Thursday, 4 December - Baby do you like this beat

December 04, 2025

Good morning, it’s Thursday, 4 December. In your Squiz Today…

  • The Oz economy has grown at its fastest pace in 2 years

  • Tassie’s new stadium gets the green light

  • And it’s time to show off your excellent taste in music/podcasts… 🎧

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

"SWEET CAROLINE. BAH BAH BAH!”

Sang Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson at an Aussie pub in New York City yesterday, as part of the promotion for their upcoming film Song Sung Blue, about the Neil Diamond tribute band Lightning & Thunder. We’ve heard worse versions of Sweet Caroline, that’s for sure…

Steady as she goes…

The Squiz

New GDP data from the Bureau of Stats yesterday showed that our economy grew 0.4% in the September quarter, which is down on the 0.6% growth we saw in the June quarter, and also lower than many economists were predicting. Despite that, Betashares’ Chief Economist David Bassanese is one who reckons the numbers point to our economy slowly recovering. He says “look beneath the surface, and the story is considerably stronger than the headline [figure] implies”.

We’d better look beneath the surface, then…

Good plan. So the September quarter’s result brings our annual rate of growth in the 12 months to September to 2.1% - the strongest rate since Q3 2023 - driven by strong private investment and consumer demand. On that, Bassanese says the soft economic growth number seems to come from a supply/demand issue, with low supply forcing businesses to “meet customer needs by dipping into stock”. Another thing to note is that net trade fell by 0.1%, with the growth of imports outpacing exports, and there have also been questions about government spending, with public investment up 3% over the last year, thanks to spending on renewable energy and water projects. AMP Chief Economist Shane Oliver says that’s likely contributing to “higher than otherwise inflation”

Ah, inflation…

It’s been rising - just last week we learned the annual rate rose from 3.6% to 3.8% in the 12 months to October. That’s the highest it’s been since June 2024, and pretty well killed off any predictions of another interest rate cut this year. Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock all but confirmed that yesterday at a Senate estimates hearing, where she admitted inflation still isn’t sustainably back within the target range of 2-3%. But she also said that she thinks some of our underlying inflation is due to temporary factors, and believes it’ll start to slow again in the coming quarters. We’ll find out if the rest of the RBA board agrees with her at its meeting next week, on 8-9 December. For what it’s worth, all 4 major banks are tipping rates will be held steady for several months, so we'll have to see if they're on the money…

Distraction with benefits

Need school holiday content that sneaks in some learning? The Squiz Kids Planet Warriors podcast follows renewable energy superheroes across 6 episodes, sparking curiosity about science, tech and future careers along the way. Find it on the Squiz Kids website or search 'Squiz Kids Planet Warriors' wherever you get your podcasts.

Squiz the Rest

Malaysia picks up the search…

…for flight MH370, which went missing in 2014 with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board. By way of reminder, the plane was heading to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur when it went missing, and what happened to it has baffled aviation experts ever since. The latest search for the plane’s wreckage - mostly around the region of the southern Indian Ocean - was called off in April this year, and the Malaysian government says it’s resuming that search with exploration firm Ocean Infinity to try and find it. If the firm finds MH370, it will be paid $106 million - if it doesn’t, it won’t be paid at all. Ocean Infinity has been trying to find MH370 for a while - including off the coast of Perth - and it will begin its new search on 30 December this year over a 55-day period. Best of luck… 

Lehrmann’s loss in court

Former political staffer Bruce Lehrmann lost his defamation case appeal yesterday. He was trying to appeal Federal Court Justice Michael Lee’s ruling that ”on the balance of probabilities”, he had raped Brittany Higgins in 2019. That finding came after Lehrmann's failed defamation action against Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson over an interview with Higgins in 2021. Lehrmann has maintained his innocence and wanted Justice Lee's judgment overturned on several grounds - including that he was denied procedural fairness. But yesterday, it was dismissed - leaving Lehrmann to pay more legal costs incurred by Network 10 and Wilkinson, and adding to an already-hefty bill. In a social media post, Higgins expressed her relief, saying “finally, it feels like I can breathe again”.
*Need help?

The Tassie Stadium gets the green light

Well, mostly… It’s expected to officially pass the Tasmanian parliament today after enough upper house MPs indicated they'd vote for it during a debate yesterday. The stadium, which is estimated to cost $1.13 billion and is a condition of the state getting its own AFL team, needed 8 votes from the 15 upper house MPs to go ahead. After 3 independent MPs - Bec Thomas, Casey Hiscutt and Tania Rattray - said they were voting yes, that was enough to lock it in. So it's a sigh of relief from the people already working for the Tasmanian Devils AFL/AFLW teams, a defiant statement from the stadium’s opponents who say they’ll keep protesting against the project, and another excuse for us to link to a picture of the Devils mascot, Rum’un… 

The old enemies head to Brisbane

West Aussie Josh Inglis will be a new-ish face in the Aussie men’s cricket side today, when the second Test begins at the Gabba at 2pm Brisbane time. Inglis has played 3 Tests for Oz but never on Aussie soil, and he’ll take Travis Head’s spot in the middle order as Head moves up to opener to take over for the injured Usman Khawaja. England have made one change - all-rounder Will Jacks is in for fast bowler Mark Wood - and fans and officials will be hoping that this Second Test goes a bit longer than the 2-day sprint in Perth. But it’s a day-night game with the pink ball, and they do have a reputation for being quite speedy affairs… Adding to the English woes, there are whispers Aussie captain Pat Cummins might make a surprise return to the side today. We’ll find out this arvo… 

An APT. choice for song of the year

It's that time of the year when the music streaming services put out their annual retrospectives, so get ready for your friends to reveal their varied musical tastes and ages… First cab off the rank is Apple Music, which says the Rosé and Bruno Mars hit APT. is the most-listened to track of 2025… The catchy earworm was the NZ-born, Australian-raised singer’s first single from her debut studio album, and it topped the charts in over 50 countries… And Spotify's version, Wrapped, dropped overnight, giving users a recap of their favourite music/podcasts for the year. Bad Bunny was the platform's top global artist with 19.8 billion streams, followed by Taylor Swift and the Weeknd. As for Team Squiz, our musical ages ranged from 21 to 42 - but it did get it right with our most streamed podcast - The Squiz Today…

Apropos of Nothing - Animal antics edition

A drunk raccoon (no, really, stay with us…) has hassled a convenience store in Virginia, breaking some bourbon bottles and passing out on a toilet floor before being taken away by police. We hope this picture of him doesn’t bring back any memories for you… 

We’ve got plenty of troublemakers on home soil, too - like this pelican in the town of Kalbarri, Western Oz, which has been dubbed 'Naughty Boy' because he causes havoc by playing dead and grunting at his feeders. He's so naughty, he's started to attract tourists…

And yep, we found 3 of these stories - a parrot who went missing in Queensland has rejoined her family 6 days later after she rocked up at a party and started playing with empty beer cans. Ivy the parrot did, however, manage to avoid the indignity of passing out in the toilet…

Squiz the Day

6.00am (AEDT) - Salvador Plasencia, a doctor who supplied actor Matthew Perry with the drug ketamine weeks before he died, is due to be sentenced on 4 four counts of distribution. He’s one of 5 people convicted in connection with the Friends star’s death - Los Angeles

6.45am (AEDT) - Golf: Rory McIlroy returns to Australia for the first time since 2015 for the Australian Open at the Royal Melbourne Golf Course, which runs until Sunday - Melbourne, watch on 9Now

9.00am (AEDT) - The Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Sydney Dialogue begins for a 2-day policy summit featuring panels on critical, emerging and cyber technologies - Sydney

9.00am (AEDT) - The final hearing for the 2025-26 supplementary budget estimates will be held at Parliament House - Canberra 

10.00am (AEDT) - The debate over the proposed Macquarie Point Stadium is expected to continue in Tasmania’s upper house 

10.00am (AEDT) - Journalist Barrie Cassidy will announce the 2025 Political Cartoonist of the Year at The Museum of Australian Democracy - Canberra

10.00am (AEDT) - Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore will launch the 2025 Sydney New Year’s Eve Party - Sydney

10.00am (AEDT) - A sentencing hearing will take place for former Neighbours star Damien Patrick Richardson, who was found guilty of having performed a Nazi salute in September 2024 - Melbourne 

2.00pm (AEST) - Cricket: The second Test of The Ashes kicks off at the Gabba and is set to run until Monday (but who knows 🤷‍♀️) - Brisbane, watch on 7+

8.00pm (AEDT) - Oprah Winfrey begins her first Australian tour in 10 years, starting in Sydney

ABS data releases: International Trade in Goods, October 2025; Monthly Household Spending Indicator, October 2025; Modellers' Database, September Quarter 2025; Assets and Liabilities of Australian Securitisers, September 2025

Meta’s platforms Instagram and Facebook have begun blocking the accounts of Aussie kids ahead of the social media ban for kids under 16

Eternity, the new film starring Elizabeth Olsen, Callum Turner and Miles Teller, is released in cinemas

Birthdays for actor Jeff Bridges (1949), rapper Jay-Z (1969) and model Tyra Banks (1973)

Anniversary of:

  • American civil rights leader and member of the Black Panthers, Fred Hampton, being shot and killed during a police raid in Chicago (1969) 

  • Elizabeth Taylor’s 7th marriage, this time to politician John Warner (1976)

  • the disbandment of Led Zeppelin, 2 months after the death of drummer John Bonham (1980)

  • the launch of the unmanned space vehicle Mars Pathfinder from Cape Canaveral (1996)