Wednesday, 30 September - Just dance, spin that record babe

Good morning, it’s Wednesday, 30 September. In your Squiz Today…

• Tech firm OpenAI apologises after the Medicare website breach

• Interest rates rise to the highest level in 15 years

• And US-based makeup brand Merit launches in Sephora…💄

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

Squiz the Weather

Squiz Sayings

Is what the South Korean port city of Busan is calling Bukang-i, a 3.5m bronze whaler shark that’s been trapped in a narrow canal for over a week. The rare sight has made a splash on socials, with over 600,000 people visiting - a brand deal can’t be far away…

OpenAI says sorry to Aussies

The Squiz

The artificial intelligence company behind chatbot ChatGPT apologised yesterday for its AI agents breaching a number of government websites. In a blog post, the company revealed its agents dug into more than Medicare stats during a training exercise in June; they also pulled data from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Victorian Department of Health and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Although personal records weren’t accessed, the company admitted it should have handled its response better, saying: “We are sorry and working to do better in the future”. The post also revealed more details on how the Medicare breach came about.

What were they doing?

While training an experimental AI model that wasn’t meant for public release, the company asked it to research government spending on medicines for skin conditions in Victorian communities. When it hit a block, it found a way to hack into the service to get what it was after, which OpenAI says it wasn’t asked to do. The company says that after one of its agents hacked into software company Hugging Face in July, OpenAI carried out a review of earlier training activity and discovered the Oz breaches. It said they’re “a new kind of cyber incident which represents an emerging global challenge”. But it wants to work with the Oz Government to find, disclose and respond to AI cyber incidents in the future - whether malicious or unintentional. And in committing to do that, it’s making some changes.

What’s in store?

It’s already tightened up training guardrails, including blocking live internet access - now it's promising an Aussie taskforce and help with our cyber defence. And this week it scrapped the planned release of its newest GPT-6.1 Astra model after safety concerns were raised. The ongoing anxiety around AI going rogue is leading to some pushback here in Oz, where the tech is the subject of 3 public inquiries. There’s parliament’s Joint Select Committee on AI - OpenAI’s chief strategy officer Jason Kwon will fly to Sydney to appear before that on 6 October. There’s also a separate Senate inquiry into AI and data centres resuming tomorrow, and a Royal Commission kicking off in South Oz. In the US, President Donald Trump has just held a meeting with tech CEOs about it - Trump posted the seating chart, so you can have a look and imagine what these people make small talk about…

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

Ain’t no hold ‘em

As predicted, the Reserve Bank raised the cash rate from 4.35% to 4.6% yesterday in a unanimous vote by its 9 Monetary Policy Board members. The cash rate influences interest rates charged by retail banks, and all 4 big banks are expected to pass on the rate rise to customers on variable rate home loans. It means mortgage holders with an average home loan of $731,000 will be up for an extra $118 a month. Here’s a handy calculator if you want to check how it might impact your repayments… RBA Governor Michele Bullock said she knows it’ll be “tough” on households and businesses, but it’s necessary to bring inflation down to its target range of 2% to 3% (it’s currently at 3.5%). We’re due for an update on those figures today, so stay tuned.

Housing pain in Spain

We’re not the only country with housing on our minds at the moment - the Spanish government has just announced new housing policies following a week of nationwide protests. They were triggered by the eviction of an 87yo pensioner, Maria del Carmen Abascal Martin, after an investment firm bought her apartment building and raised her rent from $800 a month to $4,302. She became a symbol of Spain’s housing crisis - analysts say it needs to build a million more homes to have enough to go around. The left-wing coalition government is now planning to ban investment firms from buying housing until 2028 and ban evictions until 2030 - if the Spanish parliament agrees. As for Abascal, the investment firm bowed to pressure and brought her rent back down to around its original level - she’s set to return home in the coming days.

Cleary eyes, full hearts, can’t lose

Penrith Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary is the favourite to win the men’s Dally M tonight - the award for the best player in the NRL. And he could use a lift, because he’s currently recovering from surgery on his broken leg after a hip drop tackle from Newcastle Knights player Phoenix Crossland in Sunday’s preliminary final loss. Last night, Crossland was suspended for 4 games for that tackle, which rules him out of this weekend’s Grand Final against the Sydney Roosters. Over in the NRLW, Brisbane Broncos star Tamika Upton is the favourite to win the women’s Dally M - if she does, it’ll be the third time in 4 years she’s been named the game’s best player. She’ll also feature in Grand Final Day on Sunday, and according to NRL boss Peter V’landys, so will some surprise pre-match entertainment…

Reader, they studied her

Kids around the world have been reading Charlotte Brontë’s classic Jane Eyre for generations, and now it’s made its way onto the compulsory reading list for Chinese teenagers. China's new school textbooks have just gone through a bit of a shake-up, which some reckon is to try and align children's thoughts and values with those promoted by the ruling Chinese Communist Party. A recent piece in the Beijing Daily said the Victorian novel could help children “establish a more balanced value system” because of its anti-materialistic love story. In case it’s been a while - Jane Eyre was seen as a groundbreaking heroine because she insisted on being treated as an equal, regardless of her gender or social class. It also gave us one of the original brooding love interests in Mr Rochester (and his secret in the attic). Proof that a 178yo governess can still teach kids a thing or two…

A well-merited launch

You might have to plan around crowds if you’re shopping near a Sephora today, because the US-based makeup brand Merit will be available in 37 Australian and New Zealand stores for the first time. Merit has become popular for its minimalist, quick-and-easy approach to makeup - it went viral for its “5-minute morning” makeup routine that took the hassle out of getting ready for the day. Aussies have been able to buy it online since late 2024, but never in-store - and that’s significant because matching shades and buying the right products are a lot easier in person. If it’s anything like the February launch of Hailey Bieber’s Rhode at Mecca stores, hordes of people will be at your local shopping centre - and if you’re keen to find out more about Merit, here’s Fashion Journal’s take on the best products…

Apropos of Nothing

A Telstra payphone in the town of Narooma on the NSW South Coast has been heritage-listed. It was a line to the outside world when the internet went down during the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires, and locals now have it as a working piece of history.

An 11yo primary school student has become chess’s youngest ever woman grandmaster after competing at the 46th Chess Olympiad. Bodhana Sivanandan said she doesn’t let the pressure get to her and “just tried to enjoy it” - what a queen…   

And a Nigerian man known as Ben Dancer has just danced for 7 days straight (that’s 168 hours with no breaks) to try and bag a new record. He says his performance aims to reflect Nigeria’s diversity. Bust a move…

Squiz the Day

9.00am (AEST) - Australian Social Policy Conference 2026 begins (until 2 October) - Brisbane 

9.30am (AEST) - Sentencing due for a man who threatened to kill Treasurer Jim Chalmers - Sydney 

10.00am (AEST) - The Australian Transport Safety Bureau will release four preliminary reports into recent incidents at Sydney Airport - Canberra, read our Shortcut for more information on what happened 

10.00am (AEST) - Federal MP Luke Gosling returns to court over 2 charges of assault - Darwin

12.30pm (AEST) - Queensland Treasurer David Janetzki will address the National Press Club on 'Queensland’s unique position to drive the national economy and the threats to the stability of the federation' in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympic Games - Brisbane, watch on ABC iview 

12.30pm (AEST) - The Australian Council will unpack research trends in polling, including the rise of One Nation and the impact of AI - Melbourne 

6.00pm (AEST) - Rugby league: The NRL Dally M Awards night to recognise the players of the year in the NRL and NRLW - Sydney 

9.30pm (AEST) - Cricket: Third Men's ODI between South Africa and Australia - South Africa, watch on Kayo 

AFL Draft Combine begins (until 3 October) - Melbourne 

Football: A-League season launch - Sydney 

ABS data release: building approvals, August 2026; consumer price index, August 2026; engineering construction activity, June 2026 

Merit will be available in stores in Australia for the first time at Sephora

Botswana’s National Day

International Podcast Day

Birthdays for Coalition leader Angus Taylor, actor and writer Fran Drescher (1957) and dancer Maddie Ziegler (2002)

Anniversary of: 

• the first publication of Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women (1868) 

• anaesthetic ether being used for the first time by American dentist Dr William Morton (1846)

• the death of James Dean (1955)

• the premiere of the cartoon The Flintstones (1960)

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