Squiz Today – Friday, 16 June

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“I didn't know when the verdict was going to come so just before when I was sitting at the hotel, I ate a whole bag of chicken chips and a block of Cadbury Snack, so I'm feeling a little gross. I was stress eating definitely.”

Actress Rebel Wilson yesterday won her case against Woman’s Day publisher Bauer Media. Damages are yet to be awarded, but Wilson said it wasn't about the dollars, it was about defending her name and getting her career back on track. Wilson argued the mag got it wrong when it published accusations saying she lied about her name, age and background which cost her work. She says her next project is a film that involves pashing Liam Hemsworth. Now that would be a Hollywood ending!

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MORE JOBS, BUT HIGHER BILLS

THE SQUIZ
More full-time jobs were created in May than in any month in the past 12 years with more than 52,000 positions created. The surge brought the unemployment rate down from 5.7% to 5.5% - the lowest since March 2013. But it wasn’t all good news – our gross Commonwealth debt is expected to hit a record $500 billion today. And you thought your credit card bill was bad….  Meanwhile, more households were told to brace for higher electricity prices from July.

GIVE ME THE GOOD NEWS
You could soon be up for a pay rise. The theory is pay packets will rise as the jobs market tightens (ie there are fewer people looking for work and employers are willing to pay more to attract good talent). Besides that, it’s good for the community that more people are in full-time work and good for our tax coffers with more people paying income tax.

THAT’S GREAT! WHAT’S THE CATCH?
If unemployment is low and wages go up, it’s likely inflation and interest rates will rise too, so you may not be that much better off overall. And the government is unlikely to tackle serious income tax reform anytime soon with that humungous debt to service. And there’s other household costs to factor in – Energy Australia, one of the nation’s biggest electricity retailers, announced yesterday that power prices will go up by 20% from July in NSW and South Australia. Holy moly, we're turning the heating off and putting another jumper on. 

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SQUIZ THE REST

ABC REPORTER SHOT IN THE NECK
ABC journalist Adam Harvey was so very lucky to avoid serious injury or worse when he was shot in the neck yesterday while covering the battle between the Philippines government and Islamic State fighters in Marawi. He comes from good journalistic stock - he’s the son of the revered Peter Harvey and brother of the Sunday Telegraph’s Claire Harvey. He said he was ok even though the bullet remained in his neck; “…luckily it missed everything important and it just got lodged behind my jaw," he tweeted somewhat nonchalantly. Check out the x-ray here.

LONDON GRENFELL TOWER TRAGEDY TOLL RISES
Officials say 17 people perished as a result of the fire but they expect that number to continue to rise. Thirty people remain in hospital, 15 are in critical care. UK PM Theresa May yesterday ordered a full public inquiry into the tragedy.

TRUMP UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE
This saga has more twists and turns than The Bold and the Beautiful but we’ll make this simple. When US President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey (who was heading the investigation into links the Trump campaign may have had with Russia), Robert Mueller was appointed as a special counsel to continue the probe. It was revealed yesterday the Mueller is investigating whether Trump himself tried to obstruct justice in firing Comey amongst other things. The irony is Comey had assured Trump he wasn’t under investigation in the Russia probe. Got it? Look, the key take-out is the pressure has just ramped up another notch on the leader of the free world.

TURNBULL TICKLES TRUMP IN LEAKED SPEECH
We’ve been to our fair share of Press Gallery Balls over the years and we reckon it’s the trickiest speech of the year. Tradition states the PM and opposition leader of the day make a hilarious speech that’s self-deprecating and lands some good-humoured punches on the journos and opponents. Tough gig. It’s meant to be off the record (ie what’s said in the room stays in the room). But Nine’s Laurie Oakes broke with convention by releasing footage of PM Malcolm Turnbull’s speech from Wednesday night where he mocks President Trump. There are so many issues here but we’ll pick two. Oakes says he wasn’t breaching the rules because he wasn’t there. Hmmm. And Turnbull says the butt of the joke was himself. That’s may have been the case but we don’t imagine Trump would see it that way. Check it out here and remember, this was never meant to leave that ballroom.

BOARD DIVERSITY TARGET IN DOUBT
The Australian Institute of Company Directors chair Elizabeth Proust has named and shamed 13 ASX top 200 companies who have no female board directors. A new report on gender diversity shows female board appointments have dropped off in the first half of this year. The AICD target is for women to have 30% board representation by 2018 – it’s currently just above 25% but Proust says the target will be difficult to hit.

NUMBER CRUNCHERS IN CRISIS
Today is D-Day for the CPA – a professional organisation representing a very large number of the country’s accountants. So far, so boring, right? But wait. Because thanks to the CPA’s charismatic CEO, Alex Malley – a man who is accused by members of his organisation of using their membership fees to create a book (about himself), a TV show (about himself) and a cult of personality (about, you guessed it, himself) – today’s extraordinary general meeting is expected to produce fireworks. Will the self-styled “disruptive CEO” be forced to fall on his sword, or will he live to fight another day? Half the board members have already resigned in protest and the corporate watchdog ASIC has started investigating. We reckon Malley’s number could be up….  Number. Up. Accountant. See what we did there?

FRIDAY LITES – THREE THINGS WE LIKED THIS WEEK
A new dating app Hater does as advertised. You plug in your pet hates and an algorithm does its magic to match you with someone who hates the same stuff. Fascinating to think about relationships forged in the negative – after all, we tend to make deep bonds with friends/colleagues/potential partners in sharing the darker parts of our personalities.

One theme that’s emerged in the fallout from last week’s UK election is ‘to the loser the spoils’. And so the myth-making has commenced about how Labour were able to mount a campaign that surprised many. This article explores their digital and grass-roots campaigning techniques that mobilised the yoof vote.

Have you recently had to muster your inner super-skinny-ballet-dancer to get to your seat at a café or restaurant? We have, and we’ve noticed it’s happening more and more. So this Washington Post article caught our eye – seems it’s a bit of a global phenomenon that can reduce diners to tears.

SQUIZ THE DAY

Friday

Federal Ministers Hunt, Tudge and Sukkar to appear in court to explain why contempt of court charges should not be brought - Melbourne

CPA Australia expected to announce organisational changes following pressure over executive remuneration and process

US Open golf championship kicked off early this morning, on until 18 June

Saturday

3.00pm (AEST) Wallabies v Scotland - Allianz Stadium, Sydney

Start of the best of 13 matches to claim the America's Cup - Team NZ v Team US (headed by Aussie skipper James Spithill) - Bermuda

World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

Sunday

Round two of France's Parliamentary Election 

Monday

1.00am - Confederation Cup Soccer - Socceroos v Germany