It’s Tuesday the 22nd of April, a sad day for the world's Catholics following the death of Pope Francis yesterday. Locally, Labor heads into the final days of the election campaign with a healthy lead over the Coalition, more than 30,000 business owe big sums to the ATO, and some hybrid vehicles are less economical than internal combustion engines. Plus, a long-delayed Rio-BHP copper mine in the US gets the go-ahead, and humans outrun robots in a race in China.

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News in brief

We are in the final stretch of the election campaign – 12 days to go – and the Coalition is pushing its law-and-order credentials hard, but it is not making up much ground on the ALP, at least in the polls.

About 30,000 businesses have a tax debt default with the ATO of over $100,000. When you have a debt this size, it becomes a predictor of insolvency, according to CreditorWatch.

A long-delayed copper project in Arizona, 55 per cent owned and controlled by Rio Tinto and 45 per cent owned by BHP, has been fast-tracked by the Trump White House as the US and China vie for supremacy in the minerals vital to the energy transition and advanced military hardware.

Some hybrid vehicles use more fuel than their internal combustion engine competitors, at least on Australian roads. In one case analysed by the Australian Automobile Association, a mild hybrid vehicle used 12pc more petrol than its regular equivalent on highways.

It was billed as the world’s first half-marathon for androids, but just four of 21 robots competing against human runners in a race in China completed the 21km run. One fell at the starting line. Another’s head fell off and rolled on the ground. And one collapsed and broke into pieces.

Fear-o-meter

Peter Dutton and the Coalition have a mountain of work to do if they hope to have any chance at the federal poll on May 3. At this point of the race, the polls tend to tighten. But instead in 2025, they are diverging with Anthony Albanese and Labor a real chance of forming a majority government. A month ago, they were unlikely to succeed without the support of the Greens and independents.

The Coalition has done a good job of shooting itself in the foot – a lack of detail on policies, the nuclear debate, the work-from-home debacle. Peter Dutton’s personal approval is weak. The conservative parties have also suffered from comparisons with Donald Trump and the rise of the Teals, often in notional Liberal seats.

The best chance for Peter Dutton is for Anthony Albanese and Labor to muck it up. Albanese is dull, even boring (or perhaps, more generously, he is steady). He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. And that’s bad news for the Coalition.

Who's talking today?

The CEO of the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia on the challenges facing SMEs right now:

 

"The state of small business at the moment is they are really between a rock and a hard place, trying to absorb costs to the best of their ability, noting that there's only so much a lot of small businesses can pass on to their consumers.

 

We know that there's only so much people will pay for a cup of coffee before they simply make one at home. We know there's only so much someone will pay for a schnitzel at a pub or a club rather than choosing to stay at home. So it's really a perfect storm of cost, combined with a reduction in discretionary spending."

Greed-o-meter

Airport parking is expensive, significantly jacking up the price of that long weekend away. This is the average cost of parking for three days at Australia's main airports.

Can you help us out?

Sean Aylmer and Adam Lang from the Fear & Greed team are taking part in Royal Far West's Ride For Country Kids - a 380km ride through western NSW. The goal is to raise as much money as possible to improve life options for kids from rural communities.

Neither Sean or Adam are cyclists - so this is well outside their comfort zone (although they do seem to be taking to the lycra a little too keenly). 

If you can help raise a few dollars for the Fear & Greed team, it will be gratefully appreciated. You can donate here. And we'll be giving supporters a shout-out on the podcast too!

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