We’re diving into the world of ethical clothing in today’s 1 minute read - and it reminded me of the 2024 finding by the Australia Institute that Australians are responsible for buying the most clothes per person out of every nation on the planet (at an average of 56 items each per year). That’s a lot of shopping. I didn‘t even know there were 56 items out there beyond jeans and a nice top!

The quote: “Turns out the future does have flying cars.”
Elon Musk wrote on X after Tesla’s new Roadster, a two-seat electric sports car, performed a midair flip at a demonstration in Texas. Musk said the Roadster will go into production in 2028.

The stat: 2,500. The number of jobs NAB will cut by September 2027, including up to 1,500 by the end of this year. The bank, one of Australia’s “Big Four”, told investors it will reduce roughly 6% of its workforce as part of plans to “simplify its operating model” and “support NAB’s strategic ambition.”

The graph:

The ASX 200 tracks the 200 largest companies listed on the Australian share market. In the past month, the ASX 200 has risen by 0.9%. The index fell to a four-month low on 1 October due to the Reserve Bank of Australia raising interest rates to their highest level in 15 years, high oil prices from the Middle East conflict and rising government borrowing costs. The recovery since was driven by a rebound in the big banks and mining companies.

A new report has found that fashion brands in Australia are not making progress for workers’ rights and environmental protection.

The Ethical Fashion Report scores brands out of 100, based on their “efforts to protect workers and the environment”.

Some of the lowest scorers included White Fox Boutique, Seafolly, and Bec + Bridge.

Baptist World Aid Australia has published the Ethical Fashion Report since 2013. It looks at the fashion industry’s environmental and human rights progress.

In the most recent edition, it assessed 138 companies, representing 543 brands.

The survey looks at a range of things including human rights and environmental risks in their supply chain. This includes practices like forced labour and waste reduction.

While the report found a positive shift towards using sustainable fibres, overproduction remains a key issue in the industry.

It says 88% of companies could not prove they pay workers a living wage, while more than half of companies do not have established processes to address child and forced labour in the factories where their clothes are made.

The average score for the companies assessed is 31.5 out of 100, up 0.2 points from 2024.

Some of the top scorers include:

Some of the bottom scorers include:

(Note: All companies named as bottom scorers were assessed on public information only.)

There's this guy called Jeff who has an MBA and his dream job at Audi. The best part is he did it on his terms.

He studied at the University of Newcastle - often from an airport while on business trips - and said that the degree has given him practical knowledge that he's applied in his role, as well as the tactics that help him understand everything from consumer behaviour to business and finance.

His advice to anyone considering an MBA: if he can do it, you can too.

^{Transparency: This is a sponsored part of the newsletter - the best way to keep the newsletter free for you.}

The Government has now admitted it knew as far back as July that the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) was considering a credit card ban, months before the plan was announced publicly.

Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino confirmed the timeline, while Treasurer Jim Chalmers has said he only became aware of the ATO’s final decision in late September.

The ATO has since delayed the planned ban until 30 June 2027, following backlash from small businesses.

Here’s what you need to know.

On 1 October, the RBA’s changes to its card payment rules took effect, removing surcharges on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa cards.

On the same day, the ATO announced individuals and businesses would no longer be able to pay their tax bill using credit cards after 30 November.

The ATO said it had decided it would not be appropriate for the cost of credit card merchant fees to be transferred to the community.

The ATO’s announcement sparked backlash from small businesses, industry groups and some Labor MPs.

On 9 October, Chalmers announced credit card payments would remain surcharge-free until 30 June 2027, after the Government pushed for a longer transition period than the two months initially proposed by the ATO.

The ATO made a final decision to ban credit cards in late September, and Chalmers said he became aware of it around that time. Mulino later confirmed the Government knew in July, before any decision had been made, that this was the preferred path of the ATO.

On 17 October, the AFR reported (citing anonymous sources) that the ATO, Government and Treasury had discussed three options in response to the surcharge ban.

Option 1: The ATO would continue surcharging credit card payments, despite the ban.

Option 2: The Government or ATO would cover the credit card fees.

Option 3: The ATO would stop accepting credit card payments – the option backed by the Government, subject to a transition period.

Mulino said the decision was ultimately the ATO’s call.

A day after the AFR report, Mulino confirmed on ABC’s Insiders that the Government knew in July that the ATO was considering options, and preferred to stop accepting credit cards.

He said the Government told the ATO to keep negotiating lower fees with card companies and to build in a transition period for the ban.

When those talks fell short, he said, the ATO decided on 25 September to stop accepting credit cards. The ATO and Government thought a two-month transition period would be enough, but feedback showed it wasn’t, prompting the Government to step in.

Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson accused the Government of misleading the public and leaving small businesses with little notice of the planned change.

He said Chalmers had claimed he only became aware of the ATO’s decision in September.

“The Assistant Treasurer… conceded on national television they were participants in [the ATO’s decision] since July, and they’ve thrown small businesses under the bus and gave them only eight hours’ notice of something they had been planning,” Wilson said.

Taxpayers can continue using credit cards to pay the ATO until 30 June 2027.

The Government has indicated it is unlikely to permanently reverse the planned ban, with Mulino warning that accepting credit cards indefinitely would have “very serious fiscal ramifications”.

The ATO estimates covering the card fees would cost almost $200 million a year, with the cost expected to rise over time.

Mulino said the ATO is trying to negotiate lower fees with banks and credit card companies.

Reporting by Adam Wan.

Why mortgages are only part of the rate story

If you’ve got a mortgage, rate rises can feel pretty direct. But the RBA says that’s only one part of the story.

Higher rates also affect saving, borrowing, house prices and the Australian dollar - and those effects can take time to flow through the economy.

The tricky bit is working out whether rates are restrictive enough without overdoing it.

So what is the RBA watching now?

We have liftoff!

At 04:41:03 Tuesday (Japan time), the Martian Moons eXploration spacecraft launched, kicking off a world-first mission to bring back samples from Phobos, one of Mars’ two moons.

The spacecraft will also study Mars and its other moon, Deimos, to help scientists understand how the moons formed and how Mars evolved, including whether conditions in the early Solar System could have supported life.

The mission is expected to last about five years, with the spacecraft due to return to Earth (specifically South Australia) in 2031.

Reporting by Adam Wan.