Good morning, it’s Thursday, 12 November. In your Squiz Today…

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🙋🏻‍♀️ This newsletter was written by Anna Pykett, Larissa Huntington, Jonathan Liondis and Sophie Felice

Said Matias Pajula, an adviser to the Finnish Prime Minister, after Finland’s embassy in Oz went viral for announcing it would be shut for the day on Tuesday, leading to a stack of funny memes and videos. Turns out staff were in the sauna, just letting off some steam…

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After going into voluntary administration last week, Aussie department store David Jones saw a huge turnaround in sales over the weekend as shoppers took the chance to visit again while stores were open and snap up some pre-Christmas bargains. But yesterday, DJs’ receiver FTI Consulting - the company brought in to sort out its finances - announced it had made the “difficult decision” to close 19 of the chain’s 38 stores. It said the closures and subsequent restructure are “unavoidable if David Jones is to continue as a viable business” and they’ll help to give it “the best chance for a sustainable future”.

Here’s the full list of closures - they cover 7 stores in NSW, including Parramatta, Hornsby, Macquarie Centre, Warringah Mall and Wollongong. In Victoria, stores in Glen Waverley, Highpoint and Malvern Central will go, and Robina Town Centre and Sunshine Plaza will shut in Queensland. South Oz will lose its stores in Marion and West Lakes, and in Western Oz, Carousel, Garden City and Hay Street Mall will go. Woden in the ACT and the Newmarket store in New Zealand will also close. Reports say 9 of the closures will be in Westfield shopping centres - but owner Scentre Group said there’s still strong demand for space in its centres, with occupancy rates at 99.8%.

Flagship stores in most capital cities are expected to keep trading - and the stores earmarked for closure will stay open until a closing date is finalised. But that's little consolation to the company's 6,000 workers - some of whom were seen hugging each other after the news broke yesterday. The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association says the job losses are the result of years of “bad management decisions”. Reports say the company is in the red $320 million, of which $100 million is owed to suppliers and trade creditors like fashion brands and beauty companies. There’s a meeting for creditors next Tuesday, and the administrator is still keen to find a buyer, so if you’re in the market to buy a 188yo piece of Aussie retail history, expressions of interest close tomorrow.

Republicans in the House of Representatives have blocked an attempt to impeach US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. (FYI - Impeachment is when a public official gets formally charged with serious misconduct). Hegseth had been accused of waging war - including with Iran - without the approval of Congress, but the resolution didn’t win enough support to get to a vote. It’s now been sent off to a committee, and even though US President Donald Trump celebrated this as a win, Hegseth might not be fully out of the woods yet. Off the back of last week’s midterms, the Republicans are going to lose control of the House of Reps in January, and Democrats have indicated they might try again then, so it’s a bit of a ‘watch this space’. Never a dull moment…

That’s the UN climate summit in Türkiye, where Oz Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen is leading negotiations. The PM arrived yesterday and gave a speech overnight saying countries need practical steps to tackle climate change - but his speech is getting criticism for what it didn’t say. That’s because it didn’t mention moving away from fossil fuels - the main driver of rising emissions - and something UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been pushing for. He spoke immediately before Albanese, calling on governments to slap a windfall tax on fossil fuel companies’ profits. Oz is a top coal exporter and Türkiye a big coal user, so it might’ve been a bit awks for the host nations’ delegations in the room… The talks run until 20 November.

The latest figures from the Bureau of Stats show that new home loans fell by 15% in the September quarter - the largest quarterly drop on record. The biggest fall was in investment loans, which dropped by 31%, compared with 5% in owner-occupied ones. It comes after a fifth interest rate rise this year, with property prices down by 6.7% nationally since March and auction rates down by more than a quarter on last year. The Coalition blames the federal government’s Budget tax reforms, with its spokesman for Housing, Andrew Bragg, saying confidence in the market had “tanked”. But Housing Minister Clare O’Neil says the taxes are doing what they were intended to do, which is making the market fairer for Aussies buying a home to live in.

The AI giant behind the chatbot Claude opened its Australian retail IPO (initial public offering) yesterday, giving Aussie investors a rare chance to get in on a major US float ahead of its listing on the Nasdaq - aka the US tech stock exchange. The company is trying to raise US$90.4 billion, which is even more bickies than SpaceX raised in its record IPO in June. The news broke a day after PM Anthony Albanese announced new guardrails for AI companies in Oz and stressed the need for our laws to stay ahead of AI as it develops. Shares are expected to be priced between US$70 and $78 under the ticker ANT. If you want in, you’ll have to read the prospectus lodged with ASIC and apply through an authorised broker. You’ve got until 5pm AEDT on Tuesday to apply, with the listing planned for Thursday, 19 November US time (so, early on Friday for us in Oz).

Say goodbye to the slogan behind beauty brand Maybelline New York, which has replaced the 35yo catchphrase with a new version, revealed in a video shared yesterday by brand ambassador Miley Cyrus. The original tagline of “Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s Maybelline” has been changed to “Maybe. We’re born with it. Maybe. It’s Maybelline”. Global Brand President Sandrine Jolly says that previously “the jingle was giving ambiguity - it was more of a question”. But now, she reckons the word ‘maybe’ is a statement of possibility “and that is what we want to be for women”. The extra punctuation hasn’t gone down well online, with one critic panning the brand’s “terrible grammatical choices” and another saying “Maybe. The brand’s onto something. Maybe. It’s a mistake.”

Oz band Tame Impala is returning to play at US music festival Coachella in April next year, alongside Dua Lipa, SZA and Madonna. Tickets go on sale on Saturday morning Aussie time - the less we know about the prices, the better…

Kim Kardashian’s clothing brand SKIMS is the target of some upset influencers after its $215 holiday advent calendar contained hair clips, scrunchies and bra straps. It’s now issuing refunds to customers who bought one insert Kim crying face here…

And arguably every woman’s dream dress, Keira Knightley’s iconic green gown from the 2007 film Atonement, is set to go to auction in December. It’s expected to sell for up to $230,000 - work Christmas party sorted…

9.15am (AEDT) - Public hearings in the 2026 House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics annual review of the 4 major banks (until 13 November) - Canberra 

12.00pm (AEDT) - One Nation Victoria leader Warren Pickering to present his party's policies at the Rural Press Club in Victoria - Melbourne 

1.00pm (AWST) - Cricket: Australia ODI captain Mitch Marsh press conference ahead of the first game against England tomorrow. We can expect some Sandpapergate questions. England captain Harry Brook will also speak at 1.30pm AWST - Perth

5.15pm (AEDT) - Recipients of the 2027 Australian of the Year Awards for Victoria announced - Melbourne 

Nathan Fielder's documentary on Elizabeth Holmes, You Can See Everything is officially released in Aussie theatres

Graincorp full-year and Xero half-year financial results released 

ABS data release: overseas arrivals and departures, September 2026, water account 2024-2025 financial year 

World Pneumonia Day

World Quality Day

Birthdays for musician Neil Young (1945), author and journalist Naomi Wolf (1962), former figure skater Tonya Harding (1970), actor Ryan Gosling (1980) and actor Anne Hathaway (1982)

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