Squiz Today – Monday, 28 May

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“Cow cuddling"

It’s the latest ‘wellness’ trend. At least it’s less messy than this goat yoga session…

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IRELAND SAYS YES TO ABORTION LAW REFORM

THE SQUIZ
Voters in the Republic of Ireland said a resounding yes to repealing its strict ban on abortion. The result was 66.4% ‘yes’ to 33.6% ‘no’ in the Emerald Isle’s latest referendum. Turnout was almost 65%. Support for change was stronger than many anticipated.

GEE, IRELAND’S CHANGED…
It has, certainly since the Eighth Amendment of the constitution was introduced in 1983 granting equal rights to both mother and unborn. Campaigners say it’s the result of some high-profile cases, including the death of a woman after complications from a miscarriage. Still, given reports say the government could introduce new laws that would effectively allow terminations ‘on demand’ up to the 12th week of pregnancy, it’s a significant shift away from what have been some of the strictest laws against abortion in the world.

WHAT DID PEOPLE SAY?
Leo Varadkar, Taoiseach (aka PM) - "We choose to provide companionship where there was once a cold shoulder and medical care where we once turned a blind eye."

John McGuirk, ‘No’ campaign spokesman - "Every time an unborn child has his or her life ended in Ireland, we will oppose that, and make our voices known."

Marian Keyes, Irish author - “I never thought I’d see this day.”

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SQUIZ THE REST

NEWSPOLL FINDS MORE OF THE SAME
Another Monday, another Newspoll...

• The Coalition has slipped back a point in the two-party preferred race to be trailing Labor 48:52.

• The Coalition’s Malcolm Turnbull extended his lead as preferred PM by a point to 47:30 against Labor’s Bill Shorten.

• Frontbencher Anthony Albanese is the preferred Labor leader when you look at everyone's responses, including those who say they don't vote Labor. But Labor voters prefer Shorten.

• Today's poll also asked about Turnbull's proposed corporate tax cuts and 63% said they support a cut happening now or over the next few years.

JOYCE JIBED OVER PAID INTERVIEW
A poll wasn’t required to get a feel for what many thought about Channel Seven shelling out a rumoured $150,000 for an interview with former Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce and new partner Vikki Campion. Joyce says the birth of his fifth child has made him more reflective about government policy. Which will (not) be music to the ears of Sunday Night's producers... But the Daily Telegraph, the mob that exposed Joyce's new domestic arrangements, cried ‘hypocrite' this morning because the couple has asked the Press Council to censure the paper for exposing their relationship.

IT’S ON
Well, maybe. The latest on the will-they-won’t-they US/North Korea summit is:

• North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with South Korea’s Moon Jae-in on Saturday. Moon says Kim is all primed for “complete denuclearisation”.

• North Korea’s state media reported that Kim wants to see Trump.

• And a US delegation has arrived in North Korea. Trump says he’d like to have the meeting on 12 June but “we’ll see what happens.”

Stay tuned…

HOUSEKEEPING!
Keeping you updated on stories we've recently covered:

TAKATA LIST UPDATED – In March, we told you about the stepping up of efforts on the Takata airbag recall. Yesterday, the Consumer Commission added a million cars that will be subject to the recall in coming weeks. Just when we thought we’d avoided it…

WEINSTEIN CHARGED – Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein was charged in New York after he handed himself into police on Friday. Reports on the weekend said he had been working on getting a documentary off the ground that would tell his side of the story.

JUSTICE FOR TIAHLEIGH – Queensland foster father Rick Thorburn was sentenced to life in prison on Friday for the murder of 12yo Tiahleigh Palmer. In a letter, Thorburn said he has no memory of the crime. Queensland Police last night told Nine’s 60 Minutes how they got to the truth.

LOGIES - CAN YOU STAND THE WAIT
After growing too big for Melbourne, it’s off to the Gold Coast for Australian television’s night of nights. And up for the coveted Gold Logie are The Living Room’s Amanda Keller (Ten), A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw (Nine), Family Feud game-master Grant Denyer (Ten), Selling Houses Australia/Love It Or List It presenter Andrew Winter (Foxtel), and actors Jessica Marais (Nine and Ten) and Rodger Corser (Nine). Winter is the first Foxtel program host to be up for the top gong. The full list of nominees is here. The awards will be presented on July 1 – just 34 sleeps to go…

CAREFUL SHE MIGHT HEAR YOU…
An American couple with an Amazon Alexa virtual assistant system in their home found themselves alarmed recently when a conversation was recorded and emailed to a work colleague without their knowledge. Seems they used some keywords to instruct the helpful device to do just that without them knowing. Let's hope the colleague's name came up in glowing terms...

SQUIZ THE DAY

Public holiday in the ACT for Reconciliation Day

Kylie Minogue's 50th birthday (1968)