Wednesday, 18 March - Money's too tight to mention

Good morning, it’s Wednesday, 18 March. In your Squiz Today…

• The Reserve Bank lifts interest rates again

• Israel says it’s killed 2 senior Iranian officials

• And the Tillies are one step closer to becoming Asian Cup champions

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Curious to know…

Squiz Sayings

Says Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) to her son Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) in the newly released trailer for Dune: Part Three, the conclusion to the successful sci-fi trilogy. We assume she’s not talking about Chalamet’s PR war with the ballet/opera communities…

The great rates debate

The Squiz

After 2 days of “robust” conversations, the Reserve Bank board yesterday voted 5-4 to jack up the national cash rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4.1%. With petrol price rises already biting, the second consecutive jump is set to tighten the squeeze on mortgage holders as the 4 big banks followed suit with interest rates. Explaining the decision, Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock said while the war in the Middle East had resulted in “sharply higher fuel prices, which, if sustained, will add to inflation”, she noted it wasn’t the reason for the rate hike, saying inflation was “already too high” beforehand.

How did it go down?

It wasn’t a big surprise tbh - economists and the banks were tipping a rise. Bullock acknowledged that the move will mean money will be tight for some - particularly for renters and people on low incomes, adding that “some people might have to make tough decisions”. But she said the hike was necessary to bring rising inflation back within the target range of between 2-3% (down from the 3.8% it’s at…), warning that if we don’t, we’ll be looking at a possible recession. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said it would hit household budgets hard but he vowed the government would “do what we responsibly can” to respond to cost pressures. But Coalition Treasury spokesman Tim Wilson said Chalmers was in a “state of denial” and that government spending continued “to pour debt petrol on the inflation fire”.

And it was a busy day for economic nerds…

…because as promised, the Senate inquiry into the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) tabled its report, which recommends scaling back the CGT discount. To remind you, it reduces profits from the sale of investments like properties and shares by 50% for tax purposes. The Greens-led inquiry found that the discount skewed investment dollars towards housing, by keeping demand high and first-time buyers out. The Liberal senators on the committee didn’t agree - they said the housing crisis was down to a lack of supply and reducing the CGT discount wouldn’t fix that. This is all making the Treasurer’s upcoming May budget even more anticipated than usual - Chalmers says he’ll be “working up a number of reform packages for this budget, and they’ll be focused on savings; they’ll be focused on productivity”.

Getting hold of a slippery issue

The price of oil is a hot topic with the unfolding war in Iran and its impact on global oil supplies becoming clearer by the day. And when we’re talking oil prices, you might also hear Brent crude mentioned… It’s a type of oil from the North Sea and is used as a benchmark for oil prices, with flow-on effects for petrol, diesel and jet fuel costs. You can learn more about it and how it affects your own budget in this explainer from the CommBank Newsroom.

Squiz the Rest

Fighting continues in the Middle East

The Israeli government says its military has killed 2 more senior Iranian leaders overnight - security chief Ali Larijani and Basij militia leader Gholamreza Soleimani. Though their deaths haven’t been confirmed by Iran, Larijani in particular would be the most senior government figure to be killed in the war since Iran’s former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He was considered a contender to take over for Khamenei, and he had been much more publicly visible than the new Supreme Leader, Khamenei’s 56yo son Mojtaba, who is reportedly injured. The killings have earned a rebuke from Iran’s neighbour Türkiye, who described them as illegal - Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said “they must come to an end as soon as possible”.
*We mentioned Ali Larijani in our shortcut to what Iran might look like after Ali Khamenei’s death - you can have a read of that here…

More tanker trouble

A burnt-out Russian gas tanker drifting in the Mediterranean Sea has European nations worried about a potential ecological disaster. The Arctic Metagaz caught fire on 3 March between Libya and Malta - Russia says it was hit by a Ukrainian drone attack, but Ukraine hasn’t confirmed that. Reports say the ship - which is unmanned - has been sanctioned by the European Union as part of Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’, meaning a ship Russia uses to export its oil under false flags and ownership to get around Western sanctions. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed the tanker was carrying lots of fuel, but said responsibility for “resolving the situation” lies with coastal countries and that further involvement from Russia would “depend on the specific circumstances.”

There’s been a major plot twist…

…in the saga of Kouri Richins, a Utah mother-of-3 who wrote a children’s book about grief after her husband’s death - yesterday, she was found guilty of his murder. A jury ruled that she fatally poisoned Eric Richins in March 2022 with a Fentanyl-laced cocktail. The court heard that the 35yo real estate agent had racked up millions in debts, took out several life insurance policies, and was having an affair. In summing up, prosecutor Brad Bloodworth said “She wanted to leave Eric Richins but did not want to leave his money”. Shortly before she was arrested, Richins self-published a children’s book called Are You With Me? designed to teach kids about grief, but prosecutors said it was a ploy to cover her crime. As for how Richins’ own story ends - we’ll find out on 13 May when she’s sentenced. 

Kerr-iffic

The Matildas are one win away from becoming Women’s Asian Cup champions, after defeating China 2-1 in Perth last night in front of over 35,000 fans. In a fast-paced semi-final, some of the Tillies’ biggest names came to the fore, with Mary Fowler, Ellie Carpenter and Caitlin Foord combining for the team’s first goal. After China equalised 9 minutes later, hometown hero Sam Kerr hit a perfectly angled shot to regain the lead in the 58th minute. That means they’ll move on to the final on Saturday night in Sydney, where they’ll be playing the winner of tonight’s semi-final between South Korea and Japan. We had a look, and there are still tickets available if you’re lucky enough to be in Sydney and you have Saturday night free…

A hot new planet has entered the universe

The discovery of a new planet in our universe is nothing too unusual - astronomers are finding those things all the time - but the discovery of a new type of planet has tongues wagging in the science world. This planet is about 35 light-years away, is known by the catchy name of L98-59d, and is likely entirely liquid - specifically, molten lava. Astrophysicist Dr Harrison Nicholls described it as being in a “mushy, molten state” - that means from core to surface, it’s all going with the flow - making it completely different to any type of planet previously discovered. But don’t bank on a planet-wide game of ‘the floor is lava’ anytime soon - it’s likely so hot (1,900C) that nothing could survive there, and it probably all smells like rotten eggs. Not exactly a holiday hotspot…

Apropos of Nothing

If you were downing a green beer yesterday but didn’t know what you were drinking for, The Conversation has shed some light on the legend of St Patrick. The first St Patrick's Day parades are recorded from 1762, but he was around just a bit before then…

Remember Kristin Cabot, the HR exec caught on a kiss cam with her boss at a Coldplay concert? She’s done an interview with Oprah about that night, and she says her estranged husband was at the same concert - didn’t think that situation could be more awkward, but here we are… 

And comedy legend Tina Fey has been named the first host of Saturday Night Live UK on 21 March. The UK version of the US comedy institution is having a 6-episode first season, with episodes released every, you guessed it, Saturday night…

Squiz the Day

7.30am (AEDT) - PM Anthony Albanese will give a speech to the Australian Automotive Dealer Association - Sydney

9.00am (AEDT) - ABC Education Media Literacy Summit, which will bring together researchers, policy makers, educators and journalists - Sydney 

11.00am (AEDT) - Baseball: World Baseball Classic Final, USA v Japan, LoanDepot Park - Miami, watch on Kayo 

11.30am (AEDT) - Ulrik Haagerup, CEO of the Constructive Institute - an independent centre for balanced, solutions-focused journalism - will address the National Press Club on 'Is Journalism Part of the Problem for Democracy? And how do we become part of the solution?' - Canberra

12.00pm (AEDT) - Infrastructure and Transport Minister Catherine King will be in conversation at an event held by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia - Melbourne

ABS data release: Recorded crime - offenders, 2024-2025 financial year

The Australian Paralympic team returns home from the Milano-Cortina Winter Games, with Governor General Sam Mostyn in attendance at Sydney International Airport with the athletes - Sydney

🤓 National Awkward Moments Day 

Global Recycling Day

Birthdays for actor Queen Latifah (1970), singer Adam Levine (1979) and actor Lily Collins (1989) 

Anniversary of:

• the first-ever public ‘bus’ service operating in Paris (1662)

• Mahatma Gandhi being sentenced to 6 years imprisonment for disobedience (1922) 

• Alexey Leonov becoming the first person to walk in space (1965)

• the deaths of actor Natasha Richardson (2009), musician Chuck Berry (2017) and obstetrician Dr Catherine Hamlin (2020)