News Corp Australasia’s Michael Miller: It’s not only interest rates that are on hold

Michael Miller says a lot of personal and business uncertainty exists across Australia due to previously unseen combinations of economic indicators.

News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller. Picture: Jonathan Ng

CEO SURVEY 2025: FULL COVERAGE

Economy

How would you rate the momentum of the Australian economy as we head into 2025? Official forecasts have Australia trimming interest rates from the first half of calendar 2025, is that consistent with your view? What are you seeing around inflation in your own business?

The number one economic issue Australians care most about is not the state of the national economy, but the very weak state of their own personal economy.

A lot of personal and business uncertainty exists due to previously unseen combinations of economic indicators. It is not only interest rates that are on hold but it feels like the entire country is on hold.

Outlook

What excites you heading into 2025? Are you likely to increase, hold steady, or trim your investment spend?

As a business we chose to not waste the downcycle that has recently hit the media and marketing industries, and we have made the necessary changes to prepare ourselves for the upcycle.

And thanks to the world leading position Australia has taken we hope to see an end to the longstanding imbalance many Australian companies have experienced with the tech platforms and the damage they’ve caused across society.

I am also excited by the potential and the opportunities technology and Artificial Intelligence poses to streamline and increase innovation and creativity.

Reform

As we move into an election year, in your mind, what’s the single biggest lever that can/should be used to lift Australia’s competitiveness or productivity? This could be across any area from labour market, tax reform, training or other areas to encourage investment.

Other countries tend to be better at celebrating creativity and innovation than we are here in Australia. We need to better incentivise Australian companies to adopt a more Start-Up, entrepreneurial culture requiring supportive policy settings, including through the tax system.

We’re a smart country but we need to ask, “Do we have the right policies in place to allow people to build new kinds of businesses?”

We need to avoid knee-jerk short-termism. While we are struggling with a national housing crisis we should not turn our back on immigration growth which still offers great opportunities for nation building. At present we have untapped potential to grow our economy but we simply don’t have enough people to stimulate that growth.

The fact is Australia has a great competitive advantage in being a go-to destination for skilled migrants attracted by our democratic way of life, abundant natural resources, beautiful climate and lifestyle.

It seems when it comes to immigration the window’s open but the front door is closed.

Geopolitics

Will a Donald Trump presidency have a potential impact on your business or sector (tariffs or streamlined regulation)? Does geopolitics drive a bigger part of your decision-making?

There’s a lot to learn from Donald Trump, including at times what not to do. But the fact he thinks big, is prepared to take risks, negotiates hard and is very transactional means he has the potential to be a transformational leader.

Trump certainly produces great headlines and in the news business good headlines are good for business.

People

Has your organisation’s approach to flexible working – including working from home – evolved during the year. Is this likely to change further into 2025?

I would make the observation that our highest performing people and best contributors choose to work in the office, not at home. And we are certainly working hard to create an environment where people work several days per week in the office to maximise the benefits a collegiate working environment provides, combined with the productivity benefits flexibility provides.

Our flexible working approach won’t change in 2025 and it is consistent with other leading organisations.

Technology

Where is your organisation along the AI journey – is it in the developmental stage, or are you now using the technology at scale across your business? If so, are benefits matching the promise?

Australia is the most AI addicted country in the world and it’s important for our business to stay ahead of our audiences, clients and competitors to ensure we build trusted AI solutions.

To maximise AI, our philosophy is that we can achieve growth through human governed and responsible tech-driven applications because trust in brands has never been so paramount.

Our teams are exploring and implementing AI tools where they can identify both the possibilities and pitfalls. To help this we’ve run educational programs and a dedicated week-long AI forums for our employees to become familiar and enhance their understanding.