Are banks slipping back to old ways?; dire climate warning; A$’s rare win
Published: September 15, 2025
Are banks slipping back to old ways?; dire climate warning; A$’s rare win
News in brief
Heat deaths will soar across the country and property values will decline by hundreds of billions of dollars if global temperatures rise by 3 degrees, according to the first National Climate Risk Assessment report, released by the federal government yesterday.
Speculation about whether or not the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this week has sparked a surge in the Aussie dollar. Last week was its best since May against the greenback, and over the past month, it has also appreciated against the euro, the Yen and the British pound.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has blamed social media, and its algorithms, for pushing people’s political views to the extremes, be they left or right. The PM said Australia needs to have less shouting and more talking, and importantly, more listening, adding that the way people engage in politics is getting more aggressive. Meanwhile Liberal leader Sussan Ley is dealing with another crisis, with frontbencher Andrew Hastie threatening to quit if the Coalition keeps backing net zero.
Wisetech Global billionaire founder Richard White has sold more than $120 million of stock in the logistics software business, though the selling didn’t hurt the group’s share price, which finished higher yesterday. White still owns 35.6 per cent of the company – worth around $11.6 billion.
The surge in cryptocurrencies since Donald Trump was elected – Bitcoin for example is up 40pc – has had a surprise positive effect on private jet and luxury cruise operators. So much so that many have been forced to take cryptocurrency for payments.
Fear-o-meter
ANZ chair Paul O’Sullivan hopes ASIC’s record fine against ANZ for a raft of indiscretions from overstating bond volumes to failing to refund fees charged to thousands of dead customers will draw a line under the bank, allowing new CEO Nuno Matos a clean slate.
The only problem is that a bunch of the issues, particularly in the retail bank, haven’t received much airtime, and won’t be easily forgotten.
It will take more than a record fine and an apology for customers to forgive the country’s fourth largest bank. As ASIC chair Joe Longo said, time and time again, ANZ betrayed the trust of Australians.
Some of the issues uncovered show that ANZ still has some way to go to achieve adequate governance. The fear is that six years after the end of the Banking Royal Commission, the banks are slipping back into their old ways.
Fear & Greed Q+A today
Yesterday the federal Coalition recorded its lowest primary vote in Newspoll history, at just 27 per cent. A separate Resolve poll shows support for Pauline Hanson's One Nation party at a record high. And the release of a new climate change report is set to make things even more uncomfortable between the Liberals and Nationals, who don't agree on emissions policy. So where to now for Liberal leader Sussan Ley? Can she last until the next election, and how does she start earning back the support of conservative voters who've left the party in droves?
It's Tuesday, the 16th of September 2025. ANZ will pay a record fine of $240 million to settle a case brought by the corporate regulator. The bank admitted to incorrectly reporting bond trading data to the federal government, and widespread misconduct at its retail bank that affected tens of thousands of customers, including not repaying fees charged to deceased customers.
Greed-o-meter
| Show | Outlet | Awards |
|---|---|---|
| The Studio | Apple TV+ | 13 |
| The Penguin | HBO | 9 |
| Adolescence | Netflix | 8 |
| Severance | Apple TV+ | 8 |
| SNL50: The Anniversary Special | NBC | 8 |
| Andor | Disney+ | 5 |
| The Pitt | HBO Max | 5 |
| The Traitors | Peacock | 5 |
| Arcane | Netflix | 4 |
| Love, Death & Robots | Netflix | 4 |
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If you need any more proof of the dominance of the streaming giants, just look at the top ten most-awarded shows at yesterday's Emmys. The Studio (a satire poking fun at the film industry) delivered Apple TV+ its best result ever, but Netflix still took home a whopping 30 awards, tied with HBO / HBO Max.
Listen to today's episode 🎧
Source: Hollywood Reporter