Afleveringen
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Voice AI is one of the clearest fronts in the fight over what artificial intelligence will actually do to human work.
Not in theory, and not eventually - but right now, in one of the most routine, repetitive and heavily staffed parts of the economy: the call centre.
Will Bodewes is the Melbourne graduate behind Phonely.ai, a now San Francisco-based startup building voice agents for businesses that want phones answered instantly, cheaply, and at scale.
He joins Alan Kohler to talk about what that means for the millions of people who currently do that work, how much of this is really about productivity versus replacement, and why the pitch to business is as blunt as it sounds - lower costs, no wait times, and fewer missed opportunities.
But this interview does something extra too. Alan actually talks to the AI itself - testing what it sounds like, how natural it feels, where it stumbles, and what that reveals about both the promise and the limits of the technology.
They also get into the bigger questions: whether customers should always be told they are speaking to a machine, how close voice AI is to sounding fully human, the risks of scams and fraud, and whether tools like this are making life easier - or just quietly automating more people out of a job.
Will Bodewes, founder of Phonely.ai 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]
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There's a lot of heated debate about Australia's immigration program. And so when a new report on the economic outcomes of skilled worker visa holders hit host Carrington Clarke's inbox - he was eager to find out more.
Today on the podcast, Carrington is in conversation with Dr. Peter Varela, research fellow at the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute at the Australian National University - one of the report's authors.
So what does the data tell us? And does it offer any solutions to improve the productivity of the Australian Labour market?
Also - the government unveils carve outs for CGT. We get Peter Varela's take after his appearance at the Senate Inquiry earlier this week.
Carrington Clarke and Dr. Peter Varela, research fellow at the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute at the Australian National University, break it all down on ABC Business Daily.
Got a burning business question?
We'd love to hear your questions! If there’s business and economic news that has you stumped or you'd like further insight into, we're here to help. Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at [email protected] and we'll attempt to answer it.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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The RBA’s decision to leave rates on hold might have triggered a collective sigh of relief from Australia’s mortgage holders, but there was a clear warning from RBA governor Michelle Bullock that the board stands ready to hike further if necessary.
And after months of negotiation, ARN Media has reached a settlement with its former radio star Kyle Sandilands.
While Sandilands gets a multimillion-dollar golden parachute. Could the deal mean he’s soon a competitor with the company that helped make him a very wealthy man?
Carrington Clarke and ABC Chief Business Correspondent Ian Verrender break it all down on ABC Business Daily.
Got a burning business question?
We'd love to hear your questions! If there’s business and economic news that has you stumped or you'd like further insight into, we're here to help. Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at [email protected] and we'll attempt to answer it.
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After three rate hikes in 2026, the Reserve Bank has finally hit pause - leaving the cash rate unchanged at 4.35 per cent.
The Board says inflation is “still too high” and that higher fuel prices are “passing through to the prices of other goods and services”, but decided to hold steady while it assesses the impact of earlier increases.
Carrington Clarke and ABC News Business Editor Michael Janda unpack the unanimous decision on ABC Business Daily.
Got a burning business question?
We'd love to hear your questions! If there’s business and economic news that has you stumped or you'd like further insight into, we're here to help. Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at [email protected] and we'll attempt to answer it.
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The Australian stock market has surged after US President Donald Trump declared that oil shipments will soon start flowing freely through the strait of Hormuz.
The announcement comes as Australia's Reserve Bank starts its deliberations about what to do with interest rates ahead of tomorrow afternoon's decision.
So does this Hormuz news lower the chance of further rate hikes?
Carrington Clarke and ABC Business Reporter Steph Chalmers break it all down on ABC Business Daily.
Catch up on today's episode of Fuelcast here.
Got a burning business question?
Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at [email protected]
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“Ships of the world, start your engines. Let the oil flow!”
That was US President Donald Trump on Truth Social after news that the US and Iran had reached a ceasefire agreement - a deal Iran has also confirmed.
But we've been here before - and while the announcement is dramatic, plenty of questions remain. Will the oil really flow? How will we know when the Strait of Hormuz is truly open? How long will it take for fuel supply to normalise? And what happens next for oil prices?
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]
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Katharina Mildren started her fashion label, Katharina Lou, at her kitchen table not long after finishing university.
A few years on, the business is growing at 50 per cent a year, employs half a dozen full-time staff, and has built a customer base that extends well beyond Australia.
This is partly a classic founder story - how to start a business, manage cash flow, deal with stock, and grow without losing control.
But it is also a story about how a new generation of founders are rewriting the rules of retail: building brands through influencers, social media, scarcity, pop-ups, and direct relationships with customers rather than relying on permanent shopfronts.
Alan Kohler speaks to Katharina about how the brand grew from a kitchen-table idea into a fast-moving fashion business, what it takes to scale in a crowded market, and why modern retail is as much about identity, community, and online momentum as it is about the clothes themselves.
Katharina Mildren, founder and creative director of Katharina Lou 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]
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Inflation in the United States has jumped to a three-year high, with rising energy prices adding fresh pressure as the war in Iran escalates again.
So what does hotter US inflation mean for global markets, interest rates, and Australia?
And with SpaceX about to go public in what could be a historic market moment, how should investors think about the hype - and the growing security concerns around Starlink?
And we answer listener Phil's question.
Carrington Clarke and ABC News Business Editor Michael Janda break it all down on ABC Business Daily.
Catch up on The Business here.
Got a burning business question like Phil?
Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at [email protected]
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Australian grocery giant Woolworths is expected to ship hundreds of corporate jobs offshore. Barbeques Galore says it's going to close up shop with hundreds of workers facing redundancy. What to make of these retail shakeups?
And why is Wesfarmers positive about the transformational power of AI?
Carrington Clarke and ABC Business Reporter Steph Chalmers break it all down on ABC Business Daily.
Catch up on today's episode of Fuelcast here.
And you can read Steph Chalmers and David Taylor's article on Barbeques Galore here.
Got a burning business question?
Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at [email protected]
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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]
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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]
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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]
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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]
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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]
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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.
Catch up on today's Fuelcast here.
Got a burning business question?
Send a short voice recording to Carrington and the team at [email protected]
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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]
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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]
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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]
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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]
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Artificial intelligence is no longer just a Silicon Valley fascination, a share market story, or something happening off in the distance.
It is becoming a force that could reshape work, productivity, innovation, and the way whole economies function - and one of the companies at the centre of that shift is Anthropic, the maker of Claude.
Peter McCrory is Anthropic’s chief economist. His job is to make sense of how this technology is being used by, and its impact on, workers, firms, and the economy right now.
At the same time, his boss, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, has become one of the loudest and most alarming voices in AI - warning that half of white-collar jobs could disappear within five years, and that the risks are far bigger than most governments or businesses are treating them.
Alan puts that tension directly to McCrory: where he falls between the company’s warnings, the real-world data, and the possibility of AI becoming not just another tool, but a machine for accelerating innovation itself.
Peter McCrory and Alan Kohler 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]
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