The Fin

Senior reporter Carrie LaFrenz and fashion editor Lauren Sams on the slow motion demise of department stores, what tipped David Jones over the edge and what’s going to happen now.

This podcast is sponsored by Ripple

Further reading:

David Jones prepares for collapse as talks fail David Jones will be tipped into administration this week after a rescue plan that would have left the 188-year-old business with just 12 stores unravelled, four months after the retailer managed to find a new financier.

‘Downton Abbey with cash registers’: David Jones from glory to decline The end of the grand old days and why the imminent collapse of David Jones was 188 years in the making.

The great retail reckoning is here The fallout will ripple through the economy as players shut stores, are picked off by opportunistic buyers or decide it’s too difficult to keep trading.

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Washington correspondent Jessica Gardner and foreign affairs reporter Nicci Smith break down the elections in America and Israel and what the fallout means for markets, energy prices and democracy.

This podcast is sponsored by Ripple

Further reading:

Everything you should know about Trump’s midterm elections Americans go to the polls to decide the new make-up of the House of Representatives and part of the Senate. The vote serves as a check on Donald Trump’s power.

Voters are about to whack Trump. Markets could tumble a Democratic sweep would be a big risk-off moment. Stocks could tumble by as much as 10 per cent – the accepted definition of a correction.

The stakes could hardly be higher’: The election for Israel’s soul October 7 has become a lightning rod issue for Israelis in an election that is a referendum on the polarising leadership of Netanyahu and on the nation’s soul.

Israel can’t postpone its reckoning forever Intractable divides between the secular and religious sections of the population pose a bigger problem for the country than any external threat.

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This week, workplace correspondent David Marin-Guzman and legal reporter Janek Drevikovsky on how litigants are using AI to level the playing field, what it means for judges, and the business of law.

This podcast is sponsored by Ripple

Further reading:

AI wins landmark Fair Work Commission case for Macquarie academic When Macquarie University computing academic Greg Baker decided to represent himself in a legal dispute with his employer in October, his knowledge of workplace laws was close to zero, he concedes.

A tiny AI law firm beat the taxman – and may have shrunk your tax bill For a two-person law firm, going head-to-head with the taxman is a Herculean task. Four or five senior barristers said it was impossible. Michael Drummond simply consulted Rachel, his tiny firm’s homemade artificial intelligence bot.

Lawyers go to war with clients who force-feed them AI slop In her 30 years as a tax lawyer, Tania Waterhouse has never seen anything like it. The case was a straightforward ATO matter. The client – an ordinary taxpayer. Waterhouse did the work and, as a standard courtesy, sent the client a draft of her advice.

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Today, senior reporter Jonathan Shapiro and tech editor Paul Smith take us inside the spectacular undoing of Firmus: what went wrong, how it unravelled in a week, and what this sudden collapse reveals about the AI boom.

This podcast is sponsored by Ripple

Further reading:
How Firmus’ $44b IPO failure unfolded
Firmus was on a runaway train to become one of the country’s most valuable listed companies. This is the day-by-day account of how that hope evaporated.
The pain that killed Firmus’ float is spreading. Here’s a new victim
AirTrunk’s decision to delay its Singaporean property IPO is another sign that the rising cost of capital is starting to foster doubts in the global artificial intelligence trade.
AirTrunk postpones $4.4b Singapore listing as interest rates soar
AirTrunk, has delayed plans to list a real estate investment trust in Singapore due to global market volatility, including rising interest rates.

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This week, senior reporter Greg Bearup and pollster Kos Somaras on how vital migrants have become in the regions, why those towns are voting for One Nation and how new data shows that the shift doesn’t have much to do with immigration.

With additional audio: Nic Walker

This podcast is sponsored by Ripple

Further reading

‘We’ll cut your rent by up to 4k’: Hanson ups the ante on immigration One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has lifted the stakes in the immigration policy wars by releasing modelling showing her policy would save renters between $2000 and $4300 a year.

Taylor’s middle ground on migration might be the safest course The Coalition has tried to reconcile two competing interests: how to slash the number of arrivals without hurting the economy.

Voters turn on Albanese and Chalmers as economic concerns bite The latest The Australian Financial Review/RedBridge Group/Accent Research poll also shows economic management is starting to resonate with voters, jumping 7 percentage points in a month as an issue of concern to sit just outside the top five.

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This week, senior reporter Myriam Robin on the story of a mega landlord and what it tells us about the vibe in the housing market – between renters and Australia’s two million landlords.

This podcast is sponsored by Ripple

Further reading:
This 34-year-old owns over 200 properties. Now his tenants are unionising
Australia was built on the dream of owning property. But as that compact unravels, Eddie Dilleen’s clash with a militant renters union exposes a growing fault line.
Why 6.5pc is the benchmark for new residential property investors
The changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax have made rental returns more important than ever. Here are 37 suburbs that are throwing up opportunities.
Investors are still buying, as this $950,000 inner-Sydney sale shows
We speak to the team behind last week’s most intriguing property sale.

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This week, deputy economics editor Michael Read and wealth reporter Andrew Hobbs on the latest round of the super wars, whether you should be able to access your superannuation early and what is the magic number for a comfortable retirement.

This podcast is sponsored by Ripple

Further reading:
Hanson poses the super question Australia stopped asking
How much super is too much and, in the trade-off between living standards today and in retirement, do we really need to put 12 per cent away?
Support grows to tap superannuation for wages, housing
About 62 per cent of voters support using super to boost take-home pay, as some in the Coalition consider a policy allowing people to pay their mortgage out of super.
Gazumped again? Hanson announces previous Coalition super policy
One Nation’s plan to let workers access 3 percentage points of their super is the same policy the Coalition planned to announce under Sussan Ley.

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This week, markets reporter Alex Gluyas on what the AI threat debate means for tech stocks, why Cathie Wood is predicting a golden era and whether the bond market might spoil the party.

This podcast is sponsored by Ripple

Further reading:
Cathie Wood declares ‘golden age’ for equities after bumpy ride
The high-profile investor is betting equity markets are at the start of a decade-long bull market driven by artificial intelligence. And she’s an Elon Musk fan.
Investors see their own threats in push to slow AI development
One fund manager said tighter restrictions would be a commercial advantage to Anthropic and OpenAI, and hurt newer start-ups and microchip manufacturers.
The market’s biggest fear is no longer the AI bubble. It’s this
Investors are worried about a disorderly meltdown in bonds. Australia – now almost halfway to a correction – provides a window into how it could unfold.

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Senior reporter Jonathan Shapiro and associate editor Primrose Riordan on how Bathla built its property empire, why it all fell apart and why its effects will be felt well beyond western Sydney.

This podcast is sponsored by Elston.

Further reading:
Living in ‘half a house’: How Bathla turned cheap housing into a nightmare
The downfall of the developer has left families stranded in half-built homes and sent shockwaves through the private credit market.
This developer could be private credit's ticking time bomb
Bathla Group, a property developer has almost $3.2 billion in debt, it will be private credit investors who could lose out.
Bathla’s collapse has property insiders panicking like it’s 2007
Australia’s ever-rising property market has masked all manner of sins, particularly in private credit, which has been shown up for its lack of discipline.

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This week, editor-in-chief James Chessell and Victorian political correspondent Sumeyya Ilanbey on the project that has come to sum up Victoria’s problems, whether it is too big to cancel and how it will play into November’s state election.

This podcast is sponsored by Elston.

Further reading:
The secret tax that says everything about Victorian Labor
The revelation that Labor secretly introduced a tax on public transport users is the latest chapter in a saga in which political momentum has trumped fiscal responsibility. (edited) 
Vic Labor’s secret tax exposes fiscal transparency void
The opposition and leading economists say a charter of budget honesty is needed after the Victorian government introduced a new tax without telling the public. (edited) 
Carroll’s budget scalpel misses the $34b elephant in the room
Premier Ben Carroll is looking to scrape off as many costly, wasteful barnacles he can find before the November 28 state election

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