Tuesday, 13 October - My happiness is slowly creeping back

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, 13 October. In your Squiz Today…

• The row over credit card surcharges continues

• Calls to block the upcoming US execution livestream in Oz

• And Aussie rock band Powderfinger’s going back on tour… 🎸

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🙋🏻‍♀️ This newsletter was written by Andrew Williams, Anna Pykett, Larissa Huntington and Sophie Felice

Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said singer/chat show host Kelly Clarkson on X about the Brooklyn homewares store that apparently treated her as if she couldn’t afford their items. The 2 are now in a social media back-and-forth, and the internet is having a field day. Big mistake. Huge…

A surchargy-bargy

The Squiz

Federal parliament was back in session yesterday, and one of the big topics on the agenda was card surcharges. They’re those extra charges you sometimes copped when you used your card to pay, to cover the fees charged by the banks and card providers for processing the payment. Back on 1 October, the Reserve Bank of Australia banned surcharges - meaning some businesses had to wear the fees themselves. Then came the news that the Australian Taxation Office (which also can’t pass the fees on anymore) was set to stop accepting credit cards, which many businesses use to pay their tax bills and manage cash flow. Cue an uproar in the small biz community, and a rush to figure out some sort of fix…

Take me back to the start…

The original idea behind the ban was that it would help with cost of living - with PM Anthony Albanese claiming that it was a win for customers. But despite the RBA also cutting interchange fees (aka when one bank charges another to process a card payment), many small businesses say they’ve had to raise their prices (and some are offering discounts for cash payments…). Tax bills are set by law, though, so the ATO didn’t have that option - it said accepting credit card payments would cost taxpayers around $200 million a year, so it was planning to scrap them all together. That led to accusations of double standards from the business sector, Coalition and crossbenchers, and on Friday, Treasurer Jim Chalmers gave the ATO extra funding so it can keep card payments going until July next year - buying a bit of time to iron the whole thing out…

Did that fix it?

Not so much… The government woke up yesterday to billboards and TV ads funded by 2 small business owners telling them to “Stop putting a surcharge on running a small business”. And in a bit of a change of tune, Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain turned the focus back on the RBA, arguing that it should’ve banned the banks from charging fees to businesses (as opposed to banning the businesses from passing them on). The Greens are on board with that idea, while Coalition leader Angus Taylor wants the ATO’s credit card ban scrapped altogether. Also on the minds of business owners this week: the government is set to introduce legislation for a 30% minimum tax on discretionary trusts, which could have big implications for family businesses that use them to share income and reduce tax. Strap in…

Squiz the Rest

Calls to pull the plug on an execution livestream

Several Aussie politicians want to block access to the livestream of the upcoming US execution by military firing squad of former Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan to the public. He was convicted of killing 13 people and injuring dozens more at Fort Hood military base in Texas in 2009. He’s set to be the first US prisoner since 1945 to be executed in that way, and that’s drawn criticism from the UN and divided Republicans in the US. Here in Oz, PM Albanese says online platforms have a “responsibility” to block the livestream from Australians, and the Greens and One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce agree, saying it’d expose people to harmful content, but the Coalition’s Tim Wilson says while it’s “enormously problematic”, blocking online access amounts to censorship.

The Royal Commission’s not done…

After public hearings wound up in August, the inquiry into antisemitism and social cohesion has announced it’ll hold an additional closed session later this month to take a closer look at the circumstances surrounding the Bondi terror attack last December. It’s going to take extra evidence relating to the terrorism threat level and the security environment in the lead up to the attack, as well as looking at the conduct of security, intelligence agencies and police, including what was known about the alleged shooters and the protocols around sharing information. Due to the highly-sensitive nature of the evidence and to avoid prejudicing the court process, the hearing won’t be open to the public, and the exact date or location also hasn’t been released.

Telstra’s Triple Zero Test

Telstra is holding its Annual General Meeting today in Sydney, where CEO Vicki Brady and the board will likely face questions from shareholders about how and why customers couldn’t reach Triple Zero (000) in July. The outage crippled train services and left hundreds of people unable to connect to emergency services, and after a separate Optus outage last year - which was linked to at least 2 deaths - a Senate inquiry recommended that control of 000 should be taken out of the major telcos’ hands and run by a new government authority. Questions about Telstra’s technical expertise emerged from July’s outage, and shareholders will decide whether the docking of Brady's bonus by more than $600,000 was punishment enough.

Some amoosing research

Researchers in the NT and Queensland are tracking the behaviour of mother cows and calves on 2 cattle stations - by fitting the cows out with Fitbit-like devices. The ‘Mooternal’ project (we wish we’d come up with that one…) tracks the cows’ movements, grazing, interactions and responses to calf loss, to better understand and hopefully increase survival rates among calves. That’s important for farmers because when a calf dies (and therefore can’t be sold) its mother is still costing money, but not creating any income. But this research turned up one instance where 2 separate cows were both mothering the same calf, so they aren’t necessarily just invested in their biological calf’s survival. The trials will continue for another 3 years, so plenty of time for udder findings…

It seems an age since I’ve seen you

Millennials rejoice and move over Oasis, because Powderfinger is getting back together for a reunion tour after splitting up in 2010. For people not in one of the many group chats that have been popping off around the country over the last few weeks, they’re the award-winning group behind bangers like My Happiness and These Days. The Oz rock band confirmed their plans in a video last week, and yesterday it dropped more info, saying it finally feels like the right time to reunite. The 18-date tour starts in September next year in Brissy, where they’re from, before heading to Cairns, Perth, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne, and all the support acts will be homegrown Aussie talent. Tickets are going on sale in stages from tomorrow - you can sign up here.

Apropos of Nothing

Flamingos at a zoo in Florida were sheltered in the bathroom during Hurricane Isaias. It’s usually used by visitors, but keepers decided it would be the best place to keep them so they could cuddle up together to keep calm. They’re just like us, really… 

The NSW town of Narromine was turned pink over the weekend by a sea of Dolly Parton fans paying tribute to the late great country artist. ‘Dollymine’ is Australia’s largest (and only) Dolly festival, running in its fifth year. 

And 8 endangered orangutans who were rescued from the Indonesian wildfires have been released back into the wild in Borneo. Conservation teams in Indonesia saved 46 members of the 104,000 that remain in the wild. We’re rooting for them…

Squiz the Day

7.30am (AEDT) - 2026 National Innovation Policy Forum. Speakers include Science Minister Tim Ayres and Australian of the Year Katherine Bennell-Pegg - Canberra 

9.00am (AEDT) - Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Business Leaders Summit with speakers to include Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Coalition Leader Angus Taylor. PM Anthony Albanese will be the guest of honour at the Gala Dinner - Canberra 

9.30am (AEDT) - Brief status and witness NPO mention for Ben Roberts-Smith's war crime - murder case. Roberts-Smith is excused from attending - Sydney 

9.30am (AEDT) - Telstra AGM - Sydney 

10.00am (AEDT) - Cricket: Men's One Day Cup New South Wales v Tasmania - Sydney, watch on Kayo 

10.00am (AEDT) - Pre-trial for Patrick Orren Stephenson, charged with the murder of Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy - Melbourne

11.30am (AEDT) - The RBA will release the minutes of its rate-setting meeting in September 

9.00am (AWST) - Former West Coast Eagles AFL player Laurence Allen Bellotti returns to court over charges of aggravated stalking - Mandurah 

2.00pm (AWST) - Cricket: Men's One Day Cup Western Australia v Queensland - Perth, watch on Kayo 

5.00pm (AEDT) - Multi-party New Zealand election debate 

7.30pm (AEDT) - Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivers Bernie Fraser Oration - Canberra 

8.00pm (AEDT) - Trial for actor and comedian Russell Brand on rape and sexual assault charges - London 

The IMF is due to release the World Economic Outlook and Global Financial Stability Report 

Former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is set to release his memoir, A Grateful Son

Identifai Genetics, which says it can determine the health of unborn babies using AI, to list on the ASX

Zara Larsson's Midnight Sun tour kicks off in Australia - Brisbane 

ABS data release: overseas arrivals and departures, August 2026

School returns in NSW and ACT for term 4

HSC written exams begin for Year 12s in NSW 

Ada Lovelace Day, aimed at increasing the profile of women in STEM

Treat Yo' Self Day (from the TV series Parks and Recreation) 

Birthdays for actor and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen (1971), retired Aussie swimmer Ian Thorpe (1982), and US politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (1989)

Anniversary of:

• Greenwich in London voted as the universal time meridian of longitude (1884)

• the 'miracle in the Andes' plane crash that inspired the film Alive (1972)

• US champ Simone Biles becoming the most decorated gymnast in history when she won her record 25th medal at the World Championships (2019)

• the birthdays of Margaret Thatcher (1925) and Jamal Khashoggi (1958)

Wednesday
3.00am (AEDT) - Sentencing for Duane 'Keffe D' Davis, found guilty in the murder of rapper Tupac Shakur - Las Vegas

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