Squiz Today – 29 April 2024

The Squiz 

As the national conversation about men’s violence against women continues, thousands of people rallied across Oz over the weekend to demand more action from the government. And while that was happening yesterday, a Perth man was charged with murdering 30yo mother of 4 Erica Hay after her body was found on Friday. Police allege 35yo Luke Sekkouah set their house on fire and fled with her 3yo child – who has since been recovered and treated for smoke inhalation. Hay is the 27th Aussie woman murdered by a man this year.

So what is being done?

PM Anthony Albanese has called a National Cabinet meeting on Wednesday to discuss violence against women with state/territory leaders. He attended the “No More” rally in Canberra yesterday and – after being heckled by some attendees – admitted that “governments of all levels must do better, including my own”. Nationals leader David Littleproud also called gender-based violence a “scourge” on society. But while all sides of politics agree more needs to be done, Federal Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth reiterated the government’s position that it won’t establish a royal commission into domestic violence. Instead, she says they will “get on with the job” of implementing the National Plan to End Domestic Violence against women. They’ll review how that’s working on 7 May during an emergency national roundtable called by Domestic Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin last week.

Anything else?

Yep – yesterday, Albanese also commemorated 28 years since the Port Arthur massacre. To mark the date, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus announced plans for a national firearms register to increase community and police safety. It will see more than $160 million spent over the next 4 years to allow states and territories to share data about firearms and gun owners in near real-time. Gun reform campaigner Walter Mikac – whose wife and 2 daughters were killed in the massacre – called it “bittersweet”, saying it should have been done in 1996 when former PM John Howard introduced the National Firearms Agreement in the immediate aftermath of the attack. While the move can’t come soon enough for campaigners, Coalition spokesperson Dan Tehan says “obviously we’d love it to be in place tomorrow” but bringing together different systems from every state and territory “takes time”.

Albanese heads to Alice

Fresh off those protests, PM Anthony Albanese has another difficult issue on his plate this week… He’ll be in Alice Springs today for the first time in more than a year, about a month after NT Chief Minister Eva Lawler imposed a curfew on the town’s youth after a recent uptick in violent crime. There’s not much detail about what Albanese’s visit will look like, but reports say he’ll be there until Tuesday (paywall). You might remember the latest surge of violence kicked off after a stolen car carrying 9 people crashed, leaving a teenage boy dead… It escalated to a group of 70 people attacking the Todd Tavern in Alice’s CBD on 27 March, before Lawler intervened by declaring a state of emergency. Last week, an 18yo man became the 5th person charged over the crash.

New hope for hostage families

The families of 2 people taken by Hamas in the 7 October attacks are pushing the Israeli government to lock in a new hostage release deal after the men were shown in a new video released by Hamas. Omri Miran and Keith Siegel (an Israeli/US citizen) both appeared, and although the proof of life video is undated, Miran said he’d been captive for “202 days” and Siegal spoke about being unable to celebrate Passover, which ends on Tuesday. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s office hasn’t responded to the video, but the men’s families say they will fight for their return. It follows Hamas’s release of another hostage video last week – of Israeli/US hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin – and comes as Egyptian mediators land in Israel to continue ceasefire negotiations this week.

Ukraine gets a boost

Hot on the heels of the huge US and UK aid packages for Ukraine last week, Deputy PM/Defence Minister Richard Marles says Oz will also send another $100 million of military funding. Marles made the announcement during a visit to the western Ukrainian city of Lviv over the weekend, where he met with Ukraine’s PM Denys Shmyhal and other senior leaders. The package takes Australia’s total support to over $1 billion since Russia’s invasion began more than 2 years ago – but Marles said it won’t be the last support offered. “We will stand with Ukraine for the long term, until Ukraine is able to resolve this war on its terms,” he said. In response, the Coalition “welcomed” the announcement but questioned where the money would come from in Australia’s budget. Reports say the aid will bring a vital boost to Ukraine’s forces struggling with weapons shortages on the frontline.

Return of the King

Two months after he announced his cancer diagnosis, King Charles will be back at work in the UK on Tuesday… His return to public duties will involve a visit with his wife, Queen Camilla, to a cancer treatment centre – although it’s not believed to be the one where he’s receiving treatment. Buckingham Palace says the King’s doctors are “very encouraged” by his progress and “positive” about his recovery, while another spokesperson said the King himself is “greatly encouraged to be resuming some public-facing duties and very grateful to his medical team”. He’s got a busy couple of months ahead – aside from the first anniversary of their Coronation on 6 May and a possible catch-up with Prince Harry who’ll return to the UK for the 10th Invictus Games, the King and Queen are preparing to host Japan’s Emperor and Empress for a state visit in June. Not to mention their potential visit to Oz later this year…

Forget about Fuji

We often hear about tourists behaving badly, and now it’s the Japanese who have been irked by shenanigans at one of their most iconic sites… Residents in the town of Fujikawaguchiko near Mount Fuji are going to extreme lengths to curb naughty goings on by erecting a big black barrier above a convenience store to block a popular view of the landmark. Locals say they’ve had enough of mostly foreign tourists dropping rubbish, parking illegally and even climbing on rooftops to get the perfect shot of the mountain with the small Lawson shop in front of it, with the juxtaposition having a “reputation” for being “very Japanese”. A huge 2.5m by 20m mesh net will be put up to block out the view, which locals say is “regrettable… because of some tourists who can’t respect rules”. 

A private collector in the US has dropped a cool $2.3 million on a gold pocket watch that was recovered from the body of the richest man on the Titanic – businessman John Jacob Astor. It marks a new record price for a piece of the ill-fated ship’s memorabilia. 

If you’re in need of a laugh, then we have some crustacean-based gags to brighten your day after a competition in the UK crowned the world’s funniest crab joke. Taking the top spot was “Why did the crab cross the road? It didn’t. It used the sidewalk.” What a pinchline…

Nicole Kidman has become the first Aussie to win the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award after 41 years in the movie biz. The home-grown fave says she’s “deeply moved” to join the ranks of previous winners including Meryl Streep, Denzel Washington and George Clooney. 

9.30am (AEST) – A new coronial inquest into the disappearance of Sydney model Revelle Balmain in 1994 to begin – Sydney

10.15am (AEST) – Hearing to begin in racial discrimination case against One Nation leader Senator Pauline Hanson over “hateful tweet” – Sydney

ACT, SA, Tas, NSW School Term 2 starts

World Wish Day

International Dance Day 

Birthdays for Jerry Seinfeld (1954), Daniel Day Lewis (1957), Michelle Pfeiffer (1958), and Uma Thurman (1970)

Anniversary of:

• the release of Aretha Franklin’s song Respect (1967)
• the death of Alfred Hitchcock (1980)
• the Chemical Weapons Convention coming into force, which outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons by its signatories (1997)
• the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton (2011)