Tuesday, 3 September - He’s a smooth operator

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, 3 September. In your Squiz Today…

• Strong winds cause havoc in Australia’s southeast

• A tiger attack at Dreamworld

• And for real life, Bluey breaks the internet…

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said a tearful Russ Leary about his daughter, para-swimmer and horror cycling crash survivor Alexa Leary, who powered our mixed 4x100m medley relay team (34 points) to a gold medal this morning in Paris. The team, along with para-triathlete Lauren Parker, has taken our Paralympic gold haul to 8. Legends.

The southeast gets a lashing

The Squiz

The cold front sweeping over southeastern parts of the country did more damage yesterday - spreading from Tassie to Victoria and NSW. To give you an idea of its severity, reports say winds “equivalent to a category 3 cyclone” hit Victoria - downing electricity lines, damaging roofs and fences, and turning deadly when a woman was killed by a tree that fell on her cabin near the Victoria-NSW border. On the power front, more than 180,000 homes in Victoria and 38,000 in Tasmania were without power at one point yesterday. That had dropped down to about 85,000 homes in Victoria by yesterday afternoon, while authorities were warning many Tasmanians could be affected for days.

Sounds like it got worse…

Yep… In Victoria, the damaging winds - which reached gusts of 146km per hour in parts of the state - had multiple schools closed yesterday (although many are due to reopen today…). The State Emergency Service received over 4,000 calls for help from Sunday night into Monday, with Warragul, Morwell, Emerald, Hastings and Ballarat - all regional spots - among the worst hit. Things hadn't eased much in Tassie either, with flood warnings still in place along the River Derwent. Simon Lewis from the ​​Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said the worst of the wind had passed  - including 157km per hour gusts at King Island north of Tassie - but they “weren’t completely out of the woods”. Forecasts tipped a record-breaking flood peak near Macquarie Plains, about 50km northwest of Hobart, last night - so we might get an update today…

What about further north?

Good shout - it didn’t get quite so hectic up in Sydney yesterday, but the winds were strong enough that Sydney Airport stopped using 2 of its 3 runways for both inbound and outbound planes, which saw nearly 50 flights axed. Weather-related cancellations also hit Melbourne and Brisbane airports, meaning a lot of delays around the country. The winds in NSW also caused headaches for firefighters - with an extreme fire danger warning in place yesterday for the Illawarra region and greater Sydney. Further north, a blaze broke out at Tomago, close to Newcastle, with the Rural Fire Service issuing an emergency warning in the area - before bringing it under control last night. As for where the severe weather front is going next, the BOM reckons it’s easing as it heads away from southeast Oz across the Tasman Sea. But it’s leaving some big clean-up efforts in its wake…

Good work should be recognised and rewarded

Over the past 6 years, the Westfield Local Heroes program has granted more than $7.4 million to over 700 community organisations across Australia and New Zealand. Pretty cool, right? And now they’re asking you to vote for your local hero with $30,000 worth of grants available at each Westfield destination to further their amazing work. Read their stores - and then vote at westfield.com.au/local-heroes

Squiz the Rest

Anger grows in Israel

The grief over 6 Israeli hostages’ deaths in Gaza over the weekend has turned into anger directed at PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his government’s handling of the war. A nationwide strike in Israel yesterday shut down businesses, schools, and Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv before the Labour Court put an end to it. The strike was called by Israel’s biggest union, Histadrut - with its leader saying the country was getting “body bags instead of a deal”. It followed huge protests across Israel on Sunday - with pressure ramping up on Netanyahu to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal. Overnight, Netanyahu asked the families of the killed hostages for forgiveness for not bringing them home alive - but he said Hamas was responsible for the delays. 

Deconstructing a defamation case

Western Australia's Supreme Court has begun hearing closing arguments in the defamation case brought by Senator Linda Reynolds against former staffer Brittany Higgins and her husband David Sharaz. To remind you - Reynolds is suing the couple over social media posts from 2023 that were critical of her handling of Higgins' Parliament House rape allegation. Yesterday, Higgins' lawyer Rachael Young SC claimed the former Defence Minister presented “demonstrably wrong” evidence and should be considered an unreliable witness for denying knowing there could have been a sexual assault in her office. Young also accused Reynolds of having “sinister” motives for leaking confidential material to the media and wishing to "silence sexual assault victims". Reynolds' lawyer, Martin Bennett, will get a chance to respond later today when he begins his closing submissions before wrapping up on Wednesday.

A suspended Star

One of Australia’s biggest casino companies has been suspended from trading on the Australian Stock Exchange after it failed to post its full-year financial results by Friday’s deadline. Reports say Star Entertainment Group is trying to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from investors to keep it afloat and requested the halt in trading after a second damning report into its Sydney venue released that day. It found casino bosses had failed to address a culture of unethical conduct and criminal infiltration first revealed in 2022. The findings published by the New South Wales Independent Casino Commission - aka the NICC - back up the original Bell Report that uncovered evidence of money laundering/fraud. The regulator is now considering the findings, while NSW Gambling Minister David Harris insists the government is committed to a "safe and responsible casino industry".

Not such a Dreamworld

It’s been a rough few weeks for Queensland tourism after 2 rides broke down at Sea World last month - and yesterday an animal handler was mauled by a tiger at Dreamworld. Reports say 47yo experienced tiger handler Melissa Reynolds was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital where she was treated for "serious lacerations and puncture wounds" to her arm/shoulder. Paramedics say Reynolds was “quite pale and feeling unwell” after the big cat attack but didn’t know how it happened. A spokesperson for the theme park called it "an isolated and rare incident” and promised a “thorough review". It’s not the only popular tourist spot where tiger exhibits have gone wrong… There were 2 attacks at Australia Zoo in 2013/2016, and back in 2003, a tiger in Las Vegas nearly killed one-half of magicians Siegfried and Roy. Fingers crossed November’s opening of Bluey’s World will be a lot less eventful…

Bluey breaks the internet

And speaking of the blue heeler… After NSW Police charged a man for stealing $600,000 worth of limited edition Bluey coins last month, the frenzy for ‘dollarbucks’ continues… Yesterday morning the Australia Post website crashed as collectors/fans rushed to get their paws on the latest release of the special currency. The site was quickly overwhelmed, leaving the online shop “temporarily unavailable” and would-be buyers staring at an error message. The page was back up at lunchtime, but by then, almost all of the memorabilia had sold out and was re-selling on other sites for 10 times the price. And it wasn’t just a virtual rush - huge queues formed outside AusPost outlets as people tried to go old-school and buy the coins in person. Many also left empty-handed, taking to social media to ask why post offices had “such little stock?”. Hopefully, not too many of them were also Taylor Swift fans…

Apropos of Nothing

Multi-Grammy winner Adele has told a live audience she won’t see them “for an incredibly long time” after she wraps her 2-year Las Vegas residency in November as she “needs a rest”. No doubt fans are already counting down until they can say Hello from the other side…

We’ve heard of landscaping and even manscaping, but fridgescaping… It’s all the rage with TikTokers after influencer Lynzi Judish came up with the concept of decorating the inside of her appliance after running out of rooms in her home to style. That’s dedication…

A maritime mystery has internet sleuths fired up after the body of an alleged ‘spy whale’ washed up in Norway. The Beluga was first spotted with a GoPro camera attached to it 5 years ago, sparking a frenzy of accusations that it was a covert agent for Russia. Dr Evil would be impressed…

Squiz the Day

9.00am (AEST) - Australia's emergency management conference, AFAC24 begins (on until 6 September) - Sydney 

12.30pm (AEST) - Leading burns surgeon Professor Fiona Wood will address the National Press Club on urgent wound care reform - Canberra

1.45pm (AEST) - A roundtable on US-Australia security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific will be hosted by the US Embassy - Canberra 

ABS data release, Government finance stats, June; and sun protection behaviours, Nov 23-Feb 24

National Flag Day, marking the anniversary of the Aussie flag first being flown (1901)

Armed Forces Day in Taiwan

World Skyscraper Day

Anniversary of:

• the British Empire adopting the Gregorian Calendar, losing 11 days, causing riots when people thought the government stole 11 days of their lives (1752)

• Britain declaring war on Germany after its invasion of Poland (1939)

• Chris the Sheep breaking the world record for the biggest shorn fleece with a hefty 40kg (2015)