Wednesday, 12 November - Under the Milky Way tonight

November 12, 2025

Good morning, it’s Wednesday, 12 November. In your Squiz Today…

  • Indonesia’s President is in town to talk trade with the PM

  • A trial date has been set for Alan Jones

  • And this year’s Booker Prize winner is announced…

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

“I was just so lucky that it didn’t come back for another bite of something tastier.”

Said windsurfer Andy McDonald, who survived a shark taking a massive chomp of his board at Margaret River's famous Prevelly Beach surf break in Western Oz on Monday. You can watch his great white escape here…

It’s a regional leaders’ bonanza…

The Squiz

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is in Sydney today to meet with PM Anthony Albanese - the second time the 2 have formally met since the Albanese Government was re-elected in May. It’s notable given it’s Prabowo’s first trip to our shores since he became President in October last year, and, of course, our relationship with our neighbour that happens to be the third-biggest democracy in the world is an important one. It's a single-day trip, with trade, investment, and industrial partnerships said to be on the agenda - so there's a lot to cover and not much time to muck around.

So how’s the relationship going? 

We’re saying nice things about each other, but Indonesia’s foreign policy priorities have been tricky to get a handle on since Prabowo came to power. Analysts say it’s become more transactional, which means China’s in their picture. Prabowo was in Beijing for President Xi Jinping’s great big military parade (you know, the one former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews went to…). There's also some discomfort over a defence treaty we signed with Papua New Guinea last month - Indonesia wants to see respect for its "sovereignty and independence", given West Papua (aka a contested region of Indonesia) borders PNG. Another thing - 3 Australians are on trial over the murder of Zivan Radmanovic in Bali in June. If found guilty, they’ll likely face the death penalty - something Australia opposes. 

He’s not the only leader in Oz, I gather… 

Nope. Nauru's President David Adeang made an unannounced visit to Parliament House yesterday, meeting with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke while he was in Australia for a security conference. We don't know for sure, but the media and analysts reckon it was probably about the recent allegations that outlaw bikie gangs won the contract to provide security for the NZYQ cohort on Nauru – these are convicted criminals who can't be held in detention after a High Court ruling, but can't return home either. Australia is paying Nauru $408 million to take them, and while Burke called it a "productive meeting," the lack of any public announcement has riled up others. The Coalition and Greens are crying foul about government secrecy, especially given the taxpayer funds involved in this deal.

The copper connection

Every time you use a chatbot or stream your favourite show, you're part of a copper story that's at the centre of global mining. Those massive data centres powering our digital lives? They need huge amounts of copper - and with demand growing and metal getting harder to extract, there's a supply crunch happening. BHP has plans to ramp up operations in South Australia to help meet demand, positioning our nation at the centre of the tech boom. Head here to find out more about how copper powers your world.

Squiz the Rest

Shutting down the shutdown

We’re talking about the record-breaking US federal government one… Yesterday, the US Senate voted to bring it to an end, with 8 Democrats joining with Republicans to approve a funding deal. It’ll restore critical services like food aid programs and pay for hundreds of thousands of federal workers, but it doesn’t include any guarantee to extend subsidies that help millions of Americans afford health insurance. That was a key Democratic demand that led to the standoff in the first place. Cue calls for Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to resign for failing to stop his teammates from voting with the Republicans... The shutdown isn’t completely over yet - the deal now goes back to the House for a vote, where it’s expected to pass. 

Alan Jones goes on trial

The former Sydney talkback radio host will face court in August next year, and the trial could be a bit of a marathon - it's expected to last up to 4 months and could involve up to 139 witnesses. This is the case that came out of an investigation published in the Nine newspapers (paywall) in late 2023, which prompted NSW Police to establish Strike Force Bonnefin to investigate. Jones is alleged to have indecently assaulted 9 male victims between 2003 and 2020. The 84yo has pleaded not guilty to all 27 charges and plans to launch a strong defence. 

O Canada…

…and not in a good way - it’s just lost its measles-free status after failing to get on top of an outbreak that’s infected thousands of people over the past year, with the US on track to follow suit. Canada eliminated measles - an extremely contagious disease that causes rashes, fevers, and sometimes life-threatening complications - in 1998 after a widespread vaccination campaign. Many health experts are laying blame at the door of US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr - they say his questioning of vaccine safety has seen rates fall across North America. Here in Oz, we became measles-free in 2014, but a growing number of cases is threatening that, and health officials are mighty worried. 

One hot ACCC potato

The Wiggles have had a slap on the wrist from our consumer watchdog for selling more than 3,700 headbands sans the mandatory safety warnings. The ACCC says the company behind the kids entertainment juggernaut "likely breached" consumer law by selling the Emma-themed headbands that are powered by button batteries, which are a choking hazard, between June 2022 and March 2024. The headbands have been recalled, and The Wiggles say they'll drop a podcast episode about button battery safety issues. The group's spokesperson says the merch was made before the current warning label rules were introduced, and they didn't catch that the rules had been broken. Dorothy the Dinosaur would've read the fine print… 

Impressing the Flesh

The Hungarian-British author David Szalay is this year’s Booker Prize winner, taking out the prestigious award yesterday for his novel Flesh. Szalay wrote it after he spent 4 years writing a book that he never finished, and he told the ABC that experience made him only more determined to finish Flesh. That’s paid off handsomely, as he’ll take home a $101,000 cash prize. As for what it’s about, Flesh tells the story of Hungarian teenager István and his rise from poverty to high society - the Booker Prize judges said it is “a dark book, but it is a joy to read”. For the full list of finalists (and a few gift ideas), here’s all the info you need… 

Apropos of Nothing

Astronomers are hoping a new map of the Milky Way will help them make new discoveries about our universe in the future - and given Western Oz PhD student Silvia Mantovanini spent 18 months putting it together, it’d want to be pretty useful… 

Next time you think you’re chilly at a soccer match in Oz, spare a thought for these guys who played the Canadian Premier League final in a -8 degree blizzard on Sunday. This icicle bicycle kick goal made it all worth it though…

Going off like the commentator calling that match - although a lot warmer - was Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano last weekend… In its 36th eruption since last December, it shot lava more than 300m into the air for 5 hours - no judgement but that’s a lot of activity for a Sunday…

*One last thing - we got our states confused yesterday in the story about the apple shortage - it’s happening in the Blue Mountains in NSW, not Tasmania. You can read that story here.

Squiz the Day

Liberal MPs will meet to decide on the party’s net zero policy - Canberra

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will meet with PM Anthony Albanese for a one-day visit to Australia, his first since becoming President - Sydney

9.00am (AEST) - The Supreme Court of Brisbane will hand down the sentence for a 16yo boy who pleaded guilty to the murder of 70yo Vyleen White in February 2024 - Brisbane

10.00am (AEDT) - A coronial inquest will begin into the death of 27yo Bundjalung and Kamilaroi woman Jamikka Olive, who died in July 2023 after she was allegedly assaulted in the bathroom of an RSL Club and consequently suffered a seizure - Port Macquarie 

10.00am (AEDT) The Supreme Court of Victoria will hear a bail application for Neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell who’s charged with several offences including violent disorder and assault - Melbourne

11.30am (AEDT) - Ambassador of Japan, His Excellency Kazuhiro Suzuki, will address the National Press Club on the importance of Australia’s relationship with Japan - Canberra

5.10pm (AEDT) - The Great Melbourne Bagpipe Bash rocks out at Fed Square in an attempt to break the world record for the largest ever bagpipe ensemble - Melbourne

6.30pm (AEST) - The 2026 Australian of the Year Awards for Queensland will be announced at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre - Brisbane

8.30pm (AEDT) - The first concert in AC/DC’s Australian tour kicks off at the MCG (and will likely also feature bagpipes) - Melbourne

Flight Centre and Domino’s will hold AGMs - Brisbane

ABS data releases: Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia, September 2025; Lending Indicators, September Quarter 2025

Birthdays for musician Neil Young (1945), writer Naomi Wolf (1962), former figure skater Tonya Harding (1970), and actors Ryan Gosling (1980) and Anne Hathaway (1982)

Anniversary of:

  • the birthdays of French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840), founder of modern China Sun Yat-sen (1866) and actress Grace Kelly (1929)

  • the first known photo claiming to feature the Loch Ness Monster being taken by Hugh Gray (1933)

  • Cyclone Bhola making landfall and becoming one of the deadliest cyclones in history after killing up to 500,000 in modern-day Bangladesh (1970)