Squiz Today – Monday, 27 November

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“Indiana Joan: Meet WA’s real life tomb raider”

That’s how the West Australian newspaper affectionately headlined its recent profile on 95yo Perth local Joan Howard. She was proudly showing off the bits and bobs she brought home after spending the 1950s in the Middle East with her diplomat husband. Not so proud of Joan are the international antiquities authorities who are now investigating her for the illegal removal of precious items. Seems not all publicity is good publicity…

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QUEENSLAND ELECTION DOWN TO THE WIRE

THE SQUIZ
They came, they voted, and they didn't show much love for anyone in particular. Two days on and Saturday’s Queensland election still has no clear winner, but it’s looking increasingly likely that Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Labor Party will get over the line to form government with a one-seat majority. Liberal National Party leader Tim Nicholls hasn’t yet conceded defeat. In the battle for spots in the 89 seat parliament, the projected-ish numbers are:
• Labor - 48
• LNP - 39
• Katter Party - 2
• One Nation – 0

WHAT WENT DOWN?
You mean other than the Liberals' and Nationals' hopes of a win? Counting is still ongoing, and there are 13 seats in doubt, so we don’t have the full story yet. But from what we know, Labor has picked up a few seats despite the 1.5% swing against them on primary votes. That means it should be able to govern in its own right which will be a whole lot easier for them than the minority government it oversaw last term. The LNP lost a few seats and had a 7%+ swing against them. Pundits say that’s because the combined Liberal and National Party isn’t doing a good job of appealing to urbanites in Brissie and the many regional folks between Toowoomba and FNQ. Meanwhile, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation fizzled. It only received about half the votes many thought they might and its leader Steve Dickson lost his seat.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
They’ll keep counting. And counting. And it might be a while until there’s a declared winner. The jostling for the top jobs has probably already begun on the Labor side. And for LNP leader Nicholls, he's already fending off questions about whether he should keep his job. Also expect PM Malcolm Turnbull to come under pressure for the result while he repeats the mantra; "the election was fought on state issues". The more things change, the more they stay the same…

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REDUCING FOOD WASTE

PRESENTED BY WOOLWORTHS

Woolworths is a proud supporter of the Federal Government's new National Food Waste Strategy which sets a very ambitious target of a 50% reduction by 2030. In fact, Woolies is committed to help meet and exceed this target through its work with hunger relief agencies such as OzHarvest and FoodBank, and The Odd Bunch range which diverts 50,000 tonnes of imperfect but delicious fresh fruit and vegetables each year from being wasted at the farm.

Be honest, you probably waste more food than you'd like to admit. But help is here! For some great tips to help you waste less food check out Woolies’ Food Savers tips.

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SQUIZ THE REST

DON BURKE ACCUSED OF BULLYING AND HARASSMENT
“Vile”, “crude” and “psychotic bully” were some of the nicer things said about gardening guru Don Burke in a joint Fairfax Media/ABC investigation out today. He was host of the hugely popular gardening show Burke’s Backyard on Nine. One of the more surprising testimonies comes from Nine’s former chief executive David Leckie; "I've been trying to think of Harvey Weinstein-type people [in Australia] and the only one I can ever come up with is Burke. He was a horrible, horrible man." Still, it seems Burke was allowed to continue his work and was lauded as a success by the network for many years… Burke denies the accusations. And journalist Tracey Spicer told The Australian today (paywall alert) that her investigation into misconduct in Australia’s media industry will be out this week. The report says she has uncovered 485 complaints against 65 offenders.

NEW BALI AIRPORT WARNING
What an annoying volcano Mt Agung is. Not only has it displaced locals for months, but it's now causing flights to be cancelled. Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin cancelled flights on Saturday only to resume them on Sunday after the second eruption in a week sent volcanic ash more than 3,000 metres into the air. Reports this morning say Indonesian authorities have upgraded the aviation warning with volcanic ash clouds shifting around. About 30,000 locals have been living in temporary accommodation since warnings were first issued in September.

EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT RETALIATES AGAINST MOSQUE MASSACRE
Egyptian forces have stuck back against Islamic militants thought to be involved in Friday’s attack on a mosque where 305 worshipers were killed, including 27 children. More than 20 Muslim extremists were said to have been involved in the attack on the mosque in Rawda on Friday, including some carrying State of Sinai flags (the local Islamic State affiliate). No one has yet claimed responsibility. Reports say a quarter of the village’s male population was killed - some in an explosion, others were shot. Egyptian authorities said air strikes on ‘terrorist outposts’ were conducted on Saturday.

HOUSEKEEPING!
Updating some stories we’ve been following:

ZIMBABWE HAS A NEW LEADER – Emmerson Mnangagwa – the former vice president who was ousted by Robert Mugabe a few weeks ago – has been sworn in as the new leader. Reports say Mugabe received US$10 million and full immunity to quit. Maybe he’s now in the running for TIME magazine’s Person of the Year…

MANUS PROCESSING CENTRE CLEARED – Papua New Guinean authorities say the remaining 320+ men were removed from the centre on Friday and taken to the new transit centres.

THINGS DON’T LOOK GOOD FOR THE CREW OF THE ARGENTINE SUB – And the Navy has been forced to defend the sub's seaworthiness in the face of criticism from family members. The search continues…

QUICK SPORTS NEWS WRAP
The Wallabies were walloped by Scotland 53-24… the less said about that, the better.

Cameron Davis, a 22yo Aussie, won the Australian Open golf championship.

The Matildas (our women’s soccer side) took out the second friendly match against China yesterday 5-1. They are on fire at the moment.

And while we have you – Oscar Pistorius, the South African blade runner who was found guilty of murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, had his jail sentence increased from six years to 13-year-five-months after the state appealed his lenient sentence.

MAKING FIONA
You know you’ve really made it when the New York Times runs a profile on you in its Style section. So it was for this Cincinnati Zoo resident – a baby hippo named Fiona. She is pretty cute with a great backstory of overcoming a difficult start in life. But really it's a fascinating story of how a little hippo became a huge social media star. Perfect fodder for a Monday.

SQUIZ THE DAY

Senate resumes sitting in Canberra

Just four weeks until Christmas...