Wednesday, 17 June - Sisters are doin' it for themselves

Good morning, it’s Wednesday, 17 June. In your Squiz Today…

• The RBA holds interest rates steady

• Kyle Sandilands settles with ARN

• And the Williams sisters get a Wimbledon wildcard…🎾

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

Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said Carla Gomez about her duck Merlin, who’s gone viral for waddling around Mexico City in his football kit after the host nation’s opening World Cup match. He was already a local celeb, and now fans hope the lucky duck will help score duck, duck gooooals…

Let’s go steady…

The Squiz

That sound you can hear is mortgage-holders breathing a little easier after the Reserve Bank decided yesterday to leave interest rates on hold at 4.35%. There’s been 3 interest rate rises since December - that’s slowed the economy, but Governor Michele Bullock isn’t ruling out more hikes down the track, saying “I want to be very clear that inflation remains too high”.

What’s the outlook?

The Reserve Bank board voted unanimously to keep rates steady to let a little more time lapse so they can see what effect the past rises are having on household spending. And they say there are signs that people have been tightening their belts, but inflation is still too high. It remains at 4.2%, which is above the target range of 2-3%. Rising fuel costs caused by disruptions from the US-Iran war have added to that, and it’s becoming more and more clear that it’s pushing other prices up along the supply chain, “so inflation is likely to remain high for some time”. With that in mind, Oxford Economics’ Harry Murphy Cruise predicts that rates won’t move back down until the end of next year, saying “don’t expect rate cuts anytime soon”.

While we’re talking about the Strait - what’s the latest with the peace deal?

It’s been agreed and there’s going to be a ceremony with the US and Iran on Friday in Switzerland - but we could be waiting a while for global oil supplies to get back on track. Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the government is “realistic about how long it will take for the global economy to normalise and what that means for us”. The first step back to normality could be the return of the full amount of the fuel excise, which has been halved to 26c a litre for the past 3 months at a cost of $2.5 billion - from 1 July. PM Anthony Albanese says the government will make a call next week on whether to extend the rebate, and he’ll give Aussies “appropriate notice”.

Something's stirring under Wynyard

HBO Max has turned Sydney's old Wynyard station tunnels into a free, immersive House of the Dragon experience this Friday and Saturday. Imagine being guided through hidden passages to the Dragon Pit, where you find out if you'd survive a dragon... Not a bad way to get ready for season 3 - it kicks off Monday, 22 June.

Squiz the Rest

A military tragedy in the US

Eight crew members have died in a US Air Force B-52 bomber crash in Southern California on Monday morning local time. The plane was doing a routine test for a radar upgrade at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert, but it crashed shortly after takeoff and burst into flames on the runway. It’s the deadliest crash involving a B-52 bomber since 1982. Onboard were a mix of military personnel and government contractors, including 2 employees of the aircraft’s manufacturer Boeing. The long-range Stratofortress plane is built to carry nuclear and other weapons, but it’s not yet clear if it was carrying arms. The US military said the crash was “tragic and unsurvivable” and “we lost 8 great Americans”.

Kyle Sandilands settles with ARN

After his $100 million contract was ditched in March, reports say the radio host has agreed to a deal that’ll pay him $5 million a year over 3 years - far less than what he was originally seeking, but avoiding a battle in the Federal Court. This all started back in February when the high-profile KIIS presenter had an on-air fight with co-host Jackie O, leading to their long-running show being axed and both co-hosts launching separate lawsuits claiming they were wrongfully sacked, which ARN denied. The media company has faced months of sharemarket chaos but is expected to lodge a statement with the ASX today. It still faces a lawsuit from Henderson, which returns to the Federal Court on Thursday. The saga continues…

A newspaper, you say?

Talking of the changing media environment, the University of Canberra’s 2026 Digital News Report delivered some stark findings yesterday. This study is part of an international survey, and it found that overall interest in news had increased, particularly for women and young people… But they’re not turning to mainstream media - more than half of Aussies under 25yo have never read a newspaper or listened to the radio to keep up to date. It found we’re increasingly turning to social platforms, publisher websites, podcasts (ahem…) and AI chatbots. And a big change to note: experts say although TV is still the main source of news, 43% of Aussies get their news from ‘influencers’ online, and in the 18-24yo cohort, that jumps to 70%...
* We’re gearing up for our next Squiz Survey to hear about your news consumption preferences. Just putting that on your radar so you can warm up your form-filling muscles…

Don’t call it a comeback…

The tennis world is buzzing this morning after Serena and Venus Williams announced they’ll be teaming up to play together at Wimbledon in the women’s doubles. It’s one of the most highly anticipated wildcard announcements in recent memory…they’re two of the best players ever and have won 14 major doubles titles together. This follows Serena’s return to professional tennis earlier this month and she’s been in action overnight at the Berlin Open. She went out in the first round, but says she was “better than her comeback match at Queens.” (How fitting). Onwards and upwards - get your strawberries and cream ready… You can watch Wimbledon from June 29 on Channel 9 and Stan Sport.

Making it Reyne for Aussie rock fans

Aussie rock legends Australian Crawl are reuniting for the first time in 40 years at the Red Hot Summer Tour later this year. The band’s original frontman James Reyne will be playing with guitarist Simon Binks and drummer David Reyne for 10 shows, alongside Aussie music icon Colin Hay from Men at Work. They’ll be joined by a who’s who of homegrown talent, including Birds of Tokyo, 2026 ARIA hall of famers Vika and Linda, Eskimo Joe, Boom Crash Opera and Ella Hooper. The Red Hot Summer tour has been around since 2011, capturing the hearts of Gen Xers with its 80s Aussie rock acts. You can catch it in regional Australia from mid-October to mid-November - sign up for pre-sale tickets here.

Apropos of Nothing - batty edition

Sydneysiders in Harrington Park are dealing with an influx of unwelcome visitors in the form of 50,000 bats… Residents say that the smell has permeated every corner of their homes, and the noise wakes everyone up at 4.30am. Worst alarm clock ever… 

Over to Zambia, where the largest mammal migration on Earth of 10 million fruit bats has begun. They come from Central Africa for seasonal fruits, and it’s considered an incredible spectacle. Maybe the bats in Harrington Park could take a hint and join them?

And DC has announced a one-shot comic book team up between Superman, Batman (that’s 3 for 3 on bat stories) and musician jokester Weird Al Yankovic. DC says Weird Al didn’t write it, but contributed “vibes” to the 40-page story. Holy jokes, Batman…

Squiz the Day

10.00am (AEST) - Australia's netball lineup for the imminent Commonwealth Games will be announced - Sydney 

12.15pm (AEST) - Reserve Bank Assistant Governor Brad Jones to deliver a speech at the Australian Banking Association's annual conference - Melbourne

12.30pm (AEST) - One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is set to address the National Press Club - Canberra 

1.00pm (AEST) - Cricket: Bangladesh v Australia first T20I - Bangladesh, watch on Kayo

2.00pm (AEST) - Bail decision for Zeinab Ahmad, one of 2 ‘ISIS brides’ charged with slavery offences - Melbourne

7.30pm (AEST) - Cricket: Women's T20 World Cup - Australia v Bangladesh - West Yorkshire, watch on Prime Video

8.05pm (AEST) - Rugby League: Men's State of Origin Game 2 with the NSW Blues v the Queensland Maroons - Melbourne, watch on 9Now

World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 

Iceland’s National Day

🥕 Eat Your Vegetables Day

Birthdays for former tennis star Venus Williams (1980), rapper Kendrick Lamar (1987), and former Aussie swimmer/Olympian Stephanie Rice (1988)

Anniversary of:

• Charles Goodyear obtaining his first rubber patent (1837)

• the Statue of Liberty arriving in New York aboard French ship Isere (1885)

• the last public guillotining in France (1939)

• Swedish DJ and producer Avicii releasing his hit song Wake Me Up (2013)