Squiz Today – Monday, 10 September

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“It's as if Pizza Hut opened a restaurant in Naples, or Baskin-Robbins an ice-cream parlour in Sicily.”

Said one commentator of the opening of a Starbucks in Milan. Sacrilegio…

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MORRISON ERA BEGINS IN EARNEST

THE SQUIZ
With federal parliament returning today, new PM Scott Morrison’s rubber well and truly hits the road this week. The Morrison Government’s policy agenda (and its plan for political survival) with the election likely to be held in the next nine months will be the priority. We’ll also get the first real look at how Bill Shorten’s Labor team is planning to tackle them. But the numbers aren't looking good for the Coalition Government...

WHAT’S ON THE AGENDA?
At a glance:

• Morrison made it clear at the weekend that the National Energy Guarantee is dead. “Long live reliability guarantees, long live default prices, long live backing new power generation," he said. And when it comes to meeting our commitments under the Paris climate agreement? "Our commitment stands, but we won't be legislating it."

• Peter Dutton’s au pair visa saga will drag on for a few more days at least… The Senate inquiry will hear from former Border Force boss Roman Quaedvlieg. And a motion of no confidence against Dutton will be moved by the Greens and Labor in the House of Reps.

• And allegations of bullying and harassment in the government’s ranks are stinking the place out like an Elon Musk ‘cigarette’.

WHAT ARE MORRISON’S CHANCES OF SUCCESS?
We don't do opinion, so we'll give you the facts, and you can decide. This morning's Newspoll has not shifted a lot in the last fortnight. The Coalition’s behind Labor 44:56 on the two-party preferred score. The only good news for Morrison is his preferred PM score increased nine points to put him ahead of Shorten 42:36. It's the Coalition's 40th consecutive Newspoll loss to Labor. And the weekend’s NSW state by-election in Wagga where the Liberals are likely to lose the seat for the first time in 60 years will also put them on notice. What is clear is the numbers show the Morrison Government has a helluva mountain to climb.

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SQUIZ THE REST

WILLIAMS EXPLODES IN US OPEN FINAL
All eyes were on the women’s US Open Final yesterday for Serena Williams’ on-court outbursts as she went down to Japan’s Naomi Osaka. Let us break it down for you:

• Down one set, Williams was warned for receiving coaching from her box (which her coach Patrick Mouratoglou admitted to). Williams told the ump it didn’t happen.

• Soon after Williams was 3-2 up in the second set. She smashed a racquet and was docked a point. Which caused her to blow up about the coaching stuff again.

• And at 4-3 down in the set as Osaka was preparing to serve, Williams resumed her attack on the umpire calling him a thief, and was penalised a game. She also copped a US$17,000 fine.

Williams said there's a double standard because male players routinely say a lot worse to the umpires but aren’t penalised so heavily. She had some high profile support for her case. Others said Williams overstepped the mark. But almost everyone agreed that Osaka’s first grand slam victory should have been sweeter.

And while we have you... The Wallabies had a win against the Springboks on Saturday night. And an update on the weekend’s footy finals results is here.

SUBURBAN TRAGEDY IN PERTH
Five people (reported to be a mother, grandmother, 3yo girl and 18-month-old girl twins) were found dead in a home in suburban Perth yesterday. The grim discovery was made after a man fronted up to a regional police station with the information. WA Police have not said a lot at this stage. It is the third mass killing in WA this year.

SYRIAN ASSAULT EXPECTED TO CONTINUE
Air raids on the last rebel-held area of Syria stepped up a notch over the weekend despite Turkey warning of another impending refugee crisis on its southern border. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s calls for a ceasefire were rejected by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran President Hassan Rouhani who argue that the rebels are terrorists. Idlib province is home to 2.9 million Syrians. The UN and aid organisations expect the air raids to put the lives of hundreds-of-thousands of civilians at risk.

EGYPTIAN PROTESTORS SENTENCED
Egypt has issued death sentences to 75 of its citizens and committed 47 others to life-in-prison over a 2013 pro-Muslim Brotherhood sit-in following the booting out of President Mohammed Morsi. The verdicts were part of a mass trial of 700 people involved in the violence that erupted during protests in Cairo. Human rights campaigners have been critical of the process. The Egyptian government has since put the Muslim Brotherhood on its list of terrorist organisations.

LISA NOT A WELL LADY
In fact a couple of American doctors think Lisa Gherardini, the noblewoman subject of Leonardo da Vinci’s classic Mona Lisa, had an under active thyroid that would explain her eyebrow situation (she doesn’t really have them), as well as her complexion, receding hairline, ‘puffy’ face and lump in her neck. Dr Mandeep Mehra started his investigation after seeing the original painting at the Louvre in Paris saying he spent an hour and a half staring at her. “I don’t know how to appreciate art. But I do sure know how to make a clinical diagnosis,” he said.

SQUIZ THE DAY

6:00am (AEST) - US Open Men's Final - Novak Djokovic and Argentinian Juan Martín del Potro

Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry hearing resume focusing on insurance - Melbourne (on until 21 September)

Start of the International Whaling Commission Annual Meeting - Brazil (on until 14 September)

World Suicide Prevention Day

Mr Darcy's (aka Colin Firth) birthday (1960)