Thursday, 12 March - Please don't move to Melbourne

Good morning, it’s Thursday, 12 March. In your Squiz Today…

• The International Energy Agency is releasing strategic oil reserves as the war in the Middle East continues

• Matt Canavan is the new leader of the federal National party

• And Melbourne’s the best city in the world…

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said one viewer on New Zealand’s Department of Conservation’s livestream of Rakiura, a rare kākāpō parrot, during the species’ breeding season. They’re the fattest parrots in the world, so their chicks are as adorable as you’d imagine…

Oil prices are under the pump

The Squiz

The Strait of Hormuz has become an increasing flashpoint in the war in the Middle East, with attacks on international ships passing through the major shipping route causing the price of oil to fluctuate. This morning, the International Energy Agency (IEA) - which has 32 members, including Oz - agreed to its largest-ever release of strategic oil reserves (400 million barrels), to try and release the economic pressures building up due to the ongoing conflict. But Iran says it will keep the pressure up on the global energy market - a military spokesperson said the world should “get ready for oil to be $200 a barrel” - it’s currently around $90.

Remind me why the Strait is so important…

Here’s a handy map… It’s a narrow shipping route to the south of Iran and to the north of Oman and the UAE. Roughly a fifth of the world’s daily oil supplies goes through it - because it connects the major oil producers in the Middle East with the rest of the world via the Arabian Sea. But heading through there now is very dangerous, with ships from Japan, Thailand and the Marshall Islands all reporting attacks over the past 24 hours. If shipping companies decide heading through there is too risky - and they are - that means serious disruption to energy supplies and global economic impacts. That’s why the IEA and its member countries are releasing oil reserves to try and ease the pain - although experts warn that it will take time for them to be released, so that pain will continue for a while yet…

Yeah, petrol’s getting very pricey…

It sure is - the Australia Institute of Petroleum says the average price of petrol rose 17 cents to 198 cents a litre over the first week of the war. And it’s not just filling up where you’ll be feeling the pain, either - food distributors are warning that rising petrol prices could lead to food shortages. According to Independent Food Distributors Australia CEO Richard Forbes, “Without diesel, the country doesn’t operate, because we need diesel to run trucks around Australia, which distribute and offload food” - so as petrol prices go up, so does the price of food, electricity and other basic goods. And that’s not all - the war’s also causing a big spike in general travel - already some airlines are charging a hefty premium for seats on flights avoiding Middle Eastern airspace.

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Squiz the Rest

Nationals jump on board the Canavan

That’s Senator Matt Canavan, who’s taken over the leadership of the federal Nats following David Littleproud stepping down on Tuesday, with Darren Chester elected as his deputy. The 45yo father-of-5 was once the chief of staff to former Nats leader Barnaby Joyce - now a member of One Nation, the party that’s been eating into the Nats’ polling numbers. Reports say he won the leadership ballot by pitching himself as the best candidate - as a populist member from the right flank of the party - to take on One Nation and win back voters to the Nats. His first big test will be a by-election in former Liberal leader Sussan Ley’s electorate of Farrer, where Nats candidate Brad Robertson is in a tough battle - but Canavan says he’ll “fight like hell” to win the seat on 9 May. We’ve got that date circled on our calendars…

A high-profile Royal Commission resignation…

…with the inquiry’s special adviser Dennis Richardson leaving his role last night. Following the Bondi Beach terror attack of 14 December, Richardson - a former ASIO boss - was originally asked by PM Anthony Albanese to run a review into our intelligence and security agencies, and whether there had been failures in preventing the attack from taking place. But following the Albanese Government’s later decision to set up the Royal Commission, his review was folded into it, with an interim report based on his work set for release on 30 April. Richardson hasn’t yet officially said why he’s left his post, but reports this morning (paywall) suggest it’s because he was unable to work effectively under the Commission’s legal structure. We’ll no doubt hear more about that today…

A wet time in the North

The Northern Territory is dealing with its most severe floods in nearly 3 decades, with almost 1,000 people sheltering in evacuation centres and hundreds of properties still without power. Heavy rain returned on Tuesday night, sending the Katherine and Daly Rivers rising again, with the latter expected to break its 1957 flood record this morning. It’s causing water supply troubles… Flash flooding at Darwin River Dam stalled water pumps, forcing a switch to bore water and triggering emergency boil-water alerts for residents. And it’s not just the NT dealing with rising water - residents of Bundaberg in Queensland are also grappling with flooding after the Burnett River burst its banks on Tuesday night, leaving about 2,000 homes without power and nearly 200 people in evacuation centres.

You’re up then you’re down

A local fashion designer selling her clothes under the brand of Katie Perry has won a long-running court battle against pop superstar Katy Perry. This case has been running for nearly 17 years - but the High Court yesterday ruled that the singer had indeed infringed on the designer’s trademark. The saga began when the designer - who now goes by Katie Taylor - noticed the singer selling branded clothes and tour merch in Oz back in 2009. Taylor sued - and after a long, long legal fight - came out on top. Speaking afterwards, she said it was “a victory for every small business owner who has ever been bullied by a global giant”. As for Katy-with-a-y, she’s been busy staking a different claim in Canadian real estate…

Melbourne gets a big gong

Global media brand Time Out released its ranking of the 50 best cities in the world to visit/live yesterday, and what do you know - the Victorian capital is top of the tree. Melbourne beat out Shanghai, Edinburgh, London and New York to win the day, with Time Out referencing its sporting events, dining scene and cultural variety as the big reasons. The results are based on a survey of residents combined with Time Out’s expert opinions (though some have raised doubts about the methodology), and Melbourne scored particularly well with younger voters and foodies. In case you were wondering, 2 other Oz cities made the list - Sydney at #21 and Adelaide at #29. To those that missed out - we’ll get ‘em next time…

Apropos of Nothing - Rave reviews edition

First up, Ryan Gosling’s new movie Project Hail Mary, based on a book by the same author as The Martian, is a critical smash - with Collider calling it the “first great movie of 2026”. It’s a space epic coming out in Oz on 19 March - here’s the trailer to pique your interest…

A new year, a new Nicole Kidman TV series - this time she’s playing a forensic pathologist in Scarpetta, a serial killer thriller based on the Patricia Cornwell books. Variety says it’s “sensational”, and Nic’s got a knack for picking them.... You can stream it on Prime Video now.

And moving away from film and TV, Apple has launched a new, cheaper laptop called the Macbook Neo - and most reviews are pretty happy with it. Starting at $899 in Oz, PC Mag says it “all but resets expectations for what a budget laptop should be”. Apple and budget in the same sentence - it’s a whole new world… 

Squiz the Day

8.00am (AEDT) - Golf: Australian PGA Tour - Heritage Classic (until 15 March), Heritage Golf and Country Club - Melbourne, watch on Fox Sports and Kayo

8.20am (AEDT) - Golf: Australian WPGA Tour - Women's Australian Open (until 15 March), Kooyonga Golf Club - Adelaide, watch on Channel 9 and Kayo

12.00 midday (AEDT) - ACT chief minister Andrew Barr to deliver 'State of the Territory' speech before joining a panel discussion including Treasurer Chris Steel - Canberra 

7.30pm (AEDT) Aussie rules: AFL round one begins with Carlton v Richmond, MCG - Melbourne, watch on 7plus

8:00pm (AEDT) Rugby league: NRL round 2 begins with Brisbane v Parramatta - Brisbane, watch on 9Now

Gail Kelly, the former Westpac CEO and currently a board director at Optus parent company Singtel, is expected to face a parliamentary inquiry into the fatal Optus triple-zero outage of 18 September 2025

ABS data release: Personal fraud, 2024-2025 financial year

UN Security Council Briefing - Military Staff Committee Formal Meeting - New York

SXSW Texas begins (until 18 March)

Reminders of Him, an adaptation of the Colleen Hoover novel, will be released in Australian cinemas

World Kidney Day

A birthday for actor Liza Minnelli (1946)

Anniversary of:

• the Foundation Stone being laid in Canberra (1913)

• Moscow becoming the capital of Soviet Russia (1918)

• the wedding of Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman (1969)

• the deaths of Sun Yat-sen (1925) and Terry Pratchett (2015)