I’m a bit of an elections nerd - you don’t have to be to work at The Squiz, but it helps - and the US midterms gave us all kinds of quirky stories last week. The most remarkable might be the story of Eric Armstrong, an Iowa Democrat who suspended his campaign for a state House seat 2 months ago due to health issues. The fact he didn’t campaign for the seat didn’t stop people from voting for him, though, and he won it regardless. We love a West Wing comparison round these parts - and this kind of reminded me of that time a guy won a seat despite being, well, dead…
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5 things to clock this week…
Two hearts, girl, get the job done
1. COP begins
The UN’s major climate summit begins tomorrow in Antalya, Türkiye, and will run through to 20 November. This year’s Conference of the Parties (COP) was the one we were keen to host, but after years (no, seriously, it was years) of negotiations with Türkiye, we let them host instead - as long as Oz could chair the negotiations.
Key thing to know: Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen will be in the spotlight over the next fortnight - as President of Negotiations (a new role under the split agreement), he’ll be corralling the nearly 200 countries in attendance to try and get them to sign off on a final decision from the summit. Reports say he’s expected to push for more funding for our Pacific neighbours, which face an existential threat from rising seas.
Key event this week - Wednesday, 11 November: That’s when the Leaders’ Summit begins and various world leaders rock up to give the negotiations a bit of star power. Some of the big names this year include UK PM Andy Burnham and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng - and in 2 weeks, we’ll find out if it’s been a good COP or a bad COP…
Tryna figure out what went wrong
2. Victoria’s construction Royal Commission begins
After an opening procedural hearing in September, the inquiry into Victoria’s controversial and scandal-rich construction industry will begin its first full block of public hearings this week. Setting this up was the first thing Premier Ben Carroll did after he won the leadership from former Premier Jacinta Allan in July.
Key thing to know: This will likely focus on the Victorian branch of the CFMEU, and alleged corruption and misconduct on job sites, particularly around Victoria’s Big Build project - a group of more than 180 road and rail projects that began under the Andrews Government in 2015. It’s costing a lot of dosh - an estimated $100 billion - and this inquiry will look at how much of that was inflated, misdirected or wasted.
Key event this week - Monday, 9 November: That’s when the public hearings begin, and it’s also the day nominations close, and ballots are drawn for the upcoming Victorian state election, set for 28 November. With 3 weeks to go, the Coalition is firmly in the lead in the polls, and a big public inquiry into a Labor government program is probably not going to hurt its chances.
Like soldiers in the winter’s night
3. Remembrance Day
At 11am on Wednesday, Aussies across the country will pause for one minute’s silence to mark 108 years since the Armistice that effectively ended World War I. It’s at this time and on this date (11am on 11/11) because that’s when the Armistice took hold back in 1918.
Key thing to know: While Australians have marked 11 November since 1919 - the first year after the war ended - its status as a national day is relatively recent. It only became an officially recognised day in Australia on 30 October 1997, when then-Governor-General Sir William Deane made that declaration.
Key event this week - Wednesday, 11 November: At 10.45am, the Remembrance Day National Ceremony will begin on the Parade Ground of the Australian War Memorial - here’s a link to more details and where you can find state and local services.
Lay down your money and you play your part
4. The rate changes kick in
After the Reserve Bank raised the cash rate on Tuesday last week, all 4 big banks followed suit by raising their main variable interest rate by the same 25 basis points. That means the big 4’s lowest advertised rates will range from Westpac’s 6.49% at the bottom end to ANZ’s 6.75% at the top end.
Key thing to know: As it happens, ANZ’s full-year results are due tomorrow, so we might get the media spectacle of a bank posting a healthy profit less than one week after announcing a rate rise. These are also the first full-year results since the bank’s CEO, Nuno Matos, unveiled his ANZ 2030 strategy in October last year, 5 months after taking on the gig.
Key event this week - Friday, 13 November: This is when all 4 banks’ rates officially go up, and you’ll be paying more on your home loan if you’ve got a variable interest rate. I do wonder if any of them noticed that they’d be putting rates up on Friday the 13th…
Baby, we were born to run
5. The Rugby League World Cup Finals
Although it is sometimes derided as a bit of a Mickey Mouse tournament, thanks to the dominance of Australia and New Zealand, this year’s Rugby League World Cup has provided some great entertainment. And much of that has been from games not involving either side - like this classic between France and Lebanon, or this one between Tonga and Samoa.
Key thing to know: The US was originally supposed to host this year’s tournament, before it was delayed by a year and Australia eventually stepped in to take over. But the US - despite not even playing this year - may still get its chance. The frontrunners to host the 2030 tournament are reportedly the states of Hawaii and Utah, which have 2 quite different climates. Nothing against Utah, but I suspect the teams playing in 2030 will have their fingers crossed for Hawaii.
Key event this week - Sunday, 15 November: That’s when the women’s final (4.15pm AEDT) and the men’s final (7.35pm AEDT) will take place in Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium. And not to step on my earlier point or anything, but both matches will likely be between… Australia and New Zealand. The Kangaroos are playing Samoa a little after this newsletter goes out to make it official - but there’s always a chance of an upset. Keep an eye out for the Wheelchair Rugby League final too - that’s happening on Friday night.
Pop Culture Pointers
Streaming: At a business level, I’m fascinated by Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which premieres its third season on Prime Video on Wednesday, 11 November. This is an adaptation of one of the most popular series of books ever (well, some background material for it, more accurately) that has reportedly cost more than $1 billion - but is a long way off generating anything close to Game of Thrones-style cultural impact. Amazon says it’s a big driver for signups to Prime, though - we’ll see if the third season can make a bit more of a splash this week.
Watching: Nearly a month after it premiered in American cinemas, one of the most hyped documentaries in living memory will hit Australian cinemas this week. (They sent it here by tugboat, apparently…) You Can See Everything follows comedian Nathan Fielder and documentarian Lance Oppenheim as they stay with disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes for the 34 days before she went to prison for fraud in 2023. No spoilers here, but apparently it goes to some deeply unexpected places - and it’s out in cinemas Thursday, 12 November.
For your calendar…
Monday, 9 November
8.15am - United States Studies Centre Economic Security Forum 2026. Speakers include Secretary to the Australian Treasury Jenny Wilkinson, Assistant Governor (Financial System) of the RBA Dr Brad Jones and Ambassador of Japan to Australia HE Kazuhiro Suzuki - Sydney
9.00am - Public hearing into the Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill (until 10 November) - Canberra
9.30am - Reserve Bank of Australia Assistant Governor Sarah Hunter to deliver a speech at the UBS Australasia conference
10.00am - First block of public hearings begins in the state Royal Commission into the Integrity of Major Public and Civil Infrastructure Construction Projects in Victoria (until 20 November) - Melbourne
11.00am - Critics Choice Documentary Awards - New York
COP31 begins (until 20 November) - Antalya, Türkiye
ANZ Banking Group full financial year results released
TCE exams begin for Year 12s in Tasmania
Tuesday, 10 November
8.45am - Booker Prize winner announced. The winner receives $95,000 - London
12.30pm - Michael Crosby, Administrator of the CFMEU's Construction and General Division, will address the National Press Club on ‘Fix the whole industry, or fix none of it’ - Canberra, watch it on ABC iview
Usman Khawaja's autobiography, Sabr: Finding my way in cricket and life is released, which is said to shed more light on the Sandpapergate scandal
ABS data release: perinatal deaths, 2025
Wednesday, 11 November
10.00am - The Global Drone Show begins, with Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko as a speaker (until 13 November) - Gold Coast
11.00am - Flight Centre AGM - Brisbane
11.00am - One minute of silence observed for Remembrance Day, marking the anniversary of the Armistice which ended WWI, and in memory of the millions who have died in all wars and armed conflicts
11.15am - Adairs AGM - Melbourne
12.30pm - Denita Wawn, CEO of Master Builders Australia, will address the National Press Club on 'Built to Last - Ending decades of corruption' - Canberra, watch on ABC iview
4.00pm - Domino's Pizza Enterprise AGM - Brisbane
PM Anthony Albanese will visit Antalya, Türkiye, for the COP31 Climate Summit (until 12 November)
ABS data release: lending indicators, September quarter 2026
Thursday, 12 November
Nathan Fielder's documentary on Elizabeth Holmes, You Can See Everything, hits Aussie cinemas
GrainCorp full-year financial results
ABS data release: overseas arrivals and departures, September 2026, water account 2024-2025 financial year
Friday, 13 November
2.30pm - Cricket: First Men’s ODI Australia v England - Perth, watch on Kayo
7.45pm - Rugby league: Wheelchair World Cup final - Wollongong, watch on 7Plus
PM Anthony Albanese will head to the Philippines for the ASEAN Summit, which begins 16 November
Saturday, 14 November
1.45am - Football: Men’s international friendly Australia v Qatar - Doha, watch on Paramount+
Sunday, 15 November
12.00pm - Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards - Los Angeles
4.15pm - Rugby league: Women’s World Cup final - Brisbane, watch on 7Plus
7.35pm - Rugby league: Men's World Cup final - Brisbane, watch on 7Plus
*Times in AEDT
And one final fun fact…
Each week, I’ll pry a loose piece of random knowledge from the cacophony of fact that is my brain, and you can have it for free. Bore Impress your friends, bamboozle your enemies…
Really, really well done this week if you spotted that all our little blue headlines are Bruce Springsteen lyrics - as a diehard fan, I appreciate you… Springsteen is famously known as ‘The Boss’, but he was once quoted as saying he actually hates that nickname, so maybe avoid using it if you’re lucky enough to meet him. And there are 2 competing stories about how it came about: the more common one is that it was because he used to collect the money and pay everyone else during his early band gigs, but the less common one is that it came out of regular games of Monopoly the E Street Band played together. Because, baby, we were born to roll…
