Good morning, it’s Wednesday, 11 November. In your Squiz Today…

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

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Said English author M John Harrison after winning this year’s Booker Prize for his dystopian novel The End of Everything. At 81yo, he’s the oldest Booker winner in history. Proof it’s never too late to peak…

The federal government is planning to get tougher on AI companies operating in Oz, with PM Anthony Albanese announcing new proposed laws to protect Aussies that’ll be overseen by an AI safety regulator. If companies don’t comply, the PM says they’ll face “significant penalties”. On top of that, Albanese released 18 recommendations from a rapid review into the OpenAI breach of a Medicare statistics website back in June, which he said the government accepts in full.

You might remember that during a training session, OpenAI asked one of its AI agents (they’re the ones that carry out a task without needing constant human supervision) to find some health information. Instead of stopping when it hit a hurdle, it went rogue, climbing a digital fence to get hold of what it needed - and accessed restricted government information in the process. Both OpenAI and the government say Aussies’ personal details weren’t accessed, but the PM called the incident “unacceptable”. OpenAI has since apologised and beefed up its training and safety processes - but it’s unlikely to face any legal action over the breach, and the government says the law has some catching up to do when it comes to AI.

Under the proposed laws, AI companies will have to spot and deal with serious risks posed by their AI and tell the government quickly if something goes wrong. They’ll also have to let independent experts test their models. The review also suggested a new criminal offence for AI companies if they don’t do enough to stop their models from causing harm - but the government is only considering that at this stage. That copped some blowback from Greens leader David Shoebridge, who says the laws don’t go far enough. AI researcher Toby Walsh would go a step further - he says that the people running AI companies must be held criminally liable for what their creations get up to, because the companies are so rich, “it’s almost impossible to fine them enough”.

When half the office is sniffling and your GP is booked out for a fortnight, Hola Health is your backup. It connects Aussies with AHPRA-registered doctors online, 24/7, usually within 15 minutes (direct to your couch). Doctors can help with med certs, scripts and referrals where appropriate. Here’s how it works, before you need it.

Over in the US, Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie has made the rare move of trying to have Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth - a Cabinet official in his own party - impeached. The Congressman moved 8 articles of impeachment yesterday, some of which accused Hegseth of waging the war in Iran without approval from Congress. That war has split Republicans, but Hegseth has the support of US President Donald Trump, who says he’ll back him. Republicans currently hold a thin margin in the House of Reps, and analysts say it wouldn’t take many defections for the vote to pass, though a conviction would need two-thirds of the Senate to vote for it. At a press conference overnight, Hegseth said the effort was a “farce” and “a stunt”. The initial House vote is set for sometime today.

Multiple women have alleged that the UK comedian used his celebrity to prey on them for sexual purposes, including when they were teenagers. The joint report from ITV and The Guardian features multiple accounts of sexual misconduct and grooming of girls as young as 15, but the 2 media outlets could only publish after a court battle. Walliams, who is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the sketch comedy series Little Britain as well as his best-selling children’s books, denies the allegations and applied for a UK High Court injunction to prevent the media outlets from naming him. That application was denied, and he’s since been dropped by his literary agents, and the BBC has removed some of his work - including Little Britain - from its platforms.
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The 54yo was one of the 2 survivors of the 2006 Beaconsfield mine disaster, which was a huge news event at the time - a rockslide on Anzac Day at the Tasmanian gold mine killed a mineworker named Larry Knight, and trapped Russell and co-worker Brant Webb underground. Their eventual rescue 2 weeks later made international headlines, with Russell famously escaping the media frenzy by ducking to the pub for a drink with friends. He revealed last year that he was receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness, and earlier this month said he was returning home to “see out his days” with family and friends. He is survived by his wife and children.

Today is Remembrance Day, when we stop as a nation (along with many of our allies) and observe a minute’s silence at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. It’s the same time that the Armistice, which ended the fighting in World War I, came into effect in 1918 - although peace didn’t formally come in until the Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919. The reason we pause is to remember and acknowledge the men and women who died or were injured while serving in wars, in conflict zones or carrying out peace operations. Army Chaplain Kelly Horne will give the commemorative address at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. You can watch that on ABC iview from 10.45am AEDT, and here’s a guide to what’s on in your state.

Hold onto your capes… Skydance, which owns DC Studios (think: Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman), has announced that Jeremy Latcham will be taking over from James Gunn and Peter Safran as the head of DC. This is creating major waves in the film world, because it was only 4 years ago that Gunn (famous for directing Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy) and Safran were tapped to steer a major, multi-film project similar to Marvel’s very successful MCU. But they’ve had a patchy start, and Skydance replaced them after just 3 movies and turned to Latcham, who was involved in the early Iron Man and Avengers movies. DC Studios has confirmed that some of its planned projects will go ahead, but some may make like Wonder Woman’s invisible jet and disappear…

The Gold Christmas beetle has been named, or more aptly crowned, the ABC’s 2026 insect of the year. The vibrant beetle received almost 40% of votes in the ABC’s online campaign, and with a lewk like that, we can see why. 

A beetle preserved in amber for 53 million years was found in Europe, and researchers named the species Cnopus twentyonepilotorum (yes, like the band). We guess amber allows science to turn back time to the good old days… 

And according to a new analysis from Forbes, former Beatle (get it…) Paul McCartney is worth more than $1 billion, making him the third-richest musician in the world. He’s sitting behind Jay-Z and Taylor Swift, but at that point, is anyone really behind…

9.00am (AEST) - The Global Drone Show begins, with Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko as a speaker (until 13 November) - Gold Coast 

9.00am (AEDT) - AI Government Showcase, focusing on the responsible adoption of AI across the public sector. Finance Minister Katy Gallagher will speak at the event - Canberra 

10.00am (AEST) - Flight Centre AGM - Brisbane 

11.00am (local time) - 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 (AEDT) - Adairs AGM - Melbourne 

12.30pm (AEDT) - CEO of Master Builders Australia Denita Wawn will address the National Press Club on 'Built to Last - Ending decades of corruption' - Canberra, watch on ABC iview

3.00pm (AEST) - Domino's Pizza Enterprise AGM - Brisbane 

12.15pm (AWST) - Federal Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy and Western Australia Minister for Manufacturing Amber-Jade Sanderson set to announce a significant AUKUS contract - Perth  

PM Anthony Albanese will visit Antalya, Türkiye, for the COP31 Climate Summit (until 12 November)

Rivals returns with the rest of Season 2 on Disney+

ABS data release: lending indicators, September quarter 2026 

Sheffield Shield round 4 begins 

Remembrance Day 

Singles' Day - China

A birthday for actor Leonardo DiCaprio (1974)

Anniversary of

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