Wednesday, 21 October - We're playing basketball

Good morning, it’s Wednesday, 21 October. In your Squiz Today…

• Police have charged a 43yo man over the alleged attack on Indi MP Helen Haines

• The Northern Territory finds its child protection services failed Kumanjayi Little Baby

• And the NBA begins… 🏀

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🙋🏻‍♀️ This newsletter was written by Andrew Williams, Anna Pykett, Larissa Huntington, Jonathan Liondis and Sophie Felice

Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Said one Instagram comment in response to Delta Goodrem’s return to the UK’s Strictly Come Dancing this week. The Aussie pop singer had to take a week off due to a rib injury but had been kicking goals until then. Hopefully this will make up for Eurovision…

The latest on Helen Haines

The Squiz

The federal MP for Indi is still in a critical condition in hospital after being struck by a driver outside of her electorate office in the Victorian city of Wangaratta on Monday afternoon. She suffered severe injuries to her lower body, and reports say she has lost a leg as a result. Yesterday, her alleged attacker was named as 43yo Brendan Nugent, and Victoria Police have laid 3 charges against him, including the federal offence of causing harm to a Commonwealth public official, which has a maximum 10-year prison term. He’s set to appear in Wangaratta Magistrates Court today.

What do we know about him?

Reports say Nugent is unemployed and lives alone in Tarrawingee, about 12km from Wangaratta, and has been the subject of several complaints about anti-social behaviour. He’s also known to police - although they said there had been no “recent intelligence” to draw attention to him. He’s been involved in anti-logging campaigns and posted regularly about environmental causes online, including one instance where he complimented Haines on the social media platform X about her approach to climate change. A search of his home was carried out yesterday, but police are yet to establish a motivation for the alleged attack. His family released a statement saying they’ve been friends with Haines for over 20 years and what happened to her “is devastating and unfathomable”.

What happens next?

The AFP and Victoria Police will hold a press conference at 9am AEDT today on the charges against Nugent, and the Alfred Hospital is expected to give us an update on Haines’ condition this morning as well. While she underwent treatment, a pile of floral bouquets dropped off by community members yesterday grew by the hour outside Haines’ office. The alleged attack has also sparked a discussion about public rhetoric and threats towards our politicians - particularly against women - which have increased dramatically in recent years. To that point, Community Strong Australia MP Zali Steggall says she hopes the incident doesn’t turn women away from a career in politics, adding “it’s really important that we don’t let hate win”.

Diesel do nicely

Traditionally, mining runs on diesel. Trucks, trains, you know the drill. So if you're a miner and you want to cut your greenhouse gas emissions, that's the big problem to solve - you've got to find something else to run on. BHP is trialling battery-electric haul trucks, and these things are big: one charge holds enough power to run over a hundred homes for a day. The tech isn’t there yet, but that's where it's headed. Discover how it's happening now at BHP.

Squiz the Rest

Northern Territory child protection services are failing

That’s the finding of an independent review prompted by the alleged murder of Kumanjayi Little Baby in Alice Springs in April. The review, which was ordered by the NT Government, found that child protection officers didn’t properly assess safety threats to the 5yo and that there were long gaps where they didn’t see her. As such, it says she was exposed to severe domestic and family violence that was left unchecked. In 45 recommendations tabled in the NT parliament yesterday, the review calls for immediate changes to better protect children - and the government has accepted them all. Minister for Children and Families Robyn Cahill said Kumanjayi Little Baby’s case “is sadly not an isolated one”.

You can still call me Alberta

The Canadian province gave the idea of seceding from Canada and becoming its own country a firm no yesterday, with about a quarter of Albertans supporting holding a formal vote. The western province (like one of our Australian states) is home to about 12% of Canada’s population and much of its natural resources, including oil. That’s a source of tension between Alberta and the rest of Canada, which secessionists argued was stifling the province’s economic growth with its environmental policies. But Albertans have nipped the push to secede in the bud, which will come as a relief to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who didn’t support the idea. Neither did Alberta’s Premier Danielle Smith, who says she’ll make an address later today about the province’s future.

NAB is cutting 2,500 jobs

National Australia Bank has become the latest financial institution to announce plans for a restructure, which will see it axe 6% of its workforce by the middle of next year. NAB boss Andrew Irvine says the bank’s looking to get rid of management roles it doesn’t need, but he says customer-facing roles won’t be hit much… NAB didn’t specifically mention artificial intelligence as a factor behind the cuts, but it did refer to “rapid technological change”, which many are reading as a nod to the impact AI is having on white-collar jobs. Several other banks have announced similar moves in recent months, from big-4 rivals ANZ and CommBank to the smaller Bendigo and Adelaide Bank. NAB bosses will talk to staff this week to hash out what it all means.

Hoops, there it is

Time for one of our occasional sojourns into US sport, as the National Basketball Association tips off this morning. For us Aussies, it’s the first year that 2 local boys are on US$100 million contracts in the league at the same time - and both with their own, uh, unique nicknames. Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels is known as the Great Barrier Thief for his ball-stealing skills, while Chicago Bulls point guard Josh Giddey is known as the SLOB Wizard, because he’s good at passing the ball from SideLine Out of Bounds. He doesn’t like it much, weirdly enough… They’re both in action tomorrow, but it’s the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder that are this season’s favourites. And keep an eye on all-time great LeBron James, who is making one of his last runs at another championship ring with a brand new team, the Philadelphia 76ers.

Litter-ally must-watch TV

Finland’s national broadcaster Yle is livestreaming footage of 5yo Hilkka the dog and her 6 puppies around the clock - think of it like Big Brother for pooches (but with less chinwagging and more tailwagging). The program is called Pentulive (aka Puppy Live), and it’s in its sixth season. The pups were born on camera on 10 October and will be filmed (mostly snoozing) until they head to new homes at 8 weeks old. Science journalist Pirjo Koskinen came up with the idea - she says not only is it very cute, but it also helps people experiencing loneliness, sleeplessness and stress. The stream's been viewed more than 9 million times since it kicked off - not bad for a country of about 5.7 million. Needless to say, we’ll be watching right up to the Finnish…

Apropos of Nothing - Cute animals edition

Competing for best sentence we’ve ever typed: 150 sausage dogs in New Zealand ran in the annual Weiner Derby this weekend. Some may not have followed the track, but we don’t think anyone is really watching for the competitive rigour…

In that same competition for best sentence ever: a bear in California broke into an empty school library to eat a jar of honey (wait for it) on the 100th anniversary of the publication of Winnie-the-Pooh. Sometimes the stories write themselves…

And a wildlife park on the Isle of Man has drawn record crowds over the weekend after it welcomed 8 capybara pups into the world a few weeks ago. The park manager’s very technical description of them was “a super overload of cuteness really” - well said…

Squiz the Day

8.45am (AEDT) - Reserve Bank of Australia Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser takes part in a fireside chat at the Citi Australia & New Zealand Investment Conference - Sydney

9.00am (AEDT) - Bega Group AGM - Bega

9.00am (AEDT) - AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett and Victoria Police Commissioner Mike Bush will address reporters after charges were laid against 43yo Brendan Nugent 

9.00am (AEDT) - Women in Leadership Summit begins (until 22 October) - Sydney 

9.30am (AEDT) - The Nationals' leader Matt Canavan will speak at a press conference at The Big Banana alongside member for Cowper Pat Conaghan and banana grower Paul Shoker to call for protections for local growers - Coffs Harbour 

11.00am (AEDT) - Toll roads operator Transurban AGM - Melbourne 

12.30pm (AEDT) - ACT independent Senator David Pocock will address the National Press Club on ‘What we could build with our natural wealth if we thought and planned for the long term’ - Canberra, watch on ABC iView 

12.00pm (AEST) - Queensland Premier David Crisafulli will outline significant policy for the next 2 years at the Queensland Media Club - Brisbane 

2.00pm (AEDT) - Cricket: Women’s T20 Spring Challenge Final - Sydney, watch on Kayo

5.30pm (AEDT) - Netball: Constellation Cup Australia v New Zealand - Christchurch, watch for free on Kayo 

Overseas voting opens for New Zealand's election 

NRL: The PNG Chiefs will unveil their club logo, with a jersey reveal tomorrow - Port Moresby 

Brisbane Melt Festival begins (until 8 November)

International Pronouns Day

International Day of the Nacho 

Birthday for reality TV stars Judge Judy (1942) and Kim Kardashian (1980)

Anniversary of:

• English scientist John Dalton unveiling his atomic theory (1803)

• the death of former PM Gough Whitlam (2014)

Housekeeping

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