Thursday, 24 July - Darlin', stand by me

July 24, 2025

Good morning, it’s Thursday, 24 July. In your Squiz Today…

  • The federal government takes steps to address the childcare crisis

  • A landmark ruling on climate change

  • And Venus Williams makes a comeback…

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

“Strongly disagree with a clean-shaven me.”

Said Hollywood star Pedro Pascal, who says he still shudders when he thinks about his fuzz-free face in the film Wonder Woman 1984. Pascal’s new film The Fantastic Four: First Steps comes out this weekend, and it’s all OK, folks - he has a moustache in this one…

Reckoning with a childcare crisis

The Squiz

Now that parliament’s back in session, one item high up on the Albanese Government’s to-do list yesterday was introducing new legislation to remove funding from any childcare centre that breaches safety standards. It’s been a priority for Education Minister Jason Clare following the sexual abuse allegations made by police against Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Brown in late May, and it’s one of the first steps being taken by the federal government to address that failure in Australia’s childcare system. 

What’s the thinking behind that?

One of the tricky things about regulating childcare in Australia is that things are a bit piecemeal between state and federal governments. The federal government’s main role is to allocate funding through childcare subsidies, while it’s mostly up to the states to keep an eye on safety. Under this new law, any childcare centre that falls short on safety, even just once, would have its access to those subsidies revoked - and given most rely on it for their business to be profitable, they’d likely have to close. Clare says taking away access to those subsidies is “the biggest weapon that we have got to wield”, but what’s not clear yet is exactly how big a safety breach would lead to that decision. Coalition leader Sussan Ley says she wants to be constructive, but is also wary of the bill being “rammed through parliament”. 

And what's happening in our states?

Some of the other reforms in play include a national database of childcare workers and reviewing the way Working with Children Checks (WWCCs) are managed, which differs from state to state. The database will be up for discussion at a national meeting of education ministers next month, while the country’s attorneys-general will talk about the WWCCs. Those meetings are needed because the federal government doesn’t have the power to change things on its own - it needs the states and territories on board too. And in Victoria, where this is a particularly big issue given Joshua Brown lived and worked there, the government has committed to adopting every recommendation of a review into the state’s childcare system, which is due to be delivered sometime before 15 August. There’s a lot to do…

The skincare ingredient that sounds weird but works wonders

Winter does a number on the skin, and for many of us, regular moisturisers just don't cut it. Enter Bescher Beauty's Sea Cucumber Collagen Glow Toner: it's packed with marine collagen, native botanicals, and hyaluronic acid that work together to deliver results. The proof? It sold out in 6 days after building a 35,000-person waitlist. Now it's back in stock, and if winter skin is the bane of your existence, it might be worth trying something that thousands of people couldn't wait to get their hands on. You can check it out here. 

Squiz the Rest

A trade agreement is struck…

This time, it’s between the US and Japan, with President Donald Trump touting it as “perhaps the largest deal ever made”. A key part is that the US will drop its tariffs on goods imported from Japan to 15% in return for Japan investing more than $838 billion in the US. It’s not clear how the arrangement will work yet, but Japan’s PM Shigeru Ishiba - who’s been dealing with his own political problems at home - is happy… He says the new trade/tariffs agreement “is the lowest figure to date among countries with trade surpluses with the US”. Indonesia and the Philippines have also locked in deals… As for Australia, a report in the Financial Review today says we’ve lifted our ban on US beef imports (paywall) - one of the key reasons America says it imposed a 10% baseline tariff on the majority of our exports - ahead of our own talks…

A landmark ruling…

…by the International Court of Justice - aka the UN world court - overnight could clear the way for countries to take legal action against each other over climate change, including over historic emissions of fossil fuels. It’s the largest case the court has ever considered - and it was instigated by a group of young law students from low-lying Pacific islands, who came up with the idea as part of a uni assignment in 2019. The court has given its advisory opinion, so the ruling is non-binding, but experts say it could have a big impact on international law… It’s been celebrated by the many countries involved in the case, with Vanuatu’s special envoy on climate change Ralph Regenvanu calling the ruling “a very important course correction”.

Our marriages are going steady

The Bureau of Stats put out some new numbers yesterday which showed the marriage rate in Oz was stable, but our divorce rate is dropping. The Bureau measures something called the crude marriage rate, which is not a wedding with foul-mouthed vows, but the number of marriages divided by our population. That hasn’t changed much from the previous year, but the crude divorce rate has changed - 2.1 divorces per 1000 people, down from 2.3. That tracks with this report from April, which looked at the reasons our divorce rates continue to go down year-on-year, such as financial pressures. Finally, if you do have a wedding in the works and you’re keen to avoid a date clash, steer clear of 24 February - the Bureau says that was the most popular pick for Aussies last year. 

The rebirth of Venus

…Williams, that is - sister of Serena and a 7-time grand slam champion, who has returned to the court to claim her first singles tennis victory in almost 2 years. Given Venus is now 45yo, that also makes her the second-oldest woman ever to win an event at the professional tour level. (In case it ever comes up at your local pub quiz, the oldest was Martina Navratilova in 2004, who was 47yo). Williams defeated 23yo and fellow American Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-4 at the DC Open - bringing back memories of her glory days, like her first grand slam victory at the 2000 US Open. She was all smiles after the match, joking with the crowd that she only came back for health insurance reasons. Look, whatever gets you back on the court is fine by us… 

Doing a scentsational job…

Here’s something you might not think about every day: the people behind the scents of household products. But this week, they’re coming out of the (sandle)woodwork to shed some light… A team of professional ‘noses’ - technical title: olfactory artists - based at fragrance/flavours giant Symrise’s labs in Germany, are behind the scents of products that millions of people use around the world. ​​Alicia De Benito Cassado spends her days sniffing from tiny bottles while blindfolded to “create scents that are strong, beautiful, powerful - and affordable” for commercial clients. And if you think you have the nose to follow in her footsteps, be warned - it takes 3 years of training, with top graduates able to ID more than 1,000 scents. It’s not all roses, either - De Benito Cassado reckons “not everything has to smell good … the horror of smell also helps us discover ourselves”. Good to nose…

Apropos of Nothing - Rogue ingredients edition

The latest cooking tip from Brooklyn Beckham, the man who brought us avocado on toast, is using seawater to cook pasta. He’s on a yacht so it’s convenient, but critics reckon it’d be too salty - and others have pointed out the bigger problems of diesel and E coli in the Med, which is not a tasty thought…

You might recall that there’s a high-profile artwork of a banana taped to a wall in France - well, someone’s eaten it again. The Centre-Pompidou Metz museum confirmed this week that another potassium-rich thief is on the lam - and a new banana is on the wall… 

And police are looking for a thief who stole an entire lemon tree from a Brisbane woman’s front yard last week, with CCTV capturing the whole thing. The woman said she was growing the tree’s fruit for the neighbourhood to enjoy with G&Ts - talk about spoiling the party…

Squiz the Day

7.15am (AEST) - The 25th annual Townsville to Cairns Bike Ride gets underway to raise money for children’s cancer research - Townsville, Queensland

9.00am (AEST) - The National Water Safety Summit is on (until 25 July) - Sydney

10.30am (AEST) - Macquarie Bank Annual General Meeting - Sydney

1.05pm (AEST) - Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock will deliver a speech at he Anika Foundation - Sydney

5.30pm (AEST) - The winner of this year’s Miles Franklin Literary Award will be announced. Here’s the shortlist - Sydney

ABS data release - Labour force, Australia, detailed, June 2025; Payroll jobs, March 2025

💅 International Self-Care Day

Birthdays for singer Jennifer Lopez (1969), football manager Tony Gustavsson (1973), actors Rose Byrne (1979) and Elisabeth Moss (1982), and TV personality Bindi Irwin (1998)

Anniversary of:

  • Jacques Cartier becoming the first person to claim territory for France (1534)

  • American explorer Hiram Bingham 'discovering' Machu Picchu (1911)

  • Survivor's Eye Of The Tiger starting its 6-week run at No. 1 on US charts (1982) 

  • Aussie cyclist Cadel Evans winning the 98th Tour de France (2011)