ABC Business Daily

Energy and Climate Minister Chris Bowen says Australia’s petrol, diesel, and jet fuel reserves are now higher than they were when the war in Iran began - and enough to keep the country secure through August. 

But as Transport Minister Catherine King warns, the fuel excise cut is still expected to end this month. So is what we have on hand enough?

And what does that tell us about fuel security, the politics of relief, and the push for electrification - if electricity holds the answer to potential future energy shortages?

Carrington Clarke and Ian Verrender help you stay on top of the numbers behind the ongoing energy crisis on Fuelcast on ABC Business Daily.

Got a burning brent crude question?

Send an email to Carrington and the team [email protected]

After weeks of anticipation, Elon Musk’s SpaceX is finally about to go public at the end of this week - but not before OpenAI also turned heads, with news that it's looking to test the public market.

So is there any risk behind the sky-high SpaceX hype? 

And a week out from the RBA’s next rate decision, economists at Australia’s big four banks can’t seem to agree on the RBA's next move. What's behind the divergence in economic opinion - and is it something we should be concerned about?

Carrington Clarke and ABC Chief Business Correspondent Ian Verrender break it all down on ABC Business Daily.

You can listen to yesterday's episode of Fuelcast here.

You can also read Ian's piece on interest rates here. 

Got a burning business question?

Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at [email protected]

Negotiations between Iran and the US remain up in the air as Iran sends missiles toward Israel for the first time since April.  

Meanwhile the oil producing countries of OPEC+ say they will increase production in July. But with the Strait of Hormuz still closed, will that oil have anywhere to go?

And we answer your questions: why the disruptions to oil have been so big – given that only 20% of the world’s oil comes through the Strait of Hormuz. 

Carrington Clarke and Alan Kohler help you keep on top of the numbers behind the ongoing energy crisis on Fuelcast on ABC Business Daily.

Got a burning brent crude question?

Send an email to Carrington and the team [email protected]

Childcare has become a system that almost everyone relies on, but very few think is working properly.

Families pay a lot, quality is uneven, and after years of marketisation the sector is now dominated by for-profit providers. 

So how did Australia end up here? Why is the system still so expensive? What does the data say are the differences between for-profit and not-for-profit care? Does fixing it now require more than tinkering at the edges?

Adelajda Soltysik is one of Australia's foremost experts on childcare. She joins Alan Kohler to examine the deeper fault lines in the system - from the shift away from direct government funding, to the limits of means-tested subsidies, the case for a 100 per cent subsidy, the lessons from Canada, the role of private equity, and why some of the best community-run centres are still struggling to survive.

Senior Policy Advisor with the Centre for Policy Development Adelajda Soltysik 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 [email protected]

A simmering scandal at accounting firm KPMG has reached a boiling point with multiple heads rolling and admissions about poor handling of a whistleblower’s complaint. It's raising questions, once again, about how the big four accounting firms operate in Australia.

Meanwhile tariff threats from the United States have surfaced anew. What exactly does it mean for Australian businesses?

Carrington Clarke and Tansy Harcourt, Senior Reporter for The Australian, break it all down on ABC Business Daily.

Got a burning business question?

Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at [email protected]

New data shows Australia’s economy was already slowing the first three months of the year, before the full impact of a series of interest rate hikes and the war in the Middle East washed through.

So what does this slowdown mean for the outlook for interest rates?

And what will the Fair Work Commission's wage hike mean for Australia's workers?

Carrington Clarke and ABC Business Reporter Steph Chalmers break it all down on ABC Business Daily.

Got a burning business question?

Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at [email protected]

Have oil prices been too calm for a crisis this big?

Economists are starting to worry that forecasts for the length of the conflict - and the hit to global oil supply and prices - have been too optimistic. So what if this war drags on?

And with just one month left on the reduced fuel excise, will the government extend the relief if there is still no end in sight?

Carrington Clarke and Ian Verrender unpack the latest and help keep you on top of the numbers behind the ongoing energy crisis on Fuelcast on ABC Business Daily.

Got a burning brent crude question?

Send an email to Carrington and the team [email protected]

There’s a race happening on Wall Street, as AI giants rush to go public and collect the prize of passive funds. Anthropic has made the latest move to file on the heels of SpaceX, which is already set to stage the largest public offering in stock market history.

And a huge uptake in home batteries here in Australia is reshaping the power industry. Could battery-generated power help the nation to combat inflation?

Carrington Clarke and ABC Chief Business Correspondent Ian Verender break it all down on ABC Business Daily.

You can find Ian's article all about battery power in Australia here. 

Got a burning business question?

Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at [email protected]

National property price rises have stalled, according to recent data, as three successive rate hikes and planned property tax changes seem to dramatically shift the market.

So where does the Australian property market go from here?

And as the Australian Bureau of statistics prepares to release GDP data later this week, there’s a larger conversation going on about what GDP measures - and what it doesn’t.

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 check out the 'Housing Hostages' series that Michael mentions from our friends over at ABC News Daily. 

Got a burning business question?

Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at [email protected]

Fears are growing that global oil supplies are approaching “minimal operational limits” – the amount of oil needed to keep pipelines and storage facilities stocked and safely running. 

So what is the difference between minimum oil requirements, and the oil that’s available to go to market? 

And we answer a fuel storage question from listener Serghei in Canberra.

Carrington Clarke and Alan Kohler help you stay on top of the numbers behind the ongoing energy crisis on Fuelcast on ABC Business Daily.

Got a burning brent crude question?

Send an email to Carrington and the team [email protected]