Geez! Latest quarterly inflation figure is a blazing hot 1.3%. That pushes the annual rate to 3.2%, well above the RBA target range. No more talk of rate cuts on Cup Day
Welcome to Talking Business, a podcast produced in Melbourne Australia. The podcast is available on the Acast site, my own website, the Apple podcast store or wherever you go to get your podcasts. Or you can get it at the Business Acumen website at https://www.businessacumen.biz/.
I am Leon Gettler. My job is review and monitor the week’s news in business finance and economics. I bring it all to you every week.
For the most exclusive access to leading economists and business leaders from around the world, subscribe to Talking Business from my website leongettler.com or whatever your favourite podcast platform is.
This is episode number 38 in our series for 2025 and today’s date is Friday October 31.
First, I’ll be talking to Dino Beverakis, who was managing director for Avaya. We’ll discuss the future of hybrid work and flexibility and how organisations can stay compliant.
And I’ll be talking to Indeed economist Callam Pickering about the uptick in Australia’s unemployment, what Australia’s worrying jobs market means for the RBA and the state of our economy.
But first, let’s talk to Dino Beverakis.
So what’s happening in the news?
So, let’s start in Washington — and no, this isn’t a plotline from The Apprentice: Oval Office Edition. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump told donors he’s building… a ballroom. At the White House. Now, apparently, he asked how long it would take to get approvals, and was told, “Sir, you can start tonight, you’re the president.” And in classic Trump fashion, that was all he needed to hear. Days later — demolition crews were out there bulldozing part of the East Wing. Historians are horrified. Preservationists are furious. But Trump? He’s thrilled. It’s a developer’s dream: clear the old, build something shiny, slap your name on it. As one historian put it — this is Trump Tower logic — just moved to Pennsylvania Avenue. And here’s the kicker — some of America’s biggest companies are footing the bill. Executives from Apple, Amazon, Lockheed Martin, and Meta have reportedly pledged to fund this new $300 million ballroom. Because apparently, even the White House needs corporate sponsors now.
Meanwhile, over in Asia — there’s a flicker of calm in the long-running trade storm between Washington and Beijing. Negotiators from both sides just reached a preliminary framework deal to dodge a new round of 100% tariffs Trump had threatened on Chinese imports. The talks took place in Malaysia, led by Vice-Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent. Chinese officials called the US position “tough” but said both sides agree — stability is good for business, and good for the world. This all sets the stage for a high-stakes meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. If that goes well, it could cool tensions — at least for now — and maybe even revive global markets that have been on edge for months.
And speaking of Asia — Australia’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, is on a trade diplomacy tour right now. He’s been in Kuala Lumpur for the ASEAN and East Asia summits, and he’s making the case that the answer to global uncertainty isn’t to close borders — it’s to open them. His message? Trade equals jobs, wages, and real opportunities. He’s also putting money where his mouth is — announcing $175 million for a new Asia-Pacific debt fund and another $50 million for infrastructure projects in Indonesia and the Philippines. It’s a clear contrast to Trump’s more protectionist stance — where tariffs and trade wars are seen as tools of leverage. Albanese is arguing that integration and cooperation are what actually build resilience.
Well, any hopes of a Cup Day rate cut have just been dashed. The latest numbers from the Australian Bureau of Statistics are in, and they show inflation is running hotter than expected — especially underneath the surface, In the year to September, inflation jumped to 3.2%, up from 2.1% in June. A big part of that spike comes from the winding back of government subsidies, which means household power bills are heading north again. Now, the Reserve Bank’s preferred measure — the so-called trimmed mean — strips out those one-off, volatile price changes to show the real underlying trend. And that’s where things get worrying. It rose 1% in the September quarter— well above the RBA’s own forecast of 0.6%. That pushes the annual rate on this trimmed mean measure to 3%, up from 2.7% in June. RBA Governor Michele Bullock has already warned that a quarterly rise of 0.9% or more would be a “material miss.” And with the data coming in even higher than that, it’s pretty clear: the central bank won’t be serving up a fourth rate cut anytime soon. So for borrowers hoping for some Cup Day relief, it looks like the champagne will have to stay on ice a little longer.
Today on Talking Business, we’re also diving into a growing controversy at one of Australia’s biggest energy companies — Santos. Investors are asking tough questions about corporate culture, leadership, and transparency after the sudden departure of the company’s chief financial officer, Sherry Duhe. Now, here’s the thing — Duhe didn’t just quietly step away. Before she left, she apparently raised serious concerns about the leadership style of Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher, and about the broader culture within the company. Those concerns, it seems, weren’t looked into before she was shown the door by Santos chairman Keith Spence. Duhe’s exit has sparked a wave of unease among investors — and it’s coming at a bad time. Remember, Santos is still reeling from that failed $36 billion Abu Dhabi-led takeover deal last month. The collapse of that offer sent the company’s share price tumbling, and confidence has already taken a hit. So here’s how it played out: Duhe told Gallagher she was thinking about resigning. He asked her to reconsider, so she wrote a three-page letter outlining what changes she thought were needed to convince her to stay. Those changes, she said later, were the “minimum threshold” for her to remain. But here’s the kicker — she never got a response. So she handed in her resignation. And then, not long after, chairman Keith Spence called to say her services were no longer required — and that she shouldn’t return to work. Now, Duhe hasn’t revealed exactly what was in that letter, though she did say it dealt with her working relationship with Gallagher, and broader issues around culture and leadership at Santos. She’d also been questioning a planned internal reorganisation that would have shifted key responsibilities — like valuation and compliance — away from her team and into the hands of Tracey Winters, Santos’ chief strategy officer and a close ally of Gallagher. What’s particularly interesting is that Duhe says she hasn’t been contacted by anyone on the board since she left — no one has asked her to clarify points she raised. That’s raised alarm bells among investors, who are now wondering about governance and oversight at the country’s second-largest oil and gas producer. Some have already met with Spence privately, but they say they still don’t have clear answers about why Duhe’s concerns weren’t properly addressed. And remember — this isn’t the first time investors have questioned Santos’ leadership. There have been murmurs before about Gallagher’s management style, following several departures among mid-level executives. Governance experts — like University of Sydney’s Massimo Garbuio — say the issues Duhe reportedly raised sound like matters the board has a duty to investigate. So the question now is — will Santos’ board take a closer look, or will investors continue to be left in the dark?
You know, it’s one thing to build a billion-dollar tech company. It’s another thing entirely to watch it all start to wobble because of your personal life. This week, we’re talking about Richard White — the billionaire founder of WiseTech Global. You’ve probably heard the name. His company builds logistics software that powers freight and supply chains all over the world. But lately, WiseTech hasn’t been making headlines for innovation or profits. It’s been making them for something else entirely — Richard White himself. Let’s rewind.
It’s 2015. White and his first wife, Barbara Mason, have just signed their divorce papers. And that’s where this long, messy story really begins. See, part of the divorce deal meant White had to sell down his massive shareholding in WiseTech — little by little — to pay out his former wife. We’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of stock. And this year alone? He’s sold even more. Right, and that’s what first caught the attention of regulators. Because earlier this week, ASIC — that’s Australia’s corporate watchdog — and federal police actually raided WiseTech’s Sydney offices. They were looking for evidence of questionable trading activity linked to White himself. Now, that might sound dramatic — and it is — but this investigation didn’t come out of nowhere. The spark that lit it was actually something a lot more personal. Back in October last year, Richard White tried — and failed — to keep details of a lawsuit under wraps. The case was brought by a woman named Linda Rogan — a wellness entrepreneur, and yes, someone he’d had a relationship with. She’d been served with a bankruptcy notice from White and was trying to have it thrown out. But once the story became public, WiseTech’s share price took a hit. At the time, shares were trading above $135. Now? They’re roughly half that. And the trigger? A $90,000 luxury furniture bill linked to a $13 million Vaucluse mansion that White had bought for Rogan to live in. The two eventually settled — for millions of dollars — but the damage was done. And that lawsuit opened the floodgates. Suddenly, reports were coming out — in The Financial Review, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age — about White’s private life. There were stories about other women, other settlements, and a pattern that started to look a lot less like bad luck and a lot more like bad judgment. Yeah — one woman said White had pursued her through LinkedIn, offering professional help before turning the conversation in, let’s say, a much more personal direction. Another woman had a seven-year affair with him that began before his marriage ended. That one ended in a confidential multimillion-dollar settlement back in 2021. Then there’s Christine Kontos — a former WiseTech executive. When their relationship ended, she walked away with a $7 million, four-storey house in Melbourne. And yet another woman, an American named Kimberlee Cvitash, was reportedly living in a $11,000-a-month lakeside property near Portland — all paid for by White — along with a $30,000 plastic surgery bill. Meanwhile, the share sales just kept rolling in. White had told investors he’d sold about 3.6 million shares between October and December last year. But it turns out, he kept selling through to February — another two million shares, worth roughly $200 million. That’s when ASIC started to take a closer look. Because even though White had stepped down as CEO, he was still deeply tied to the company. There were questions about whether he was trading during a blackout period — the kind when executives aren’t allowed to buy or sell shares because they have access to confidential information. Now, to be clear, there’s no suggestion that he broke the law. White insists he got independent legal advice before making those trades. But it’s a messy look, right? Because earlier this month, he resigned as CEO — only to return almost immediately as “founder and founding CEO.” He’s still getting paid the same salary, and under that agreement, he basically can’t be fired unless he’s given two years’ notice. For shareholders watching all this unfold, it’s… a lot. And that’s really the question now: Can Richard White — one of Australia’s richest men — survive a scandal that’s been building for almost a decade? Or will a divorce settlement from 2015, a string of affairs, and a few too many share sales finally bring down the founder of WiseTech Global?
So, here’s a pretty big one for Australia’s clean energy transition — and honestly, it’s not great news. Not a large-scale clean energy project reached financial closure in the third quarter of 2025. That’s right — zero. And the reason? A mix of transmission bottlenecks and rising costs that are really slowing down the rollout of renewables. All this is adding extra pressure on the Albanese government’s climate goals — remember, they’re aiming for 82% renewable power generation by 2030. Now, the Clean Energy Regulator put out new figures in October, and they show that the number of big wind and solar projects reaching final investment decision — or “FID,” that’s when investors officially commit the money and move forward — is at its lowest level in nearly a decade. Back in 2016, things were slow too, but this is right back down there again. Despite all the talk and all the government push to speed things up, we’re just not seeing that next wave of projects get over the line. Here’s the problem: a lot of Australia’s old coal-fired power stations are set to close in the next few years. So we really need a fast build-out of renewables to fill that gap. Analysts say we’d need to be adding around 10 gigawatts of new renewable capacity every year from now through to 2030. But this year? We’ve only seen about one gigawatt of projects actually reach financial close. The best year we’ve ever had was just over four gigawatts — and that was back in 2022. The government knows this is a problem. They’re working on reforming Australia’s environmental approval laws — which, by the way, are one of the biggest sources of delay for clean energy projects. Energy Minister Chris Bowen says he’s confident the 82% target is still achievable, pointing to a big pipeline of projects that are waiting on approvals and taking part in the government’s subsidy scheme — the Capacity Investment Scheme. According to Bowen, more than 16 gigawatts’ worth of projects are already under contract or in negotiation, and the goal is to have about 11 gigawatts at financial close by the end of 2026. He also says the Clean Energy Regulator has already accredited about 3.2 gigawatts of new large-scale capacity for this year, and that could rise to over 4 by December. And to be fair, there’s still some momentum elsewhere in the system. The Australian Energy Market Operator, or AEMO, says that over the past year, 28 projects — totalling about 4.7 gigawatts — have actually been commissioned and are running at full output. Plus, there are another 275 projects in the pipeline, adding up to around 56 gigawatts. About half of those are big grid-scale batteries, which will be crucial for storing renewable power. But there’s a catch. AEMO says it’s taking longer for projects to move from planning approval to actually operating. That’s because of things like funding uncertainty, ownership changes, design tweaks, or integrating batteries into older project plans. UNSW energy systems analyst Dylan McConnell summed it up pretty bluntly: this new data isn’t good news. FID is usually a leading indicator — so if projects aren’t reaching that point now, it means future construction activity is likely to stay slow. And analyst Tristan Edis from Green Energy Markets says the problem comes down to two big factors: rising construction costs, and the simple fact that we don’t have enough new transmission — the “poles and wires” — to connect all these projects to the grid. He pointed out something that really hits home: if no projects are reaching financial close today, that means in about three years, we’re going to have a quarter where nothing new is coming online. So, yeah — while the ambition is still there, the pipeline is long, and the government’s saying “just wait, the approvals are coming,” the reality is: the clock is ticking. And right now, we’re not building renewables fast enough to keep up with the goals we’ve set for ourselves.
Now, let’s move on to PwC — and the firm’s long-running tax leaks saga just won’t go away. The Tax Practitioners Board is investigating PwC over a range of historic breaches — including whether the firm tried to hide behind legal privilege to block probes into its use of leaked government tax information. There are also allegations PwC gave dodgy advice to clients that may have misled the Foreign Investment Review Board — and another case involving a partner allegedly submitting false info for R&D tax breaks. CEO Kevin Burrowes has spent the past two years trying to clean up the firm’s governance and culture, but these fresh inquiries — along with the ongoing AFP investigation — mean PwC’s pain is far from over.
Over at the Reserve Bank, Michele Bullock has sounded a warning about global markets. Yeah, she’s worried that investors might be a bit too relaxed about risk. Speaking at the Australian Business Economists dinner, Bullock said global markets are showing “a little bit of head scratching” — credit spreads are narrow, risk premiums are low, and everyone seems to think nothing could go wrong. She warned that if that optimism suddenly flips — say if there’s a shock — it could cause financial instability and actually force central banks, including the RBA, to cut interest rates faster than planned. It’s interesting — markets are still riding high, fuelled by excitement around AI, and some economists are calling it a potential tech bubble. Bullock didn’t go that far, but she did hint that a correction could be painful. She also touched on the jobs market, saying the jump in unemployment to 4.5% was surprising, but the overall labour market is still “pretty tight.” Inflation’s still a bit sticky, so the RBA’s balancing act continues.
Speaking of balancing acts — there’s a political one happening inside the Coalition over climate policy. That’s right. Momentum’s building among Liberal and National MPs to water down the party’s commitment to net zero by 2050. Around 20 MPs met this week and were shown polling suggesting most voters want action on emissions — but not if it costs them personally. Over half said they’d support a “not at any cost” approach. Some in the party — like Queensland Senator Matt Canavan — are openly pushing for the Coalition to scrap its unconditional net zero target altogether. Even Barnaby Joyce didn’t show up to the Nationals’ meeting, saying he wanted nothing to do with the discussion. The debate now is how to stay credible on climate while appealing to cost-of-living concerns — not an easy sell, politically or economically.
So from Trump’s plans to turn the East Wing into a ballroom — yes, really — to a flicker of calm in the US–China trade storm, and Prime Minister Albanese’s push to keep Australia open for business, it’s been a big week on the global stage. Back home, hopes for a Cup Day rate cut have gone up in smoke as inflation runs hotter than the RBA expected, and that’s putting real pressure on households — and on Michele Bullock’s next move. We’ve also seen corporate dramas play out across the board — from questions over culture and leadership at Santos, to the ongoing personal and professional turbulence surrounding WiseTech founder Richard White. Both stories raising the same old question: when do governance issues stop being “personal” and start becoming business-critical? And in the energy sector — a sobering reality check. Not a single major renewable project reached financial close this quarter, even as the clock ticks on Australia’s clean energy targets. Add in the latest twists in PwC’s tax saga and political rumblings over the Coalition’s climate stance, and it’s clear — the tension between ambition, accountability, and affordability isn’t going away anytime soon.
I’m Leon Gettler, and that’s Talking Business for this week.
Make sure you follow the show wherever you get your podcasts — and we’ll see you next time.
And that’s it for this week. And next week, I’ll be talking Peter Kokkinos, VP & Managing Director, Asia Pacific at Udemy, a platform for skill development.
And I’ll be talking to independent economist Saul Eslake about the uncertainty of the new economic era.
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