Tuesday, 5 November - Life in the fast lane

November 05, 2024

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, 5 November. In your Squiz Today…

  • The race for the US Congress heats up

  • Politicians are opting out of the Chairman’s Lounge

  • And giddy up it’s Melbourne Cup Day…🏇

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

“The seventh wonder of the running world.”

Is how the Sydney Marathon will be known from now on after becoming the first southern hemisphere city to join the World Marathon Majors elite series - alongside big names like New York, London and Tokyo. The Harbour City strikes again…

Our house, our very very very tight house

The Squiz

The battle for president is taking the lion’s share of the headlines, but it’s not the only big political contest happening in the US this week. Americans will also be voting to elect members of the US Congress - the House of Representatives and the Senate. And stop us if you’ve heard this before - the polling shows a very close race…

Hang on… Is this a bit like our parliamentary election? 

Exactly. Just like Oz, these places are responsible for making laws a reality. The House of Reps has 435 seats representing districts (like Australian electorates) - all of which are up for grabs. And if you thought our 3-year terms were bonkers, in the US it’s 2 years... The Senate is also a bit like ours - each state has 2 senators, regardless of population - making up 100 seats in total. A portion of that 100 is up every 2 years - this time, it’s 34. As it stands, Republicans have a slim lead in the House, and Democrats are one seat up in the Senate - but polling indicates both might flip to the other side. Whatever it is, it’s expensive… About US$10 billion has been spent on ads across the presidential and congressional elections this year - 10 times as much as 4 years ago - and most of it is on the congressional races. 

Any seats I should keep an eye on?

Well, look who’s interested all of a sudden… In the House, the Dems need 4 seats to win it back. Here’s a couple to watch: there’s Don Bacon in Nebraska, a moderate Republican who supported Nikki Haley over Trump who could find it hard to hold on. And Jared Golden in Maine, a Democrat who has refused to endorse Harris has also had a lot of attention. In the Senate, the Republicans only need to flip 2 seats - keep an eye on West Virginia and Arizona, where the current senators have retired. As for Harris and Trump, they’ll be hoping their parties win control of at least one of the houses - it makes life so much easier for a sitting president. And if it does fall Trump’s way, former PM Kevin Rudd will keep his post as US Ambassador despite openly criticising him in the past - PM Albanese has locked him in to stay on…

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Squiz the Rest

A fishing trip tragedy

Police are still searching for an 11yo Sydney boy who was swept out to sea while crossing a beach channel on the NSW Central Coast. The boy had been fishing with his dad and 3 younger brothers when he was taken out by the tide just after 5pm on Sunday. Witnesses watched as his father desperately tried to save him, and since then, there’s been a huge effort to find him, with searchers scouring nearby rocks and beaches - as well as boats and choppers lapping the area. The region’s Surf Life Saving boss Michael Hyslop says the strong currents in the area make it a big no-go zone for locals. “It’s one of our black spots on the Central Coast”. While there are signs in place warning about the conditions - police say English is a second language for the family… 

Lounging days are over

Our pollies are lining up to quit their lucrative Qantas Chairman’s Lounge memberships after copping serious heat for their cosy relationship with the national carrier. Independent Allegra Spender is ditching the freebie - she reckons “the public is understandably losing trust in politicians” as fellow Independent Helen Haines joined the small group who’ve already given theirs away. One MP who won’t ditch it is Cairns-based Liberal Warren Entsch - he said it’s “all very well for her, but the poor buggers travelling from the NT or WA or Queensland appreciate the space.” Senior bureaucrats have also been defending the fact they get the perk - Department of Transport boss Jim Betts told a Senate estimates hearing it’s not problematic because they aren’t making decisions about the airline… 

Getting the boot - slowly…

The board of Australian mining company Mineral Resources (aka MinRes) says founder/CEO/billionaire Chris Ellison is on the way out after his recent tax scandal. But he won’t be shown the door immediately - there will be an “orderly transition” over the next 18 months… Ellison has copped plenty of bad PR in recent weeks after admitting to tax evasion, setting the company’s share price back 27.5% over the last month and prompting a board investigation. Its findings - that Ellison “had not acted with integrity” - were released yesterday. Chair James McClements says the decision to remove and fine him $8.8 million was made with “the interests of shareholders absolutely front and centre”. Ellison, who says he “made mistakes”, will also forfeit his salary and benefits of about $9.6 million. A pricey lesson…

The race that (kinda) stops the nation…

It's not everyone's cup of tea, but plenty of Aussies will be tuning into the Melbourne Cup when the race is run this arvo... If you're the office sweep type - drawing a low number might be handy - the big chances are Vauban (#1) and Buckaroo (#2). Since interest in the actual horse race has been on the wane, the new chief of the Victorian Racing Club Kylie Rogers is selling the music, fashion and food part of the event predicting 90,000 people will rock up. Among them will be Aussie swimmer Ariarne Titmus as this year’s Cup Ambassador, Sir Bob Geldof and Liz Hurley in the Birdcage, and soprano Greta Bradman (the Don’s granddaughter), who’ll sing the anthem. The TV audience was up last year - despite some accidentally watching an entirely different race, again - but with a growing number of Aussies saying ‘Nup to the Cup’, we'll have to see if ratings are on the nose this year…

Speaking of which…

Spare a thought for locals in the Western Oz town of Kalgoorlie - they’ve been dealing with a mysterious stench that’s permeated the streets for more than 18 months. To give you an idea, it’s been described as the smell of “sewage” or “rotten eggs”. Mmm… It’s also been getting worse, leaving the council to call in the big guns - aka an “independent odour specialist” - to sniff out the source of the problem. Philippe Najean is getting nearly $50,000 for the honour, and although he’s relying on some fancy equipment to detect hydrogen sulphide in the air as he patrols the town, he says the human nose knows best. He’s faced a bit of hostility from locals so far, but as Leslie Knope would say, being yelled at is just people caring loudly…

Apropos of Nothing - Stage moments edition

Eric Idle has given some insight into writing one of Monty Python’s most famous tunes - Always Look on the Bright Side of Life - ahead of his upcoming Aussie tour. He wanted “a cheery-uppy song, ridiculously optimistic”. Safe to say he nailed it…

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin is thankfully a-ok after falling through an on-stage trapdoor during a show in Melbourne on Sunday night. Martin gave a shoutout to his team “for catching me” before getting on with the show. It’s all good, Chris - we’ll Fix You… 

And it’s that time of year when Mariah Carey takes centre stage as the undisputed Queen of Christmas - and she’s gotten her tinsel on early, unveiling her new wax statue at Madame Tussauds. She says it’s “All I Want For Christmas all year round”...

Squiz the Day

9.00am (AEDT) - the 12th Submarine Institute of Australia’s Biennial Conference begins, with Defence Minister Richard Marles set to announce a $600 million plan to boost our Defence Force through attracting and retaining recruits - Canberra

9.30am (AEDT) - Ex police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon is expected to lodge a plea to the double domestic violence murder of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies - Sydney

9.45am (AEDT) - A hearing is to begin for Rosemary Gamble, who has pleaded not guilty to failing to comply with her duty over the jumping castle tragedy at Hillcrest Primary School in which 6 children died - Devonport, Tas

2.30pm (AEDT) - RBA Governor Michele Bullock will announce the latest interest rate decision - Sydney

3.00pm (AEDT) - The Melbourne Cup 2024 - Flemington Racecourse, and watch on Channel 9 

From 10.00pm (AEDT) - East Coast USA polling centres open (6.00am EDT) for the US presidential election

Guy Fawkes Day - marking the anniversary of the Catholic conspirator being executed for attempting to to blow up King James I and the British Parliament (1605)

Birthdays for Art Garfunkel (1941), Kris Jenner (1955), Bryan Adams (1959), Tilda Swinton (1960) and Kevin Jonas (1987)

Anniversary of:

  • the launch of the Monopoly board game by the Parker Brothers (1935)

  • Franklin D Roosevelt being re-elected President of the United States for an unprecedented third term (1940), and the election of Richard Nixon (1968)

  • the release of the Paradise Papers (2015)