Tuesday, 27 May - Shocked by the power

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, 27 May. In your Squiz Today…

• Power prices around the country are set to surge

• An Aussie arrested in Bali is facing a possible death sentence

• And Phoenix the cat’s ocean odyssey… 🌊

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said champion cheese-chaser Tom Kopke after winning Gloucestershire’s famous downhill cheese race. It’s the 23yo German YouTuber’s second taste of victory in the event - you could say he’s on a roll…

Mighty morphin’ power prices

The Squiz

You might want to keep a close eye on your power bills over the coming months, as the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) said yesterday that it’s pushing up its limit on what retailers can charge customers. It’s particularly bad news if you’re in NSW, as prices there could go up by nearly 10% - an average annual jump of up to $228 - and by up to 3-4% in South Oz and South East Queensland. 

What’s behind the rise?

The AER says the cost of transmission - aka maintaining the poles and wires - is one of the major causes. As Australia continues to push for a goal of 82% renewable energy by 2030, there’s a lot of activity happening to help with transmission. As it happens, the Australian Energy Market Operator (or AEMO, a different body to the AER, just in case the world of energy was too simple for you…) said late last week that the price of those projects is on the rise, and that would likely lead to higher power bills. One reason for the expense is community resistance to new transmission towers - and delays to work it out are expensive. Note: the new prices come in on 1 July - and if you’ve hit ‘set and forget’ on your power bills, here’s a list of sites that might help bring your electricity price down…

Is there a lot of resistance to new infrastructure? 

We saw it just yesterday… The Queensland Government kiboshed a wind farm at Moonlight Range near Rockhampton after 88% of the locals who gave feedback said they didn’t want it. Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said it needed community support to get the green light, but Labor leader Steven Miles said the government’s “hatred of renewables” was behind the decision, which he argued would only push power prices up more. And while we’re on all things energy, new federal Environment Minister Murray Watt has a big decision on his hands… Woodside, the company that operates the North West Shelf gas project off the coast of Western Oz, wants a 40-year extension on its environmental approval, which runs out in 2030. Watt says he’ll make a call on that this week, so stay tuned…

Baby, that's a cracking idea...

Welcome to Purebaby Pre-Loved - a marketplace where you can buy and sell gently used Purebaby clothes with ease. It's where you can score great deals on quality pieces or make some money back on outgrown items. Parents have plenty to get on with, and this takes the hard work out of considered shopping that's kind to both your wallet and the planet. Head to their online store and shop up a sustainable storm.

Squiz the Rest

An Aussie faces the death penalty

The 43yo man has been named as Lamar Aaron Ahchee, and he was arrested in the Balinese village of Canggu last Thursday. He's yet to be charged, but he's accused of smuggling about 1.8kg of cocaine into Bali, hidden in Lindt Lindor chocolates, with a street value of around $1.1 million… Police Chief Inspector General Daniel Adityajaya says 2 parcels containing the cocaine arrived in Denpasar from the UK on 20 May. Police followed their delivery to an apartment, where they arrested Ahchee. Reports say he denies knowing who the drugs belong to - but Bali is known for its tough stance on drugs, and potential charges could carry the death penalty. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says it’s providing consular help, but won’t comment further for privacy reasons.

And there’s breaking news this morning from Liverpool in the UK, where a 53yo man has been arrested after allegedly driving a car into a victory parade crowd celebrating Liverpool Football Club’s win in the Premier League. It’s not yet known how many people are injured. Police and paramedics are at the scene. 

A machete ban is incoming

A statewide ban on the sale of machetes in Victoria will come into place tomorrow, following a violent fight between members of “rival gangs” at Melbourne’s Northland Shopping Centre on Sunday. As we mentioned yesterday, the brawl broke out between 10 people in the food court around 2.30pm, with police and witnesses saying machetes were involved. A 20yo man was taken to hospital with serious head injuries (but is now in a stable condition), and a 16yo and a 15yo were arrested and charged. Yesterday, a further 2 men aged 20yo and 18yo were arrested, and police are looking for 4 others. Three machetes were seized at the scene - Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen says the weapons “have no place on our streets” and she “will introduce as many laws” as needed to crack down on them.

Healthscope is looking anything but healthy… 

One of our major national private health operators - which is behind 37 hospitals across Oz - has collapsed, with restructuring firm McGrathNicol overseeing its sale. To give you an idea of its size, Healthscope's hospitals/clinics treat about 650,000 Aussies each year and employ about 19,000 people… The company has been under financial strain, with its lenders withdrawing support after it accrued $1.6 billion in debt and began defaulting on payments. The Commonwealth Bank has offered a $100 million loan to keep its hospitals operating as the sale goes through. Healthscope boss Tino La Spina doesn’t expect that will be used, but says it provides some leeway. He’s promised Health Minister Mark Butler that “there will be no hospital closures, no redundancies” - something Butler says he’s holding them to…

The French Open feels un peu different…

…because it’ll be without its greatest-ever champion, 14-time winner Rafael Nadal this year, after he retired in November. Nadal was almost unbeatable on the clay courts of Roland Garros - he played 116 matches at the event and only lost 4 of them. Organisers took time out on the first day of play to honour his achievements, and the Spaniard’s career rivals Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Roger Federer were there to pay tribute. As for who to watch out for this year, Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz is in top form - he’s fresh from a win in Rome over another favourite, World #1 Jannik Sinner, who’s continuing his return from a 3-month doping-related ban. In the women’s, it’s all about who - if anyone - can beat Poland’s Iga Świątek, who has won the last 3 French Opens on the trot. Bonne chance, mes amis… 

Want to relive Rafa’s glory days? You might like our Squiz Shortcut about his career…

A sailor’s tall tail

Having a pet has officially been ruled out as an excuse for not getting out of the house more… A 29yo man has arrived in Hawaii after sailing from Portland with no one other than his deckhand - Phoenix the cat. After Oliver Widger was diagnosed 4 years ago with a condition that carries a risk of paralysis, he decided to quit his 9-5 at a tyre company to follow his dream of sailing the world. And while it might have been just him and the cat on board, he had 1.7 million Instagram and 1 million TikTok followers following alongside, some of whom turned up to welcome him when he got to Oahu. He said he's got French Polynesia in his sights next, but that the boat could use a patch up first - and first mate Phoenix deserves a treat, surely…

Apropos of Nothing

Kiwi pop star Lorde made a royal appearance on Sunday night when she crashed an event at a Sydney nightclub dedicated to… Lorde. Along with several delighted and probably quite surprised fans, she danced and sang along to her own hits - no pressure on the people around her to get the lyrics right…

A 137kg loggerhead sea turtle, hit by a boat off the coast of Florida, has made a trip to an equine hospital after vets realised she was too big for a turtle-sized CT scanner - and for a human one… Fortunately, those scans showed she’d not only make a full recovery, but she was also about to be a mum…

Your mates who have been hanging out for the last ever episode of the dystopian TV drama The Handmaid’s Tale might be mysteriously hard to reach at 2pm AEST this afternoon, as that’s when it’ll drop on SBS On Demand. The show started all the way back in 2017, and 8 years later we’ll see if it comes to an appropriately harrowing end. Praise be… 

Squiz the Day

9.00am (AEST) - Australian Space Summit & Exhibition 2025 gets underway (until 28 May) - Sydney

9.00am (AEST) - Actor Asher Keddie, author Liane Moriarty, and astronaut candidate Dianne McGrath will headline the Women in Leadership Summit 2025 begins (until 30 May) - Melbourne

9.30am (AEST) - The trial of NSW MP/former cabinet minister Gareth Ward on charges of sexual abuse is expected to begin after jury selection (it’s set down for 4 weeks) - Sydney

11.00am (AEST) - The US Navy ship USS Blue Ridge, the command ship of the US 7th Fleet, has a scheduled port visit in Sydney

2.00pm (AEST) - The final episode of The Handmaid's Tale is released on SBS On Demand

3.30pm (ACST) - NT Treasurer begins a budget roadshow around the state, finishing in Nhulunbuy on 2 June - Katherine, NT

👑 King Charles and Queen Camilla are in Canada for a 2-day tour at the invitation of PM Mark Carney

ABS Data Release - Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (aka forever chemicals) levels in people aged over 12yo, 2022-2024

National Reconciliation Week begins (until 3 June)

Overcoming Indigenous Family Violence Forum begins (until 29 May) - Brisbane 

Birthdays for politician Pauline Hanson (1954), singer-songwriter Neil Finn (1958), actor Joseph Fiennes (1970), and chef Jamie Oliver (1975)

Anniversary of:

• the Anniversary of Russian President Boris Yeltsin signing a historic treaty with NATO (1997)

• the Habeas Corpus Act (strengthening a person's right to challenge unlawful arrest and imprisonment) passes in England (1679)

• the founding of Saint Petersburg by Russian Tsar Peter the Great (1703)

• Australians voting in favour of a constitutional referendum granting the government the power to make laws to benefit Indigenous Australians and count them in the national census (1967)

• the marriage of Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel and Aussie model/entrepreneur Miranda Kerr (2017)