Wednesday, 15 April - Everybody talks, everybody talks

April 15, 2026

Good morning, it’s Wednesday, 15 April. In your Squiz Today…

  • Lots of negotiating is happening as in the Middle East continues

  • Both Qantas and Uber prices will be going up as a result of the fuel crisis

  • And a giant echidna’s footprint grows…

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

"I've never seen anybody look so refreshed getting off a flight from the US. He looked great”.

Said a Qantas passenger about Prince Harry, who arrived in Melbourne with Meghan Markle yesterday morning. The couple are here as ordinary citizens, but still shelled out for the pointy end - it’s hard to look refreshed after 15 hours in cattle class…

Strait talking

The Squiz

This week could be a busy one for diplomats, with US President Donald Trump saying this morning that peace talks between the US and Iran may pick up again in Pakistan “over the next 2 days”. If they do, they’ll follow separate negotiations that have just finished in Washington, D.C. between Israel and Lebanon. It’s the first time those 2 countries have held direct diplomatic talks in over 3 decades, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says “it’s a historic gathering that we hope to build on.”

What are they talking about?

When the US/Israel/Iran ceasefire was announced last week, there was confusion about whether it covered the fighting going on between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Mediators Pakistan said it did, as did Iran, but the US and Israel said it didn’t. Over the last 6 weeks, the conflict has killed over 2,000 people in Lebanon, and at least 14 Israelis, and Lebanon’s government is looking for a ceasefire. But before that happens, Israel wants the Lebanese government to start disarming Hezbollah. While analysts aren’t expecting a concrete result from this round of talks, hopes are high - especially because if the conflict continues in Lebanon, that could reduce the chances of a lasting peace agreement between the US, Israel and Iran. 

Is that all?

Not by a long shot… While all that’s going on, Australia will join a summit co-hosted by France and Britain later this week as part of a peaceful effort to restore shipping to the Strait of Hormuz. The goal is to get Iran to reopen the strait and relieve the global fuel crisis, but neither Iran nor the US will be involved. They’re still running competing blockades on the strait - while some ships have been passing through, the latest update from the US is that its military has warned 6 ships to turn around, and all 6 did. Given it currently has 100 fighter/surveillance aircraft, a dozen warships and 10,000 personnel in the region, those ships likely didn’t have too much of a choice…

What is stagflation?

If you're hearing about 'stagflation' in the news, CommBank Newsroom can help you understand. Long story short, it describes a tricky mix of high inflation and weak growth - something economists are watching as energy prices rise. It's a term from the 1970s that is making a comeback, but things are a bit different to back then…. here's why.

Squiz the Rest

Qantas fares go up, up and away

The Oz airline said yesterday that it’ll raise its airfares and cut some domestic flights due to the fuel crisis caused by the war in the Middle East. The airline says the conflict is really biting - the cost of the fuel it needs to operate its flights is likely to go up by as much as $800 million in the second half of this financial year. One of the major affected cities is Mount Gambier in South Oz, which is seeing all of its services in and out cancelled as of May. Here’s the full list of some of the affected routes … And it’s not the only price rise coming - from today, Uber will be adding 5c a kilometre to its fares - but both it and the Transport Workers Union say that money will be passed on to drivers, not Uber itself. Getting around is getting very expensive…

Playing a Trump card

Coalition leader Angus Taylor laid out the first part of a hardline immigration plan yesterday - one of his first major policy announcements after taking over the leadership. It includes a stricter test of national values, tougher deportation rules, and a requirement that visa applicants, including tourists, submit their social media accounts for vetting. Taylor says “self-serving” migrants are putting pressure on housing and testing social cohesion, but human rights groups were quick to criticise the policy, calling it “Trumpian” and a “hateful attack on migrant communities”. As for the government, Defence Minister Pat Conroy said the Coalition had “zero credibility on immigration”, and the plan was an attempt to compete with One Nation “in a race to the bottom”.

A big day for Gina Rinehart

Billions of dollars are on the line for Oz’s richest person today, as a long-running case comes to a head in the Supreme Court. For years, lawyers for Rinehart have been fighting several claims on royalties from the Hope Downs mines in Western Oz, based on agreements made by Rinehart’s father, Lang Hancock, several decades ago. Just to complicate things further, 2 of Rinehart’s children became involved as the case went along - John Hancock and Bianca Rinehart say their mother tried to cut them out of a stake in the assets they were owed thanks to a trust set up by their grandfather. That led to a lot of family tensions being aired during the case, and it’s up to Justice Jennifer Smith to decipher it all in her decision today… 

Russia returns to the pool

For the first time in 4 years, Russian and Belarusian athletes will be able to compete in world swimming, diving and water polo events under their countries’ flags, following a decision by World Aquatics. The athletes were banned after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and only allowed to compete under a neutral flag - that’s now been lifted, meaning they can have their anthems played if they medal, and their countries can host events. It’s the first major Olympic sport to make the move, with World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam saying pools should be places for “peaceful competition”. But Ukraine isn’t happy - it says athletes are still training under fire from Russia, and “against this background, any talk about ‘neutrality’... looks shameful and disconnected from reality”.

A spiky customer

Some Australian scientists have made quite a sizable discovery - they’ve confirmed that giant echidnas used to wander around Victoria. In a paper published yesterday, researchers say that a fossil found over 100 years ago in a cave in Victoria has just been properly identified - and it’s the giant echidna, alright, which would have measured about a metre in length and 15kg in weight. While evidence of the creature exists in other states like Western Oz and New South Wales, this is the first time they’ve been identified in Victoria, 1,000km from where they were previously known to exist. Accidentally stepping on one of those things in the dark doesn’t bear thinking about… 

Apropos of Nothing

If you’re one of the many Aussies who have taken up bike-riding thanks to sky-rocketing fuel prices, here’s a handy guide to bike maintenance for even the least mechanically-minded among us…

A ukulele club on the Sunshine Coast has grown to 600 members playing once a week. Playing music is associated with a reduced risk of dementia, and the members say it's great for their mental health. Maybe it's time to invest in a ukulele…

And if you’re a fan of either singer Laufey or Heated Rivalry star Hudson Williams, there’s plenty here for you in the former’s new music video for Madwoman, which also stars Winter Olympics gold medallist Alysa Liu. It’s a very 2026 clip…

Squiz the Day

9.00am (AEST) - Day one of the inaugural InterEdge Psychosocial Safety Summit, keynote speakers include Prince Harry and Jelena Dokic. The summit aims to address Australia's mental health crisis in the workplace (until 16 April) - Melbourne

10.00am (AEST) - High Court judgment on Victoria's political donation laws, which were challenged by Paul Hopper and Melissa Lowe as unconstitutional because they advantage major political parties, High Court of Australia - Canberra 

10.00am (AWST) - A judgment is expected to be handed down in the legal battle between mining billionaire Gina Rinehart and the family of her late father’s former business partner Peter Wright, with billions at stake, Supreme Court of Western Oz - Perth 

12.30pm (AEST) - Australian Medical Association President Dr Danielle McMullen is set to address the National Press Club on ‘Underpinning Australia’s healthcare system: strengthening the base, not the facade’ - Canberra

ABS data release: Overseas arrivals and departures, February 2026

PM Anthony Albanese’s trip to Brunei and Malaysia continues

Uber to begin adding a fuel surcharge for non-EV vehicles 

This year’s winner of the Gallipoli Art Prize will be announced

Birthdays for actors Emma Thompson (1959), Seth Rogen (1982), Emma Watson (1990), Maisie Williams (1997)

Anniversary of:

  • the birthdays of Leonardo da Vinci (1452), Henry James (1843) and North Korea founder Kim Il-sung (1912)

  • the death of Abraham Lincoln (1865)

  • the sinking of the RMS Titanic (1912)

  • Ray Kroc opening the first McDonald's in Illinois (1955)

  • the Boston Marathon bombings (2013)

  • the Notre Dame Cathedral fire, which destroyed its spire and roof (2019)