Tuesday, 25 March - A princess shows you how it's done

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, 25 March. In your Squiz Today…

• James Hardie goes all in on the US housing market

• A fish fight is brewing in Tassie

• And a comeback for the ages…

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Squiz the Weather

Before we get into it, thank you…

If you signed our petition to let our federal pollies know that you think they should financially support our free media literacy course for primary-aged kids Newshounds - thank you.

We reckon teaching 7-12yo kids how to spot mis and disinformation when they come across it online is important work. In the meetings we’ve had with Albanese Government ministers, their Coalition counterparts and many on the crossbench - they agree, but so far, there’s been no action.

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Thank you - you’re amazing…

Squiz Sayings

Said Peter Jordan after he was filmed removing a sign for Liberal candidate Amelia Hamer in the electorate of Kooyong. Jordan is married to Hamer’s opponent, the current Independent MP Monique Ryan - they’ve both since apologised for the poster pilfering incident…

A hard sell for James Hardie

The Squiz

The cladding company’s stock price took a dive yesterday after it announced a big move into the US market by acquiring Chicago-based company AZEK, which makes sustainable outdoor decking and railings. The proposed deal between the 2 companies is worth $14 billion, and Hardie’s CEO Aaron Erter said it would “supercharge” its growth. But investors didn’t seem very convinced - the company’s ASX share price fell by 15% after it made the deal public, one of the largest stock price falls of the day.  

Remind me about James Hardie… 

It was founded in Australia in 1888 and is a major global producer of building products like cladding - it specialises in fibre cement, which is commonly used in homes across the world. But if the name is ringing another bell somewhere, it might be because it was the subject of a series of scandals over its use of asbestos in its building products, which led to controversy over its compensation for victims of asbestos-related diseases, a judicial inquiry and a 2-part TV miniseries called Devil’s Dust, which followed the life of victim and campaigner Bernie Banton. James Hardie hasn’t used asbestos in its fibre for decades, and over the past few years its stock price has mostly trended upwards. Until yesterday… 

Why were investors so flat?

There are a couple of reasons for that if you ask market analysts… One is the amount that James Hardie coughed up for AZEK, which is 40 times the company's net profit - investors seemed to think that was too high a price. Another is that it represents a big bet on the US housing market at a time when President Donald Trump's tariff policies have got plenty of investors feeling skittish. But Erter isn’t worried - he says the company has consistently been able to “outperform the markets no matter what” and that tariffs shouldn’t affect the deal too much. The drop in the James Hardie stock price was the big story on a day where investors mostly kept their powder dry ahead of Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivering his budget today… The Aussie stock market ended the day slightly up on last Friday. 

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Squiz the Rest

Jailing the opposition

The man touted as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main rival has been formally charged with corruption days after being detained. Ekram Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, was due to be named on Saturday as the Republican People’s Party candidate for the country’s next election. It went ahead without him, along with mass protests in which more than 1,100 people were arrested… Imamoglu will now be held in custody until his trial is scheduled. Turkish prosecutors have accused him of “establishing and managing a criminal organisation”, among other corruption offences. He’s denied all that, but if he's convicted of any of the charges, he'll be ruled out of the election race. It's not due to be held until 2028, but word is, it could be called early this year.

Kicking up a stink in Tassie

The Albanese Government has waded in as a fight brews between producers, residents and environmental groups over Tasmania's billion-dollar salmon industry. The industry has boosted the state’s economy over the past 3 decades, but it’s also caused some environmental issues - particularly for the endangered Maugean skate, a type of ancient ray only found off Tassie's west coast. Environment advocates (and pro-environment Labor MPs…) are pushing for better protections, but others, including PM Anthony Albanese, want to see the salmon industry future-proofed - which has caused him headaches within his own ranks. Yesterday, MPs voted to move ahead with changes to national environment laws to protect the industry - they’ll go before parliament this week. Buckle up - Tassie will be one to watch at election time…

*If you want to know more about the fight over salmon farming and its link to the federal election, we’ll have a Squiz Shortcut on the topic out later today…

A land of extremes

We might be well into Autumn, but parts of the country are sweltering through distinctly summer-like weather. Perth and coastal communities from Exmouth, in Western Oz's north, down to Esperance, in the south, have already been feeling the heat - and will continue to sweat this week… Temperatures are tipped to be above 35C until Friday, cooling to the low 30s over the weekend. It's an unseasonal heatwave for the state, with Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) forecaster Jessica Lingard saying "the last time we saw a run of extreme heat like this was … 40 years ago". It's a different story further east - parts of the Northern Territory, northern South Oz and inland Queensland are in for “almost a year’s worth of rainfall”. The storms will then pass over Queensland’s coast, between Innisfail and Townsville. Time to grab the wellies…

Never give up slope

File this one under remarkable sporting comebacks… at 40yo, US skier Lindsay Vonn has become the oldest female skiing medallist in World Cup history - by 6 years. Vonn is a 3-time Olympic medallist, including one gold in Vancouver in 2010 - but retired in 2019 due to knee problems from a sport that’s pretty tough on the ol’ joints at the best of times. But 6 years and 1 titanium knee replacement later, Vonn is back on the slopes and has taken silver in the super-g - aka the super giant slalom - World Cup event, which was won by the Swiss star Lara Gut-Behrami. Vonn’s next goal is to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. She likes her chances, because as she said after the race, age is just a number… 

There’s no business like Snow business

Sticking with the snow theme… The live-action remake of animated classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which is just called Snow White, has topped the weekend box office with a total of $140 million globally. And that sounds good, but to put it in a bit of context, box office experts reckon that's slightly below what Disney would have expected/hoped for - especially with the film's reported budget of around $400 million. The movie has been a lightning rod for drama since it was announced, with controversies over the depiction of the dwarf characters and stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot taking opposing positions over the war in Gaza. Add in some middling-to-bad reviews, and it looks like the studio execs will be more Grumpy than Happy…

Apropos of Nothing

When your mind turns to boom industries, typewriters might not top the list - but there's a typewriter shop in the US state of Rhode Island doing such a thriving trade it's had to bring on more staff. Those keeping the typewriter in vogue say they’re cheaper, more tactile and free of those pesky notifications… 

A country footy team in WA’s wheatbelt region has travelled over 3,000 kilometres to pay tribute to a late teammate. Jack Satchell played for both the very-far-apart Kalannie Bulldogs and Bannockburn Tigers, and his clubmates had no qualms about travelling across the country to play a friendly to honour him. 

And in the latest example of the Streisand effect in action, US President Donald Trump has called for a portrait of himself to be removed from the Colorado State Capitol, saying it's "purposefully distorted". He took to Truth Social to complain - and now it's fair to say that many more people have seen it and are weighing in…

Squiz the Day

9.00am (AWST) - WA Clean Energy Summit - Perth

9.00am (AEDT) - Directions hearing for Patrick Orren Stephenson who’s charged with murdering Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy - Melbourne

9.15am (AEST) - The Queensland Government will unveil the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games delivery plan - Brisbane

10.00am (AEDT) - Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes entries received for 2025 - Sydney

10.15am (AEDT) - Appeal hearing for 5 women suing Qatar Airways Group after being strip-searched - Sydney 

7.30pm (AEDT) - Treasurer Jim Chalmers will hand down the Federal Budget in Canberra. Here’s what to expect; you can watch it on ABC iview

10.00pm (AEDT) - Soccer: Socceroos v China in a World Cup qualifier - Hangzhou, China, and watch on 10 Play

Both houses of parliament sitting (until 27 March)

Australian International Airshow (until 30 March) - Avalon, Victoria

Independence Day - Greece

Freedom Day - Belarus

International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members 

Birthdays for journalist Gloria Steinem (1934), singer Elton John (1947), and actor Sarah Jessica Parker (1965)

Anniversary of:

• the first Easter, according to calendar maker Dionysius Exiguus (31)

• the abolishment of the slave trade throughout the British Empire (1807)

• the debut of The Bachelor in the US (2002)

• Labor winning the NSW State election, putting an end to 12 years of the Coalition being in government (2023)