Is the world entering a new nuclear arms race?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to Fear and Greed, business news you can use today.
What warning does Defence Minister Richard Marles give about nuclear arms?
Defence Minister Richard Marles warns that the world might be on the foothills of a new nuclear arms race.
How is the Australian dollar performing against the US dollar?
The Aussie dollar hits a four-year high against the US dollar and Rolls-Royce's new $5 million car.
What does the unemployment rate reveal about the job market?
Plus, the unemployment rate steadies at 4.3%, but economists warn the jobs market is about to get much tougher.
What recent oil deal has Prime Minister Anthony Albanese secured?
And Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's latest deal in Asia to buy oil. It is Friday, the 17th of April, 2026. I'm Michael Thompson, and good morning, Sean Aylmer. Good morning, Michael.
How is global defence spending shifting in response to new threats?
Sean, the main story this morning, defence spending is set to increase by $53 billion across the next decade with more money for drones and missile defence and a real shift away from land-based operations.
What implications does the end of nuclear arms control agreements have?
Defence Minister Richard Marles made the announcement yesterday and said the world may be at the foothills of a new nuclear arms race, which honestly doesn't sound good. Miles released the National Defence Strategy and said that Australia faces its most complex and threatening strategic circumstances since the end of World War II. He said the Cold War era of nuclear arms control, which was put in place to prevent a catastrophic nuclear confrontation, it ended this year with the expiry of the last remaining agreements that limited the number of nuclear warheads deployed by Russia and the U.S.,
He went on to say that all nuclear weapon states are growing their arsenals once more with the biggest growth in China and absent new arms control efforts, the world could be at the foothills of a new nuclear arms race. The 2026 version of the National Defence Strategy, like its recent predecessors, focuses very much on challenges in the Indo-Pacific, though Miles was at
How are recent economic trends affecting the Australian economy?
pains to say that whatever happens around the world can impact the Indo-Pacific. The spending includes $14 billion in the next four years and takes total defence outlays to about 3% of GDP by 2033. Now, the Trump administration has been demanding countries push up defence spending to 3.5% of GDP. The extra spending comes with a restructure where 25% of The defence's civilian workforce and 40% of its budget will be transferred to a new independent agency called the Defence Delivery Agency. It will run major projects in the hope of preventing cost blowouts. The government also plans to sell 67 military sites, raising nearly $2 billion after an independent audit found they had little strategic value.
Yeah, a little strategic value, but as we've been hearing over the last few months, there's a lot of historic and kind of heritage value to a few of those places. So that's not going to be an easy process, attempting to sell those. A few people most unhappy about that. Sean, there were reports yesterday that President Donald Trump wanted to extend the ceasefire that's currently in place, though the White House said that wasn't actually true. Meanwhile, senior Pakistani mediators arrived in Tehran, hoping to shore up the ceasefire between Iran and the U.S.
The US blockade of Iranian chip movements continues to hold for the time being, although Iran yesterday said it would widen its efforts to stop all exports and imports in the region. Not quite sure how it would do that. Trump took to social media to say Israel and Lebanese leaders would be speaking to each other overnight. Meanwhile, the FIFA World Cup is being played in the US starting in the middle of June. Iran is one of the 48 teams competing, as is Australia, as is New Zealand. There's been plenty of contention about whether Iran will be allowed to play in the US from both the US side and the Iranian side. But yesterday, the boss of FIFA said the team was coming for sure.
Hmm. Didn't FIFA give Donald Trump a World Peace Prize or something? They did.
They created a World Peace Prize 12 months ago, and Donald Trump was the inaugural recipient. Yeah, anyway.
Potentially the only recipient. Yeah, yeah. But, I mean, hey, it adds a nice little political dimension to the World Cup, doesn't it? That's true.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:06–0:09
2
What warning does Defence Minister Richard Marles give about nuclear arms?
0:09–0:15
3
How is the Australian dollar performing against the US dollar?
0:15–0:22
4
What does the unemployment rate reveal about the job market?
0:22–0:28
5
What recent oil deal has Prime Minister Anthony Albanese secured?
0:28–0:39
6
How is global defence spending shifting in response to new threats?
0:39–0:53
7
What implications does the end of nuclear arms control agreements have?
0:53–1:54
8
How are recent economic trends affecting the Australian economy?
1:54–18:09