ABC Business Daily

Jim Chalmers on Australia’s AI balancing act 17.07.2026 29min

Artificial intelligence is moving fast. Can the Australian government keep up? Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s much-anticipated speech at Sydney University this week detailed what he says makes Australia uniquely attractive to AI investment and outlined the need for a national framework to take advantage of the opportunities AI affords, while ensuring standards and safeguards are put in place. Meanwhile, a group of international economists and tech leaders released an open letter, ‘We Must Act Now,’ warning that advanced AI could shake-up the economy more than the Industrial Revolution - and over a much shorter timeframe. Treasurer Jim Chalmers returns to That’s Business to dig into what the government is proposing with AI, as well as other pressing questions about the Australian economy. Alan gets the Treasurer’s take on AI safety and sovereignty, the responsibilities of data centres, and the issue of copyright and creatives - who gets paid, and how? Alan also asks the Treasurer about his meeting with Anthropic CEO, Dario Amodei, who visited Australia earlier this year. Then there’s a bit of other stuff to catch up on as well: tax, housing, migration, and the ever-present issue of productivity. As the Treasurer prepares to publish the intergenerational report (IGR) later this year, how will this once-in-a-generation technology of artificial intelligence change Australian lives? Federal Treasurer Dr. Jim Chalmers joins Alan Kohler to unpack it all on That's Business with Alan Kohler. Got a burning business question? Send a short voice recording to the ABC Business Daily team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au

SpaceX shares slip 16.07.2026 19min

SpaceX’s share price has slipped after making IPO-history last month and turning founder and CEO Elon Musk into a trillionaire. So how has the market reacted? And what does this mean for the other tech giants in line to go public? Meanwhile workers at mining behemoth BHP are planning industrial action today - at one of Australia’s huge iron-ore export hubs. What does this tell us about labour negotiations in the Pilbara? And what’s the latest on Telstra and communication regulator ACMA - both set to appear before an ongoing Senate inquiry tomorrow? Daniel Ziffer and ABC Finance Reporter Alicia Barry break it all down on ABC Business Daily. You can read Dan's latest reporting on Telstra here. Got a burning business question? We'd love to hear your questions! If there’s business and economic news that has you stumped or you'd like further insight into, we're here to help. Send a short voice recording to the team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au and we'll attempt to answer it.

Albanese weighs in on the AI economy 15.07.2026 23min

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has told Australians that it is not a matter of if - or even when - artificial intelligence will transform the economy. Instead, the question is how that change will happen. Meanwhile nearly 200 international economists and tech leaders have signed a statement urging policy makers to take AI’s impending economic impacts seriously. So how might the government’s new AI framework allow Australia to be more than a ‘data warehouse’? And according to the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors’ annual study, the average ASX-100 CEO earned over fifty times more than the average full-time wage during the last financial year. But what does it mean for the Australian economy if half of the highest earners in ASX-listed companies are based overseas? Daniel Ziffer and ABC News Business Editor Michael Janda break it all down on ABC Business Daily. You check out the articles from Alan Kohler and Nassim Khadem mentioned on today's pod. Got a burning business question? We'd love to hear your questions! If there’s business and economic news that has you stumped or you'd like further insight into, we're here to help. Send a short voice recording to the team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au and we'll attempt to answer it. Got a burning business question? We'd love to hear your questions! If there’s business and economic news that has you stumped or you'd like further insight into, we're here to help. Send a short voice recording to the team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au and we'll attempt to answer it.

What’s keeping oil prices from spiking even more? 14.07.2026 25min

The price of crude oil has spiked, again. And US President Donald Trump has posted on social media, saying the US will charge a 20 per cent fee on cargo travelling through the contested Strait of Hormuz. But why is the price of oil still not as high as many would expect? And what economic costs remain behind a ceasefire that appears to have effectively collapsed? Meanwhile, we continue the conversation on economic productivity, looking at another cornerstone of the Australian economy: property. So how does the value of Australian housing compare to the size of the economy? And what has the Australian property market done to productivity? Daniel Ziffer and ABC Chief Business Correspondent Ian Verrender break it all down on ABC Business Daily. Check out Ian's recent articles on the global energy crisis and the effect of property on productivity. Got a burning business question? We'd love to hear your questions! If there’s business and economic news that has you stumped or you'd like further insight into, we're here to help. Send a short voice recording to the team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au and we'll attempt to answer it.

Why pay isn't keeping pace with productivity 13.07.2026 21min

The interaction between pay and productivity has driven some of Australia’s biggest economic and policy debates in recent decades. New research from the Centre for Policy Development suggests that the typical worker’s wages are not keeping pace with productivity growth. And moreover, it's been this way for three decades. So why does productivity matter? And what larger questions does this research raise about how we set wages and harness technology here in Australia? Daniel Ziffer and ABC Business and Economics Reporter Gareth Hutchens break it all down on ABC Business Daily. You can check out Gareth's piece on the pay and productivity research here. Got a burning business question? We'd love to hear your questions! If there’s business and economic news that has you stumped or you'd like further insight into, we're here to help. Send a short voice recording to the team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au and we'll attempt to answer it.

Justin Wolfers on the absurdities of Trump’s America 10.07.2026 40min

Justin Wolfers has spent 25 years in the United States watching the world’s biggest economy from close range - and from the useful distance of an Australian accent that still cuts through the absurdity. A former Reserve Bank economist and now Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Michigan, Wolfers has become one of America’s sharpest economic communicators. He joins Alan Kohler to talk about the health of the US economy, the chaos of Trump-era policymaking, the folly of tariffs, the importance of immigration, and why the decisions made in Washington still ripple all the way to Australia. They also get into housing, climate change, AI, and the Federal Reserve under Kevin Warsh. And because this is America in 2026, Alan also asks the obvious question: did Justin Wolfers make the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce wedding guest list? And what does the whole spectacle say about celebrity, wealth and power in modern America? Justin Wolfers and Alan Kohler unpack it all on That's Business with Alan Kohler. Got a burning business question? Send a short voice recording to the ABC Business Daily team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au

Will Telstra's outage lead to financial fallout? 09.07.2026 28min

Telstra’s outage has caused dismay and anger across the country. And as problems continue into a second day, questions are being asked about whether further regulations are needed. So what are the business costs of this chaos? And what could the impact be for Telstra’s bottom line? And the latest rental data confirms a troubling tale for those looking for somewhere to live. While the property conversation in Australia so often focuses on those looking to buy homes, what do the numbers tell us about those who aren't in that position? Carrington Clarke and ABC Business Reporter Daniel Ziffer break it all down on ABC Business Daily. Got a burning business question? We'd love to hear your questions! If there’s business and economic news that has you stumped or you'd like further insight into, we're here to help. Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au and we'll attempt to answer it.

Can Australia trust AI? 08.07.2026 28min

The Telstra outage has caused disruption across the country - and highlighted just how dependent businesses and households have become on systems that are meant to work, seamlessly and constantly. At the same time, AI is spreading fast through workplaces and the economy, promising productivity gains while raising harder questions about reliability, regulation, and the future of jobs. Carrington Clarke is joined by ABC National AI and Technology Reporter Cam Wilson, live from a Sydney forum on whether Australia has the right settings in place, to unpack what he is hearing. You can read Cam's latest piece on AI and the job market here. Got a burning business question? We'd love to hear your questions! If there’s business and economic news that has you stumped or you'd like further insight into, we're here to help. Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au and we'll attempt to answer it.

Is the NRL about to break the media rights record? 07.07.2026 20min

A multi-billion-dollar broadcast deal is in the works for the NRL - and if it goes through (as it's expected to), it would become the biggest media rights deal in Australian history. So what does the sheer amount of money on the table say about the state of Australia’s media industry? And with Nine, Foxtel and Stan all in the mix, who is actually going to foot the bill? Carrington Clarke and ABC Chief Business Correspondent Ian Verrender break it all down on ABC Business Daily. You can check out Ian's piece on the NRL here. Got a burning business question? Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au and we'll attempt to answer it.

Why are there so many ETFs on the ASX? 06.07.2026 20min

With the financial year officially over, it's time to take stock of the Australian stock exchange, which saw a record number of Exchange Traded Funds added to its board last year. So what explains this spike in ETFs on the ASX? And who is actually utilising them? And while the value of Australian stocks did increase last financial year, the ASX lags far behind the gains of other global indexes. What's behind the growth overseas? And what explains the gap? Carrington Clarke and ABC Business Correspondent David Taylor break it all down on ABC Business Daily. Hear today's episode of fuelcast - our last one, at least for now - here! Got a burning business question? We'd love to hear your questions! If there’s business and economic news that has you stumped or you'd like further insight into, we're here to help. Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au and we'll attempt to answer it.

Fuelcast: A final update, for now 06.07.2026 11min

With the 50 per cent fuel excise cut now over, it's a good time to take stock of where the energy crisis stands - from the price of Brent crude, to the still-fragile movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. So how do things now compare with where they were before the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February? Has the disruption in Hormuz permanently reshaped other critical shipping routes around the world? And how should we think about energy security from here? Carrington Clarke and Alan Kohler help you stay on top of the numbers behind the ongoing energy crisis on Fuelcast on ABC Business Daily. Fuelcast is taking a pause for now - but we will keep tracking the economic fallout from the war between the US, Israel and Iran on ABC Business Daily, in the same feed where Fuelcast lives - hit like and follow so you never miss an episode. Got a burning brent crude question? Send an email to Carrington and the team abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au

Ampol on fuel security after Hormuz 03.07.2026 29min

The war between Iran, the US and Israel has forced the world to confront just how fragile energy supply still is. Even with a memorandum of understanding now in place, the Strait of Hormuz remains a live fault line - and the shock has again exposed how quickly fuel security can become an economic and political question. Matt Halliday runs Ampol, one of Australia’s biggest fuel retailers and the owner of the Lytton refinery in Brisbane. He joins Alan Kohler to talk about what the conflict exposed about Australia’s fuel vulnerabilities, how Ampol managed through the disruption, and why refining, storage and supply have once again become strategic questions - not just commercial ones. It is also a conversation about the transition already under way - electric vehicles, public charging, low-carbon fuels, and how a company built around petrol and diesel plans for a market that is slowly, unevenly, starting to shift. And yes - Alan also asks the obvious question: does the chief executive of Ampol see an electric car in his own future? Ampol chief executive Matt Halliday joins Alan Kohler to unpack it all on That's Business with Alan Kohler. Got a burning business question? Send a short voice recording to the ABC Business Daily team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au

Tax Week: Investment property low down 03.07.2026 9min

We've heard a lot about negative gearing and investment properties recently, so if you own property, what will the changes mean for you? In this episode Carrington Clarke and Emily Stewart get into the nitty-gritty of the new rules for investment properties: from indexation to negative gearing, grandfathering to offsetting. Listen in to hear what these changes mean for new build dwellings or the home you've had in the family for years. Be sure to check out Emily's ABC Newsletter, Your Money Explained. Got a burning business question? We'd love to hear your questions! If there’s business and economic news that has you stumped or you'd like further insight into, we're here to help. Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au and we'll attempt to answer it.

Trump's made money - will you? 02.07.2026 26min

Fresh financial disclosure documents gave the world a window into just how much money United States president Donald Trump has made during his first year back in the White House. And the numbers might shock you. Is it right for a leader to be making such serious cash while in office - particularly when some of those riches came from Trump's controversial meme coin, despite a lot of private investors coming up short in the same deal? And with the president's investments paying off - where does this leave those in Australia and around the world who might be thinking of investing in crypto and other options, like gold? Carrington Clarke and ABC Business Reporter Lin Lin break it all down on ABC Business Daily. Be sure to catch today's tax-time bonus episode, all about tax changes for shares, here! Got a burning business question? We'd love to hear your questions! If there’s business and economic news that has you stumped or you'd like further insight into, we're here to help. Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au and we'll attempt to answer it.

Tax Week: Changes slated for your shares 02.07.2026 14min

Do you own shares or ETFs? The proposed CGT changes could affect your investments. In this episode Carrington Clarke and Emily Stewart explain CGT tax changes in store for Australians who own EFTs and direct shares. Listen in to hear how the system used to work, how the new system is set up, and when the switchover will go into effect. Be sure to check out Emily's ABC Newsletter, Your Money Explained. Got a burning business question? We'd love to hear your questions! If there’s business and economic news that has you stumped or you'd like further insight into, we're here to help. Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au and we'll attempt to answer it.

Property down, rent up 01.07.2026 30min

The monthly property data we've been waiting for is here. And the numbers tell us that national property prices are, in fact, falling. Meanwhile, rents are rising at an extraordinary clip - what part does this play in the affordability picture? And in the wake of a wave of scandals at the big four consulting firms, the government has proposed potential regulations to respond to an industry occupied by only a few big players. So what sorts of things could change? Carrington Clarke and ABC Business Reporter Steph Chalmers break it all down on ABC Business Daily. Be sure to catch today's tax-time bonus episode - on the new $1,000 tax deduction - here! Got a burning business question? We'd love to hear your questions! If there’s business and economic news that has you stumped or you'd like further insight into, we're here to help. Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au and we'll attempt to answer it.

Tax Week: A new $1,000 tax deduction? 01.07.2026 10min

You might have heard about the new $1,000 tax deduction for work-related expenses... but how will it actually work? In this episode of Tax Week with ABC Business Daily, Carrington Clarke and Emily Stewart unpack everything you need to know about the new $1,000 dollar work-related tax deduction: what it is, what it isn't, and who it makes sense for. Be sure to check out Emily's ABC Newsletter, Your Money Explained. Got a burning business question? We'd love to hear your questions! If there’s business and economic news that has you stumped or you'd like further insight into, we're here to help. Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au and we'll attempt to answer it.

AI (over)exuberance 30.06.2026 24min

Tech titans are spending trillions of dollars as they compete to be crowned winner of the ongoing artificial intelligence race. But this raises a fundamental economic question: is the expenditure actually going to be worth the prize? And will there be anything left over for those who come runner up? You can read Ian's AI analysis here. Be sure to catch our bonus tax-week episode here - a what-you-need-to-know before the financial year ticks over tonight! Carrington Clarke and ABC Chief Business Correspondent Ian Verrender break it all down on ABC Business Daily. Got a burning business question? We'd love to hear your questions! If there’s business and economic news that has you stumped or you'd like further insight into, we're here to help. Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au and we'll attempt to answer it.

Tax Week: Your EOFY checklist 30.06.2026 16min

Not sure what to do with all those tax receipts? How will the new $1000 tax deduction actually work? And what about changes to negative gearing and the CGT discount? Welcome to Tax Week with ABC Business Daily, a special bonus series hosted by Carrington Clarke and ABC finance reporter Emily Stewart, aka ‘Sensible Emily’, editor of the Your Money Explained newsletter. In this episode Carrington Clarke and Emily Stewart cover what to do before the financial year ticks over tonight, what to know about work-related purchases, and the low-down on super top-ups and concessional contributions. Be sure to check out Emily's ABC Newsletter, Your Money Explained. Got a burning business question? We'd love to hear your questions! If there’s business and economic news that has you stumped or you'd like further insight into, we're here to help. Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au and we'll attempt to answer it.

Polestar's EVs are under pressure 29.06.2026 27min

American drivers will have one less electric vehicle maker to choose from, with the news that EV company Polestar has been banned from selling in the US. So why is the Swedish brand seemingly paying the price for its Chinese tech? And what questions does this raise for a booming Australian EV market - packed with Chinese cars? Meanwhile here at home, a long-time-coming piece of legislation that takes aim at money laundering will introduce added requirements for those working in the property and related industries. How do these new laws interact with an Australian property market that is currently cooling across much of the country? Carrington Clarke and ABC News Business Editor Michael Janda break it all down on ABC Business Daily. You can listen to today's episode of Fuelcast here. And you can read Daniel Ziffer's piece on new anti-money laundering laws here. Got a burning business question? We'd love to hear your questions! If there’s business and economic news that has you stumped or you'd like further insight into, we're here to help. Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at abcbusinessdaily@abc.net.au and we'll attempt to answer it.