The Saturday Edition | 4 Apr 2026
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What are the biggest business stories in Australia this week?
This is the Saturday edition of Fear and Greed, business news you can use. I'm Michael Thompson and good morning, Sean Aylmer. Good morning, Michael. Sean, our Saturday show is all about the two of us each nominating what we think is the biggest business story of the week, the most remarkable business story, a mystery category as well, and then our favourite business-related story. Tends to get a little bit loose by that point. We are joined every week by a judge to pick a winner because this is a competition and we must have a winner. And that judge is our fear and greed colleague, Adam Lang. Adam, good morning. Good morning, Michael.
And good morning, Sean. Morning, Adamski. Morning. You look very good. You look like you're going for a run this morning, Adam.
How is the Australian PM addressing fuel supply issues?
You look well-dressed to be judging us.
Well, can we address the elephant in the room, or rather the elephant who is not in the room? Yep, we can. And that is the fact that, Adam, you're not in the studio with us this morning. You're not even in the same country as us. right now. You are joining us from seven and a half thousand kilometers away in China, and your dedication to this show is so great that you are still judging the episode. What's going on there? Are you looking for redemption from previous past judgments? What's happening?
Any goodwill, any goodwill will do. I am in Shenzhen in China, and so basically a city with a population the size of Australia, with work, remarkable place, very different, and I've been a little bit distant from the Australian content in the last couple of days, but I hope this edition will help me catch up.
Will the Chinese people be ready for the great Adamski Lang? That's what I wonder. If he goes out running the streets this morning, will they be ready for him? Let's get into the show. I'll think about that.
We'll ponder that one and we'll come back to that question, the unanswerable question, until we hear about a diplomatic incident where Adam's been arrested. And the answer then will be no. Okay. Biggest story of the week. Once again, this is a fairly consistent story now. The biggest story in the world continues to be the war in the Middle East, the peace talks that fell over or were unsuccessful but did take place, the US blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, Trump criticizing Australia, the impact everything has had on markets. It is the biggest story of the week, of the month, of the year. The biggest story then, Sean, that flows on from that.
What legal battle involving mining magnates was resolved recently?
What did you like this week?
Well, I'm taking the business angle. Now, we didn't get Adam's dodgy five criteria for judgment, which I think is a good thing, to be honest, because it's kind of a little irrelevant to the rest of the show, what he says at the beginning. But I think that this is a business podcast, so we should be thinking business. And the flow on for Qantas, it came out this week, feeling the effect of higher oil and energy prices. What's interesting about them, they hedged their fuel book They did not hedge their refining costs. And refining costs have gone from $20 a barrel to $120 a barrel. Ouch. Virgin, they're actually faring a lot better because they did hedge their refining costs. And the only reason that, I mean, aircraft don't hedge refining costs generally, but because Virgin did an IPO...
People were worried about that factor, and so they hedged their costs. It's worked out well for them. Westpac said it will increase bad debt buffers, way that the energy-intensive business customers will be squeezed. Clean away waste management, people that pick up your garbage. Well, cut its earnings guidance, citing higher fuel and logistics costs. Aurora's come out, talked about its glass factory in the UAE. going into shutdown mode. We've had the ACTU and the Fair Work Commission asking for vehicle allowance increases. What we're really seeing now is the flow on from the war on business. And in the next couple of weeks, we're going to see it in food prices. So the consumer will be hit in the next couple of weeks.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What are the biggest business stories in Australia this week?
0:06–0:50
2
How is the Australian PM addressing fuel supply issues?
0:50–2:49
3
What legal battle involving mining magnates was resolved recently?
2:49–7:16
4
What insights do consumer and business sentiment surveys reveal?
7:16–9:16
5
How is the war in the Middle East affecting Australian businesses?
9:16–12:24
6
What challenges is Qantas facing due to rising fuel costs?
12:24–28:20