Squiz Today – 28 October 2021

THE SQUIZ
There were a couple of developments yesterday that show Australia is moving along the COVID roadmap and out of what has been a difficult 18 months.

AND THE FIRST THING IS?
As Australia edges towards a 75% fully vaccinated rate, booster doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for people aged over 18yo. To be administered 6 months after a second dose, the Pfizer shot can be given to any vaccinated person no matter the brand of their first doses. The government’s immunisation experts are yet to provide their advice, but Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt predicts that boosters will start to be rolled out to the most at risk Aussies from 8 November. Why are boosters a thing? There’s evidence that the extra shot will provide better long-term protection against COVID because immunity will decrease over time.

I’LL TELL YOU WHAT ELSE IS DECREASING OVER TIME…
Your pandemic patience? Take heart – a big feature of Australia’s response to the pandemic will be dismantled on Monday. From 1 November, fully vaccinated Aussies will not need to ask permission to leave the country. Non-Aussie arrivals will continue to be restricted. And despite PM Scott Morrison yesterday saying that unvaccinated tennis stars could be allowed in for the Australian Open in January, providing they do their quarantine time, Victorian officials said no thanks. “We only want vaccinated people at these major sporting events,” said Victoria’s COVID response commander Jeroen Weimar. There will be no exemptions granted, even to the world’s #1 player Novak Djokovic. Let’s call that 15 all?

Climate cleanup

Reports this morning say PM Morrison will include Australia’s short term forecast of a 35% cut to greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 in the paperwork that gets lodged at the United Nations summit in Glasgow next week. It adds to the new commitment of reaching net zero emissions by 2050 but won’t be considered a binding target. And because these things won’t be legislated here, Labor and the Greens have dismissed the forecasts saying they have no force. The Coalition continues to defend its approach saying it has runs on the board with emissions reducing by 20% since 2005 as the economy has grown by 45%. Morrison leaves this arvo for Rome, where he will attend the G20, and then it’s onto the COP26 summit. Not going to the climate showdown: Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, India’s Narendra Modi and Indonesia’s Joko Widodo.

Struggling to make out your G20 from your APEC? We’ve got a Squiz Shortcut for that…

America’s appeal to extradite Assange has kicked off

Aussie WikiLeaker Julian Assange has appeared in a London court via video link from prison as the US continues its legal battle to extradite him. To recap: in 2019, Assange was dragged out of the Ecuador Embassy in London, and then America charged him over the publication of top-secret military documents in 2010. He avoided being extradited last year over concerns for his mental health, but the US is appealing that decision – and here we are. Assange is considered a flight risk and has been kept in custody awaiting this appeal. Overnight, lawyers for the US say he could be sent to the US because he would be treated well – and could eventually serve any prison sentence in Australia. Assange’s lawyers say Oz has given no indication on what it thinks about that… The hearing will continue tomorrow, with a decision coming at a later date. Legal experts say it could take years to resolve.

Baldwin faces legal liability for set death

Police in New Mexico have spoken for the first time in the case confirming cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed when actor/producer Alec Baldwin accidentally shot her with a lead bullet. It was recovered from the shoulder of director Joel Souza, who is recovering from his injury. Legal officials haven’t ruled out criminal charges against Baldwin and his fellow producers over the death for what happened on the set of Rust movie last week. Describing the attitude to safety on set as complacent, authorities found a range of guns and 500 rounds of ammunition – live rounds and blanks. As for compensation for the victims, it could be covered in part by insurance and would likely run into the millions of dollars, experts say.

Fuel and house prices drive inflation

New consumer price data released by the Bureau of Stats yesterday revealed inflation exceeded expectations in the July to September quarter, jumping by 0.8%. That makes prices 3% higher than this time last year, driven by hikes at the bowser (7.1%) and the cost of new homes (3.3%). It’s the first time in 6 years that inflation has hit the Reserve Bank’s 2-3% target, but analysts say it’s unlikely the RBA will raise interest rates, not while pandemic woes continue to trouble the economy… Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy yesterday said that the economy shrunk by “around 3%” in the September quarter thanks to lockdowns in NSW and Victoria. Boo…

Watch out, crazy weather about

Just as togs season rocks up, wild weather is set to hit much of the country for the remainder of the week. Temperatures are predicted to hit the mid-30Cs in Sydney and across South Oz. But don’t get the sun lounge out yet – it will be humid with a “band of storms” forecast to pass over ​​every mainland state and territory before the end of the week. As it combines with a low-pressure system and heads east, the Bureau of Meteorology says southern Queensland to northern Victoria can expect supercell storms, heavy rainfall, hail, and flash flooding. Melbourne: brace for high wind. At southeast Tassie is expecting snow on Friday and Saturday as temperatures drop to -3C. Ooh that’s cold…

Norfolk Island is about to become part Queenslander… It’s an external territory that is governed by a regional council and bankrolled by the Commonwealth – and currently, NSW provides its health and education services. It’s had enough, so from the start of next year, Queensland is set to take the reins.

Also changing hands – a looted bronze cockerel taken from Nigeria by British colonial forces in 1897 and given to Jesus College at Cambridge Uni. The bird’s name is Okukur, and the occasion was described as “momentous”.

And doubling back on our ‘something awesome from the internet’ idea, we offer you an 18-year-old Amazon parrot named Tico, his human Frank Maglio Jr and their unique rock duets. If this rendition of Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car does it for you, there’s a whole YouTube channel of it…

Facebook’s annual Connect conference, where the company is set to announce its new name

PM Scott Morrison leave for the G20 Summit in Rome, and then onto Glasgow for COP26

ABS Data Release – International Trade Price Indexes, September

Company Results – Fortescue Metals, ANZ, Coles Group

Company AGMs – Boral, JB Hi-Fi, Star Entertainment, Reece

Independence Day in the Czech Republic

International Animation Day

Birthdays for Caitlyn Jenner (1949), Bill Gates (1955), Julia Roberts (1967), Joaquin Phoenix (1974), Matt Smith (1982) and Frank Ocean (1987)

Anniversary of:
• the release of Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift (1726)
• Italian fascists conducting the March on Rome, leading to the assumption of power by Benito Mussolini (1922)
• Elvis’s groundbreaking contribution to getting American teens vaccinated for polio (1956)

Friday
1.00am (AEDT) – T20 Cricket World Cup – Australia v Sri Lanka – Dubai, UAE