December 16, 2025 • 5 mins
This is the Fear and Greed Afternoon Report - everything you need to know about what happened in the markets, economy and world of business today, in just a few minutes.
-
Tributes flow at Bondi
-
ASX closes lower
-
Star CEO departs
-
Charity reprimanded for cutting salaries
-
Trump criticised for Reiner comments
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report
for Tuesday, the sixteenth of December twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'm Michael Thompson, and.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Every afternoon we've got the five stories that happen today
that you need to know about.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Story number one.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Floral tributes are growing at the site of the Bondai
terror attackers. Politicians and civilians lay flowers to remember the
fifteen innocent people killed in Sunday shooting. Former Prime Minister
John Howard and One Nation's Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce
are among those who have been at the memorial today,
while Ahmad El Ahmed, the hero who tackled one of
(00:37):
the government has been visited in hospital this morning by
the Prime Minister and this afternoon by the Governor General.
A go fund me for Ahmed has now passed two
million dollars. Meanwhile, New South Wales Premier Chris Mins has
defended the actions of police who shot the Bondie attackers
at a heated press conference this afternoon, after reporters asked
(00:57):
multiple questions to the New South Wales Police Commissioner Lanyon
about whether police should have engaged the shooters earlier or
have done more to stop them. The Premier stepped in
to defend the officers, pointing out that they engaged the
gunman with handguns when the offenders had long range rifles,
and that they killed one of the men and stopped
the other one. He also said two officers were in
(01:17):
a critical condition in hospital and said, and I quote,
they weren't shot in the back as they were running away.
They were shot in the front. I'm sorry to be
graphic about it, but if there's any suggestion that New
South Wales police didn't live up to their responsibilities to
the people of this state, it should be rejected. On
de story number two now and a look at local markets.
The SMPA Sex two hundred closed zero point four percent
(01:40):
lower today to eighty five hundred and ninety nine points,
dragged down by tech and energy stocks. Monitoring app Life
three sixty slumped more than six percent today, while Wistech
and next DC were both off between two and three percent.
From the energy stocks, Woodside and Santos both closed about
two and a half percent lower. The best performer today
(02:01):
was Drone Shield. The drone tech company secured a fifty
million dollar contract in Europe and that sense at share
price up more than twenty three percent today, the banks
all lost a little ground, with Westpac the worst of
the bunch, down one point two percent. But while we're
talking about the banks, both National Australian Bank and Comwealth
Bank are now tipping a rate hike by the Reserve
(02:22):
Bank as soon as February, citing inflation pressures. They had
previously said that they expected no move at all next year.
Story number three. The new owners of Star Entertainment have
announced the departure of current CEO Steve McCann, with Bruce
Matheson Junior, the son of the group's second largest shareholder,
stepping in as executive chair. McCann, who is the highly
(02:45):
regarded former boss of lend Lease, oversaw Star through its
darkest hours, who will leave immediately, but will still be
available to help with government and regulatory issues until the
middle of next year, which could be handy as Star
is set to face a fine next year for previous
money laundering offenses, which could be as high as three
hundred million dollars. Bruce Matheson Junior said McCann joined at
(03:08):
a time of crisis for Star and has helped to
deliver a critical financial reset for the business and successfully
progressed the company's remediation plan. While there is still much
work to do, Star appears to have succeeded in remaining
a going concern, and at share price is up nearly
thirty percent in the past month. It was a high
pressure stint for McCann, but arguably a lucrative one. After
(03:31):
seventeen months, he leaves with around sixteen million dollars in
pay and cash bonuses. On to story number four and
a youth homelessness charity has been reprimanded. After cutting the
salaries of mail staff in an attempt to address gender
pay concerns, the Fair Work Commission found u turn unlawfully
(03:51):
repudiated the contracts of three long serving mail case managers
when it demoted them and cut their pay by about
ten thousand dollars a year. The cuts from after.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
New recruits, who were all women and had been hired
at a lower level of the relevant award, complained that
they were being paid less than the existing mail staff,
but Commissioner Jennifer Hunt said the organization responded in the
wrong way. She said, one does not break the glass
ceiling by amputating the legs of the men above. The
commission found U Turn had previously grandfathered the men's higher pay,
(04:23):
it was not legally required to reduce it. The demotions
were ruled significant enough to amount determination, opening the door
to legal action and finally, sorry number five. President Donald
Trump has drawn bipartisan condemnation after making inflammatory remarks about
actor and director Rob Ryner following his death. In a
post on truth Social the President suggested Rhyiner's outspoken criticism
(04:47):
of him had contributed to his death, saying and I
quote he was known to have driven people crazy by
his raging obsession with President Donald J. Trump, and that
he had the mind crippling disease known as Trump Derangement syndrome.
Ryaner and his wife were found dead at their home
in Los Angeles on the weekend, with their son charged
(05:08):
over the killings. No motive has been established. Republicans and
Democrats alike have criticized Donald Trump's remarks, calling them inappropriate
and disrespectful. House Speaker Mike Johnson said it was time
to appeal to our better angels, while the Democrats described
the comments as heartless. When asked, Donald Trump doubled down,
saying he was not a rhina Fan.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
And that's it for the Afternoon Report for Tuesday, the
sixteenth of December. Make sure you're following the podcast and
head along to Fear and Greed dot com dot a
un to sign up for our free daily newsletter by
Michael Thompson.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Enjoy your reaping
Welcome to the Fear and Greed Business News Afternoon Report
for Tuesday, the sixteenth of December twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I'm Michael Thompson, and.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Every afternoon we've got the five stories that happen today
that you need to know about.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Story number one.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Floral tributes are growing at the site of the Bondai
terror attackers. Politicians and civilians lay flowers to remember the
fifteen innocent people killed in Sunday shooting. Former Prime Minister
John Howard and One Nation's Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce
are among those who have been at the memorial today,
while Ahmad El Ahmed, the hero who tackled one of
(00:37):
the government has been visited in hospital this morning by
the Prime Minister and this afternoon by the Governor General.
A go fund me for Ahmed has now passed two
million dollars. Meanwhile, New South Wales Premier Chris Mins has
defended the actions of police who shot the Bondie attackers
at a heated press conference this afternoon, after reporters asked
(00:57):
multiple questions to the New South Wales Police Commissioner Lanyon
about whether police should have engaged the shooters earlier or
have done more to stop them. The Premier stepped in
to defend the officers, pointing out that they engaged the
gunman with handguns when the offenders had long range rifles,
and that they killed one of the men and stopped
the other one. He also said two officers were in
(01:17):
a critical condition in hospital and said, and I quote,
they weren't shot in the back as they were running away.
They were shot in the front. I'm sorry to be
graphic about it, but if there's any suggestion that New
South Wales police didn't live up to their responsibilities to
the people of this state, it should be rejected. On
de story number two now and a look at local markets.
The SMPA Sex two hundred closed zero point four percent
(01:40):
lower today to eighty five hundred and ninety nine points,
dragged down by tech and energy stocks. Monitoring app Life
three sixty slumped more than six percent today, while Wistech
and next DC were both off between two and three percent.
From the energy stocks, Woodside and Santos both closed about
two and a half percent lower. The best performer today
(02:01):
was Drone Shield. The drone tech company secured a fifty
million dollar contract in Europe and that sense at share
price up more than twenty three percent today, the banks
all lost a little ground, with Westpac the worst of
the bunch, down one point two percent. But while we're
talking about the banks, both National Australian Bank and Comwealth
Bank are now tipping a rate hike by the Reserve
(02:22):
Bank as soon as February, citing inflation pressures. They had
previously said that they expected no move at all next year.
Story number three. The new owners of Star Entertainment have
announced the departure of current CEO Steve McCann, with Bruce
Matheson Junior, the son of the group's second largest shareholder,
stepping in as executive chair. McCann, who is the highly
(02:45):
regarded former boss of lend Lease, oversaw Star through its
darkest hours, who will leave immediately, but will still be
available to help with government and regulatory issues until the
middle of next year, which could be handy as Star
is set to face a fine next year for previous
money laundering offenses, which could be as high as three
hundred million dollars. Bruce Matheson Junior said McCann joined at
(03:08):
a time of crisis for Star and has helped to
deliver a critical financial reset for the business and successfully
progressed the company's remediation plan. While there is still much
work to do, Star appears to have succeeded in remaining
a going concern, and at share price is up nearly
thirty percent in the past month. It was a high
pressure stint for McCann, but arguably a lucrative one. After
(03:31):
seventeen months, he leaves with around sixteen million dollars in
pay and cash bonuses. On to story number four and
a youth homelessness charity has been reprimanded. After cutting the
salaries of mail staff in an attempt to address gender
pay concerns, the Fair Work Commission found u turn unlawfully
(03:51):
repudiated the contracts of three long serving mail case managers
when it demoted them and cut their pay by about
ten thousand dollars a year. The cuts from after.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
New recruits, who were all women and had been hired
at a lower level of the relevant award, complained that
they were being paid less than the existing mail staff,
but Commissioner Jennifer Hunt said the organization responded in the
wrong way. She said, one does not break the glass
ceiling by amputating the legs of the men above. The
commission found U Turn had previously grandfathered the men's higher pay,
(04:23):
it was not legally required to reduce it. The demotions
were ruled significant enough to amount determination, opening the door
to legal action and finally, sorry number five. President Donald
Trump has drawn bipartisan condemnation after making inflammatory remarks about
actor and director Rob Ryner following his death. In a
post on truth Social the President suggested Rhyiner's outspoken criticism
(04:47):
of him had contributed to his death, saying and I
quote he was known to have driven people crazy by
his raging obsession with President Donald J. Trump, and that
he had the mind crippling disease known as Trump Derangement syndrome.
Ryaner and his wife were found dead at their home
in Los Angeles on the weekend, with their son charged
(05:08):
over the killings. No motive has been established. Republicans and
Democrats alike have criticized Donald Trump's remarks, calling them inappropriate
and disrespectful. House Speaker Mike Johnson said it was time
to appeal to our better angels, while the Democrats described
the comments as heartless. When asked, Donald Trump doubled down,
saying he was not a rhina Fan.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
And that's it for the Afternoon Report for Tuesday, the
sixteenth of December. Make sure you're following the podcast and
head along to Fear and Greed dot com dot a
un to sign up for our free daily newsletter by
Michael Thompson.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Enjoy your reaping
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