Squiz Today / 29 March 2019
Squiz Today – Friday, 29 March
SQUIZ SAYINGS
“This is a big day for our little airline.”
Said Oceania Express CEO Alex Jacquot (age 10yo) of his meeting with Qantas boss Alan Joyce. The airlines have struck an agreement and everything…
HANSON STANDS FIRM AS MORRISON BACKS AWAY
THE SQUIZ
The media are to blame, and she and her staffers were stitched up by agents of the "Qatari Islamist government". That's One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s account of the scandal that’s engulfed senior representatives of her party and put pressure on PM Scott Morrison to distance his government from the right-wing party. On that front, Morrison yesterday said One Nation would be put below Labor on the Liberals' how-to-vote cards.
UNPACK THAT A BIT…
To Hanson first.
• She said her chief of staff James Ashby and Queensland party leader Steve Dickson - the men caught talking about watering down our gun laws in exchange for financial support from America’s National Rifle Association - were “very good men who want nothing but the best for this country and the people of Australia”.
• Changing Australia’s strong gun laws is not part of her agenda, she said. Neither is looking for foreign donations.
• “Today is a day of shame on the Australian media,” Hanson said. Questioning the ethics of a foreign media organisation ‘entrapping’ her and her team, she said ABC was complicit in airing the documentary.
• She says her secretly-recorded comments appearing to suggest the Port Arthur massacre was a government conspiracy were heavily edited to take her out of context. “There is no question in my mind that Martin Bryant was the only person responsible for the murders of 35 innocent lives,” she said.
• And she says Morrison is “a fool” for putting Labor ahead of One Nation. "You, Prime Minister, have just handed the keys to the Lodge to (Labor leader) Bill Shorten, (Greens leader Richard) Di Natale and the CFMEU," she said.
WHERE IS THIS GOING?
Towards some tight electoral races in Queensland and NSW where One Nation preferences will determine the fate of sitting Liberal MPs. Last year two Queensland Libs lost their seats when One Nation preferences got Labor candidates over the line. That's why there is resistance within the Nationals to keep options open. On that score, Morrison has made the bet that he would lose more votes in the city by not acting than he would lose in the country. He could be right if enough people watched the second episode of How to Sell a Massacre where Hanson talks about getting enough seats in the coming election to change our gun laws - a different story to her pitch yesterday… Meanwhile, Morrison will be keen to get back to the main game of fighting Labor on things like its plan to scrap negative gearing concessions...
SQUIZ THE REST
NOORI SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON
Saeed Noori, the man who pleaded guilty last year to killing one man and injuring 16 others after driving a car at pedestrians on Flinders St in Melbourne's CBD in 2017, was yesterday jailed for life. That means he will need to serve a minimum of 30 years in prison before being eligible for parole. Noori told police that Allah had commanded him in a dream to carry out the attack. Reports say his mother collapsed in court as he was led away.
BREXIT UPDATE
Status: still a mess… So all eight proposals put by UK MPs to a vote of the parliament were unsuccessful. And where things are at today is MPs will be asked to vote again on the Brexit deal negotiated by PM Theresa May - but only the parts negotiated with the EU. That will cover things like the cost, citizens' rights and the Irish backstop. That meets Speaker John Bercow’s ruling about the Brexit vote having to be on a 'new' motion. It's believed May's commitment to quit after the vote goes through has shifted some MPs to support the deal. We'll soon know if it's enough to get it through the parliament...
INDIA UPS ITS SPACE RACE CREDS
To most of us down here on planet Earth, the idea of putting a satellite into space only to shoot it back down might seem counter-productive. But ask anyone in the space race and they’ll tell you being able to shoot down your own satellite is pretty incredible. Why? Because it means you also can shoot down the satellites that belong to other countries. And as the arms race turns cosmic, that's precisely the sort of technological advance to send chills through the ranks of your (fr)enemies. Take a bow India – which yesterday joined the ranks of global ‘space powers’ announcing it had mastered the art of shooting a missile from earth directly into its own satellite. Until yesterday, it was a capability mastered only by the US, Russia and China.
BOEING MOVES TO FIX 737 PROBLEM
A software overhaul and new pilot training regimes were announced by the plane manufacturer yesterday in response to the crisis that has beset the company since the Ethiopian Airlines tragedy that claimed the lives of all on board. As Boeing conducted a series of meetings with pilots from client airlines and aviation regulators, questions were being asked of US officials in Washington as to why large parts of the troubled 737 Max 8's safety certification were deferred to parent company Boeing. Whilst announcing the software upgrade, Boeing officials were careful to stop short of admitting earlier versions were in any way deficient.
HOUSEKEEPING!
JAYME CLOSS KIDNAPPER PLEADS GUILTY - The man who killed James and Denise Closs and kidnapped their 13yo daughter Jayme pleaded guilty yesterday. Jayme was held captive by 21yo Jake Patterson in Wisconsin for three months. Patterson had told a local TV station he didn’t want the Closs family “to worry about a trial”.
DEVASTATION IN MOZAMBIQUE - The official death toll from Cyclone Idai that hit Mozambique is 468. There is also more than 260 dead in Zimbabwe and at least 56 dead in Malawi. Aid agencies expect the toll to be much higher. This story about Stephen Fonseca, the head forensic analyst in Africa for the Red Cross - and the only trained body recovery specialist working in rural Mozambique in the aftermath of the cyclone - is an incredible read.
BURUNDI GIRLS FREED - Charged with "insulting the head of state" for defacing a photo of President Pierre Nkurunziza in their schoolbooks, the three detained girls have been freed. Turns out other kids have been jailed in the past and hundreds expelled from schools for scribbling on Nkurunziza’s face. Human rights campaigners hope the recent international attention might lead to change for the better.
FRIDAY LITES: THREE THINGS WE LIKED THIS WEEK
Ever watched an epic movie and there’s an action sequence that makes you think “as if…”? In this video, survival star Bear Grylls reviews some iconic scenes and reveals if it’s possible or not.
So you've probably been wondering how Meghan Markle's settling in with the hoity-toity types of British society? You probably already know the answer to that… This article has been the talk of the town in fancy London circles this week.
Is there anything better than a freshly baked muffin on a weekend morning? This is a recipe we’ve been making for a while now, and it’s delish with some yoghurt as a dipping sauce. As you do...
SQUIZ THE DAY
Friday
8.00am (AEDT) - National Remembrance Service - Christchurch
10.00pm (AEDT) - One Day Cricket International - Australia v Pakistan - Dubai
End of Steve Smith and David Warner’s suspension from Australian representative cricket
Anniversary of our first parliamentary federal election resulting in Edmund Barton becoming our first PM
Elle Macpherson’s birthday (1964)
Saturday
8.30-9.30pm (wherever you are…) - Earth Hour
Sam Stosur’s birthday (1984)
Sunday
10.00pm (AEDT) - One Day Cricket International - Australia v Pakistan - Dubai
30th Arab League Summit - Tunisia
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