Tuesday, 14 January - The boy is mine

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, 14 January. In your Squiz Today…

• More cash to improve NBN connections

• Winds pick up again in Los Angeles

• And spilling the tea on getting a good cuppa 🫖

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said one in 5 Gen Z/millennial Brits when asked about the current state of politics. That sound you can hear is their newish PM Sir Keir Starmer searching for tips on how to best engage with young people…

Downloading more cash on the NBN

The Squiz

PM Anthony Albanese has announced another big ticket election promise, pledging $3 billion for the National Broadband Network (NBN) to “finish” building the service and boost internet speeds. With the average household consuming about 10 times more data than when the NBN was built, Albanese says the funding would see 11 million homes and businesses have access to faster internet. Reports say this upgrade would deliver speeds of 100mb a second, which is an improvement on the 76.64mb average Aussies have now.

Umm the NBN isn’t finished?

It’s been a long journey since the NBN was announced nearly 16 years ago by the Rudd Labor Government with a price tag of $43 billion. The plan changed from hooking up every house/business via fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) connections to a fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) approach where old copper wires took it from a street hub to your place. That still saw delays and cost blowouts to $58 billion… Labor is scathing of the Coalition’s record on the NBN, but the Morrison Government did put in $4.5 billion to improve connections. And, of course, the NBN's not the only internet game in town with satellite options and 5G technology making inroads. But with 8.62 million NBN connections in place, its usability is important for heaps of Aussies.

So what’s this money for?

The upgrades are to ditch the copper wires, mainly… Team Albanese says the new cash will get 622,000 new connections sorted out by 2030, with half of those in regional areas. One thing to clock… When Rudd originally announced the project in 2009, the plan was to sell the NBN to private owners once it was done. But last year, Team Albanese changed tack and introduced legislation to keep it in public hands - the Coalition didn’t support that legislation but Peter Dutton has promised he won’t sell the NBN if he wins the election. The Coalition’s Communications spokesman David Coleman says they “won’t be standing in the way” of this new investment but would take advice on the best way of implementing it.

Get out the popcorn…

If you watched and enjoyed The Flatshare, the series adapted from author Beth O’Leary’s novel, here’s a heads up: another one of her bestsellers is getting the TV treatment… The Road Trip sees exes Addie and Dylan - along with her sister, his best friend, and a stranger named Rodney - forced to travel together through Spain. Think beautiful scenery, hilarious awkwardness and a campervan full of romantic tension. Watch the trailer now here. All episodes now streaming only on Paramount+.

Squiz the Rest

More tense times blow into Los Angeles

Strong winds are returning to Los Angeles, fanning fires that continue to threaten homes and businesses. This morning, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said they are “absolutely better prepared”, but they are asking residents in areas with a lot of vegetation to evacuate. “We’re very well prepared for the next event, but we’re never sure that we’re going to catch the next fire and keep it small,” Marrone said. At last count, 24 people are confirmed dead, dozens are missing, and 92,000 people are under evacuation orders. Winds are expected to increase throughout the coming day, and parts of Ventura and Los Angeles counties could record gusts of more than 80km/h.

Bannon v Musk

Remember at school it was sometimes hard to process when your BFF got a new BFF? We raise that for no reason before telling you that Donald Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon plans to end the US President-elect’s growing relationship with billionaire Elon Musk. Bannon is a whole thing in the MAGA movement, but he lasted just 7 months in the White House before Trump 1.0 gave him the old “you’re fired”... In an interview on the weekend, Bannon called Musk “a truly evil guy” and questioned his support for visas for skilled workers. He’s promised to get Musk out of Trump’s inner circle by Inauguration Day next week, so the clock’s ticking… Musk - who voted for Democrats Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden in previous presidential elections - has not responded.

An ill-fitting result for Myer 

After the Aussie retailer announced its sales dipped by 0.8% in the second half of 2024, its share price followed suit, dropping by 23% over the day. The department store retailer said the shaky shopper sentiment in tough cost-of-living conditions saw sales fall “in line” with its expectations. In October last year, Myer announced it would acquire brands like Jay Jays, Dotti and Jacquie E from billionaire Solomon Lew's Premier Investments, which announced similarly flat sales. And like Myer, Premier's share price dropped 15.56% yesterday... A shareholder vote on the proposed transaction is set for 23 January. More broadly, the Aussie market had a tough day - the ASX200 (which tracks the performance of Australia's top 200 listed companies) finished by 1.27%.

A short-lived return of the King

Nick Kyrgios returned to his beloved John Cain Arena last night, but couldn’t get past Brit Jacob Fearnley in the opening round of the Aussie Open, losing in straight sets. Kyrgios struggled with an abdominal injury the whole time, and in his post-match conference, he told reporters he “can’t see myself playing singles again here”. Fingers crossed he has better luck in the doubles - he and Special K’er Thanasi Kokkinakis are set to take the court this morning. There are still plenty of Aussies in the singles to follow, though - we had 9 players win on Day 2. One of those to clock is Destanee Aiava - a 24yo Melburnian who has hustled to get to the Open. Another notable match is Alex De Minaur's first of the tournament - he’s up tonight.

Improving our exper-tea-se

The Australian Tea Association says we need to turn over a new leaf when it comes to the way we serve the beverage in Oz and that our hospitality industry is letting the team down. Chairperson Sharyn Johnston wants to end the practice of cafes giving coffee drinkers a lovingly crafted concoction from an expert barista and then plopping a tea bag and hot water in front of a tea drinker and calling it a day. She says the bag costs 10 cents, but devo-teas are slugged $4.50 for the privilege. Johnston says more people need to know the secret to a consummate cuppa, tips like always using a teapot, including 2g of tea every 150ml of water, and pre-heating the pot. With more education, hopefully, Aussie cafes can get the process down to a - well, you know…

Apropos of Nothing

Dozens of people have ridden London’s Tube sans pants as part of an annual No Trousers Tube Ride, a tradition started in New York in 2022. Creator Charlie Todd says the whole point is to create moments of “joy, delight and confusion.” Put us down for the last of those…

A pizza place in the UK is charging $199 for Hawaiian pizza to dissuade customers from buying it. The brainwave/publicity stunt comes from Lupa Pizza, who are so offended at the notion of a pineapple-laden slice that they’d prefer to price customers out altogether…

Speaking of divisive snacks, the Kiwi favourite of a Marmite and potato chip sandwich landed in the top 20 of a list of the worst-rated meals in the world. At #17, the combo didn’t come close to out-grossing the #1 pick - Finnish blood-and-rye dumplings called Blodpalt…

Squiz the Day

10.05am (AEDT) - Women's Ashes: Australia v England in the second One-Day match of the series - Melbourne/broadcast live on Kayo

12.00pm (AEDT) - Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth will launch of first National Autism Strategy and the First Action Plan 

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial is set to begin, but he isn’t attending due to safety concerns - Seoul

It’s the first anniversary of the coronation of King Frederik and Queen Mary of Denmark

World Logic Day

Anniversary of:

• the first successful caesarean section operation (1794)

• the establishment of the Reserve Bank of Australia (1960)

• the birthday of Joy McKean, the grand lady of Australian country music (1930)

• the deaths of Lewis Carroll (1898), Dorothea Mackellar (1968) and Alan Rickman (2016)