Squiz Today – Monday, 13 November

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“The new shape is more tousled and relaxed and less skanky, for want of a better word.”

Be prepared - the mullet is back. The only good news is socialite hairdresser Joh Bailey says the trend won’t be mainstream. Still, some things are best left in the past...

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GLOVES COME OFF IN CITIZENSHIP SAGA

THE SQUIZ
With the end of the year looming and no end in sight to the citizenship cluster-disaster, the Turnbull Government busted some moves over the weekend hoping to move it along. It’s a high stakes game with the eligibility of more Liberal, Labor and independent members’ to sit in the Parliament coming under scrutiny, and the government’s majority hanging in the balance.

OK. GIVE ME SOME DETAILS…
The lowlights are:

• Sydney Liberal/former tennis champ John Alexander resigned his seat on Saturday before the Brits had come back to him on his citizenship status. To hold a by-election in his seat of Bennelong before Christmas (possibly 16 December), he had to hustle like Rafa.

• PM Malcolm Turnbull accused Labor leader Bill Shorten of “running a protection racket” for refusing to refer ALP members – including Justine Keay, Susan Lamb, Madeleine King and Josh Wilson - to the High Court. Turnbull said the government might just do it for them.

• That got Labor’s goat. They fired back saying they’re ready to “go nuclear”. That means moving to refer five Liberal members – Alex Hawke, Tony Pasin, Julia Banks, Nola Marino and Ann Sudmalis – for High Court deliberation.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
You mean besides Australia participating in a national eye roll? Any parliamentary politicking will take place in the Senate this week – the House of Reps is still in recess. All eyes will be on Turnbull and Shorten to see if they can make something of last week’s talks, but it doesn’t sound like it given the weekend’s slanging match. The same-sex marriage postal survey results are out on Wednesday so that will assist with changing the subject for a few days at least.

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SQUIZ THE REST

NEWSPOLL SLUMP FOR TURNBULL
Despite the government’s recent woes, Malcolm Turnbull maintained a decent lead over Bill Shorten as preferred PM. But today’s Newspoll will be too close for Turnbull's comfort. Two weeks ago, Turnbull led 41:33 over Shorten – today he’s just two points ahead at 36:34. Newspoll also looked at ‘best Liberal leader’ – Foreign Minister and deputy leader Julie Bishop is ahead on 40, followed by Turnbull on 27 and Dutton on 11. When you dive into the numbers, Bishop is more liked by Greens and Labor voters, Turnbull by Coalition voters and Dutton by One Nation voters. On a two-party preferred basis, the Coalition lost another point and is behind Labor 45:55.

BIG WEEKEND FOR TRUMP’S FOOT
It spent a bit of time in the Presidential mouth on account of two issues:

1. Trump told reporters that Russian President Vladimir Putin again denied having anything to do with meddling in last year’s US Presidential elections. “Every time he sees me he says I didn't do that and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it.” Trump later clarified his comments to say he believes US intelligence agencies that Russia played a role. Which is probably a good call.

2. North Korean state media again took aim at the US President; "Reckless remarks by an old lunatic like Trump will never scare us or stop our advance." Trump responded; “Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me ‘old,’ when I would NEVER call him ‘short and fat?’ Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen!” Zinger! But it’s interesting that Trump didn’t take exception to being called a lunatic…

CANADA’S TRUDEAU NOT DOWN WITH TPP
You know when you don't want to do something and you think you have the perfect excuse, but you get caught out? That was Canada on Friday. The 11 remaining Trans-Pacific Partnership nations were due to meet to endorse the trade deal on Friday but Canadian PM Justin Trudeau was a no-show. Team Trudeau said it was because a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe went overtime. Fair enough. Except that Abe made it to the TPP meeting. Totally sprung! Canada renegotiation of its North American Free Trade Agreement with the US means it is hesitant to commit to other trade deals ATM. Oz Trade Minister Steve Ciobo says it’ll get there.

UK PM’S LEADERSHIP UNDER ATTACK
Reports from the UK yesterday said that PM Theresa May is facing a revolt from her Conservative party colleagues with 40 members prepared to sign a letter expressing no confidence in her. That’s just eight signatures short of pulling the trigger for a leadership contest. It follows the resignation of two Cabinet ministers last week and Brexit negotiations with the European Union reaching a critical point. One to watch this week.

MANUS STAND-OFF CONTINUES…
About 400 men remain at the now-closed Manus Island processing centre. After giving the group a deadline to leave and expressing concerns about the conditions at the centre, Papua New Guinean authorities said they would not use force to remove the men. Kiwi PM Jacinda Ardern yesterday said she will again raise the matter with Turnbull when they see each other in Manila today to reiterate her offer to resettle 150 refuges in New Zealand.

PERRY SETS WOMEN’S BATTING RECORD
It’s not possible to overstate Ellyse Perry's awesomeness. On Saturday in the Women's Ashes Test match, she set the record for the highest score by an Australian with 213 not out. Despite her good work the match ended in a draw last night. The series will be decided by the three remaining Twenty20 matches. In case you haven’t joined the Perry fan club just yet, the 27yo has also played soccer for Australia. She's seriously impressive.

DANGER IN THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Sean Parker, the founding president of Facebook (aka the Justin Timberlake character in The Social Network), made some alarming comments about how he and others built social media to “exploit a vulnerability in human psychology.” He said; "… we need to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while because someone liked or commented on a photo or a post or whatever. And that's going to get you to contribute more content, and that's going to get you... more likes and comments." He’s now worried about the impact of what he, Mark Zuckerberg and others have created. We’ll keep that in mind when we refresh our socials for the 100th time this morning…

SQUIZ THE DAY

PM Malcolm Turnbull attending the East Asia Summit - Manila, Philippines

ABS Data Releases - Lending Finance, September; Livestock Products, September

Annual General Meetings - Nine Entertainment; Medibank Private

National Recycling Week

Antibiotic Awareness Week

2nd anniversary of the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people