Thursday, 11 December - I'm still standing

December 11, 2025

Good morning, it’s Thursday, 11 December. In your Squiz Today…

  • The world watches to see how our social media ban plays out

  • AUKUS is full steam ahead

  • And a final farewell to Neighbours…

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

“One young male was especially keen to show off his acrobatic flair: pirouetting, tumbling and high-kicking.”

Said Mark Meth-Cohn, who snapped the winning Nikon Wildlife Comedy Photo of the Year of a young gorilla dancing in Rwanda’s Virunga Mountains. Meth-Cohn titled the pic ‘High Five’, and he deserves a bunch of ‘em for capturing such a great shot…

The world is watching…

The Squiz

As day one of the social media ban for under-16yos kicked in, PM Anthony Albanese has been out and about singing its praises to international media outlets. As predicted, the world-first move has made Oz a bit of an experiment that “the world, including some leading media global organisations, is watching”, he says. And the PM doesn’t expect the scrutiny to ease up - Albanese called it a “profound reform which will continue to reverberate around the world in the coming months, to assist not just this generation, but generations to come” that made it “a proud day to be an Australian”. 

Does the rest of the world agree?

Yes and no… There are heaps of questions about how it will work, but some governments are planning to follow suit (Malaysia and Denmark are 2…). That aligns with eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant’s belief that Oz is “the first domino” to fall, despite pushback from social media companies and some teens. She’s not deterred by reports of crafty kids getting around the ban and will be asking the platforms for data from 9 December and today (the days pre/post the ban’s start date…) to check that it is being implemented. Reports this morning say hundreds of thousands of kids have been booted off platforms like Instagram and Snapchat - but Albanese’s TikTok account was peppered with messages yesterday from accounts claiming to be held by under-16yos. So swings and roundabouts… 

So that’s happening… Anything else? 

Yep, on the other political issue that’s been bubbling along… Communications Minister Anika Wells is still being asked about her taxpayer-funded travel (despite attempts to shift the focus…) - and other pollies are feeling the heat too. Reports say Wells isn't the biggest user of the family travel allowance, coming in 28th on the list. Queensland Nationals MP Andrew Willcox spent the most of all MPs on family travel since mid-2022 ($123,769). Western Oz Independent Senator Fatima Payman ($118,790) and South Oz Trade Minister Don Farrell ($116,306) also brought their families to Canberra and on work trips. All up, federal politicians spent $1.1 million on family travel over the past 12 months. Commentators say there might be a case to “slightly tighten” the rules.

Smiling wide

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Squiz the Rest

Tension in the region

Japan has sent fighter jets to monitor Russian bombers that have teamed up with China in conducting patrols around the country. Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said the joint operations were a "serious concern for our national security" and "clearly intended as a show of force". Tensions between Beijing and Tokyo have been ramping up since last month, when Japan's PM warned her country could respond to Chinese military action in Taiwan. Things are also still fraught on the Thai-Cambodia border, with fierce battles over contested territory forcing more than 140,000 civilians to flee. US President Donald Trump (who led a ceasefire between them in October…) was planning calls to the leaders of both countries, but Thailand’s leader says they need to prepare “talking points” before that happens. 

And on the home front…

With AUKUS in focus this week after the US pledged to go ahead with its end of the security deal, Defence Minister Richard Marles has made a pledge of his own… He says Oz will address the challenges - such as upskilling our workforce - so that the AUKUS nuclear submarine timelines are met. It comes after the Pentagon shared its review of AUKUS with the Albanese Government last week - and though we didn’t get many details, reports say it IDed some areas of improvement to put the deal on the “strongest possible footing”... Marles met with his UK and US counterparts overnight, with UK Defence Secretary John Healey confirming Britain was “all in” on AUKUS. Healey said: "Our reviews are done. Now, we deliver". And while we're on defence, officials are still watching the Chinese navy flotilla travelling through the Indo-Pacific, but don’t believe it’s headed to Oz...

Chomp… 

You may have seen the jaw-dropping footage doing the rounds - hundreds of sharks feeding on a massive school of baitfish at Byron Bay’s Tallow Beach, with some swimmers and snorkellers getting worryingly close to the action. Local photographer Jakob de Zwart captured the spectacle on his drone after spotting people pointing at the water from the Byron lighthouse, and it went gangbusters online... Marine experts say the feeding behaviour is normal - sharks herd baitfish towards shore to trap them - but they're warning people to stay out of the water while it's happening. The baitfish are starting to dissipate, and the sharks are following them out, so the region’s beautiful people/alternative lifestylers/Irish backpackers will soon be back in the water living it up… 

Coldplay reigns supreme

We hate to fuel any intergenerational tensions, but new data has revealed British band Coldplay has sold more concert tickets this millennium than any other act. The music trade publication Pollstar has just ranked the 25 Most Popular Touring Artists of the last 25 years - and Coldplay has come out on top with 24.8 million tickets sold, followed by U2 with 20.2 million and Ed Sheeran with 19.6 million. And before all our Swifties lose their minds… We should note Tay-Tay comes in at #5 with 18.9million, AND she didn’t launch her debut album until 2006. Also, if you wanna slice the figures another way - Swift has grossed over $US3.1 billion this century v Coldplay, with a paltry $US2.5 billion...

Final curtain call for an Aussie icon

The last ever episode of Neighbours will air tonight - more than 40 years after the soap first introduced us to Ramsay Street back in 1985. And if your immediate thought is “I thought it was already cancelled?”, you’re kinda right… There was a star-studded finale in 2022 after its UK partner cut its funding, but it was then rescued for a few years by Amazon before it also pulled the pin. Heaps of big names got a break on the show - think Kylie Minogue, Margot Robbie and Guy Pearce - and it also attracted some crazy guest stars, including Baby Spice, Shane Warne and Paula Abdul. No spoilers here, but executive producer Jason Herbison reckons “the mood is optimism” when the credits finally roll…

Apropos of Nothing - Caught on camera edition

A court case over the 'eyebombing' of Mt Gambier's 'Blue Blob' sculpture by a 20yo South Oz woman who stuck googly eyes to it has been adjourned until next year. It could be the first time such a prank is criminally punished here - but it's not the only public object to be ‘brought to life’...

In a very Northern Territory scenario, MP Andrew Mackay discovered his pet bull and horse had snuck inside his house when he pulled out his pet cam at a dinner to show off his snake enclosure. He said it was only fair, as "during Cyclone Fina, I brought the chickens inside. So this was their time".

And this dashcam footage shows the moment a light plane came in for an emergency landing on a busy Florida freeway on Monday, practically setting down on top of a Toyota Camry - incredibly, both the 57yo driver and the 27yo pilot walked away with only minor injuries. Time to buy a lottery ticket...

Squiz the Day

9.00am (AEDT) - Myer will hold its Annual General Meeting at the Sheraton - Sydney

9.15am (AEDT) - A judgment is due in Greg Lynn’s appeal against his conviction for the murder of camper Carol Clay in Victoria’s High Country - Melbourne 

10.00am (AEDT) - Westpac will hold its Annual General Meeting at Wesley Conference Centre - Sydney

10.00am (AEDT) - The retired judge who led an inquiry into the criminal prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann is challenging a report by the ACT’s corruption watchdog that he engaged in corrupt conduct - Sydney

10.00am (AEDT) - Australian Olympic Committee President Ian Chesterman will make an announcement regarding funding of the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games - Sydney

10.15am (AEDT) - A judgment in the ACCC’s case against Bupa over charges of misleading or deceptive conduct - Melbourne 

4.00pm (AEDT) - Sydney's Christmas night markets open at Circular Quay for an 11-night run of festivities - Sydney

7.10pm (AEDT) - Cricket: Sydney Sixers play Perth Scorchers in the WBBL Challenger final at North Sydney Oval - Sydney, watch on 7+

ABS data releases: Characteristics of Employment, August 2025; Prisoners in Australia, 2025; Labour Force, Australia, November 2025; Working arrangements, August 2025; Employee earnings, August 2025; Water Account, Australia, 2023-24

💃 National Tango Day in Argentina

A birthday for media personality/cake baker extraordinaire Hamish Blake (1981)

Anniversary of:

  • the birth of composer Hector Berlioz (1803) and Naguib Mahfouz, the first Arabic writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature (1911)

  • the establishment of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) (1946)

  • Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt becoming the last humans to walk on the Moon (1972)

  • American boxer Muhammad Ali fighting his last professional bout, in which he lost to Trevor Berbick (1981)

  • the invasion of Chechnya by Russian troops, 3 years after President Dzhokhar Dudayev declared its independence (1994)