Squiz Today – Monday, 6 November

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“Men’s Christmas Rompers”

We present to you the latest abomination in festive-wear. At US$100 a pop, how could you say no?

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ARDERN AND TURNBULL MAKE NICE

THE SQUIZ
With Sydney shivering through its coldest November weekend for more than a decade, newly-minted NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern would have felt right at home for her meet and greet with PM Malcolm Turnbull. On the agenda: refugee resettlement, North Korea, regional security and trade. As one NZ commentator put it; “One's a middle-aged multi-millionaire, and the other's a millennial socialist.” So it’s great that Ardern has “jetted across the ditch for Sunday brunch” (say that with your best Kiwi accent…) to cement our relationship.

WHAT CAME OF ARDERN’S OFFER TO RESETTLE SOME MANUS DETAINEES?
Nothing. Turnbull made it clear his focus is the resettlement deal with the US. Remember the US has signed up (despite US President Donald Trump’s disgruntlement…) to take up to 1,250 heavily-vetted refugees. "We, of course, do not have the circumstances that Australia is operating under, but we also cannot ignore the human face of what Australia is dealing with. The offer absolutely remains on the table," Ardern later said.

WHAT ELSE WENT DOWN?
Both leaders say they’re committed to an 11-party Trans-Pacific Partnership (aka a big trade agreement). It's timely to get Ardern's take with regional leaders meeting at APEC this week and the East Asia Summit next week. The TPP almost fell over when Trump removed the US from the agreement earlier this year. But it’s still viable without the US and Australia clearly wins from more markets becoming more open. Oh – we also learned Ardern isn’t a kayaker but can fish, and she and Turnbull will not form a musical act (with Ardern on the decks and Turnbull rapping). So there’s that.

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SQUIZ THE REST

PALASZCZUK CONFLICT PUTS CARMICHAEL MINE IN DOUBT
Queensland’s lightning election has heated up with Labor Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announcing her government would veto a billion dollar loan from the Commonwealth to Indian company Adani. The funding is for a rail line to get coal from their proposed Galilee Basin mine to the Abbot Point terminal near Bowen. Without it, the project is in doubt. Palaszczuk called a press conference on Friday to say she made the decision after finding out she had a conflict of interest with her partner Shaun Drabsch, a consultant with PwC, having worked on Adani’s funding application. Critics say Palaszczuk is squibbing it given the Integrity Commissioner said the conflict is manageable. However, environmentalists welcomed her declaration if it means the project is unlikely to proceed.

One thing to watch this week – One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is hitting the campaign trail with the polls saying her party is set to have its best election result ever.

HAWKE MIGHT BE GROUNDED
So predictable has this become, we have created a regular slot for this story. Today’s version: Sydney-based Liberal MP Alex Hawke is the latest pollie potentially caught up in the citizenship cluster-disaster. Apparently his Greece-born mum might make him a Greek citizen by descent. Hawke, the Assistant Minister for Immigration (oh, the irony…), denies there’s an issue. Labor has said it would support some form of universal disclosure of MPs citizenship while Turnbull said the Coalition won't back a “witch hunt”. We don’t know why this song came to mind…

LEBANON’S PM FLEES, THEN RESIGNS
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri took his country by surprise when he resigned during a live broadcast from Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Hariri said he feared for his life (his father, former PM Rafic Hariri, was killed by a truck bomb in 2005) and blamed Iran and coalition partner Hezbollah for holding the country hostage. The short story – “Hariri’s resignation is a reflection of the growing power struggle between Iran and Saudi Arabia in the region.” What happens next? Political paralysis and fear that any new Hezbollah-aligned government would isolate Lebanon and draw sanctions from the West.

ANTI-CORRUPTION SWEEP DETAINS 11 SAUDI PRINCES
Still in Saudi Arabia, Saudi King Salman announced a new anti-corruption committee chaired by son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Saturday. The committee then kicked into action and detained 11 princes, four current ministers and many former ministers. Experts say the move consolidates Prince Mohammed’s control of key state bodies. Caught up in the sweep is high-profile billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal who owns significant shareholdings in Citigroup, News Corp, Lyft and Twitter. King Salman said it was part of an "active reform agenda aimed at tackling a persistent problem that has hindered development efforts in the Kingdom in recent decades."

CATALAN LEADER HANDS HIMSELF IN
Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and four of his colleagues have turned themselves into Belgian police after Spain issued a warrant for their arrest. Puigdemont fled to Belgium last week and said he still wanted to stand in the 21 December regional election. It comes after eight other Catalan pollies were arrested for rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds for pursuing Catalan independence.

SPACEY HOUSE OF CARDS COMES TUMBLING DOWN
“I think of House of Cards as a trampoline. Netflix put it up, jumped on it and Netflix got so high that it no longer needs House of Cards,” said media professor Paul Levinson. The observation followed news that Netflix had walked away from any further production of hit poli-drama that involved alleged serial-harasser Kevin Spacey. Netflix and Spacey used to be tight – the Oscar-winning actor went all in on Netflix's first and groundbreaking original content series. Now it’s cut him, as has his agent and publicist, with more accusers stepping forward. A house of cards indeed.

SQUIZ THE DAY

ABS Data Releases - Education and Work, May; Livestock and Meat, September; Additional CPI Data, September

International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict

We've contacted the winner of last week's $100 Woolies voucher. This week: a $100 voucher from Country Road. All you have to do is open the email every day this week and you're in the running. Because as Gretchen Rubin says; "What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while."