Top Liberal Donors Withdraw Support Amid Campaign Disarray and ‘Labor-Lite’ Policies
Major backers warn Liberals won’t return in three years unless the party makes urgent and sweeping changes.
Top Liberal Party donors are pulling their financial support for the party, blaming the combination of a disorganised election campaign and Peter Dutton’s Labor-lite policy platform, saying without early wholesale changes they won’t be giving in three years’ time.
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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 13 in our series for 2025 and today’s date is Friday May 9.
First, I’ll be talking to Dr Arne Geschke, the Co-Founder and CTO of the Australian tech startup, Fair Supply, Dr Geschke will talk about how his firm’s Supply Chain Tariff Calculator can help Australian businesses navigate ongoing trade tensions and supply chain chaos by calculating the full impact of tariffs across multi-tiered and highly intertwined supply chains throughout all tariff points. By using the calculator, businesses can estimate how the tariff will affect them and enable comparisons between other countries to identify the most cost-effective sourcing options.
And I’ll be talking to Independent economist Craig James about what’s happening in the market next week.
But let’s hear from Dr Arne Geschke
So what’s happening in the news?
And that’s it for this week.
So what’s happening in the news.
Warren Buffett has announced he will retire as chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the year. The veteran investor, known as the Oracle of Omaha, told his company’s annual meeting he would hand over the reins to Vice-Chairman Greg Abel. “I think the time has arrived where Greg should become the chief executive of the company at year end,” said Buffett, 94. Mr Buffett, who built Berkshire Hathaway from a failing textile maker into an investment juggernaut worth $1.16tn is arguably the world’s most successful investor. After standing applause from the audience of around 40,000, he joked: “The enthusiasm shown by that response could be interpreted in two ways.” The billionaire told Saturday’s company meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, that the only people who had known about his decision were his two children, Howard and Susie Buffett. Mr Abel, sitting next to Mr Buffett on stage, was apparently caught unaware by the announcement. Mr Buffett handpicked Mr Abel as his successor four years ago but gave no indication at the time that he would retire. While Abel will be CEO, Buffett will be chair. Berkshire Hathaway owns more than 60 companies, including insurer Geico, battery-maker Duracell and restaurant chain Dairy Queen. It also has major stakes in Apple, Coca Cola, Bank of America and American Express, among others. Mr Buffett, who has given away billions to charity, was last month ranked by Bloomberg as the world’s fourth-wealthiest person, with a net worth of $154bn. He earned his first money as a six-year-old, bought his first shares at 11 and filed his first tax return at 13. Despite being one of the richest people in the world, Mr Buffett has lived in the same modest house in Omaha for more than 65 years. The announcement came as Mr Buffet spoke out against President Donald Trump’s tariffs, telling investors that the US should not use “trade as a weapon”. “It’s a big mistake in my view when you have 7.5 billion people who don’t like you very well, and you have 300 million who are crowing about how they have done,” he said earlier in the meeting. “Trade should not be a weapon.”
Westpac, the first of the big four banks to report interim earnings, posted a 1% dip in its first half profit to $3.3 billion.
Australia, which just held its latest federal election on May 3, boasts some of the world’s most sophisticated political institutions and a wealthy economy. Known as the ‘Lucky Country,’ it also shows strong measures of GDP per capita and state capacity. But, according to a new report from UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and the Berggruen Institute, Australia has long struggled to move its economy past a reliance on commodity exports—notably to China. The report reveals hidden erosion, according to its authors who cite democratic accountability scores which have slipped since 2010, while the provision of public goods trails peer nations, and trust in politicians has cratered. Labor’s rebound in the polls, they write, conceals a broader voter realignment, as younger Australians and disaffected centrists drift toward smaller parties in record numbers. The authors say that economic pressures are central to the malaise as the country’s prosperity still hinges on iron ore, coal, and liquefied natural gas exposing the limits of a resource‑heavy model. Meanwhile, a housing‑affordability crunch—rents are at their worst level on record—has opened a stark generational divide and accelerated inequality, with younger voters priced out of home ownership. They also note that social cohesion is also fraying with political polarization echoing trends in the U.S.
In the wake of Labor’s overwhelming win in the election, Australia’s business chiefs are calling on Labor to prioritise a productivity agenda that unlocks long-term economic growth and use its strong mandate to make tough decisions on workplace reform, overhaul the tax system and remove regulatory barriers. Energy giants said heavy electoral losses for the Greens in the House of Representatives should prompt Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to support the development of more gas reserves to help solve the energy crisis. Rio Tinto wants Labor to remove uncertainties around environmental approvals for new mining projects. Chief executives and chairs of the country’s biggest miners, banks, retailers, tech giants and superannuation funds were unanimous in their call for Labor to avoid squandering its clear mandate and embark on meaningful reform. Dig Howitt, the chief executive of hearing impant giant Cochlear said Labor needed to work with business to improve productivity and the tax and industrial relations system “Our tax system is inefficient due to the heavy reliance on income tax and corporate tax. And our industrial relations system has become even more complex. Both of these discourage companies from making productivity-enhancing investments.” National Australia Bank chief executive Andrew Irvine said Labor must focus on productivity, housing and energy, while also helping with cost-of-living challenges.
Gina Rinehart believes the Liberal Party was chased away from supporting Trump-style politics by a left-wing media campaign and has described the election rout as devastating and emotionally exhausting. Australia’s richest person released a lengthy statement on Monday that traversed Argentinian politics, Australian industrial relations and her choice to wear Trump-branded attire while walking the rubbish-strewn streets of New York. Rinehart lamented the Liberals’ apprehension about embracing politics akin to US President Donald Trump’s and warned the re-elected Labor government not to let Saturday’s stunning election victory breed arrogance within the caucus. The mining billionaire wished Prime Minister Anthony Albanese well, but urged him not to implement policies that hampered business investment in Australia. “How attractive are Paris Accord, unreliable electricity, Nature Positive Plan, big delaying expensive government tape, big high-cost government, old IR policies that proved unsuccessful for productivity, but successful for strike disruption and unreliability, to attracting investment, to underpin our living standards?” Last month, Rinehart called for the federal government to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP and invest in an Israeli-style missile defence shield to protect the continent.
Top Liberal Party donors are pulling their financial support for the party, blaming the combination of a disorganised election campaign and Peter Dutton’s Labor-lite policy platform, saying without early wholesale changes they won’t be giving in three years’ time. Billionaire Robert Millner, chairman of investment house Washington H. Soul Pattinson, said he would not be donating again until there was major change. Soul Patts has in the past donated more than $1m to the federal Liberal Party. Stockbroker Angus Aitken – one of the largest Liberal donors – said leaders simply lacked courage for bolder policies that would have had more impact. Mr Aitken donated $250,000 to the federal Liberal Party this year and has donated hundreds of thousands over previous years. “I have zero interest in donating further to the Liberals. They need a wholesale clear out and to work out what they want to stand for, instead of these me-too style quasi-Labor policies,” he said. Jason Titman, the chief executive of crypto company Swyftx which donated tens of thousands of dollars to both parties pushing for better regulations and resistance to Labor’s unrealised capital gains tax, said the Coalition had tried to please everyone and ended-up pleasing no one. “A lot of their policies were similar to what was being offered by Labor. I believe an important area for them to campaign on over the next three years is to make voters aware that Labor’s proposal of taxing unrealised capital gains is counter-productive to growing the Australian economy and it will have a negative impact on productivity growth, the health of investment in Australia and the wealth of millions of Australians,” Mr Titman said.
Youtube was the single biggest channel for election spending during the 2025 campaign, netting close to $26 million in advertising from the political parties. This is according to Google’s own advertising transparency centre, which showed a total of $25.9 million spent on video advertising on YouTube during the campaign period. By comparison, Adgile, a Brisbane firm that measures TV advertising spend, found that roughly $54 million in total was spread across Seven, Nine, Paramount, SBS and Foxtel during the same period. Youtube’s windfall was fuelled by a Labor party splurge: Labor spent the most of any party on the Google-owned video platform, over $9 million, which was three times the amount it spent in the 2022 election. Adgile’s analysis found that, across Youtube plus the TV networks, Palmer’s Trumpet of Patriots spent the most, with approximately $24.1 million in video spend. Labor came second with a $24 million spend. The Coalition spent $21 million on video advertising, with The Greens spending a more modest $4 million. Interestingly, Adgile found that the independent parties combined outspent Labor and the Coalition on Youtube advertising, while the two majors trumped the independents in regards to traditional TV spending, making up over $35 million of the $54 million spent on TV advertising between the parties.
Australian entrepreneurs and investors looking to strike it rich in the defence sector say Europe’s push to rearm itself and reduce dependence on the United States military is shaping up as a potential goldmine. A growing band of Australia’s defence tech start-ups need to find export opportunities to survive, and are vying for a slice of the €800 billion ($A1.4 trillion) the European Union intends to commit, as part of its announced ReArm Europe Plan 2030. Europe is seeking to deter potential attacks from Russia and other adversaries, as US President Donald Trump has warned the continent it needs to defend itself, and that it was too reliant on American military support. Among the Australian companies looking to cash in on this opportunity is Canberra-based Penten, which completed a merger with Britain’s Amiosec on Thursday. The newly formed company, named PentenAmio, expects to generate more than $125 million in revenue this year by selling secure communications and electronic warfare technology to defence and government customers across Australia and Britain. Matthew Wilson, PentenAmio’s executive co-chairman, said the company has held promising talks with the Canadian government and European nations. PentenAmio core products are the AltoCrypt Stik and AltoCrypt Phone that allow military and government customers to access classified information via a USB stick or smartphone. It is also developing technology that uses artificial intelligence to create decoy electronic signals to confuse adversaries. Sydney-based Advanced Navigation is another local defence tech start-up experiencing strong growth in European exports. Chief executive Chris Shaw said demand for its products, which provide precise navigation without GPS connectivity, grew markedly in the past year. “The opportunity is clear. Europe needs capability, and Australia can supply it,” said Shaw.
Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen is in the box seat to become the next United Nations climate chief, industry figures say, as government officials become increasingly confident Australia will secure the rights to host a major global climate summit in Adelaide in 2026. Departmental officials have been making preparations since at least January for Australia to host the 31st United Nations Conference of the Parties climate summit, in anticipation that the government’s bid will be successful. The one other bidder, Turkiye, is yet to withdraw its bid. The leader of the host country must appoint a senior government figure to the role of COP president, a near-full-time job that requires more than 12 months of high-level diplomatic negotiations in advance of and during the summit, to secure binding agreements between close to 200 parties. Bowen is thought to be open to the prospect of becoming president and is widely viewed among energy experts as the most qualified candidate. The position does not technically require him to relinquish his role as energy minister, and he is expected to retain his portfolio in an impending cabinet reshuffle, according to senior government and industry sources not authorised to speak publicly.
Sales of Tesla vehicles in Australia slumped 76% in April compared with a year ago, continuing to lose market share to the BYD brand from China, which outsold it by more than six times. Traditional diesel and petrol-powered utes were the two biggest-selling vehicles in Australia in April. The Toyota HiLux returned to the No.1 position for the first time since September 2023, figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries showed on Monday. Tesla sales in Australia reached 500 in April compared with 2077 in the same month last year, figures released on Monday from the Electric Vehicle Council outlined. On a year-to-date basis, Tesla sales are down 62% in Australia for the first four months of this year at 5660, compared with 14866. The Tesla brand is suffering a backlash globally in part because its head honcho Elon Musk is closely associated with Donald Trump, heading up the US president’s aggressive drive to cut government spending. Sales in Australia have also been crimped by a changeover to a new Tesla Model Y vehicle.
And that’s it for this week.
And next week, I’ll be talking to the global CEO of SmartRecruiters, Rebecca Carr who has all the insights about workplace trends and the modern workplace.
And I’ll be talking to RMIT economist Sinclair Davidson about the post-election challenges for the Albanese government with regard to improving Australia’s productivity and the need for serious tax reform.
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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Looking forward to the next episode of Talking Business.
