Aus Govt forces fees on Meta, Google and TikTok | Coffee gets way more expensive | Mosaic Brands shuts down more stores + a special guest

This is what the Flux.

I'm Brett and I'm Justin and it's Friday there, thirteenth of December.

Jesse boy, there is nothing more stubborn than Australia's unemployment rate Right now, new data shows Australia's unemployment rate has actually dropped to three point nine percent, where it was previously four percent. And now there are more doubts about a cash rate cut in February next year.

It's never gonna happen. Never Bucks. This is our favorite day of the week because we give away fifty bucks to one Flux user who is super smart and super quick in the Flux out That's right, it's our weekly game Quick six where we give away fifty bucks for the smartest and fastest person. So make sure you download the app and turn your notifications on to win at money today.

Three undisputable stories today, Juzzy boy, Let's do it for our first Meta and Google will be punished by the Australian government if they choose not to agree to new content deals with media publishers. How the government really went there? So tell me more, well, Juzzy boy, I need not remind you what happened in twenty twenty one.

I do remember, but there was a major dispute between big tech companies like Google, Meta and the Australian media outlet.

That's because Google and Meta was showing news articles from Ozzie media outlets on their news tab.

And they weren't paying for it. But after lots of arguments and empty threats and real threats, they both ended up signing deals with large media companies in Australia.

Like Nine Entertainment News Corps, Seven West Media, ABC and The Man.

These deals were believed to be worth up to two hundred million dollars per year in total.

But just way earlier this year, Meta warned that they won't be renewing their deal.

And be Man, I got news for you. The media, publishers and the government were not going to give up that easy yep.

Now the Labor Government has warned that Meta and Google will be punished if they don't agree to new content deals with publishers.

It sounds like a parent scolding their child. What does this punishment look like, Well, good your room.

They're looking at charging social media companies financial penalty if they don't try to negotiate the deals in good faith.

And here's the thing be man. These financial penalties would be greater than the cost of actually forming a commercial agreement with the Australian partners.

So pretty much pay up in good faith.

So what is the key landing here?

Sometimes the government feels the need to step in when big companies hold too much power.

At first, the government went with the carrot approach yep.

They asked platforms to play nice and pay news publishers fairly through voluntary deals.

And then man. Although it was tense, it worked for a little while.

Yeah, over thirty deals were signed and the news industry got more than two hundred million bucks annually to keep running.

But when companies like metad decided not to renew these deals, the government switched to the old stick approach. Yep.

They've basically said play by our rules or pay up in good faith.

And be man. We've seen similar things happen in Europe with the link tax.

This required Google and Meta to pay publishers for snippets of news articles shown in their search results.

In fact, in France, Google's paid over seventy six million euros to publishers over the last three years.

So it ain't just the Australian government stepping in to protect local publishers them.

As you know, Flux is all about helping ozsies make smarter financial decisions, and when it comes to your pets, that bills can hit hard, right when you least expect it. That's why we're very excit today have Tian Drea, the CEO of Nose Pet Insurance, join us on the pod. Nose is on a mission to make caring for your pets easier and more accessible and affordable with their vet designed insurance plans. So Tian, welcome to the podcast.

Oh thank you guys very much for any very nice to be here.

Let's start with the big one. I was reading this stout the other day. Approximately fifty five percent of the Australian population have some form of private health insurance, which feels quite high, but less than ten percent of Oussie pets are insured. So why do you think so many pet owners are rolling the dice on their pets insurance but not their own insurance. Yeah?

Yeah, look, in fact, the numbers are probably more stark than that because those forty five percent of Aussies they don't have private health insurance, are still governed by MEDICAREAH, which is just the gabment bright insurance skin right, and yes, less than ten percent of pets are covered by BET insurance. I think people also make to other, in my view,

And for all the pet owners who are listening intently, what is one thing you'd say to convince them to take the leap and get pet insurance.

I'm not really in the game of trying to convince people. I think what we love is an informed consumer. So what I would say is, I'd love people to go and have a think about their ability to pay large unexpected vet bills, re examine their emotional connection to their pets, and also re examine how your family feels about the pet. All of us have a plan A, which is everything's going to go fine, my pet's going to be very

Awesome, Thank you so much, Tian. I think so many people don't understand or don't realize the potential consequences of not having pet insurances. You've got a pet, and we're very excited to be partnering with Nosepet Insurance. Flux Adam. If you use the code at plus thirty five at Nose dot com dot Au, you will get thirty five percent off your first six months with Nosepet Insurance. That's right,

Not what caffeine addicts like you need to hear, Jesse, boy, tell me more.

Okay, so be man. Pretty Much every cup of coffee that you drink is either Arabica or robust.

And the majority of these coffee beans are produced in Brazil.

But now Vole Cafe, one of the largest coffee traders in the world, has dropped its coffee production forecast for twenty twenty five significantly.

We're talking a drop from forty five million bags of beans down to thirty four million bags of bean.

Or a twenty four percent drop in coffee bean.

Now does the boy, We know you're grumpy without your morning coffee. So why is this the case?

Well, there's been intense weather in Brazil that's ruined the production of coffee beans.

And not only that, crumple stilt skin drier conditions in Vietnam, and then heavy downpours have hurt production in Vietnam as well, and as.

A result, the price of Arabica coffee have increased by eighty percent so far this year.

And you better believe this is going to hurt the price of your mourning coffee.

You said it enough, So what is the key landing here?

When the price of raw materials increases, eventually consumers will need to bear the costs.

We've all heard the term chain reaction. You know, a series of events where each is caused by the previous one.

So josey boit cafes really have three options right now.

Option one keep the price of their coffees the same and lose their profit margin.

Don't think anyone will be doing that one.

Option two increase the price of coffee to cover their costs and maintain the same margin.

I cannot be eight dollar coffees even in good faith.

Or Option three choose to use cheaper quality coffee beans.

So you might get a more bitter cup of coffee.

Either way, be man, this is not a good outcome, especially since the majority of cafes in the world use these Arabica beans.

For our third and final story, The parent company of women's clothing brand Katis will shut down all of its stores, alongside eighty more from its other brands like Millers, Rivers and noney Bee.

Retailers getting hit real hard, left, right and center. Here be man, so tell me more so Joyboit.

Mosaic Brands is the parent company of a bunch of retailers.

We're talking nony Bee, Rivers, Katies, Miller's, Rockmans, and a whole lot more.

And although these brands may not be where you shot direct, they have been a seriously large company.

We're talking four thousand staff with seven hundred stores across Australia at its peak.

But Jaseiebait. When COVID hit, they got whacked with a one hundred and seventy million dollar loss and really haven't been the same ever since.

Yeah. Back in October this year, Mosaic Brands fell into administration.

Now the administrators have shut down all Kadie stores and eighty other stores across the Miller's, Rivers and nonyb brands and b Man.

This is a big move because the Katie's brand's been around for more than seventy.

Years and Jazie woit. This also means the loss of almost five hundred jobs.

And b Man. This restructuring of the business is all about getting Mosaic Brands back on its feet.

To then sell off the different parts to different buyers.

So what is the key learning here?

Administrators are the clean up crew for struggling businesses.

Yeah. Their main role is to stabilize the current operations of the business and.

Protect whatever value is left so ultimately they can sell it off and maximize returns for creditors and shareholders.

And be Man. When Mosaic Brands went into administrations their administrator, which was KPMG, their first task was to assess its financial.

Health and then to make tough decisions like shutting down poor performing stores and brands like Kadies.

But be Man, just because the company goes into voluntary administration, it doesn't mean it's all over red.

Rover now, app here's an inspirational story for you, Juzzy boy. Virgin Australia went into voluntary administration in twenty twenty one and was purchased by Bain Capital and.

Since then it has gone from strength to strength.

Yep, Virgin Australia even returned to profitability in fy twenty three with more than five hundred and nineteen million dollars in earnings.

So this at the end for Mosaic brands, just the new beginning maybe issues. Flux Sam, if you've been listening to the pod this week, you are the perfect candidate to win fifty dollars today in the Flux app. It's all part of our weekly game Quick Sticks. To make sure to download the flucks Out, turn you on your notifications to win at Money today and start the weekend with fifty bucks in your pocket.

Thanks for listening and we'll see you on Monday.