Wednesday, 18 September - On this harvest moon

September 18, 2024

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

  • Election date speculation builds

  • A wave of pager explosions causes carnage in Lebanon

  • And a once in a blue moon event… 🌕

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Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

"If I was a man, then I'd be the man."

Said MONA's lawyer Catherine Scott (who’s clearly a Swiftie) as she wrapped up her arguments in the appeal hearing against the closure of the gallery’s infamous ladies’ lounge yesterday. A decision was reserved for a later date, so we’re set to see more navy and pearl protests…

Revving up the election date speculation

The Squiz

If you have a political nerd in your life (or you’re one yourself…), you should set time aside to ponder when we’ll vote in the next federal election after PM Anthony Albanese yesterday refused to rule out pulling the trigger on a double dissolution election. That’s come about because his government’s having trouble getting 3 pieces of legislation through the Senate, with the Greens and Coalition opposing them. Albanese’s more than a bit frustrated by that, dubbing the parties the “no-alition”.

I have a lot of questions…

That's reasonable… So, just on the bills in question - the main issue is with Labor's $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, which the Greens say would drive up prices and give tax breaks to property developers. Then there are the Nature Positive and Future Made In Australia bills that aren’t faring much better… And just a reminder of what Team Albanese needs to do to get their legislation passed in the Senate: they need the support of the Coalition, or the Greens and at least 3 crossbenchers. On these bills to date, that’s not happening… Yesterday, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said “it is not leadership to bulldoze your way through” - a reference to Albanese’s leaving open the possibility of an early-ish election being called if these bills aren’t passed. 

So where does this double dissolution thing come in? 

Good question. Under our constitution, the government can call a double dissolution (which would spill all MPs and senators from their seats) when there is a deadlock over a proposed law. This can happen when the Senate twice rejects a bill - and if the government wants to, it can use that ‘trigger’ to call an election to let voters decide on the outcome. We’re due to have our regular election by late May next year (when only half of our senators are up for re-election), but the time for the government to pull the double dissolution trigger would need to happen by late December. Albanese says his priority is for the legislation to be passed, but pundits are intrigued about the possibility that there could be a double dissolution election by Australia Day. To be continued…

Squiz the Rest

Pager explosions cause carnage in Lebanon and Syria

A coordinated wave of hundreds of handheld pager explosions across Lebanon and Syria has killed at least 9 people and injured thousands. Officials say 8 Hezbollah members are among the dead, and one child, and that the afternoon blasts injured 2800 including Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon. Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the attacks, vowing to get "its fair punishment" but so far the Israeli military hasn't commented. Reports say the pagers were "the latest model" recently bought by Hezbollah and that the group has now told its members to avoid mobile phones. The simultaneous detonations are the latest in a growing number of tit-for-tat attacks inflaming tensions between Israel and Hezbollah militants - and they came hours after Israel expanded its war goals to include the Lebanese border.

Bad Boy for Life

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ fall from grace continues after he was charged with sex trafficking crimes in New York City yesterday. It follows raids on 2 of his homes in Los Angeles/Miami in March as part of an "ongoing investigation”. Court documents claim the 54yo musician/entrepreneur turned his hip hop business into a crime racket and that he allegedly threatened women “to fulfil his sexual desires” and on several occasions assaulted them. Combs has faced numerous allegations of sexual assault/abuse since 2023, particularly after CCTV footage from 2016 went viral in May this year showing him violently assaulting his former partner Cassie Ventura in a hotel. Combs has denied all allegations, and his lawyer says he's an "innocent man". The rapper has also denounced numerous civil lawsuits against him for rape and grooming as a “money grab”. He’ll appear in court later today.

Europe’s big flood fight

Historic floods across Central/Eastern Europe have killed at least 21 people and continue to cause havoc, even where waters are receding. Storm Boris has lashed the region since Friday, impacting millions of people in Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland - where authorities have ordered the entire city of Nysa to evacuate. The deluge has burst river banks, collapsed dams and caused widespread power outages, shutting down public transport and submerging entire neighbourhoods. One Vienna local said in 25 years he’d “never before seen such an intensity” of bad weather. Other countries remain on high alert, including Germany where Chancellor Olaf Scholz ordered mobile flood protection walls be set up. As Italy braces for its turn today, experts say climate change is to blame for the increasing frequency/intensity of extreme weather events.

Some wheelie good causes

We’re not opposed to a bike ride around the neighbourhood, but a couple of Aussies are taking their passion for peddling to the next level by cycling huge distances in the name of a good cause. Alex Cleary set off last Thursday for Project Syd > Mel, which will see him ride 100km a day to raise $100,000 for the Black Dog Institute in honour of his sister Meghan who took her own life. Professional cyclist Lachlan Morton is also peddling around the whole of Oz, raising funds for the Indigenous Literary Foundation to support some of the remote communities he’ll be swinging through. Morton’s progress currently has him set to beat the existing record of 37 days, 20 hours and 45 minutes. Go you good things…

Mad for the moon

If you’ve noticed a sudden abundance of moon cakes for sale and some huge lantern displays on your socials, that’s because the annual mid-autumn festival went into full swing overnight, as millions of people across the world celebrate the traditional harvest season. It’s one of the most important holidays in East/Southeast Asian cultures, based on folklore of how a woman named Chang’e became the moon goddess. This year’s festivities have been disrupted by Typhoon Bibanca, especially in China where 216 million people are on the move, but it hasn’t dampened their spirits… Adding to the lunar action, a Harvest supermoon tonight has astronomers looking to the skies. Aussies can catch a glimpse in capital cities starting in Brissie at 5:53pm. And if you miss it tonight, there’s the Hunter’s, Beaver and Cold moons to look forward to later this year.

Apropos of Nothing

A “hectic” online auction in South Australia has seen the number plate “8” go for $2.3 million. You read that right… It was one of the first numeric plates sold back in 1906, so it has historic - and huge financial - value.

A man rescued by local council workers after being bitten by an eastern brown snake says they’re now “mates for life”. After he had a seizure, the concreters managed to get him breathing again before calling an ambulance. 

If you ever suspect you see colours a little differently to others around you, a visual neuroscientist has your back… Dr Patrick Mineault and his wife couldn’t agree on whether a blanket was blue or green, so he did the scientific thing and created a colour-discrimination test online. It’s the blue-black/white-gold dress saga all over again…

Squiz the Day

8.45am (ACST) - Northern Territory Clean Energy and Decarbonisation Forum (until 19 September) - Darwin

9.00am (AEST) - Jay Je Yoon Jung, accused of creating the “Ghost” encrypted platform used by underworld figures in Italian, Korean and Middle Eastern crime gangs, will appear in court after AFP raids on his Narwee home yesterday - Sydney

10.00am (AEST) - A report by the NSW Anti-Slavery Commissioner is set to be released addressing modern slavery risks for temporary migrant workers in rural and regional NSW - Sydney

12.00pm (AEST) - Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games President Andrew Liveris will address a CEDA event to discuss lessons from the Paris Games - Brisbane

12.30pm (AEST) - Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Murray Watt will speak at the National Press Club on workplace reforms easing cost of living pressures - Canberra

1.00pm (AEST) - International law experts will give a special briefing in Parliament House on Australia’s trade obligations with Israel and Palestine - Canberra

6.00pm (AEST) - The first of this year’s 2 supermoons will be visible, check the best time to see it in your city here

Instagram will today launch teen accounts for all users under 18

Chile's national day 

National Cheeseburger Day in the US 🍔

Birthdays for Lance Armstong (1971) and Jada Pinkett-Smith (1971)

Anniversary of:

  • the New York Times publishing its first issue (1851)

  • Tiffany & Co being founded by Charles Tiffany and John Young as a stationery and fancy goods store (1857)

  • the release of the film A Streetcar Named Desire starring Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh (1951)

  • the premiere of The Addams Family (1964), Get Smart (1965) and I Dream of Jeannie (1965)

  • the deaths of Jimi Hendrix (1970) and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (2020)