an impacted person’s life. Woolworths is proud to be their disaster relief partner, building on a relationship that’s been in place for almost all of the retailer’s 100 years. The Salvation Army’s incredible work is the subject of a new podcast episode - you can listen to From Grassroots here.

Squiz the Rest

A fire threatens Marseille

All flights in and out of France’s second-largest city were suspended yesterday as more than 1,000 firefighters tackled the wildfire, which started in the nearby town of Les Pennes-Mirabeau. No deaths have been reported, and it’s now under control, but hundreds of people were injured and evacuated. Experts say the fire was especially fierce due to a regional wind called ‘the Mistral’ and unusually dry, hot conditions in France. As we've mentioned, most of Europe has been struggling through a heatwave in recent weeks that's led to at least 2,300 deaths, and a study published yesterday found that the majority of those deaths were due to worsening climate change conditions. 

Quick thinking saves a life

The woman who lost her arm after being attacked by a lioness at the Darling Downs Zoo in Queensland on Sunday has been named as school teacher Joanne Cabban. Cabban is from NSW, and was visiting her sister Stephanie Robinson - the zoo’s owner - when she was bitten. Yesterday, her family said Cabban has been visiting the zoo for 20 years and often takes photos of the animals for annual calendars she puts together. Steve Robinson, her brother-in-law, also explained what happened… He said his wife and a keeper had just finished cleaning the lion enclosure on Sunday morning when they heard a scream, discovering Cabban had been bitten. He said it was the quick thinking of the zookeeper, who used a belt as a tourniquet, that saved Cabban’s life.

An update on the QANTAS hack

If you’re one of the people Qantas has contacted because your details were included in the massive hack that hit the airline last week, you’re a long way from alone… Qantas confirmed yesterday that 5.7 million customers have been affected. The data stolen includes details like names and e-mail addresses, but also frequent flyer numbers and membership tiers - including whether someone is a member of the exclusive highest tier of the Chairman’s Lounge or not. Qantas has referred the incident to the AFP - it’s also investigating if a potential cybercriminal who contacted the airline recently is legitimate. In the meantime, if you're worried about potential scams, here's the Scamwatch website to report anything specific… 

*For a refresher on the threat of cybercrime, here’s our Newsmakers interview with expert Alastair MacGibbon - and for more on the Chairman’s Lounge, here’s our interview with Joe Aston, the man who quite literally wrote the book on it… 

An emotional win for the Maroons

Queensland has won the third and deciding game of this year's State of Origin series, beating NSW 24-12 in front of the Blues' home crowd in Sydney. Captain Cameron Munster led the team out on the field only a few days after the death of his father Steven, in what coach Billy Slater called "as courageous and brave a performance as I've ever seen". It was Slater who made the decision to replace longtime halfback Daly Cherry-Evans with 24yo Tom Dearden after the Maroons lost Game 1, and that paid off big time last night - Dearden scored 2 tries and won the Wally Lewis medal for the player of the series. For the Blues, coach Laurie Daley said they “didn’t nail the moments”. There’s always next year… 

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a lot of pressure

There’s a new Superman movie in cinemas today, but this one has some high stakes attached… It’s the latest attempt to launch a big, multi-movie franchise, along the lines of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but with DC Comics characters - the main competitor to Marvel in all things spandex. Parent company Warner Brothers has tried this before and it didn’t go so well, so it’s called time on that attempt and is starting again. The man in charge of shaking the Etch-a-Sketch is James Gunn, who was previously part of the Marvel mix, and there’s a lot riding on his success. If Superman fails, that’s bad news for the next 5-10 films he’s got planned out too. Reviews have been positive so far, but it’s those all-important ticket sales that WB execs will be sweating on - we’ll check in again early next week. 

Apropos of Nothing

Anyone travelling to the US to escape the Aussie winter might have a slightly easier time at airport security - reports say that American airports will soon no longer ask you to remove your shoes during security screenings. Our patience and our noses thank you… 

Species resurrection specialists Colossal Biosciences (they of the de-extincted direwolf pups) are back at it - and with the help of Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, they’re adding New Zealand’s South Island giant moa to the comeback list. Those birds could grow to 3.6 metres, so it’s a tall order…

And after 103 years in the same shop, Melbourne’s iconic bookstore Hill of Content is on the move, and it’s put the call out for volunteers to help hand-pass the books down the street to its new home, so if your day’s a blank page…

Squiz the Day

7.00am (AWST) - WA Premier Roger Cook will address CEDA on 'Should WA lead the regional energy transition?' - Perth

10.30am (AEST) - Iconic Melbourne bookstore Hill of Content is moving (after 103 years) and it’s asked for volunteers to hand-pass books along to its new shop, a few doors down - 86 Bourke St, Melbourne

6.00pm (AEST) Golf: The Evian Championship tees off, with Minjee Lee leading the Aussie contingent - Évian-les-Bains, France

A plan to combat antisemitism is expected to be handed to the federal government by special envoy Jillian Segal

ABS data release - monthly business turnover indicator, May 2025

🎨 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair begins (until 13 July) - Cairns

World Capybara Day

Asalha Puja (Dhamma Day) for Buddhists, celebrating the first teaching of the Buddha and marks the beginning of Buddhist Lent (Vassa)

Independence Day in the Bahamas

Birthday of Modern Family star Sofia Vergara (1972) 

Anniversary of:

• Lady Godiva riding naked on horseback through Coventry to force her husband, the Earl of Mercia, to lower taxes. According to the legend, anyway... (1040)

• the beginning of the Battle of Britain during WWII (1940)

• the Rolling Stones scoring their 1st US #1 single with (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (1965)

• the swearing-in of Boris Yeltsin as the first elected President of the Russian Federation (1991)

• British tabloid News of the World publishing its last edition after 168 years in the wake of a phone-hacking scandal (2011)

• German automaker Volkswagen ending production of the Beetle, the first model of which had been introduced in 1938 (2019)