Squiz Today – Monday, 3 April

DEBBIE NOT DONE YET

THE SQUIZ
Extreme flooding from the tail of Cyclone Debbie has devastated many communities in south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales. The natural disaster that just keeps on keeping on has already taken the lives of four people and three more are missing. While the flood waters in many areas are receding, Rockhampton in Queensland is bracing for what they expect will be the worst flooding since 1954.

WHAT’S GONE DOWN TO DATE?
The extent of damage from Cyclone Debbie to North Queensland is becoming clearer. Authorities report 650 residences have been ruled uninhabitable. The cleanup has commenced with the army, emergency workers and volunteers pitching in, and electricity has been restored to many areas. And the floods in south-east Queensland and northern NSW have been huge. Communities badly affected include many across the Gold Coast, Tweed Heads, Murwillumbah and Lismore. More than 30,000 people were ordered to evacuate, and while some were able to return to their homes last night, many more are still waiting. There’s a huge cleanup and restoration/rebuilding job ahead. 

AND WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN IN ROCKY?
The Fitzroy River is predicted to peak at Rockhampton on Wednesday, potentially submerging as many as 3,000 homes and 1,500 businesses. The military is helping the community to sandbag properties, and residents have been advised to start evacuating the area. You'll hear a lot more about this during the coming days.

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SQUIZ THE REST

A TAXING WEEKEND
Welcome to the ‘won’t-rule-in-won’t-rule-out’ zone – that fun month when federal parliament is suspended in anticipation of the budget. Behold our political leaders and economic policymakers as they try to shape their agenda while not really confirming anything. Case in point – company tax cuts. The federal parliament on Friday passed tax cuts for businesses with $50 million turnover. Yesterday, Labor spokesman Andrew Leigh wouldn’t confirm they would keep the cuts if elected. Meanwhile, on another channel, Scott Morrison wouldn’t confirm that there won’t be tax increases in the budget. Up tomorrow: insert new speculative question and repeat.

NEWSPOLL - LABOR MAINTAINS LEAD
The Australian has published the latest Newspoll showing the Coalition government is trailing Labor by 47 to 53 on a two-party preferred basis. PM Malcolm Turnbull leads Labor leader Bill Shorten in the ‘Better PM’ stakes 41 to 32. Newspoll surveyed 1,708 voters between last Thursday and Sunday. 

WELCOME HOME DR FENG
UTS academic Dr Feng Chongyi returned to Sydney yesterday after being stopped by Chinese authorities from boarding a flight home just over a week ago. He said he didn’t know why authorities prevented his departure; they questioned him about a number of matters. All China would say was that it related to ‘national security’. In the past, Dr Feng had been critical of the Chinese government’s influence over Chinese-language media in Australia.

QUICK INTERNATIONAL NEWS WRAP
Heavy mud slides in Mocoa, Colombia have left more than 200 dead, 400 injured and more than 200 missing. President Juan Manuel Santos has declared a state of emergency.

Look around at the people you work with this morning and see if you can estimate their collective net worth. We bet it’s not as impressive as the White House. After making their required disclosures, Bloomberg yesterday put the collective worth of senior staff and Trump’s cabinet at more than US$12 billion. We undertook the exercise - our only colleague (a French bulldog) has four toys = maybe $20.

Fashionably late, as ever, folk singing music legend Bob Dylan has finally accepted the Nobel Prize for Literature… six months after he was awarded the gong. Dylan has not really publically acknowledged the honour, causing some to call him arrogant. We suspect he simply watched one too many Nordic Noir TV box sets and quite rightfully feared if he went to Sweden, he might never come back. 

KYRIOS SO CLOSE IN ANOTHER ROLLERCOASTER MATCH
Aussie tennis brat Nick Kyrios came within a buzz cut of defeating Roger Federer on Saturday night in the Miami Open. Each set was decided in a tiebreaker. Kyrios broke a racquet in the first set, but it’s not what you might think - even the American commentators said it was ‘innocuous'.  But the crowd fired up, including Federer's wife, Mirka. She has quite a heckling history, just ask Stan Wawrinka. Our Nick battled on and while he wasn’t victorious, that’s quite a development, isn’t it? He’s now heading home to represent Australia in the Davis Cup quarterfinal against the US in Brissie from Friday.

SQUIZ THE DAY

PM Malcolm Turnbull and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian to visit flood-affected northern NSW

President of Afghanistan, Dr Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, is in Australia until Wednesday

ABS data release - Retail Sales; Building Approvals

ANZ Job Ads Survey for March