Squiz Today – Thursday, 1 June

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“Despite the constant negative press covfefe”

Sometimes US President Donald Trump’s tweets are angry. There are many about #fakenews. There are exclamation marks and LOTS OF CAPS. But this one was just plain confusing. Sent out at midnight local time, many said it was an example that Trump should put Twitter down and get some sleep. But oh did the interwebs have some fun with what covfefe might mean…

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ASSESSING OUR TERROR THREAT

THE SQUIZ
Four things to note:

1. Duncan Lewis, the Director-General of ASIO (our national security service), is under fire for telling a senate committee last week; “I’ve absolutely no evidence to suggest there’s a connection between refugees and terrorism.”

2. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin supported Lewis's position yesterday saying; "What I can tell you, the majority of persons of interest that come across my officers' desks, are first and second generation Australians."

3. Melbourne girl Zynab Al Harbiya was killed in a car bombing incident in Baghdad, Iraq yesterday. She was 12yo.

4. A massive truck bomb was detonated in the diplomatic sector of Kabul, Afghanistan killing at least 90 people and injuring 4000. All Australian diplomatic staff are safe and accounted for.

PUT THAT TOGETHER FOR ME…
You would think any analysis of the sources of terror is about facts - but there’s also interpretation involved, and views certainly differ. Conservative politicians (think Pauline Hanson and the Coalition right-wingers) point out that Lindt Café terrorist Man Monis was technically a refugee. However, Lewis's point is that fleeing a war-torn country doesn’t make people terrorists; it’s a warped interpretation of Islam that does it. It might sound like semantics, but Colvin shared his worry about connecting the refugee program with terrorism; "it gives the impression that we can simply change one thing and that that will fix the problem. It's simply not the case." 

AND THOSE TERRIBLE BOMBINGS?
This highlights the fact that the majority of victims of Islamic terrorism are Muslims. There is some conjecture about the numbers (because not every terror attack is claimed by terror groups) but some say 95% of the victims are Muslim. One sad example close to us is the death of Melbourne girl Zynab Al Harbiya. She was in Iraq visiting an ailing grandfather. She was breaking the Ramadan fast with a visit to an ice cream shop - the most innocent of things. Her family and school community are devastated.

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SQUIZ THE REST

MAN TRIED TO ENTER MALAYSIA AIRLINES FLIGHT COCKPIT
The flight took off from Melbourne for Kuala Lumpur a little after 11pm last night when reports say a passenger with an electronic device tried to run into the cockpit. He was unsuccessful and ran to the back of the plane where he was restrained by crew and other passengers. The flight returned to Melbourne landing at 11.41pm and all passengers had to get off the plane. A pretty scary and frustrating night for passengers.

STOCK MARKET HAS WORST MONTH SINCE JAN ’16
We’re going to make this really simple and you’ll have some good talking points if you find an occasion to show off. Activity on the ASX is a good measure of what’s happening in the broader economy, and it has hit a bit of a rough patch.

Resources companies are suffering with low iron ore and oil prices ATM. There are also concerns about China’s economy coming off the simmer which would slow their infrastructure building.

Retail companies have done it tough recently (Amazon is coming!) but they’ve had a bit of a pick up lately with opportunistic buyers swooping on relatively lower share prices.

The banks had a shock when the government’s levy was announced in the budget. Their price dipped at the time of that news, but their share price is starting to comeback.

Property companies have also come off with the broader slowing of housing prices and concern about an oversupply of apartments in some markets.

And you’re done. Simples!

AOC MEDIA DIRECTOR CLEARED OF BULLYING
After all that, Mike Tancred, the right-hand man of Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates, will be ‘severely reprimanded’ but has been cleared by an independent committee of bullying former AOC CEO Fiona de Jong. There was a lot of attention was on Coates and Tancred in the run up to the AOC election a month ago. We wonder what ‘severely reprimanded’ means – will he have to say he's ‘really sorry’ rather than just ‘sorry’?

MORE DETAILS ON PEE FOR THE DOLE
One new federal budget measure that caught our eye was what we call ‘pee for the dole’. The government will trial a drugs testing program with 5,000 new unemployment benefit recipients – those who fail multiple tests will be placed on income management (ie they get a card with limited cash-out but access to buy food, accommodation etc) and referral for treatment. The head of Social Services last night said they expect about 10% to fail the first test. And the kicker - those who fail the first test will be expected to pay for further testing. 

PIPPA MIDDLETON AND JAMES MATTHEWS HONEYMOON IN SYDNEY
You could almost hear media resources shift from #schapellewatch to refocus on this surprise appearance. As the world’s most famous newlyweds, Pippa and Whatshisname flew up to Cottage Point for lunch (north of Sydney) and did the Bridge Walk to see the Vivid lights before reportedly retiring to a $19,000-a-night suite at the Park Hyatt. We were hoping they’d make their way to Suncorp Stadium for a real Aussie experience, but apparently not.

NSW TAKES ORIGIN GAME 1
It was New South Wales’ night in game one of State of Origin – they beat Queensland 4-28. It’s the first win they’ve had in Queensland since 2014. Man of the match was NSW’s Andrew Fifita who was described as ‘rampaging’ by people who know a lot more about League than we do. We thought that was a term quarantined for Roy Slaven. 

SQUIZ THE DAY

ABS Data Releases - Retail Trade, April; Industrial Disputes; Private New Capital Expenditure

CoreLogic House Price Index, May

Australian Industry Group Manufacturing Index, May

Facebook Annual General Meeting

Global Day of Parents

Cincinnati Zoo to reopen their gorilla enclosure more than a year after the shooting of Harambe

50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles masterpiece Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band