Squiz Today / 14 August 2018

Squiz Today – Tuesday, 14 August

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“Her tour of grief is now over and her behaviour is remarkably frisky.”

Said the research centre following the female orca whale who swam with the body of her dead calf for 17 days off the coast of Canada and north-western America. Travelling 1,600km, Tahlequah captured the world’s attention with her apparent grief. She’s now back to chasing salmon with her pod-mates. That’s what friends are for.


NEG-ATIVE NELLIES v TURNBULL

THE SQUIZ
Accused of neg-ligence and neg-lect of rusted on Coalition voters, PM Malcolm Turnbull will front up to the Coalition Party Room meeting to neg-ate former PM Tony Abbott and former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce’s attacks on his energy plan. Safely neg-otiating the policy through this morning’s meeting is the next significant step in bringing the government’s National Energy Guarantee (aka the NEG) to life.

YOU’RE NOT FUNNY…
Oh, c’mon. But the main point is this: Abbott and Joyce have seized their window of opportunity to make trouble for Turnbull. While claiming it's all about the policy (they say the plan won’t bring prices down), pundits say the two former leaders probably aren’t too worried about undermining their leader. For Turnbull’s part, he raged against “ideology and idiocy” in parliament yesterday. And it was pretty clear who he was referring to… Long story short, the NEG is expected to get through today’s meeting, but Turnbull and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg won’t emerge entirely unscathed. 

WHAT’S THIS ALL ABOUT AGAIN?
Simples.

• The NEG is Team Turnbull’s plan to shore up our electricity supply, meet our international emissions obligations and bring power prices down.

• With recent closures of coal-fired power plants and a lot of gas being sold for export, there are concerns about our ability to keep the lights on. 

• The NEG requires federal and state/territory agreement, which is proving tricky.

Is it time for a neg-roni yet?


SQUIZ THE REST

QUICK HEALTH NEWS WRAP
CLASS ACTION – Aussie women who say they suffered side effects from Bayer’s Assure contraceptive implant have joined a class action. It’s alleged the device corroded and exposed the women to nickel poisoning. Reports say the only way to remove it is a hysterectomy. Cases have also been launched in the US, Canada and UK.

TATTOOIST ARRESTED - A 37yo NSW Central Coast tattooist and body modifier was arrested yesterday over the death of a woman from septicaemia last year. The man had inserted a plastic snowflake under the skin of her right hand and it became infected.

RISKY COSMETICS - The prevalence of dangerous and invasive cosmetic procedures undertaken by underqualified practitioners was the subject of last night’s episode of ABC TV's Four Corners. Warning: strong images of surgical procedures…

NBN SPEEDS UP PLANS
More households are opting for a 50Mbps plan instead of the slower, oft-complained about 25Mbps plan, according to the latest figures from the competition regulator. In the three months to June, there was a 47% increase in the uptake of the faster plans after retailers dropped their prices. And it seems sales of 100Mbps plans have slowed, probably due to the regulator's shot over the retailers’ bows about selling speeds they cannot deliver.

AUSSIE DOLLAR HIT IN TURKEY MANIA
In fact, the AUD dropped to an 18-month low of US72.5c yesterday with markets worried about impending financial troubles for Turkey from US sanctions. Why do Turkey's economic woes impact the Aussie dollar? Our dollar's “superior liquidity” allows currency traders to sell it quickly when they look to take their risk down a notch. National Australia Bank's head of foreign exchange Ray Attrill said our dollar could fall as low as US68c.

TROUBLE WALKING THE TALK
One of the world’s leading experts on empathy has been accused by her colleagues of making their lives hell. Irony much? Germany’s Tania Singer is a neuroscientist who has advocated for the benefits of a “more caring and sustainable society”. But eight former and current colleagues allege she's a bully who created a workplace culture that wasn’t pleasant. Among other things, she’s alleged to have reprimanded pregnant colleagues for “letting down the team”. Reports say Singer has apologised and agreed to the sabbatical.

YOU’LL PROBABLY BE HEARING ABOUT…
Crazy Rich Asians. For those not really across it (that was us until yesterday), it’s a bestselling novel* that’s about to hit theatres. As the first contemporary Hollywood movie with an all-Asian cast since 1993’s Joy Luck Club, the phrase “cultural phenomenon” is being thrown around. The movie is out tomorrow in the US and it will make it to our screens on 30 August. You can check it out via this cool Washington Post story here. If you’re out of free articles, here’s another link.

*This is not a sponsored post but if you buy this book using this link we get a little commission. 

SQUIZ THE DAY

ABS Data Release - Livestock Products, June

National Australia Bank Business Confidence Survey, July

Company earnings announcements - Domino's Pizza; Whitehaven Coal

Pakistan's Independence Day

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