Squiz Today – Wednesday, 15 August

THREE MINUTE SQUIZ

“I’ve always had this test in my mind about a great friend - if I called at 3am and said 'I need you, please come,' they’d come immediately without asking why.”

We don’t have favourites at The Squiz. But if we did, Margot Spalding would be right up there. The Jimmy Possum founder, Bendigo community leader and all-round top woman is a keen Squizer, and we couldn’t be more delighted. You’re guaranteed to enjoy Margot’s Three Minute Squiz.

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TRAGEDY AND SUSPECTED TERROR

THE SQUIZ
Two significant events are dominating headlines this morning:

• Part of a motorway bridge has collapsed in Genoa, Italy killing at least 35 people.

• A man has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism charges after hitting pedestrians and cyclists with his car before crashing outside the Houses of Parliament in London.

TELL ME ABOUT THE BRIDGE
The +50yo Morandi bridge linking the city with Genoa airport and towns along the coast to the west of the city has partially collapsed. Maintenance works were underway at the time of its collapse, but the cause is currently unknown. Mayor Marco Bucci said the occurrence was “not absolutely unexpected.” The collapse was captured on video showing one of the supporting towers coming down in heavy rain. One eyewitness says lightning struck the bridge before an 80-metre section came down, but engineers say that’s unlikely to be the cause. It's estimated 30-35 vehicles were on the bridge at the time and rescuers continue to search for victims and survivors.

AND THE SUSPECTED WESTMINSTER ATTACK?
Witnesses have told authorities they believe the 29yo man drove at people on the road in a silver Ford Fiesta a bit after 7.30am local time. Two people were treated and discharged from hospital with minor injuries. The man from Birmingham is not believed to be known to counter-terror authorities, but they are treating it as a terrorist incident because of the method and location. The last terror attack in London was on 19 June last year when a man drove a van into Muslim worshippers near Finsbury Park Mosque.

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SQUIZ THE REST

NEG-OTIATING A HIGH VOLTAGE OBSTACLE COURSE
It was a win for PM Malcolm Malcolm Turnbull and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg yesterday in the National Energy Guarantee edition of snakes and ladders:

• There is agreement from the majority of Coalition members for the electricity plan.

• But there is a group of five Coalition MPs who might vote against it in the Parliament. That’s former PM Tony Abbott, former Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce, and fellow backbenchers Craig Kelly, George Christensen and Tony Pasin.

• That means Team Turnbull will likely need the Labor Party to support the plan to get it through the federal parliament. Labor leader Bill Shorten hasn’t ruled out Labor’s support, but he hasn’t had nice things to say about it either.

• The plan also needs to pass state and territory parliaments.

• And there’s a rush on because Victoria has its election on 24 November which means the government won’t be able to move on it after late October.

As Nine’s political editor Chris Uhlmann said, yesterday was “just another baby step through a minefield.”

WILSON SENTENCING TURNS UGLY
It wasn’t the court’s decision to order former Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson to serve his 12-month custodial sentence in home detention that demanded yesterday’s headlines. It was what happened as he left the hearing. Abuse survivor Peter Gogarty demanded an apology from the man convicted of covering up abuse while he was a priest in Maitland. Wilson ignored him, but an unnamed supporter of the former Archbishop intervened, calling Gogarty “rubbish”. Lawyers for Wilson say he will appeal his conviction.

MELBOURNE LOSES TOP LIVEABLE CITY TITLE
That claim now goes to Vienna with the city taking out The Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Liveability Index. Melbourne and Vienna have been neck and neck for ages with our town coming top of the list for the last seven editions. But the downgrading of Western Europe’s terror threat level and Vienna’s falling crime rate saw it take the title this time. Sydney came in fifth and Adelaide tenth.

ROYAL COMMISSION’S SUPER CLAIMS
NOT AN ENTERTAINER - We all have things we wish we didn’t have to do. Cleaning the bathroom is on our list. So spare a thought for superannuation fund HostPlus boss David Elia who says he wishes he didn’t have to play host, including the $260,000 worth of wining and dining of chief executives at the Aussie Open tennis last year. What a drag.

BREACHES GALORE - Colonial First State was also on the back foot yesterday admitting it failed to move thousands of members from high-fee super funds into the low-fee MySuper regime by the deadline. That means it committed more than 15,000 offences. The regulator worked with Colonial to fix it and didn’t whack them with penalties.

WHEN YOU’VE GOT TO GO…
There’s no way to ease into this. Open-air urinals have been installed around Paris to reduce peeing in the streets. “Can’t people behave?” asked one resident on behalf of civilised people everywhere…

SQUIZ THE DAY

Public holiday in Brissie for Ekka show day

12.30pm (AEST) - Russel Howcroft, Australian Film Television and Radio School Chair, to address the National Press Club on 'The Creative Economy Deficit' - Canberra

ABS Data Release - Wage Price Index, June

Company earnings announcements - CSL; Fairfax Media; Wesfarmers

India's National Day

Birthdays for Princess Anne (1950), Ben Affleck (1972), Jennifer Lawrence (1990)