Ley's leadership battle; Qantas loyalty ranked; quantum bet pays off
Published: September 11, 2025
Ley's leadership battle; Qantas loyalty ranked; quantum bet pays off
News in brief
The federal government’s big bet on PsiQuantum has more than doubled in value, with the quantum computing start-up now worth $10.6 billion after a capital raise that drew in artificial intelligence giant Nvidia as an investor.
Commonwealth Bank-backed buy-now-pay-later group Klarna has listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and its shares surged more than 30 per cent at the open, cementing the comeback of BNPL companies.
Qantas ranks 17th among global airlines for its loyalty program, although the carrier has been singled out for improvement in customer service, in a global survey of airlines. Flying Blue, the joint loyalty program of the Air France-KLM Group, topped the annual survey by Point.me, a US-based points and travel reward search engine. See the top ten in the table at the end of the newsletter.
Senior Australian politicians from across the political spectrum have expressed shock and concern over the fatal shooting of prominent US conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles and Liberal senator James Patterson both sent their condolences to Kirk’s family and were alarmed by the escalation of political violence in the United States.
The intensifying hunt for life on Mars has found minerals in a rocky crater that suggest biological activity may have taken place there. NASA’s Perseverance rover dug out mud stones flecked with iron-containing compounds notable because similar structures on Earth are thought to be chemical evidence of living organisms, according to the FT.
Fear-o-meter
Sussan Ley is scrambling to save her job only months after getting the role as leader of the Coalition. Her handling of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s erroneous comments about Indian migrants has been ordinary, but certainly not disastrous.
Yet her enemies in the party, including dumped frontbenchers Jane Hume and Sarah Henderson, are jumping in. Even supporters like Andrew Hastie have fluffed their responses about her leadership.
Ley won’t lose her job. She is too new and the coalition has so much ground to make up. But the infighting makes for poor political debate. A weak Opposition is bad for the country because the government gets a free ride.
In some states – Western Australia, Victoria and South Australia – the conservative sides of politics have been sidelined. It is now happening federally and that’s bad the country.
Fear & Greed Q+A today
On the rise of project management as a career, and the importance of training and qualification:
"It's actually really fascinating the way project manager has - as a role - developed over, dare I say human history, because I'm of the view that the project manager is one of the earliest professions in the world. Why is that? Well, if you look at any great archaeological site... [the] Colosseum, Pyramids of Giza, Machu Picchu, big monuments that were built by project managers back then. Probably not called a project manager [at the time]... but the point is this profession, whether it's called it or not, has existed forever. Historically though, up until about the 80s, it was more learnt on the job. So maybe it was on a building site, maybe someone had a bit of, a bit more get up and go... and they sort of became a managerial role. More recently, however, it has shifted into something that can and should be taught, so that there's no gaps - so you see that through the universities and also professional certifications."
It is Friday the 12th of September 2025. Today, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says her leadership of the Liberal Party is “absolutely not” under threat after her decision to axe Northern Territory Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price from the frontbench. But the chatter continues. Ms Ley is under pressure from all sides over how she handled Senator Price's erroneous comments about Indian migrants, with Liberal politicians providing only lukewarm support.
Greed-o-meter
| 2025 Rank | Airline Program | 2024 Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Air France-KLM Flying Blue | 1 |
| 2 | American Airlines AAdvantage | 6 |
| 3 | Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan | 7 |
| 4 | Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | 4 |
| 5 | United MileagePlus | 3 |
| 6 | The British Airways Club | 4 |
| 7 | Air Canada Aeroplan | 2 |
| 8 | JetBlue TrueBlue | 9 |
| 9 | Emirates Skywards | 11 |
| 10 | Qatar Airways Privilege Club | 8 |
| 17 | Qantas Frequent Flyer | 24 |
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The Qantas Frequent Flyer program has climbed seven places in a global list of airline loyalty programs. It's now ranked 17th out of 59 programs worldwide. The list - published by point.me - is based on factors like the ease of earning points, redemption rates, award availability, partner opportunities and customer service.
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Source: point.me, reported in The Australian