Squiz Today – Tuesday, 27 June

SQUIZ SAYINGS

“Every fat bloke in Melbourne has rung me about it.”

Former Nine boss/current footy and media mover and shaker Eddie McGuire has become the latest miracle diet pin-up boy. He’s lost 15kg in just three weeks by basically eating nothing and drinking Chinese herbal teas. Sounds a little extreme but good luck to him. If you're looking for us we'll be over by the carbs.  

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SAME-SEX MARRIAGE COMMENTS REVEAL DEEPER DIVISIONS

THE SQUIZ
Senior Turnbull government minister Christopher Pyne’s comments about making same-sex marriage a thing “sooner than everyone thinks” certainly got his colleagues’ hackles up yesterday. Not only did PM Malcolm Turnbull have to reaffirm the government’s commitment to a plebiscite on the issue, it also picked at the unhealing scab of deep division and resentment within their ranks (how’s that for a meaty metaphor to kickstart your day?). For his part, Pyne told last night’s ABC Q&A audience that none of what he said was new. 

EWW… WHAT’S THE SCAB YOU’RE REFERRING TO?
Soz, too graphic? It’s mostly about former PM Tony Abbott’s unceremonious dumping from the top job circa September 2015. The secret recording made of Pyne’s comments on Friday night also captures him saying that both he and Attorney General George Brandis voted for Malcolm Turnbull in every leadership ballot, which means two senior members of Abbott’s team voted for his dumping as PM. Abbott’s unhappiness with the Turnbull government’s direction is regularly voiced via his media appearances and critical commentary. But it’s clear from Abbott’s comments yesterday that he is still hurt by the actions of his team more than 18 months ago. 

ENOUGH MELODRAMA, IS SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BACK ON THE AGENDA?
No more than it was last week, which is to say it's not much on the agenda at all. Turnbull and others yesterday said they went to the last election with a policy of a plebiscite (ie the people vote on same-sex marriage, and then it's up to the parliament to reflect their will, whether that's to maintain the status quo or change the marriage laws). The parliament has to agree to hold a plebiscite  – and the Coalition is quick to blame Labor and the Greens for not supporting it, which is why your services haven’t been required to have your say. Labor and the Greens believe the question should be resolved (in the affirmative) by a vote of the parliament. And it’s possible Pyne was pointing to a number of moderate Liberals who want that too. But for now the stalemate continues. Huff.

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SQUIZ THE REST

PACKER’S TEAM TRIED AND SENTENCED IN A DAY
The three Australians employed by Crown Resorts and detained in China since October last year will be released over the next two months. Jason O’Connor, the most senior executive involved, received a ten-month sentence, and with time served he'll be released in August. The China-based Aussies Jerry Xuan and Pan Dan received nine-month sentences and will be out in July. The 16 others received similar sentences. Crown will pay the $1.67 million in fines. It's a very good result given many legal commentators were anticipating three to ten-year sentences. The market wasn't much bothered. Crown’s share price finished the day slightly up.

TRUMP’S TRAVEL BAN GETS CONDITIONAL GO-AHEAD
The US Supreme Court has overnight agreed to allow a watered down version of US President Donald Trump’s travel ban. Travellers from six countries - Libya, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen – will be prevented from entering the US for the next 90 days unless they can demonstrate they're students of a US university or they're reuniting with a family member. The ban will be reviewed when the Court hears the full case in October. Trump said the decision was “a clear victory for national security.”

MAY INKS DEAL WITH DUP
After two weeks of negotiations, Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party has agreed to formally back Theresa May’s minority Conservative government. It’s cost her £1bn in extra funding for Northern Ireland and in return May’s government gets the DUP’s support to pass their budgets and ensure they stay in power (aka it's a ‘confidence and supply' agreement). They're not a natural fit given the vast ideological distance between them, and there is plenty of criticism for May and the Tory's election campaign. Now the question is how long she can hold onto the top job.

TIGER MOST GRIZZLED ABOUT AIRLINE
The Airlines Customer Advocate annual report is out covering last year’s whiny whines about the airlines. And guess what? Tiger fares worst with 31.9 complaints for every million customers. Seems you get what you pay for. Some poor media officer from Tiger found a calculator and said that means just 0.0035% of its passengers made a complaint (note: comms people generally aren’t good at maths, so take that factoid with a grain of salt). Virgin Australia registered 13.5 complaints per million customers, mainly over refunds. Qantas was best (7.2), followed by Jetstar (12.3). In total, the advocate got just 1,055 complaints – which is pretty good don’t you think? We know people who seem to have 1,055 complaints per flight…

FORMER AFL CHAMP LOSES IT AT SON’S MATCH
We’ve all seen them – the parent who seems to think little Sammy’s under 11’s soccer match is as important as the professional league grand final. It got agro in the Melbourne suburbs on the weekend with former North Melbourne AFL player Glenn Archer charged with unlawful assault after he allegedly jumped the fence and had a go at a runner during his son’s under 15s Yarra Junior Football League match. Archer says he intervened after the runner (who was a parent of an opposition player) pushed one of his side’s players on the field. Suffice to say, it got ugly after that. Footy dads. Embarrassing kids since forever. 

NEW ZEALAND WINS AMERICA'S CUP
In fact, they killed it. They've taken out one of sailing's biggest prizes with a 7-1 defeat of Team USA. We shouldn't be too happy about that, a good whack of the US crew were Aussies, including their skipper. Bet there's some good times being had right now by the Kiwis in Bermuda - congrats to them. 

SQUIZ THE DAY

ABS Data Releases - Census data on population, housing and communities (big day at the ABS, fingers crossed for their IT people...)

Rio Tinto AGM

60th anniversary of a landmark report establishing the link between smoking and lung cancer