Squiz Today – Tuesday, 5 December

SQUIZ SAYINGS

"Kwaussie”

That’s the Australian National Dictionary Centre’s word of the year. It’s defined as “a person who is a dual citizen of Australia and New Zealand, a New Zealander living in Australia, or a person of Australian and New Zealand descent.” Who knew there was such a thing! (A Dictionary Centre, not a Kwaussie…)

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CITIZENSHIP CLUSTER-DISASTER OUT IN THE OPEN

THE SQUIZ
After months of uncertainty, the citizenship status of our federal pollies will be made a lot clearer today. Senators’ declarations were published yesterday, and the upshot is Labor’s Katy Gallagher (who is a former Chief Minister of the ACT) looks to be in trouble over the dual British citizenship she held when she nominated for the 2016 election. Declarations from House of Representatives MPs will be published this morning.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
After these moments of clarity, there might be some more uncertainty if cases have to go to the High Court for decision. We will wait and see what the parliament makes of Katy Gallagher’s situation. And the washout from the House of Reps declarations will be interesting because it’s expected the paperwork will reveal some other MPs are in perilous situations.

WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING?
Debate on the same-sex marriage bill started in the House of Reps yesterday. Some key players (think PM Malcolm Turnbull, Labor leader Bill Shorten and former PM Tony Abbott) had their say. And for something new, Liberal Tim Wilson proposed to his long-time partner Ryan Bolger from the floor of the parliament. "In my first speech, I defined our bond by the ring that sits on both of our left hands. They are the answer to the question we cannot ask. So there's only one thing left to do; Ryan Patrick Bolger, will you marry me?" Ryan said no. Just kidding, he’s in.

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SQUIZ THE REST

AMAZON AUSTRALIA HAS ARRIVED
We can now stop saying “Amazon is coming…” because it went live overnight. A quick and insightful analysis of the Marketplace - which makes up about half the items available for sale - is that some things are cheaper and some are more expensive (you're welcome), which is to be expected given it’s a collection of individual sellers. And there are heaps of items sourced and sold directly by Amazon. Its Prime membership club hasn’t launched just yet. There goes the rest of our day…

ACCC LOOKS INTO TECH BEHEMOTHS
Speaking of huge American disruptors… Our competition regulator will take a look Facebook and Google’s effect on the advertising and media markets in Oz. It’s a result of former senator Nick Xenophon’s deal with the Turnbull Government for his support of media reform. Australia’s media companies reckon Facebook and Google have not just disrupted, but have destroyed the market with as much as 85% of Oz’s advertising revenue being spent with the tech giants. As an aside: not content with its current reach, Facebook this morning has announced its play for a new market – kids. It’s releasing a parent-facilitated version of the Messenger app for kids over 13yo.

US/SOUTH KOREAN DRILLS EXPECTED TO RATTLE THE NORTH
As the brinkmanship between the US and North Korea reaches fever pitch, major military exercises have kicked off in South Korea. The US and South Korea are flexing some serious muscle with more than 12,000 personnel and 230 aircraft taking part in the week-long exercise. But some good news: sounds like the big test the North Koreans undertook last week wasn’t a total success – the missile is thought to have broken up on re-entry. That’s according to the crew of a Cathay Pacific flight who saw it during a routine commercial flight. Yikes!

And while we have you... the US yesterday announced it would pull out of the UN process to set a global strategy on migration saying it compromises America’s sovereignty.

ARGENTINE SUBMARINE FAMILIES MARCH AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT
Families of some of the 44 Argentine submariners still missing at sea after their craft lost contact with the world 15 days ago have taken to the streets to protest what they say is government indifference to the plight of their loved ones. “Whoever is responsible needs to be held responsible," said Marcela Moyano, wife of crew member Hernán Rodríguez following a naval press conference in which a spokesman said the navy had abandoned any hope of finding the crew members alive.

NO DEAL ON BREXIT TALKS JUST YET
As Neil Sedaka sang and all of us know, breaking up is hard to do. Just ask UK PM Theresa May. She’s at European Union HQ for talks about the divorce bill, citizen’s rights and what happens with the Irish border. May had been hoping to start talks on a UK/EU free trade agreement which seems to us a little bit like the protagonist in a divorce coming back into the marital home while the wounds are still raw and asking for their fair share of the CD collection. She was told to park it. May and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker didn’t strike a deal today, but the hope is this big part of the negotiation is finalised in the coming days.

BAD NEWS FOR CHRISTMAS CHERRIES
Nothing says it’s Christmas like cherries. Except for Santa. And Christmas trees. You know what we mean... So we (and our hip pockets) were sad to hear that the recent rain across NSW and Victoria has wiped out up to half their cherry crop. Reports say some farmers are using air blowers and even helicopters to dry what’s left on the trees to stop the fruit from splitting. Fingers-crossed the Tassie season is a good one. But get ready for increased prices if you want to indulge this festive season. If indulging with fruit is possible…

SQUIZ THE DAY

ABS Data Releases - Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, September; Government Finance Statistics, September; Retail Trade, October

International Volunteer Day

World Soil Day