Squiz Today – Monday, 25 June

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“This is Bardstown, it kind of always smells like bourbon.”

Said a small-town Kentucky fire department chief after 9,000 barrels of ageing bourbon came tumbling down in a storage shed collapse. No one was hurt, but environmental agencies are concerned about seepage into a nearby creek. Sounds like some whiskey business…

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POWER AND MONEY MAKE OUR POLLIES GO ROUND

THE SQUIZ
Welcome back to Parliament House, Canberra where we bring you The Great Tax Debate - Part 2. On the cards this week is the Turnbull Government’s proposal for corporate tax cuts that would bring the rate down from 30% to 25% for all businesses great and small. And to spice things up, there are reports of leadership tensions on the Labor side.

I’LL EAT MY VEGETABLES FIRST…
Corporate tax cuts it is.

• Emboldened by their successful all-or-nothing approach on personal income tax cuts last week, PM Malcolm Turnbull and deal broker/Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said they aren’t for making compromises.

• Team Turnbull would like independent senators to love the plan as much as Greg Norman loves nudity. But the Senate hasn’t felt it (the love, not Norman...) and pundits say that situation is unlikely to change this week.

• So why is the government bothering? A vote will draw a line under the issue. And Turnbull, Treasurer Scott Morrison, Cormann and Co can say they tried to give tax relief to business into the coming election campaign.

AND WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH LABOR?
It all started with a speech at the Shellharbour Workers’ Club. Actually, that’s not true. Political watchers have long had an eye on Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese’s leadership ambitions. But Friday night’s speech, where Albanese put forward his manifesto for Labor’s future, was seized upon as evidence that “the united Labor team” is not as united as leader Bill Shorten would have us believe. Shorten channelled Catherine Tate. Still, Labor leads the Coalition in the polls with Fairfax/Ipsos the latest to say so. But with the media’s alternative talking point being company tax reform, expect this to get some more airplay today.

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PILOT ACADEMY TO TAKE OFF IN REGIONAL AUSTRALIA

PRESENTED BY QANTAS

The spotlight is squarely on regional Australia with nine cities shortlisted from an eager group of 60 applicants in the running to be home to the new Qantas Group Pilot Academy. Due to open its doors next year, the Academy could be set up anywhere from Alice Springs, to Toowoomba, to Wagga Wagga. The final location will be decided in the coming months.

The national carrier knows regional cities have the capacity to make Australia a hub for pilot training both here and abroad. How good will that be for regional economies? Very good indeed.

Qantas is also encouraging more women to consider a career in aviation, which globally stands at just 3%. More than 14,000 aspiring pilots have so far registered their interest in the Academy, and 16% are women.

Find out which regional cities made the shortlist here.

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SQUIZ THE REST

CHILD CARE FEES SET TO RISE
Another financial year, another child care fee increase… The Australian this morning reports (paywall) that fee hikes of as much as 10% are on the way. That will be disappointing to the federal government which has been spruiking the new Child Care Subsidy scheme as one that would help temper fee inflation. On average, child care costs have risen by 7% annually in recent years.

ZIMBABWE PRESIDENT SURVIVES BOMB ATTACK
President Emmerson Mnangagwa brushed off a bomb attack that he said happened inches away from him. “It is not my time,” he said. Mnangagwa was in Bulawayo campaigning for his Zanu-PF party ahead of a general election on 30 July when the explosive device detonated. He was unhurt but other senior government figures were injured. Reports say that as the bloke who took over from long-time president Robert Mugabe, Mnangagwa has a lot of enemies. There are those who resent him for his part in turfing out the former regime, and others who remember him as Mugabe’s enforcer.

VOTES IN FOR TURKISH ELECTION
It’s a big election. Strongman President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking a second five-year term and big changes to the way the country is governed. And early results indicate he is on track for a win. Turkey is a key country in the fight against terrorism, so watch this space.

WOMEN NOW DRIVING IN SAUDI
The ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia was lifted yesterday. Social media lit up with posts from women going for a spin for the first time in their home country. Saudi Arabia was the last country in the world with a ban on women driving. Reports say the jubilation was dampened by last month’s arrests of four women’s rights activists for “suspicious contact with foreign entities”. Two of the women remain in detention.

NSW BREAK FOOTY DROUGHT WITH ORIGIN WIN
Queensland's stranglehold on the State of Origin was broken last night after a titanic battle in Sydney that saw the home side win the game 18-14 to seal the series. The Baby Blues, so-called for the number of fresh-faced Origin debutants that made up the team, held off the Maroons before more than 80,000 fans, breaking a four-year series-winning drought. The final game of the 2018 series is on at Brissie’s Suncorp Stadium in two weeks’ time. Damp squib alert.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
The good – James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke with Sir Paul McCartney. We’re not teary, you are.

The bad – Johnny Depp’s interview with Rolling Stone as he tries to explain the car crash that is his life.

The ugly – Zsa Zsa the English bulldog. And she has a prize to prove it…

SQUIZ THE DAY

PM Malcolm Turnbull hosting Vanuatu's PM Charlot Salwai Tabimasmas - Canberra

Public hearings of the Banking and Financial Services Royal Commission focusing on farming finance, natural disaster insurance, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people - Brisbane (on until 29 June)

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's wedding anniversary (2006)

Anniversary of Anthony Boudain's birthday

Day of the Seafarer - Ahoy!

Anniversary of The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" live international telecast watched by an estimated 350 million people (1967)