Just minutes after declaring there would be absolutely no exemptions to his steel and aluminum tariffs, Donald Trump says after his conversation with Anthony Albanese he’ll give “great consideration” to Australia’s appeal for an exemption to the tariffs.
Don’t hold your breath.
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 www.businessacumen.biz.
For the most exclusive access to leading economists and business leaders from around the world, subscribe to Talking Business from my website leongettler.com.
I am Leon Gettler. My job is to review and monitor the week’s news in business, finance and economics. I bring it all to you, every week.
This is episode number 2 in our series for 2025 and today’s date is Friday February 14,
First I’ll be talking to Holly Fowler, the founder and CEO of Wable which is a first-of-its-kind social networking and app for neurodivergent people. It’s started as a dating app but now it’s just an app to connect with other neurodivergent folks.
And I’ll be talking to Independent economist Saul Eslake about what to expect in the Australian and global economies in 2025 with the predictably unpredictable Trump.
But first, let’s talk to Holly Fowler
So what’s happening the news?
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has had an urgent discussion with US President Donald Trump as he signals plans for sweeping 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. Mr Albanese told the House his government would continue to make the case for a carve out from those tariffs, “I presented Australia’s case for an exemption, and we agreed on wording to say publicly, which is that the US President agreed that an exemption was under consideration in the interests of both of our countries,” Albanese said. It was be his first conversation with Mr Trump since a brief phone call offering his congratulations upon the US president’s election. The federal government is already facing pressure to ensure Australia is exempted from the tariffs, in a repeat of diplomatic efforts achieved in 2018.Back then Australia, along with countries like Canada, Mexico and the UK, was carved out of new tariffs placed on steel and aluminium imports to the US. The meeting with Trump, which was pencilled in as a courtesy chat, coincides with industry and business groups warning that the tariffs will result in job losses and a manufacturing downturn.
On the other hand, Australia’s almond, wine, and beef producers could be unlikely winners from aggressive US tariffs, thanks to advantageous trade deals with major export partners like China and India underpinning demand for the country’s cheaper commodities. The US doesn’t have any such agreements in place. And the cheaper Australian dollar, thanks to Trump’s policies boosting the greenback, has helped. So it’s a two finger salute to Trump from our rural industries.
So far, Elon Musk’s DOGE team has cut more than $1 billion in spending in the first three weeks, More than half of these cost savings that DOGE says it has found are related to diversity, equity and inclusion. That’s a mere fraction of the $2 trillion in spending Musk has targeted. But this could soon change markedly as DOGE team members are now embedding in some of the government’s largest programs, particularly those focused on healthcare. For example, Musk and his team of Muskrats as they’re dubbed in Washington group recently gained access to Medicare and Medicaid’s contracting and payment system, where they say they are looking for evidence of fraud. Trump on Friday said Musk will also look at the Education Department and “at military, too.” DOGE was also involved in cutting National Institutes of Health grant money for overheads. Scientists quickly decried the cuts. They say all this would devastate important medical research. The agency estimated the cuts, announced Friday night, would save $4 billion a year by capping at 15% the fees that universities and institutions get to pay for lab-support services, rather than individually negotiated rates that can exceed 60%. “If the priority had been to actually cut waste and fraud in federal spending, they’re not looking in the right places,” because the costs of the federal workforce are a fraction of the federal budget, said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, an independent government watchdog. DOGE—which, as currently designed, is an entity within the White House—is supposed to present its recommendations to taxpayers on July 4, 2026. Musk and the group are moving much more quickly, though, to try to cancel contracts and even direct changes in congressional approval.
Elon Musk’s ultimate goal is a dramatically smaller and weaker government, as he and a coterie of aides move to control, automate — and substantially diminish — hundreds if not thousands of public functions, and jobs. In less than three weeks, Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service has followed the same playbook at one federal agency after another: Install loyalists in leadership. Hoover up internal data, including the sensitive and the classified. Gain control of the flow of funds. And they’re pushing hard by means that are legal or otherwise to eliminate jobs and programs not ideologically aligned with Trump administration goals. The DOGE campaign has generated chaos on a near-hourly basis across the nation’s capital. But it appears carefully choreographed in service of a broader agenda to gut the civilian workforce, assert power over the vast federal bureaucracy and shrink it to levels unseen in at least 20 years. The aim is a diminished government that exerts less oversight over private business, delivers fewer services and comprises a smaller share of the U.S. economy — but is far more responsive to the directives of the president. All this has caused concern in the courts. Late Friday, a federal judge in Washington declined to block DOGE access to Labor Department data. The judge expressed concern about these young DOGE staffers who “never had any training with respect to the handling of confidential information” accessing “the medical and financial records of millions of Americans.” And on Saturday, a federal judge in New York temporarily blocked DOGE staff from accessing sensitive payment systems at the Treasury Department, citing the risk of “irreparable harm.” If Musk is successful, the federal workforce will be cut by at least 10%. A mass bid for voluntary resignations — blocked by a federal judge in Massachusetts who has scheduled a hearing this week — is expected to be the first step before mass involuntary dismissals. As much as half the government’s nonmilitary real estate holdings are set to be liquidated, a move aimed at closing offices and increasing commute times amid sharp new limits on remote and telework. That is intended to depress workforce morale and increase attrition. And to replace the existing civil service, Musk’s allies are looking to technology. DOGE associates have been feeding vast troves of government records and databases into artificial intelligence tools, looking for unwanted federal programs and trying to determine which human work can be replaced by AI, machine-learning tools or even robots.
Elon Musk is behind a consortium of investors offering $97.4 billion to buy the nonprofit that controls OpenAI, upping the stakes in his battle with Sam Altman over the company behind ChatGPT. This unsolicited offer adds a major complication to Altman’s carefully laid plans for OpenAI’s future, including converting it to a for-profit company, and spending up to $500 billion on AI infrastructure through a joint venture called Stargate. He and Musk are already fighting in court over the direction of OpenAI. “It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was,” Musk said in a statement. “We will make sure that happens. Sam Altman responds by offering to buy ‘Twitter’ for $9.74 Billion. Musk responds by calling Altman a “Swindler.
Regional Express, or Rex airlines is now in administration. The Albanese government is working with administrators but says it could acquire Rex if a suitable private sector buyer can’t be found for the embattled regional carrier. Should Rex be nationalised, it would be the first time a federal government has owned an airline in three decades after Qantas was privatised in 1995.
As MPs return to Canberra, Labor is scrambling to lock in deals on several key pieces of legislation, including potential vote winners in tax breaks for miners and keeping the National Broadband Network in public hands, in what may be its last opportunity to pass bills before the election due by May 17. However the PM could call an election on April 5 or April 12. There are 42 government bills before the parliament. Most uncertain is the government’s electoral funding overhaul which would set limits on political donations and campaign spending and is aimed at stalling the influence of mining magnate Clive Palmer and Climate 200 which bankrolled the Teals campaign.
The major parties and Climate200 are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on online ads either promoting or pillorying Peter Dutton as the opposition leader is increasingly seen as a genuine challenger in the upcoming federal election. Since Australia Day, the federal Labor Party has spent more than $400,000, mainly on YouTube ads targeting Mr Dutton’s record of opposing Labor cost of living policies, according to Google and Meta ad data. The Liberal Party meanwhile spent $20,000 since the faux election campaign kicked off on January 6 with an ad talking up Dutton’s history as a Queensland cop, small business owner and government minister.
A report from the nation’s largest cybersecurity firm, CyberCX has found that the healthcare industry is the hardest by cyberattacks. Healthcare accounts for 17% of all attacks, followed by financial services (11%) and education (8%). One key example of the healthcare industry’s vulnerability was the way about half of the population – 12.9 million Australians – had their data stolen in an attack on electronic prescription provider Medisecure in April 2024. It was one of the largest cyberattacks in Australian history. Some 6.5 terabytes of data, including insurance numbers and names and addresses, was later published for sale on a Russian hacking forum. As a result MediSecure appointed liquidators and went into administration in June. The Medisecure attack followed a December 2023 cyberattack on St Vincent’s, the nation’s largest not-for-profit health and aged care provider, and a hack on Medibank that resulted in the personal details of 9.7 million current and former customers being published on the dark web. Cyber espionage incidents are also going unnoticed for longer, rising to an average time to detect of more than 400 days, up from 390 in 2023. In the case of Medibank, the hacker was allegedly able to remain in the company’s network for about two months, between August and October 2022.
Global software giant founder Richard White is in trouble again. White is facing new allegations of inappropriate conduct and is yet to sign the 10-year consultancy agreement announced in October when he resigned as WiseTech’s chief executive. White resigned after the media reported he had bought a $7 million Melbourne waterfront property for employee and former partner Christine Kontos, paid $2 million to settle a dispute with another lover, and had been accused by a WiseTech director of intimidation. WiseTech told investors in November that an investigation by law firms Herbert Smith Freehills and Seyfarth Shaw had cleared White of serious wrongdoing in preliminary findings on those allegations. He was instead appointed founder and founding chief executive, reporting to the board and being paid $1 million a year. On Monday, WiseTech told investors the position was “created at the request” of White, but the terms were “still in the course of being agreed. But now, a former WiseTech Global employee is suing the software giant’s billionaire founder and his new wife over workplace issues months after the businessman settled a legal dispute with a former lover. Caroline Heidemann’s Federal Court claim against RWhite, his wife Zena Nasser and the billionaire’s private investment vehicle came as WiseTech confirmed it was investigating two confidential complaints made by an employee and a supplier against the company’s founder. Details of White’s private life were disclosed after he sued Linda Rogan, his former lover, over a $92,000 furniture bill. Rogan, a Sydney wellness entrepreneur who was billed as a potential Real Housewives of Sydney star, claimed she purchased the furniture at White’s behest for a $13.1 million Vaucluse mansion that he had bought for her to live in. The proceedings between White and Rogan were discontinued in October. Rogan had alleged in court documents that White “expected” her to enter into a sexual relationship in 2022 in return for a promise to invest in another venture, Bionik Wellness, but the offer of financial backing did not materialise. Those claims were never tested in court.
And it’s the profit reporting season. Commonwealth Bank of Australia has reported a $5.13 billion first-half profit, up 2% on the first half of last year. Suncorp Group reported an 89% lift in profit to $1.1 billion. Computershare’s Management EPS was 65 cps, a rise of almost 19% compared to the prior corresponding period. Evolution Mining’s first half profit grew 144% to $385 million. AGL Energy’s statutory profit dropped to $97 million for the six months ended December 31, down from $576 million a year earlier. Underlying net profit dropped to $373 million. Medical gloves maker Ansell posted first-half sales of US$1.02 billion ($1.63 billion), up 29.9% compared to the previous corresponding period. Ansell’s EBIT increased 62.9% year on year to US$127.4 million. Adjusted EPS rose 35.5% to 55.7 US cents. JB Hi Fi JB Hi-Fi lifted profits 8% after sales surged close to 10%. Its EBIT was $1.9 million Seven, the diversified owner of industrial and energy assets, including WesTrac, Coates and Boral, reported an earnings before interest and taxes jump of 10 per cent to $843m and an underlying profit of $508m, up 7%. Seven West Media has booked a 6% decline in group revenue for the first half of 2025 as the company continues to suffer through a protracted downturn in the television advertising market. Group EBITDA before significant items fell 26% to $92 million, down $32 million on the same period last year. Statutory net profit after tax was down 67% to $18 million. Underlying net profit after tax excluding significant items was down 41% to $37 million for the half. Breville’s net profit after tax rose 16.1% to A$97,515,000. Macquarie Group has reported broadly flat net profit for the first nine months of its financial year, as improved income in asset management and banking was offset by softer results in divisions leveraged to financial and commodity markets. CSL’s Net Profit After Tax Adjusted was $US2.07 billion, up 5%. Pilbara Minerals flagged a net loss of $68m-$71m for the first half
And that’s it for this week. And that’s it for this week.
And next week, I’ll be talking to Jessica Leonard and Ashleigh Potocki, the owners of Sydney’s The Afterglow, a self-titled automated glow studio. We’ll talk about what benefits a business can potentially gain when it’s led by a woman and what challenges female entrepreneurs face day-to-day.
And I’ll be talking to Rabobank economist Michael Every about the impact of Trump’s tariffs on China, Australia’s biggest trading partner.
For the most exclusive access to leading economists and business leaders from around the world, subscribe to Talking Business from my website leongettler.com
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