Good morning. Here's what happened overnight and what you need to know today.
1.
Meeting confirmed? US President Donald Trump told an ABC journalist he was “hurting Australia” and said he would raise the issue with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who he said was “coming over to see me very soon,” during a clash at the White House. The exchange occurred after the ABC’s Americas editor John Lyons asked whether it was appropriate for a president to be engaged in business activity while in office. Trump responded that his children were running the business, and when Lyons attempted to ask about a USD 2 billion deal involving a Trump-linked crypto company and the UAE royal family, Trump cut him off saying, “Quiet.” The confrontation came days before Albanese is due to arrive in the US for the UN General Assembly. Earlier, Albanese said, “We’ll see each other in New York. He [Trump] is hosting a reception on Tuesday night of next week.” The leaders’ comments appeared to confirm a meeting is planned, though no official details have been provided. Trump also sparred with another reporter over hate speech questions during the same press conference. (Capital Brief)(ABC)(SMH)(NYT)
2.
ANZ minus: Leaked internal correspondence viewed by Capital Brief shows ANZ has made sweeping cuts to the team behind its billion-dollar ANZ Plus consumer app, as chief executive Nuno Matos moves to decisively end the bank’s contentious two tech platform strategy. Now rebranded internally as ‘Digital Channels’, the team has lost eight senior staff – including ANZ Plus chief product officer Tara Bourne and executives across digital transformation, strategy, home loans and retail deposits – who together had more than 100 years of ANZ experience. The moves offer the first major indication of how Matos is thinking about the ANZ Plus project in the lead up to the bank’s strategy day on 13 October. Internal sources indicated features from Plus would be slowly integrated into the Classic platform, with Suncorp customers to be moved there. Nigel Dobson will act as head of Digital Channels until a permanent hire is made, with that team currently recruiting two new permanent members. It comes after Matos and chair Paul O’Sullivan told investors this week the bank would not scrap ANZ Plus but confirmed its strategy would be overhauled. (Capital Brief)
