Tuesday, 9 June - Strutting her stuff on the street

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, 9 June. In your Squiz Today…

• Vale to cancer researcher and Australian of the Year Professor Richard Scolyer

• A billboard attack on Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has been condemned by the PM

• and the big winners from the French Open and the Tony Awards… 🎾 🎶

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🙋🏻‍♀️ This newsletter was written by Andrew Williams, Alice Dempster, Larissa Huntington, Anna Pykett and Sophie Felice

Squiz the Weather

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If you’re looking for news specifically about finance and the economy, where do you go? We’ve been partnering with CommBank Newsroom to find out and we need your help, please. Seven quick questions, two minutes max. Your answers help us keep doing what we do. A big thanks in advance for having our back.

Squiz Sayings

Said one New York Knicks fan of Sesame Street mainstay Elmo, after the puppet said he wanted both the Knicks and opponents San Antonio Spurs to just “have fun” during the current NBA finals series. Given the Street is (fictionally) in Manhattan, Knicks fans weren’t happy - you could say they felt betrayed…

Vale Richard Scolyer

The Squiz 

The 2024 Australian of the Year and internationally respected melanoma expert has died at 59yo, after being diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour in 2023. He was given just months to live - but defied survival odds after volunteering to be patient zero in a world-first brain cancer treatment he developed with a colleague. Their work extended his life by almost 3 years - but in March 2025 his tumour returned, and he died on Sunday night. 

Tell me more about him… 

Professor Scolyer was from Launceston in Tassie - but he moved to Sydney to work as a pathologist. He worked at the Melanoma Institute Australia for 2 decades, researching serious forms of skin cancer and immunotherapy - which works by using the body’s immune system to hunt for and attack cancer cells. His skin cancer research saved thousands of lives around the world and led to his Australian of the Year award in 2024, alongside oncologist and long-term friend Professor Georgina Long. After being diagnosed with glioblastoma (a type of brain cancer), he applied the same principles to his own disease - describing his decision to have the experimental treatment as a ‘no-brainer.’ Now a US clinical trial is attempting to replicate its results.

What is his legacy?

His brother-in-law Charles Nicholl says “his family meant everything to him and his passing has left a big hole in our lives.” Back in November 2024, Scolyer had a chat with us for our Newsmakers series and encouraged Aussies to “be courageous” and make the most of every day. He did just that, staying super active, and clocking up thousands of kilometres running and cycling for charity. A few weeks before he died, he wrote an open letter saying “we all have a responsibility to try to change the future for others and leave the world a better place.” He is survived by his wife, fellow pathologist Katie Nicholl, and their 3 children - and PM Anthony Albanese says he’ll receive a state funeral in the weeks to come. 

Beyond the headlines

BHP plays a big role in Australia’s economy, supporting over 46,000 employees and contractors with training and long-term careers. That then flows through to local suppliers, small businesses and services in regional communities - all of which helps underpin our national economic stability. For BHP, there’s a growing focus on showing that impact in real terms; through transparency, accountability and the stories of people and communities who benefit day to day.

Squiz the Rest

Fighting flares up again

A hundred days after US/Israel launched their joint war on Iran, the Iranian military launched new missile strikes on Israel again yesterday, putting the ongoing ceasefire in the region at risk. Iran claimed the strikes were in response to Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Israel fired back shortly after. Overnight, both sides said they would pause more military action, unless they were further provoked. Just before the pause, US President Donald Trump posted a message for both sides to stop shooting, and Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif - whose country has been a key mediator in the conflict - asked all parties to “give peace a little more chance”. 

Speaking of calling for calm…

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says there’s a need to “turn the temperature down” when it comes to personal attacks on politicians, after a billboard attack on Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan made headlines this week. The billboards were paid for by a Melbourne brothel owner, and show Allan wearing a black hat and the phrase “ditch the witch”. Allan condemned the billboards, saying “sexism just has no place in our political debate”, and former PM Julia Gillard also weighed in - she was hit with the same slogan by posters at an anti-carbon tax rally in 2011. She said she thought things had improved for women in politics since then, but was sad to see “that improvement cast aside.” One Nation leader Pauline Hanson had a different view - she said she’s faced worse, and her message for Allan was to “suck it up, sweetheart”.

A former NRL player comes out

Kane Evans - who played for the Roosters, Eels and Warriors - has become just the second rugby league player to publicly come out as gay in professional Australian rugby league. The 34yo forward told Nine’s 100% Footy he’s been hiding his sexuality since he was a teenager, and has been talking about his struggles with homelessness, addiction and suicidal thoughts. He says he’s been sober for 4 months, and now he’s spoken up; it’s “like a weight has lifted off [his] shoulders.” He is the first player to come out since Ian Roberts in 1995 - and is now one of just a handful of male Aussie athletes to do so publicly.
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No déjà vu at the French Open

This year’s clay court tournament has turned up 2 first-time champs in the singles, with 29yo German Alexander Zverev and 19yo Russian Mirra Andreeva taking home the trophies. Second seed Zverev had a tough job beating Flavio Cobolli, but got it done in 5 sets to win his first Grand Slam title in his fourth final. Here’s the winning moment… Andreeva had an easier time of it in her first Grand Slam final, defeating Poland’s Maja Chwalińska in straight sets. She was so excited, she forgot to take her trophy up to the podium before lifting it up… Here’s the full list of results including the doubles winners - and now it’s just 3 weeks until Wimbledon gets underway, will all the strawberries, cream and celeb appearances we can handle…

Broadway to go

An adaptation of a cancelled TV show was a big winner at this year’s Tony Awards, which celebrate the best of Broadway in New York. Schmigadoon! is a stage version of an Apple TV show - itself parodying several famous musicals - that ran for 2 seasons between 2021 and 2023. It won 4 awards including best new musical, while a revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman picked up 6 awards. The ceremony was hosted by Pink (or P!nk, to give the singer her full name), who hasn’t appeared on Broadway before but says she’s a huge fan. She kicked things off with a cameo-filled version of Lady Marmalade, the song she performed for the film Moulin Rouge! back in 2001. Here’s a gallery of all the looks from the red carpet and the show itself…  

Apropos of Nothing

Yesterday’s Big Freeze event to raise money for research into Motor Neurone Disease was a successful one - along with some fun costumes by sliders including Governor-General Sam Mostyn, one Queensland philanthropist couple donated $40 million to the cause. That’ll hopefully help… 

Speaking of the G-G, yesterday she gave out this year’s King’s Birthday Honours, with 949 Aussies picking up a gong. You can see the full list here - who knows, you might have new letters after your name now and they just forgot to tell you… 

Biosecurity officials have seized 100,000 exotic cockroaches from a breeder in NSW - which breeders likely intended as pet food for snakes and frogs. If they were sold, they could have fetched a cool $200,000 - that’s 2 bucks per roach. Makes you wonder if you’re sitting on a goldmine…

Squiz the Day

9.00am (AEST) - First hearing in the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment inquiry - Melbourne

11.00am - Day 2 of the Australian swimming trials for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games - watch on Channel Nine and 9Now

1.00pm (AEST) - Cricket: First ODI in a 3-match series, Bangladesh v Australia, Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium - Bangladesh, watch on Kayo

6.15pm - Induction dinner for the AFL Hall of Fame - Melbourne

7.00pm (AEST) - Football: A second friendly between the Matildas v Mexico, CommBank Stadium - Sydney, watch on Paramount+

US Primary elections in Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina

ABS data release: Total value of dwellings, March quarter 2026

National Donald Duck Day

Birthdays for Patricia Cornwell (1956), Michael J Fox (1961), Johnny Depp (1963), and Natalie Portman (1981)

Anniversary of:

• China leasing Hong Kong’s new territories, including Hong Kong, to the UK for 99 years (1898), as well as the anniversary of the lease expiring, handing the city back to China (1997)

• the first appearance of Donald Duck in The Wise Little Hen (1934)

• the Ghost Train fire at Luna Park in Sydney that killed 7 (1979)