Protests hitting Tesla and Tesla owners have erupted across the US, Canada and Europe against Elon Musk’s cost-cutting plans under Donald Trump’s administration.
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 4 in our series for 2025 and today’s date is Friday February 28,
First I’ll be talking to Dario Valenza, the founder of Carbonix, a Sydney based start-up that supplies drones for commercial use in the supply of power.
And I’ll be talking to independent economist Nicholas Gruen about why Australia needs a Citizens chamber in the Senate. .
But first, let’s talk to Dario Valenza.
So what’s happening the news?
In the last couple of days, protests have erupted across the US, Canada and Europe against Elon Musk’s cost-cutting plans under Donald Trump’s administration. The CEO of Tesla has suggested reducing federal spending, which has led to widespread concerns about job losses. Protesters have targeted Tesla stores and charging stations, escalating to acts of vandalism, including a Supercharger defaced with a swastika and the word ‘Nazi.’ Additionally, reports have surfaced that a Tesla store in Seattle was forced to shut down. In response to the rising cases of vandalism, the California-based EV manufacturer has announced plans to take legal action against those responsible. What was initially thought to be a temporary wave of protests has now spread across the U.S., Canada, and even parts of Europe. While most protests have remained peaceful, there have been reports of property damage, including at Tesla charging stations. The official Tesla Charging account on X has responded, stating, “We will press charges for vandalism at Superchargers.” A Tesla EV owner shared an image on X of a charging station in Salt Lake City, Utah, spray-painted with the word ‘Nazi.’ In his post, he commented, “This graffiti at my local Supercharger suggests that Elon Musk might be damaging Tesla’s brand.” The Tesla Charging team quickly responded, saying, “It will be removed by tomorrow morning. Our network will remain in first-class condition for our customers.”In Loveland, Colorado, a Tesla store’s windows were written “Nazi cars” and painted X on the EVs parked in the lot. Tesla EV owners are not being spared by the vandals as a Cybertruck was painted with a swastika in Manhattan. Unfortunately in Gothenburg, Sweden, four Tesla EVs were set on fire.
Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers is in Washington, DC, to talk trade and tariffs with the United States treasury secretary as Australia seeks an exemption to President Donald Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs. In the strongest signal yet that the Trump administration will retaliate against the Albanese government’s bid to force tech giants to pay for Ausrtalian news or face penalties. Trump accused overseas governments of plundering the revenues of US technology companies such as Apple, Meta, Alphabet and Amazon. Chalmers said he did not expect his one-on-one with Scott Bessent – their first meeting since the former investor and fund manager took up his role in Trump’s administration – to bring an end to negotiations. Australia has been lobbying for a dispensation from Trump’s plan to impose 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium amid fears of a damaging hit to jobs and exports. Trump has suggested a carve-out for Australia is under consideration but a final decision is due within weeks. Chalmers said he would not pre-empt the outcome of the tariff discussions, but pointed to a phone conversation between Trump and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese this month, as well as visits to the US by Defence Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong.
Australia’s Opposition leader Peter Dutton has raised doubts about the Coalition’s commitment to fiscal prudence after immediately outbidding Labor’s $8.5 billion spending splurge on Medicare without any detail on how it would be paid for, with economists warning there is no sign either major party has a plan to fix the budget. In an attempt to neutralise Anthony Albanese’s rehash of Bill Shorten’s 2016 Mediscare campaign, the Opposition Leader said he would put a “historic $9bn into Medicare” and urged Labor to spend more on health. Mr Dutton matched the $8.5bn Labor is spending to dramatically increase the take-up of bulk-billing and training healthcare workers, while also urging Mr Albanese to adopt a previously flagged Coalition plan to spend an extra $500m on taxpayer-funded mental health sessions. Neither Mr Albanese nor Mr Dutton have outlined how the increased spending – to hit $2.4bn a year by 2028-29 – would be paid for, raising the likelihood it would add to the structural budget deficit. After Mr Albanese used a major pre-election speech to accuse Mr Dutton of planning on “cutting bulk billing off at the knees”, the Liberal leader demanded Labor deliver a budget on March 25 so legislation could be passed to bake in the extra funding for Medicare. Dutton says an elected Coalition government would save “about $6bn a year” by letting go of public servants and that those savings would be enough to fund its $9bn bulk billing and healthcare pledge. The Coalition has not previously put a dollar figure on how many public servants it would cut while more broadly criticising Labor for the growth in the public service headcount.
Domain Group is yet to accept or reject last week’s $2.65bn buyout proposal from industry giant CoStar. Domain, which is 60% owned by Nine Entertainment, confirmed on Friday it had received a buyout proposal from US online real estate group CoStar to acquire the business. The takeover bid comes at a time when Nine and Domain Group are both without permanent chief executives. CoStar has used Macquarie Capital to gain a 17% stake in Domain. The US-based group run by founder Andrew Florence dominates the online commercial real estate market globally but is working to lift its performance in residential online real estate. It has been on an acquisition spree in recent years, buying companies which do not have the largest market shares in the countries where they operate, embarking on aggressive marketing campaigns to boost performance. CoStar owns the number three player in the UK, OnTheMarket, and the number two player in the US, Homes.com, which the company has outlaid $US1bn on in marketing costs to boost its market share. REA Group is 61% owned by News Corp, and analysts estimate it has about 75% of the market share in Australia. When Domain listed in 2017, it had 30% market share and its market value was $1.6bn, while REA was worth $10bn. Now REA has a $31bn market value and Domain $1.8bn. Domain is the flagship of Nine. A significant portion of Nine’s profit comes from Domain, with estimates suggesting that Domain accounts for roughly half of Nine’s market valuation, even if it only makes up around 20-25% of their earnings before significant items. Nine’s earnings contribution from Domain has lifted to 15%. “Domain continues to be a key part of Nine’s media ecosystem and long-term growth strategy,” Nine reiterated in tis latest profit announcement. If Domain is sold, it would put the future of Nine in doubt and potentially put its newspapers The Age and Sydney Morning Herald and its radio stations 3AW, 2GB and 4BC on the market.
WiseTech’s board is in revolt! Its independent board members have quit the $41 billion software giant after failing to agree with disgraced company founder Richard White about his continuing role. In a statement to the ASX, the company said the four had determined it was in the best interests of the company to stand aside. “This followed intractable differences in the board and differing views around the ongoing role of the founder and founding CEO, Richard White,” the statement said. White was forced to step down as chief executive last year after he was accused of bullying and inappropriate conduct, but he retains control of the company via a 38.7% stake. The board was put under pressure last week when fresh allegations emerged that White provided a female employee with financial support and help with her visa in return for an ongoing sexual relationship. The boardroom resignations this morning come amid further revelations about White’s relationship with his wife, Zena Nasser. These include allegations of blackmail and questions about White’s growing influence over the business’s controlling stake. Chairman Richard Dammery, Lisa Brock, Michael Malone and Fiona Pak-Poy will all resign after signing off on the company’s half-year financial results. Former director Mike Gregg will rejoin the board to ensure the company has the number of directors needed to be publicly listed.
Slater & Gordon says its preliminary investigation of a rogue email sent to the entire firm which criticised senior executives and included a spreadsheet detailing the pay of its entire workforce was a “lone wolf” incident and not part of co-ordinated cyberattack. The law firm’s chief executive Dina Tutungi told staff in an emergency firm-wide meeting on Friday hours after the rogue email was sent that Victoria Police and external cybersecurity experts had been called in to investigate the matter. Staff reacted with horror to the email, sent to the entire firm just before 10am on Friday, after discovering it contained details of what everyone at the firm was paid, who earned a bonus and the size of that bonus and the performance ranking of all 906 employees. The email also contained criticisms of executives and complaints about private equity firm Allegro’s plans “gut the place.”
Former company secretary of Cannon-Brooke Services (CBS) Kevin Chiu has been ordered to hand over his personal devices and not to destroy any confidential information in his possession, after he allegedly leaked an email containing a folder called “HR backup” to Mr Cannon-Brookes’ estranged wife Annie and the company’s ex-chief financial officer Catherine Manuel. The folder is said to have contained nearly 1000 files including employment contracts, pay and bonus details, employee tax and superannuation details, medical certificates, visa and police check details, and committee minutes and meeting papers, according to a judgement delivered by NSW Supreme Court judge Kate Williams on Tuesday. Mr Chiu allegedly used his personal, not company, email address to share the information after he was sacked weeks ago on February 4, Justice Williams said. As well, Mr Chiu is accused of sending the information to Ms Manuel who had also already been fired for “serious misconduct”, Justice Williams said. “The fact that Mr Chiu copied a gmail address for Ms Cannon-Brookes into his email to Ms Manuel sent on the evening of 25 December 2024 does not support an inference that Mr Chiu’s actions in sharing or attempting to share the ‘HR Backup’ folder with Ms Manuel was in the ordinary course of his employment with CBS,” Justice Williams said.
And the profit reporting season is in its final week. Chorus swung to a net loss in the half-year period, reporting a $5 million loss versus $5 million net profit a year earlier. Reece’s profit slumped 19% to $180.9m. Lovisa, the jewellery chain controlled by billionaire Brett Blundy, has posted a 6.5% increase in profit to $56.9m. Nuix’s statutory EBDTA fell 10.8% to $15.3 million. Infrastructure giant APA Group has reported a 54% fall in half-year profits to $34m, down on the $74m reported one year earlier. Including significant items, APA said profits were down 97% to $34m, compared to the previous corresponding period of $1.05bn. Ampol has reported a 78% decline in annual profits of $122.5m, down on $549.1m reported one year earlier. Listed data centre developer NextDC grew its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation to $105.4m, representing a 3% growth. Overall, the company recorded a net loss after tax of $42.7m, almost double the $21.5m in the prior corresponding period.. Online marketplace Kogan.com has cemented its return to profitability since 2024 with an interim net profit of $10.3m for 2025, up 19%, For the 12 months through to December 31, financial services company Iress posted a net profit of $88.7m, a turnaround from the $137.5m loss in 2023. NIB announced net profit after tax of $82.9 million down from $103.9 million a year ago. Domino’s Pizza slumped to an interim loss of $22.2m, against a profit of $57.8m in the prior corresponding period, Amplitude Energy, the former Cooper Energy, has swung into the black for the first half, posting a $7.57 million profit, up from a $90.8 million loss in the same period a year earlier. Metals recycler Sims’ underlying earnings soared 184% to $73 million in the first half. ,Nine Entertainment’s profit after tax and minorities totalled $95m, down 29% on the previous corresponding period. Viva Energy has reported a near 20% decline in annual profit for the 2024 financial year at $254.2m down on the $318.3m reported for FY23. The 2024 profit is the lowest in three years. Oil and gas producer Woodside Energy’s net profit after tax for 2024 totalled $3.57bn – up 115% on the $US2.88bn reported one year earlier,. Buy now pay later group Zip reported cash earnings before taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBTDA of $67m, up 117% on the prior corresponding period. G8 Education’s NPAT was up 14.2% to $72.4m. AUB Group’s underlying NPAT was up 9% to $79.3m. Qualitas’s normalised NPAT was up 28% to $16.2m. Johns Lyng Group reported an NPAT of $22.6m. Meridian Energy posted a net loss of $121 million in the first half. Tyro Payment’s net profit before tax (statutory) doubled to $10.3m. Lynas Rare Earths’ net profit collapsed 85% to $5.9 million in the first half of fiscal 2025, from a year ago. Transport network Kelsian’s interim net profit declined 7.9% to $39.7 million. AI data company Appen posts a statutory net loss of $20m for the 2024 financial year, a marked improvement from the $118.1m loss recorded in the prior year. Vehicle parts and accessories retailer Bapcor reported its net profit dropping 13% to $40.8m. Woolworths reported a swing back to profit for the first half, posting a net profit of $741m, against a loss of $781m for the previous corresponding period. Wisetech reported an underlying net profit after tax of $112.1m, representing a 34% growth from the prior corresponding period. The owner of the local Westfield empire, the Scentre Group, has turned in a full year result of funds from operations of $1.13bn, up 3.5% from a year earlier. Global engineering group Worley posted a 72% jump in interim net profit to $183 million. Radiology group Integral Diagnostics posted a statutory net loss of $400,000 in the first half of fiscal 2025.Flight Centre posted a 27% drop in profit before tax of $88m, down from $120m in the previous corresponding period. Employee services and fleet solutions provider Smartgroup’s net profit rose 22% to $75.6m
And that’s it for this week. And that’s it for this week.
And next week, I’ll be talking to Bob Huber, the chief security officer at Tenable, who providing cybersecurity coordination and training for the USA state and national elections in 2018 and 2020. We’ll speak about a broad range of topics.
And I’ll be speaking to independent economist Saul Eslake about Australia’s latest inflation figures and the outlook for any further rate cuts.
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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