November 25
2021 Edition
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In the US we
have seen the Biden – Xi summit by Zoom that seems to have reduced tensions a
little while internally a vigilante murderer has been found innocent of all
charges despite having killed 2 people by shooting – having travelled 20 miles
to get to another State where he could ‘protect local citizens’ from
protesters. This story has just begun.
In Europe we
have Putin stirring up rouble with migrant flows and gas deprivation as winter
arrives. This may not end well. COVID is also running riot again in an ugly 4th
wave.
In OZ ScoMo
is also stirring up trouble as we watch the first of two weeks of Parliament. A
faux election campaign is clearly underway! The week has been totally chaos for the PM and it is hard to know how it will play from here.
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Major Issues.
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https://www.afr.com/markets/equity-markets/sharemarkets-shrug-off-mounting-inflation-scare-20211114-p598q8
Sharemarkets shrug off mounting inflation scare
Richard Henderson
Reporter
Nov 14, 2021
– 3.00pm
A jump in
widely watched inflation measures over the past week has failed to jolt
financial markets, as investors cling to the idea that easing supply chain
pressures will temper sharp consumer price increases.
The US equity
market ended the week flat after data showed consumer prices rose
6.2 per cent in October from the previous year, the biggest leap in three
decades.
The increase
squeezed a market gauge of inflation known as the break-even rate, which
forecasts annual consumer price increases over the next decade, to the highest
level since 2006 on Friday.
The spectre
of sharp consumer price increases has failed to knock the S&P 500 benchmark
of US blue chips, which touched a record on Monday and then closed just 0.4 per
cent shy of the high
on Friday.
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https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/reset-relations-with-chinese-australians-20211111-p59850
Reset relations with Chinese Australians
Australia’s
diverse Chinese community, caught in the crossfire of a policy transition as
China changes under Xi Jinping, should not be treated as a monolith with
suspect loyalties.
Richard McGregor
Columnist
Nov 14, 2021
– 3.02pm
Australia has
dramatically reset China policy in recent years, with an overhaul of its
national security settings and the passage of new laws to combat foreign
interference at home.
Now might a
good time for a different kind of reset, this time for the Chinese Australians
who’ve been caught in the crossfire of an often brutal policy transition.
With a 1.4
billion population, China is hardly a monolith, but it is easy to see why it is
depicted that way in political debate. After all, the Chinese Communist Party
under Xi Jinping
makes a fetish out of the party-state’s singularity.
But while it
may suit Xi to collapse the categories of China, the Chinese people and the
party into one indivisible, untouchable whole at home, Australians have no reason
to copy him here.
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https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/political-interference-designed-to-intimidate-abc-s-ita-buttrose-lashes-government-inquiry-20211112-p598eo.html
‘Political interference designed to intimidate’: ABC’s Ita Buttrose lashes
government inquiry
By Zoe Samios and Nick Bonyhady
November 14,
2021 — 1.12pm
ABC chair Ita
Buttrose has accused the government of political interference over a decision
to launch a Senate inquiry into the way it and SBS handle complaints from the
public.
Ms Buttrose
will ask the government to suspend or terminate the inquiry, which was
announced by Liberal senator Andrew Bragg, chair of the Senate standing committee
on environment and communications, last Thursday night. She said the review of
the ABC’s processes undermined the public broadcaster and was a clear example
of interference by the government.
“This is an
act of political interference designed to intimidate the ABC and mute its role
as this country’s most trusted source of public interest journalism. If
politicians determine the operation of the national broadcaster’s complaints
system, they can influence what is reported by the ABC,” Ms Buttrose said.
“Once again,
an elected representative has chosen to threaten the ABC’s independence at the
expense of the integrity of this irreplaceable public service. Any incursion of
this kind into the ABC’s independence should be seen by Australians for what it
is: an attempt to weaken the community’s trust in the public broadcaster."
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https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-s-new-tactic-a-pledge-to-return-things-to-the-way-they-were-20211112-p598eg.html
Morrison’s new tactic? A pledge to return things to the way they were
Sean Kelly
Columnist and
former adviser to Labor prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.
November 15,
2021 — 5.00am
I was struck,
last week, by a column in The New York Times about the benefits of
paternity leave. Fathers who took leave were likely to be closer to their child
later, and to stay married. The mental health of mothers was also likely to be
better. And there were fascinating suggestions, from recent studies, that men’s
brains changed after they became fathers, responding more to images of young
children. This response was stronger if they worked fewer hours.
This is
important and interesting in itself. But it is also an important reminder of
something it is easy to forget in this period in which so many governments
around the world seem stuck: the enormous power that governments have to change
lives for the better. This is not just at some broad, statistical level, where
we learn of incremental improvements to GDP (which can have important impacts
too): change this policy and you bring parents and children closer together.
Remember the
beginning of the pandemic? It was a strange, bleak time – but it was also oddly
hopeful. The government began, almost immediately, to talk about a “snap back”,
but there were many who hoped that the virus, awful as it was, might also
provide an opportunity to question assumptions about the way our society had
come to work.
As the virus
spread, times became bleaker, but this hope increased, because of the brutal
way the virus pointed to problems: the uncertain lives of insecure workers;
cuts to public health; the dramatic inequities of class, race, geography – and
that most basic of facts – the flats or houses we all live in.
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https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/more-housing-intervention-is-being-considered-apra-20211115-p598xr
More housing intervention is being considered: APRA
James Eyers Senior Reporter
Nov 15, 2021
– 2.39pm
APRA chairman
Wayne Byres said a request for banks to make sure they can measure loans being
made to high-risk borrowers points to additional tools the regulator could
deploy if it grows more concerned about rising mortgage debt.
The
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority set out different “macroprudential”
responses to limit bank lending for housing in an information paper published
last Thursday.
“We think it
is important to have a wide range of options at our disposal because that is
helping to ensure we can address emerging risks in a targeted manner, limiting
spillovers effects and unintended consequences,” Mr Byres told the UBS
Australasia Conference on Monday.
As it
published its paper on the macroprudential policy framework, APRA also asked
banks to ensure they have “the ability to limit” lending to borrowers with a debt-to-income
(DTI) ratio greater than four times, or six times; and to borrowers with
loan-to-valuation (LVR) ratios greater than 80 per cent or 90 per cent.
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https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/if-only-security-were-as-simple-as-in-keating-s-world-20211114-p598u3
If only security were as simple as in Keating’s world
The former
PM’s National Press Club talk was not the rich debate on foreign policy the
country needs. It more resembled theology than our strategic reality.
Rory Medcalf Contributor
Nov 15, 2021
– 5.03pm
For those who
respect his achievements, Paul Keating’s latest
sermon on the supposed error of Australia’s strategic ways was more
saddening than maddening.
Do we need a
standard of national conversation on strategic choices to match the danger and
disorder of our worsening international security environment?
Absolutely.
But this wasn’t it.
The former
prime minister’s question-and-very-long-answer session last week with National
Press Club journalists has been exalted by some as a withering attack on
government and opposition alike, a taste of the rich foreign policy debate the
nation needs.
Rich indeed
it was – but more in distortion and omission than in contemporary and
open-minded analysis.
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https://www.smh.com.au/national/dutton-raises-stakes-over-taiwan-with-talk-of-war-20211115-p598wa.html
Dutton raises stakes over Taiwan with talk of war
Peter Hartcher
Political and
international editor
November 16,
2021 — 4.30am
Has Peter
Dutton just committed Australia to a future war against China? His latest comments
seem to suggest so.
The
contingency that the world increasingly worries about is Taiwan. The Economist
magazine calls it “the world’s most dangerous place”. Why? It’s the most likely
point of armed clash between China and the US.
Beijing is
increasingly bellicose in word and deed in its stated intent to take control of
Taiwan; Washington is increasingly inclined to protect Taiwan from any attack.
Three days
after Paul Keating said that Australia should stand aloof from any such war,
Defence Minister Peter Dutton on Saturday said: “It would be inconceivable that
we wouldn’t support the US in an action if the US chose to take that action,”
he told The Australian.
“I think we
should be very frank and honest about that, look at all of the facts and circumstances
without pre-committing, and maybe there are circumstances where we wouldn’t
take up that option, (but) I can’t conceive of those circumstances.”
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https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/newspoll-scott-morrison-loses-his-advantage-over-anthony-albanese-on-trust-and-likability/news-story/e1b50aa103c7ed069b9b63c7852f7b1a
Newspoll: Scott Morrison loses his advantage over Anthony Albanese on
trust and likeability
Simon Benson
8:30PM
November 15, 2021
Scott
Morrison has lost his critical personal advantage over Anthony Albanese across
a range of leadership attributes as the Prime Minister declares himself the
underdog at the next election.
An exclusive
Newspoll commissioned by The Australian shows Mr Morrison still retains a lead
over his rival as the more experienced and decisive leader and one with a
vision for Australia. However, the margins have been dramatically reduced.
For the first
time, Mr Morrison trails the Opposition Leader on trust, likeability, caring
and understanding the major issues of concern for most Australians.
The Prime
Minister is now also considered more arrogant and not in touch with voters.
Campaigning in western Sydney on Monday, Mr Morrison described himself as the
underdog in next year’s election race.
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https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/nine-critical-technologies-where-the-government-wants-to-counter-china-20211116-p59986
Nine critical technologies where the government wants to counter China
Andrew Tillett
Political correspondent
Nov 16, 2021
– 10.30pm
The Morrison
government has identified a list of nine critical technologies, including
quantum computing, artificial intelligence, medicines and critical minerals, to
protect their supply chains from disruption and stop China from dominating
their development.
Scott
Morrison will release the government’s Critical Technologies Blueprint on
Wednesday.
In a thinly
veiled swipe at China, Mr Morrison will tell the Australian Strategic Policy
Institute’s Sydney Dialogue that technology “reflects the values of the society
that creates and uses it”.
“We want
technology to protect our citizens’ autonomy, privacy and data,” he will say.
“But you
know, not all governments see technology the same way. In this era of
technological transformation and strategic competition, there are great
challenges before us all.
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https://www.afr.com/politics/john-roskam-exits-ipa-amid-losing-cultural-battle-20211116-p599fd
John Roskam exits IPA amid losing cultural battle
Patrick Durkin BOSS
Deputy editor
Nov 17, 2021
– 5.00am
The executive
director of the Institute of Public Affairs, John Roskam, is standing down
after 17 years, and warns that freedom of speech and the country’s cultural
institutions are under threat while CEOs stand by and virtue signal on social
media.
Mr Roskam
said he would stay on as an IPA senior fellow after standing down in June next
year and was leaving the organisation in good shape, with 8000 members and
after launching the careers of a host of conservative politicians including
federal MPs James Paterson and Tim Wilson and Victorian MP Louise Staley.
But Mr
Roskam, 54, bemoaned a lack of voices on the conservative side of politics to
defend free speech and traditional values against the growing influence of
cancel culture and progressive politics. He said 80 per cent of the IPA’s
funding came from big business when he started, but that has shrunk to less
than 5 per cent.
“The voices
on the left are growing while the voices on the right are shrinking,” he told
The Australian Financial Review. “It’s more important than ever that we have
voices talking about freedom and our way of life. Australians are losing a
sense of optimism and there is a growing sense of a potential long-term decline
in an economic and cultural sense.
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https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-one-word-that-will-stop-war-over-taiwan-20211116-p599fr.html
The one word that will stop war over Taiwan
Bob
Carr
Industry
Professor of Climate and Business at the University of Technology Sydney
November 17,
2021 — 5.00am
“Restraint.”
This should be the one-word diplomatic mantra for Australia about Taiwan. It
should be the opening and closing of every statement an Australian prime
minister utters because a descent into war between the world’s superpowers over
a neuralgic issue that diplomacy has constrained for 70 years – this is the
last thing our battered and bruised planet wants.
And it should
be the last thing Australia should appear to be talking up. The prospect of
such a clash producing a nuclear exchange is spookily high. By installing
American facilities on our continent we have made Australia a target. That’s
reason enough to plant us in the peace camp.
Another
reason is that, on China, America can always leave us stranded. Suddenly, the White House is talking
a new relationship with Xi Jinping based on negotiations. All the more
reason for us to work hard at diplomacy between the two superpowers.
We’re left a
bit exposed because alone of America’s allies we have said we will join America
if there’s a showdown, presumably within the first week. It’s almost as if in
the corridors of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and the Defence
department the hawks are humming the World War I recruiting song, Australia
Will Be There.
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https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/australia-stagnates-in-index-ranking-world-s-most-prosperous-countries-20211116-p5996w.html
Australia stagnates in index ranking world’s most prosperous countries
By Latika Bourke
November 17,
2021 — 12.01pm
London: If
you asked yourself lately, ‘Do I feel more prosperous compared to this time a
decade ago?’ and answered ‘no’, your response could be accurate.
In fact,
according to a global index that has been measuring the material health of
countries, including wealth, quality of life and life satisfaction for 15
years, Australia’s ranking has slipped from number one in 2008, to just making the top 10 in 2011, to
the 16th position where it has stagnated for the last two years.
Australia’s
experience is a reflection of the globe’s declining prosperity, which has also
stagnated for the last two years, a phenomenon exacerbated, although not
caused, by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Global
Prosperity Index is collated by the pro-Brexit think thank Legatum
Institute whose goal is to create a global movement to take people “from
poverty to prosperity and the transformation of society”.
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https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/hitech-race-to-combat-china/news-story/e6a04b76653b46104047324b13eea996
Hi-tech race to combat China
Geoff Chambers
9:30PM
November 16, 2021
Australia’s
future weapons and cyber defence technologies – ranging from underwater drones
to advanced explosives and swarming robots – will be accelerated under the
AUKUS and Quad strategic partnerships to combat China’s massive investment in
quantum technology and artificial intelligence.
Under a plan
to bring forward the development of critical technologies, Scott Morrison on
Wednesday will ask governments, universities and industry to target nine
priority technologies including quantum, drones, genetic engineering, cyber
security, AI, critical minerals and advanced 5G and 6G communications.
Speaking at
the inaugural Sydney Dialogue on Wednesday, the Prime Minister will say quantum
technologies would enhance Australia’s defences by “enabling navigation in
GPS-denied environments and helping to protect us from advanced cyber attacks”.
Mr Morrison
will say the government’s $100m investment in a quantum and new critical
technologies blueprint, which includes 63 technologies, would help Australia
“take it to the next level”.
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https://www.afr.com/policy/tax-and-super/as-the-older-get-richer-young-people-pay-the-price-20211117-p599nu
As the older get richer, young people pay the price
Julie Hare Education editor
Nov 17, 2021
– 5.00pm
Something
startling sets workers aged 35 years or younger apart from older generations:
most have never had a pay rise.
“While weak
wages growth has bitten all age groups, for younger people it has been
particularly pronounced,” Grattan Institute chief executive Danielle Wood said.
“Workers aged
20-34 experienced close to zero growth in real wage rates from 2008 to 2018.”
Delivering
the John Button Oration at the Melbourne Writers Festival on
Wednesday night, Ms Wood said it was possible to identify somebody’s age by asking
if they had ever had a pay rise.
“For most of
us, it seems a silly question. But for many under-35s, the answer – at least in
terms of a pay rise that improved their real living standards – would be no,”
she said.
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https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/can-do-capitalism-looks-an-awful-lot-like-socialism-20211027-p593i5
‘Can-do capitalism’ looks an awful lot like socialism
The perverse
reality is the Morrison government’s command-and-control climate and energy
policies are encouraging a rent-seeking culture.
John Kehoe Economics editor
Nov 17, 2021
– 12.50pm
Scott
Morrison is championing “can-do capitalism” and says he wants corporates to stop
“rent-seeking” climate change subsidies from the federal government.
The Prime
Minister is right to point out the growing green brigade queuing up for
taxpayer funds.
Electric
vehicle makers demand tax breaks and special regulations to help the world’s
richest person, Elon Musk, sell more Teslas.
Mining
billionaire Andrew
Forrest wants subsidies for his green hydrogen bet.
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https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/academics-need-cash-for-critical-tech-research-20211117-p599n7
Academics need cash for critical tech research
Andrew Tillett
Political correspondent
Nov 17, 2021
– 5.56pm
Academics are
warning that universities and researchers need an injection of funding if the
Morrison government hopes to secure control of emerging critical technologies
and meet its climate change goals, highlighting a disconnect between the
government’s rhetoric and reality.
While
research funding has recovered much of the financial ground lost in cuts in
Tony Abbott’s 2014 budget, tens of thousands of jobs have been axed across
universities and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organisation.
Prime
Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday released the government’s critical
technology blueprint, which identified nine emerging fields for priority for
research and investment, in part to counter China
from gaining an edge.
The
technologies are quantum research, critical minerals, advanced communications,
artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, genetic engineering, medicines,
low-emission fuels and autonomous systems.
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https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/pm-employs-risky-strategy-to-win-the-votes-of-disaffected-australians-20211117-p599mw.html
PM employs risky strategy to win the votes of disaffected Australians
Niki Savva
Award-winning
political commentator and author
November 18,
2021 — 5.00am
It is
possible Scott Morrison’s subliminal pitch to fatigued voters – elect me and I
will do nothing – will help him secure another term in office.
Searching for
slogans to resolve issues like climate or the economy more broadly, the Prime
Minister struck on the clunky: “Can-do
capitalism”, not “don’t-do governments”. It sounded good on the day, except
a few people thought they heard him say we need “do nothing” governments.
Regardless,
his new narrative skates over the fact that the number of lives and livelihoods
saved in Australia, for which he constantly claims credit, resulted from the
actions and interventions of governments – including his – but mainly the
states and territories. Details, details.
“We’ve got a
bit used to governments telling us what to do over the last couple of years, I
think we have to break that habit,” he said last week in Melbourne. His words
may have resonated with angry, lockdown-weary Victorians.
People like
them pose as much of a threat to the fate of the Morrison government as the
progressive Liberals worried about climate change or integrity who threaten to
desert him.
Morrison’s
plan – now being undermined by the Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce
pretending he is not part of the government – was to do enough on climate
change to placate the progressives then quickly change tack to scoop up
disaffected conservative voters who have drifted to Pauline Hanson or Clive
Palmer.
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https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/desert-fig-the-ancient-plant-species-living-in-hiding-on-the-slopes-of-uluru/news-story/aa94f5293be9782a12737f97042f6989
Desert fig, the ancient plant species living in hiding on the slopes of
Uluru
Rhiannon Down
8:27AM
November 18, 2021
A new plant
species, the desert fig, has been discovered hiding in plain sight on the
slopes of Uluru, at the heart of Australia’s Red Centre.
The new fig
variety, Ficus desertorum, has proven to be a distinct species, previously
confused with its close relative, the Ficus brachypoda.
As a vital
food source for Indigenous people, a single tree can produce tens of thousands
of fruit, and it can have fruit on it all year around. “They’ve adapted to
handling dry periods, they get their roots really deep into the rock and tap
into the little water that is available, deep down in the water table,” he
said.
“It’s a
really important food source, both fresh and dried.
“Historically,
it could be punishable by death if anyone damaged one of these trees, as
they’re very important for families who relied on it for a food source.”
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https://www.afr.com/markets/equity-markets/zebit-bagholders-taught-a-harsh-lesson-20211117-p599mi
Zebit bagholders taught a harsh lesson
There’s a new
contender for the worst float in memory, as Zebit’s implosion offers a
stark warning for retail investors armed with cheap brokerage accounts.
Tom Richardson Markets
reporter and commentator
Nov 17, 2021
– 4.19pm
A slew of dud
initial public offerings at the end of 2020 highlights the pitfalls lurking for
inexperienced retail investors flooding into the local sharemarket at record
rates.
Headlining
the flops is the horror tale of California-based subprime lender Zebit, which
raised $35 million from IPO investors in October 2020, before plunging 75 per
cent over the next 12 months.
A loss-making
subprime lender in the US seeking to list in Australia was never going to
attract much interest from professional investors. However, plenty of retail
investors overlooked the fact that a business model of
lending to “credit-impaired” consumers in the US means a massive bad debt
problem.
At the time
of its IPO, Zebit had accumulated losses of $US63 million ($88 million), with a
bad debt expense that equalled 68 per cent of gross profit in financial 2019.
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https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/central-bank-digital-cash-may-derail-crypto-s-run-rba-20211118-p59a2d
RBA warns of ‘faddish’ crypto crash
James Eyers Senior Reporter
Updated Nov
18, 2021 – 7.13pm, first published at 1.49pm
The Reserve
Bank of Australia has warned users and investors in fad-fuelled
cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin they risk holding speculative assets with
“niche” uses that could lose most of their value.
The RBA’s
head of payments, Tony Richards, said the value of many cryptocurrencies, which
have surged to $US2.6 trillion, could crash when central banks decide to assert
control over their monetary systems.
“I think
there are plausible scenarios where a range of factors could come together to
significantly challenge the current fervour for cryptocurrencies, so that the
current speculative demand could begin to reverse, and much of the price
increases of recent years could be unwound,” he told the Australian Corporate
Treasury Association.
Dr Richards
warned about excessive hype around crypto on Thursday, in the bluntest
assessment of concerns delivered by any central bank leader. He flagged a
regulatory crackdown against thousands of private currencies that have emerged
on the back of the soaring bitcoin price.
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https://www.smh.com.au/politics/victoria/a-gallows-and-words-of-menace-imported-from-the-dis-united-states-20211118-p59a0p.html
A gallows and words of menace imported from the (dis)United States
Tony Wright
Associate
editor and special writer
November 19,
2021 — 8.55am
It is easy to
dismiss as mere clowns those gathering around a
gallows in the streets of Melbourne. Too easy.
Who, for
pity’s sake, has a ready-built gallows to tow to a protest outside the
Victorian state parliament? And where does the modern idea of nooses dangling
in the breeze come from?
We need only
look to the Trumpist mob who stormed the US Capitol in Washington DC on January
6. The most potent symbol of what was on the minds of the most extreme of
Trump’s storm troopers was a gallows, erected for the occasion.
The noose
suspended from its frame and hoisted high in the hours before that mob broke
down the doors of the Capitol was initially treated by media outlets as a
photogenic symbol of a mood, rather than of serious intent. A throwback to the
days of the Ku Klux Klan, after all, was barely out of place at a Trump rally.
The amusement
stopped when hundreds of insurrectionists broke into the US legislature,
hunting for vice-president Mike Pence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others
they considered to be traitors. Four people were killed and a fifth - a police
officer - died only a day later of a stroke.
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https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/fads-and-fomo-rba-predicts-the-surge-in-cryptocurrencies-will-end-20211118-p59a28.html
Fads and FOMO: RBA predicts the surge in cryptocurrencies will end
By Shane Wright
November 18,
2021 — 1.09pm
The Reserve
Bank has attempted to pour cold water on cryptocurrencies and promoters’ claims
they are the future of finance, saying current “speculative demand” and their
surge in value is likely to reverse.
In a speech
to the Australian Corporate Treasury Association, the RBA’s head of payments policy,
Tony Richards, said households were likely to start heeding concerns from
regulators about the “fad” that surrounds many cryptocurrencies.
He also took
aim at surveys purporting to show high rates of ownership of crypto assets
among Australians, labelling them “implausible”.
Money has
flooded into a range of cryptocurrencies over recent years, aided by ultra-easy
monetary policy that has made high-yielding investments very attractive. A
single Bitcoin is today worth $US60,000, down from $US67,000 two months ago.
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https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/the-plan-to-kill-australian-coal-s-last-growth-market-20211116-p5999d
The plan to kill Australian coal’s last growth market
Asian
nations that were supposed to provide decades of demand growth for Australian
thermal coal are being offered a fortune to shut their power stations early.
Peter Ker Resources reporter
Nov 20, 2021
– 5.00am
On the
turbulent, tropical island of Mindanao, a plan to drive a stake through the
heart of the Australian coal industry is being hatched.
The Filipino
island has been selected as the starting point for a cashed-up coalition that
plans to buy and retire coal-fired power stations in the south-east Asian
nations that are supposed to provide the final decades of demand growth for
Australian thermal coal.
Led by the
Asian Development Bank (ADB), multinational lender HSBC and the philanthropic
foundations of Amazon
founder Jeff Bezos and the late John D. Rockefeller, the coalition is
courting governments in south-east Asia with a plan to shut their relatively
young coal-fired plants and replace them with low-emission alternatives.
The coalition
has found an enthusiastic audience for its “Energy Transition Mechanism” (ETM)
in the Filipino government, which gets 54 per cent of its power from coal but
fears its archipelago of more than 7000 equatorial islands will be worse
affected by climate change than almost any other nation on earth.
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https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/with-morrison-in-an-unworkable-position-labor-sees-a-chance-20211118-p599yl
With Morrison in an unworkable position, Labor sees a chance
With all
his backflips, the PM has destroyed his own credibility and his government’s
capacity to find any credible policy positions.
Laura Tingle Columnist
Nov 19, 2021
– 4.20pm
It’s been 10
days since it was reported that a Victorian state crossbench MP, Andy Meddick,
had been threatened with being shot and his children kidnapped because he had
“consulted” with the Andrews government on its controversial pandemic laws.
And it’s a
week since gallows and angry protesters, often spouting QAnon
conspiracy theories, started turning up outside the Victorian Parliament.
At least two
state premiers – Dan Andrews and Western Australia’s Mark McGowan – have
received death threats.
On Thursday,
Meddick’s daughter was attacked on the street and admitted to hospital.
On any
measure, it’s been an ugly escalation in the violence of the language, the
extremes of views and the dysfunctions of our politics.
It’s the sort
of moment when you would expect leaders to emerge to try to settle things down,
reset the debate. But it took until Thursday for Scott Morrison to make any
serious contribution, and he only then did so in response to journalists’
questions, and only then without being able to resist the temptation to put in
a political kicker.
-----
https://www.afr.com/chanticleer/you-just-cannot-stop-quantum-computing-becomes-a-reality-20211119-p59ah0
‘You just cannot stop’: Quantum computing becomes a reality
For the
past 20 years, Michelle Simmons has been at the forefront of research in
quantum computing. But now the rubber is finally starting to hit the road – or
rather, the silicon is
Nov 20, 2021
– 5.00am
We might be
talking on Zoom, but you can still see the excitement in Michelle Simmons’
eyes.
For the past
20 years, Simmons, a Scientia Professor at the University of NSW and director
of Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC), has been at the forefront of research in
quantum computing. But now the rubber is finally starting to hit the road –
or rather, the silicon is.
ASX-listed
Silex Systems is about to start work building a pilot plant that will produce a
highly specialised form of silicon that is a key ingredient in the specialist
computer chips Simmons needs to put her quantum algorithms into action.
In the week
that saw the federal
government announce $100 million for quantum technologies, Simmons says the
collaboration between SQC, Silex, academia and the government is an example of how
quantum computing can boost not just the local technology sector but also the
manufacturing industry.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/national/morrison-may-lie-but-his-real-test-is-not-honesty-it-s-about-trust-20211118-p59a8h.html
Morrison may lie, but his real test is not honesty - it’s about trust
Peter Hartcher
Political and
international editor
November 20,
2021 — 5.00am
It’s
happening again. A Liberal Party Prime Minister is asking Australia to re-elect
him on trust. When John Howard launched the 2004 election with the words “who
do you trust?“, there were incredulous guffaws around the country. His
reputation for truthfulness was not strong.
But when
Scott “I don’t believe I’ve ever told a lie” Morrison tested his lines for the
forthcoming election by saying “who do you trust?“, the only people laughing
were the ones with short memories.
Because it
worked brilliantly for Howard. Even though a majority or plurality of voters
thought Howard was untruthful on some of the biggest controversies of the time
– the “children overboard” affair, the 2003 Iraq War and the Australian Wheat
Board bribery scandal, for instance.
There was a
whole book devoted to the subject. The cover of John Howard’s Little Book of
Truth was decorated with the prime minister drawn as a very long-nosed Pinocchio.
Yet Howard didn’t just win the 2004 election. He won with an increased margin
and even won control of the Senate. He became the first prime minister in a
generation to control both Houses of Parliament.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/national/morrison-s-split-personas-risk-a-can-t-do-answer-from-voters-20211118-p59a8d.html
Morrison’s split personas risk a can’t-do answer from voters
George Megalogenis
Columnist
November 20,
2021 — 5.00am
The new
political suit that Scott Morrison has chosen to wear since his return from the
climate change conference in Glasgow is shamelessly anti-government. It has
been borrowed from the United States, but tailored to fit his pressing need to
find an incumbent to campaign against.
He can’t run
against his own regime, of course, because that would highlight the absence of
policy purpose on the Coalition side. The enemy of the people, to borrow a
bullet point from Donald Trump, is not the federal government, but state
government. Not all state governments, though; just the Labor ones.
This much has
been clear from the moment the Prime Minister road-tested the slogan “Can-Do
Capitalism” as an antidote to “Don’t-Do Government” at an address to the
Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry on November 10. He wants to
translate voter fatigue with the pandemic into a mandate for a fourth term on
cruise control.
No post-war
prime minister has asked the Australian people to trust the market without
moderation, while sending a second, more complicated message to some states,
but not others, to get out of the way.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/andy-meddicks-daughter-distraught-after-incident/news-story/fa3cf19405d1a21462133eb3d7938588
Kielan Meddick attacked ‘over MP’s support for Labor law’
Remy Varga
7:58PM
November 19, 2021
The daughter
of a crossbencher supporting the Andrews Labor government’s controversial
pandemic legislation suffered a gash to her head during an altercation she
believes is connected to her father’s politics.
Animal
Justice Party leader Andy Meddick said his daughter Kielan, 25, was spray
painting over an anti-vaccination poster on Smith St in Fitzroy in Melbourne’s
inner north on Thursday night when she was approached by a man.
“This person
unknown to them [Kielan] has approached them from behind aggressively and
abusively and made statements along the lines of something to do with
politics,” he told the ABC. “Kielan took that to mean that that was about me
and their relationship.”
The man threw
the can at Ms Meddick as she ran away, causing a 3cm gash to the back of her
head that required stitches.
------
https://www.afr.com/markets/debt-markets/a-liquidity-drought-is-rattling-the-bond-market-20211116-p599gn
A liquidity drought is rattling the bond market
A swift
draining of liquidity is happening globally and has hit home. But if the future
is transitory inflation, it doesn’t look so bad.
Chris Dickman
Nov 21, 2021
– 5.00am
Now that the
pandemic shock is in the rearview mirror, markets have brought forward
expectations for lift-off in official cash rates.
Before we get
too far ahead of ourselves, let’s consider the swift draining of liquidity that
is happening globally and causing some frightening moves.
This is
partly because central banks are suddenly reducing
bond-buying programs, known as quantitative easing (QE), that were used
successfully to suppress interest rates.
Liquidity is
a global phenomenon but it’s clear Australia has been acutely affected. A study
by Sweden’s Riksbank showed that initially QE enhanced liquidity, but once the
percentage of stock held by a central bank reached a tipping point of about 40
per cent, liquidity deteriorated significantly.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/it-s-a-deep-state-stoner-s-dilemma-morrison-the-leader-of-a-big-government-laments-big-government-20211119-p59ajh.html
It’s a deep-state stoner’s dilemma: Morrison, the leader of a big
government, laments big government
Jacqueline Maley
Columnist and
senior journalist
November 21,
2021 — 5.30am
For someone
who wants government to get out of our lives, Scott Morrison (the head of the
government) is around an awful lot.
He seems to
pop up everywhere these days – in breweries and factories, on morning
television and radio.
It’s almost
as if his visibility is growing in direct proportion to the shrinkage of his
policy agenda.
The louder
the messaging, the less the material matters.
This week
Morrison caused consternation in some circles, and approving nods in others,
when he said that it was time for “Australians to take
their lives back” and for governments to wind back their pandemic
management.
-----
COVID 19 Information
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/national/pandemic-triggers-mass-exodus-of-critical-care-nurses-20211116-p5998i.html
Pandemic triggers ‘mass exodus’ of critical care nurses
By Melissa Cunningham
November 17,
2021 — 11.54am
Australian
hospitals are experiencing a mass exodus of experienced critical care nurses as
the COVID-19 pandemic stretches healthcare workers unlike ever before,
prompting medical colleges to warn of a workforce crisis.
Australian
College of Critical Care Nurses chief executive Rand Butcher said in the last
year, critical care nurses were “leaving in droves”. He said those nurses had
undergone specialised postgraduate training to work in high-pressure intensive
care units and were essential in caring for COVID-19 patients.
“There has
been a mass exodus,” Mr Butcher said.
“They are not
taking sick leave or annual leave, they are working extra hours, and at the end
of all this we are seeing lots of senior people, who have worked in intensive
care for years, leaving intensive care units at a time when they are so valued,
and we need them so much.”
Australian
College of Nursing chief executive Kylie Ward said roughly 20,000 nurses had
given up their registration this year, a number that had shocked her during a
global pandemic.
-----
https://www.afr.com/world/europe/covid-19-fourth-wave-overwhelms-europe-20211119-p59a9a
COVID-19 ‘fourth wave’ overwhelms Europe
Hans van Leeuwen
Europe correspondent
Nov 19, 2021
– 5.24am
London |
European countries are reimposing curfews and lockdowns, and bolstering the use
of vaccine passports, as a fourth wave of COVID-19 surges across the continent,
putting healthcare systems under strain.
Germany
posted a record daily caseload of 65,371 on Thursday, prompting the director of
the country’s disease control agency to warn Germans they were “heading towards
a serious emergency”.
“We are going
to have a really terrible Christmas if we don’t take countermeasures now,” said
Lothar Wieler, director of the Robert Koch Institute.
Germany has a
state-based health system, like Australia, but on Thursday a meeting of
national and regional governments agreed that wherever and whenever
hospitalisation rates exceed an agreed threshold, authorities will curtail
public events and prevent unvaccinated people from using restaurants and bars.
Germany, with
just 68 per cent of people double-jabbed, is one of a number of countries with
low vaccination rates - including Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic -
that are being forced to consider new restrictions.
-----
https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/european-virus-lessons-for-australia-20211118-p59a2g
European virus lessons for Australia
A fourth
wave of COVID-19 is swamping Europe as winter approaches. Will Australia follow
the same path in six months?
Jill Margo Health editor
Nov 19, 2021
– 1.09pm
Summer has a
way of making us think the pandemic is almost over. That’s what Europe thought
a few months ago, and now it’s in trouble again. A
fourth wave has sent some countries scrambling to reassert control before
Christmas.
Two months
ago,
Denmark, with its highly sophisticated health system, relaxed all mitigation
measures, saying COVID-19 no longer posed “a critical threat to society”.
It has changed its tune. So has Germany, which recorded more than 65,000 daily
cases on Thursday. Officials in Britain have warned of “stumbling into a winter
crisis” and, after a summer of optimism, there’s rising anxiety about a winter
surge in the US.
Come winter,
will Australia go the same way? In pockets, but probably not overall because it
has baked-in advantages. It’s also been watching as Europe fails to master
delta with vaccines alone.
From the
start of the pandemic, Australia has had a seasonal advantage. When the virus
emerged in 2020, it was high summer here and deep winter in Europe. While parts
of Europe were soon overwhelmed, Australia was hardly affected.
-----
Climate Change.
-----
https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/the-net-zero-modelling-that-only-the-nationals-could-love-20211111-p5984u
The net zero modelling that only the Nationals could love
The
government’s modelling tells us nothing meaningful about its climate “plan”
because the real purpose was to convince wavering Nationals to back the net
zero target.
Steven Hamilton
Contributor
Nov 14, 2021
– 12.48pm
I’ve now
twice read the government’s 100-page net zero modelling document, which it put
out with the trash at 3pm on Friday. Lying behind the document is no doubt some
good work by hard-working public servants relying on open-source modelling
frameworks. But as with any such exercise, you get out what you put in. And
they had a job to do.
On the first
reading, I was puzzled by the framing. It made no sense. But on the second
reading, I finally figured it out. The thing is, this exercise wasn’t for me.
Nor for you. It doesn’t really assess the impacts of the government’s climate
policies, nor indeed any alternative
policies. It doesn’t compare technology and taxes, as the government says.
It seems
clear to me now that this was a modelling exercise commissioned by the
government for the simple purpose of convincing wavering Nationals that a
Glasgow commitment to net zero by 2050 wouldn’t wreck the economy. Barnaby
Joyce said to them over and over, “tell us what it costs”. This is Scott
Morrison’s answer.
-----
https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/pm-won-t-budge-on-2030-target-despite-cop26-deal-20211114-p598qi
Morrison won’t budge on 2030 targets
John Kehoe, Hans van Leeuwen and Jacob Greber
Updated Nov
14, 2021 – 7.38pm, first published at 6.06pm
Australia
signed an international request for countries to strengthen 2030 emissions
reduction goals by next year but within hours of agreeing to the Glasgow
climate pact, the Morrison government, facing a 2022 election, told voters it
had no intention of changing its “fixed” target.
At the
conclusion of the United Nations Climate Change Conference on the weekend, 197
countries accepted
a last-minute push by India and China to dilute a pledge to “phase-out” coal
to “phase-down” the fossil fuel – in a boost for Australian coal exporters but
a blow to climate change action campaigners.
Nations also
signed on to “revisit and strengthen” next year their 2030 emissions-cut
targets, which oil producer Saudi Arabia successfully watered down from an
“urging” to a “request”.
Business and
investors demanded the government and Labor outline more ambitious emissions
cut targets beyond the government’s official goal of 26-28 per cent and its
projection that Australia is on track to achieve actual cuts of 30-35 per cent
on 2005 levels.
-----
https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/australia-s-missed-energy-opportunity-in-glasgow-20211114-p598qm
Australia’s missed energy opportunity in Glasgow
By standing
with China, Brazil and Russia at COP26, the country failed to support the
global progress critical to its future as a low-carbon superpower.
Ross Garnaut Contributor
Nov 15, 2021
– 5.00am
Australian
renewable energy, land and human resources make it naturally the superpower of
the zero emissions world economy.
Grasp the
superpower opportunity, and Australia can enjoy a period of exceptional
economic expansion after being at the bottom of the developed country league
table for average growth in output and incomes per person over the past nine
years.
This is the
first of three reasons why we have a stronger interest than any other developed
country in the world reaching the goal agreed in Paris in 2015: to hold
temperature increases below 2 degrees and as close as possible to 1.5 degrees.
The second
reason is that we happen to be the developed country that would be damaged more
than any other by climate change itself.
-----
https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/lng-exports-risk-going-from-hero-to-zero-20211115-p598xk
LNG exports risk going ‘from hero to zero’
Angela
Macdonald-Smith Senior resources writer
Nov 15, 2021
– 9.58am
Government
forecasts of continuing LNG exports from Australia through to 2050 despite
the net zero goal are too optimistic given the gas reserves underpinning
exports will be exhausted by then.
The sobering
analysis by EnergyQuest finds that estimates by the International Energy Agency
and Morgan Stanley are also too bullish based on existing reserves, the
consultancy said in its monthly LNG report that also found exports from
Australia hit a record in October.
“In the
absence of new fields and new projects, Australian LNG exports in 2050 are
likely to be zero in 2050,” EnergyQuest said.
“This is not
because of net zero or potential lack of demand but because of insufficient
developed natural gas reserves.”
The
Woodside-managed North West Shelf venture, the country’s oldest LNG exporter,
could run out of reserves by 2028, followed by Chevron’s Wheatstone by 2033,
Shell’s Prelude and Santos’ Darwin LNG by 2044, and Inpex’s Ichthys, Chevron’s
Gorgon and Woodside’s Pluto and Scarborough by 2049, the firm said.
-----
https://www.theage.com.au/world/asia/china-and-india-will-need-to-explain-their-coal-support-in-cop26-deal-sharma-20211115-p598vu.html
COP26 climate deal sounds ‘death knell’ for coal: Boris Johnson
By Paul
Sandle
November 15,
2021 — 6.34am
London:
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed the UN climate summit as a
“game-changing agreement” that sounded the “death knell for coal power” on
Sunday (Monday AEDT) -- although he added that his delight at the progress on
fighting climate change was “tinged with disappointment”.
Johnson said
it was “beyond question” that the deal coming out of the Glasgow conference
marks an important moment in the use of coal because most of western Europe and
North America have agreed to pull the
plug on financial support for all overseas fossil fuel projects by this
time next year.
But in a
major shift demanded by coal-dependent India and China, the Glasgow Climate
pact used watered-down language about “phasing down” the use of coal instead of
“phasing out” coal.
Johnson,
however, said the compromise did not make “that much of a difference”.
Ending coal
is seen as the key
to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which cause the Earth to warm up and
produce rising seas and more extreme weather including droughts, storms and
wildfires.
-----
https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/the-un-climate-process-is-designed-to-fail-20211116-p59994
The UN climate process is designed to fail
The world
leaders at COP26 all endorsed the need for radical action. But the political
pressures they are under are actually a recipe for inaction. There is a radical
alternative.
Gideon Rachman
Columnist
Nov 16, 2021
– 9.49am
In a way,
Boris Johnson was the perfect host for COP26. The British prime minister
specialises in groundless optimism and empty pledges. The Glasgow climate
summit produced plenty of both.
Ahead of the
meeting, the informal slogan was “keep 1.5 alive”. But to have a good chance of
limiting global warming to 1.5C, global production of coal, oil and gas must
start declining immediately and steeply. Nothing that came out of Glasgow
suggests this will happen.
Even some of
the agreements signed at COP26 — about restoring forests and cutting back
methane emissions — are little more than aspirations. As António Guterres,
secretary-general of the UN, observes: “Signing the declaration is the easy
part.”
It should not
be a surprise that Glasgow was a disappointment. The UN climate process has
been running for almost 30 years and over that time, carbon-dioxide emissions
have continued to rise. There was no real reason to expect that COP26 would
succeed where the previous 25 COPs had failed.
-----
https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/carbon-taxes-real-or-false-are-not-going-to-get-the-job-done-20211117-p599ul
Carbon taxes, real or false, are not going to get the job done
The idea is
to cut the cost of clean energy, not make everything else more expensive. There
are global breakthroughs when the challenge of unique national circumstances is
acknowledged.
Angus Taylor Contributor
Nov 18, 2021
– 5.08pm
COP26 ended like so many before it. There
were largely unexpected and powerful achievements, like a common
emissions-reporting framework, a coherent framework for crediting and trading
offsets, and a vastly increased emphasis on technology.
At the same
time, the parties couldn’t fit the unique circumstances of 196 countries –
developed and developing – within a single template for ambition.
By now, this
should be a familiar insight. When the challenge of unique national
circumstances is acknowledged, we see breakthroughs such as the 2015 Paris
Agreement innovation in nationally determined contributions.
In the days
after COP26, the European Commission lauded a reference to “phase down” coal,
even as mothballed coal power stations in Portugal, Spain and the UK fired up
for the first time in years amid a gas supply crunch, and China finished
building a 100 million tonne stockpile ahead of the northern winter.
-----
Royal Commissions And The Like.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/seniors-groups-question-government-commitment-to-aged-care-reform/news-story/647a1c9d1c585cc43845413da05eec22
Seniors’ groups question government commitment to aged care reform
Stephen Lunn
9:00PM
November 14, 2021
Leading
advocates for older Australians are growing increasingly worried the Morrison
government is looking to water down its promise to fully implement the first
recommendation of the aged-care royal commission – a new aged-care act.
They say
while the government committed in March to begin work on a new act to commence
in mid-2023, it has been coy about whether those laws would include a key
element of Recommendation 1 – “to provide a system of aged care based on a
universal right to high quality, safe and timely support and care.”
The coalition
of 25 peak bodies including the Older Persons Advocacy Network, Council on the
Ageing, Dementia Australia, National Seniors, Carers Australia and the
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Association want a clear commitment this
rights-based approach, recommended by the commission to usher in a new era of
care for older people in Australia, is delivered.
OPAN chief
executive Craig Gear, speaking on the coalition’s behalf, said there was
concern about the lack of discussion with the government on how to enshrine
rights for older people in the new act. “The government has committed to a new
aged-care act but the wording of its commitment is for a values-based system,”
Mr Gear said.
-----
National Budget Issues.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/australian-businesses-warn-of-supply-chain-crunch-stoking-inflation-fears-20211114-p598s5.html
Australian businesses warn of supply chain crunch, stoking inflation fears
By Clancy Yeates and Zoe Samios
November 15,
2021 — 5.00am
Australian
businesses have warned the bottlenecks choking global supply chains are
unlikely to be resolved soon, amid predictions soaring shipping costs will add
to inflation by lifting the price of imports.
With global
markets fixated on the risk that higher inflation could raise interest
rates from record lows, companies including telecommunications giant Optus,
explosives maker Orica, and Boost Juice owner Retail Zoo have underlined the
severe disruption to supply lines.
The supply
chain problems, which are leading to widespread shortages and delays in the
delivery of goods, come as many companies are also facing wage pressure as they
scramble to find staff.
Optus chief
executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said there had been shortages of iPads, Google’s
new phone, and radio and networking equipment.
-----
https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/outlook-for-inflation-very-uncertain-rba-governor-20211116-p599d7
Outlook for inflation highly uncertain: RBA governor
Ronald Mizen Economics
correspondent
Nov 16, 2021
– 1.59pm
The inflation
outlook is more uncertain than it has been for a long time, Reserve Bank of
Australia governor Philip Lowe says, but while upward pressure on prices could
force interest rate hikes earlier than 2024, that outcome is unlikely.
Dr Lowe
welcomed underlying inflation lifting more strongly than expected in the
September quarter but said inflation pressures sweeping the globe had been more
“muted” in Australia.
“We are
making better-than-expected progress towards our inflation objective. This is
welcome news. But we still have a way to go,” Dr Lowe said in a speech to
business economists in Sydney on Tuesday.
“It is
important to remember that at 2.1 per cent, underlying inflation is only just
above the bottom of the 2 to 3 per cent target band and remains lower than the
average for the past three decades.”
-----
https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/white-collar-salaries-surge-as-skills-shortages-hit-wages-20211117-p599ni
White-collar salaries surge 3.4pc
Inflation:
White-collar salaries surge 3.4pc
Ronald Mizen Economics
correspondent
Nov 17, 2021
– 12.14pm
White-collar
jobs are leading the charge on wages growth, with salaries rising 3.4 per cent
in the year ended September 30, followed by jobs in the construction and
hospitality industries now suffering major skills shortages.
Overall
wages rose 0.6 per cent in the September quarter and 2.2 per cent over the
year, bang on market consensus but still well below the 3 per cent-plus growth
sought by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
“Wage and
salary reviews around the end of the financial year, scheduled enterprise agreements
and annual award rises all contributed to growth,” said Michelle Marquardt,
head of prices statistics at the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The wage
price index (WPI) is now back to pre-pandemic levels but with unions
demanding wage prices in line with the 3 per cent consumer price index, further
increases may only be a matter of time.
-----
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/wages-jump-2-2-per-cent-in-the-year-to-september-20211117-p599ny.html
Wages jump 2.2 per cent in the year to September
By Shane Wright and Jennifer Duke
November 17,
2021 — 12.22pm
Wages
increased 2.2 per cent in the year to September with the private sector driving
the majority of the rise in pay despite lockdowns in major capital cities.
Australian
Bureau of Statistics data released on Wednesday morning shows private sector
wages increased 2.4 per cent over the year, with the public sector trailing
behind at 1.7 per cent. The overall increase was in line with market
expectations and measured wage rises during coronavirus-induced lockdowns
across NSW, Victoria and the ACT.
Over the
September quarter, wages increased 0.6 per cent in the private sector and 0.5
per cent in the public sector. Public sector wage freezes introduced during the
pandemic ended over the last three months.
Tasmania and
the ACT both recorded a 1 per cent increase over the quarter, the highest
across the country. Tasmania is now at its highest annual rate of growth in
eight years.
Wage growth
in NSW was up 2.2 per cent for the private sector over the year and 1.6 per
cent in the public service. In Victoria this was 2.7 per cent and 2.1 per cent
respectively.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/turning-the-hmas-wages-around-will-take-time-20211117-p599pu.html
Turning the HMAS Wages around will take time
By Shane Wright
November 17,
2021 — 6.13pm
You cannot
stop an oil tanker on a dime. It takes up to 4 kilometres before a tanker
carrying 2 million barrels of oil comes to standstill.
Australian
wages growth could be just like one of those tankers. The debate is whether
it’s starting to turn or on course for disaster.
The Reserve
Bank has made clear its view about the importance of wages growth, as part of
the broader narrative of inflation and the future pace of interest rate rises.
It believes
wages have to be growing at better than 3 per cent annually so that inflation
stays within its target band, which would then enable it to start normalising
interest rates.
RBA governor
Phil Lowe says there’s no chance of a rate rise next year with 2024 still the
most likely outcome. But financial markets are betting he’s wrong, tipping
higher borrowing costs for millions of mortgage holders by mid-2022.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/why-australia-s-missing-out-on-surging-wage-growth-20211118-p59a2v.html
Why Australia’s missing out on surging wage growth
Clancy Yeates
Banking
reporter
November 19,
2021 — 5.00am
It’s the
question that’s been hanging over Australia’s economy for the best part of a
decade: when will the miserable pace of wage growth recover to healthier
levels?
Decent pay
rises obviously matter to anyone with a job, but they also benefit society as a
whole because solid wage rises go hand in hand with employment growth.
Financial markets also have a fixation on wages because they are a critical
influence on inflation, and therefore on interest rates.
This week,
some important lessons emerged in the long-running discussion about when wage
growth may finally take hold.
One is that
we’re making progress in lifting wages, but it’s a slow grind. Yes, there have
been eye-grabbing headlines about lawyers pocketing 10
per cent pay rises, or dishwashing workers demanding
$50 an hour - but these examples don’t reflect the experience of most
workers.
-----
https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/why-australia-s-inflation-is-different-20211115-p59900
Why Australia’s inflation is ‘different’
RBA governor
Philip Lowe insists that when it comes to the wave of inflation sweeping the
globe, Australia differs from other countries. But expectations may challenge
that view.
Ronald Mizen Economics
correspondent
Nov 19, 2021
– 12.52pm
US inflation
hit a 30-year
high this week while UK price growth lifted to levels not seen since 2011,
driven by Europe’s energy crisis. But Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip
Lowe insists when it comes to the wave of inflation sweeping the globe,
Australia is “different”.
The Bank of
England is widely expected to begin lifting interest rates from next month,
while the US Federal Reserve is tipped to rein in its $US120 billion ($164
billion)-a-month bond-buying with rate hikes slated for mid next year. New
Zealand’s central bank has already started its lifting cycle.
At home, Lowe
concedes there is now a “plausible” pathway for rate rises in 2023, but the
most likely outcome is for the record low 0.1 per cent cash rate to remain on
hold until 2024.
The RBA wants
to see wages growth at “three-point-something per cent” before it is confident
inflation is sustainably within its 2 per cent to 3 per cent target band. With
the wage price index showing annual growth at just 2.2 per cent, Lowe says that
is “very unlikely” in the next six months.
-----
Health Issues.
-----
https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/junior-doctors-sue-over-wage-theft-exploitation-20211112-p598ie
Junior doctors sue over wage theft, exploitation
Julie Hare Education editor
Nov 14, 2021
– 5.07pm
More than
26,500 junior doctors have signed up for class actions against public health
services in NSW and Victoria, arguing they are overworked, underpaid and being
forced to put their patients’, and their own, health at risk.
Doctors in
South Australia and the ACT are also considering similar action.
In a case due
to be heard by the NSW Supreme Court, junior doctor Amireh Fakouri has brought
a class action on behalf of about 24,000 colleagues against the NSW Health
Department. It will cover a six-year period.
In Victoria,
about 1500 doctors have signed on to one of four class actions against
individual health services. The first, against Peninsula Health, is due to be
heard in the Federal Court next June.
Hayden
Stephens, a partner with Hayden Stephens & Associates, is working with
Maurice Blackburn on the NSW case and Gordon Legal with the Victorian cases. He
said there were multiple surveys from the Australian Medical Association
(AMA) and other groups which revealed that unrostered overtime was pervasive.
-----
https://www.afr.com/technology/if-you-ve-taken-a-dna-saliva-test-you-could-be-part-of-a-bigger-plan-20211110-p597qd
If you’ve taken a DNA saliva test, you could be part of a bigger plan
Anne
Wojcicki, CEO of 23andMe, wants to take on Big Pharma with the reams of
personal genomic data her company has amassed.
Kristen Brown
Nov 19, 2021
– 9.55am
A few months
ago, on the morning 23andMe was about to go public, chief executive Anne
Wojcicki received a framed sheet of paper she hadn’t seen in 15 years.
As she was
preparing to ring in the Nasdaq bell remotely from the courtyard of her
company’s Silicon Valley headquarters, Patrick Chung, one of its earliest
investors, presented her with the pitch document she’d shown him when she was
first asking for money. The one-sheeter outlined a radical transformation in
the field of DNA testing.
Wojcicki’s
plan back then was to turn genetics from the rarefied work of high-end labs
into mainstream health and quasi-entertainment products. First she’d sell
tastemakers on her mail-in spit kits to learn sort-of-interesting things about
their DNA make-up, such as its likely ancestral origins and the chance it would
lead to certain health conditions.
Eventually,
she’d be able to lower prices enough to make the kits broadly accessible,
allowing 23andMe to build a database big enough to identify new links between
diseases and particular genes. Later, this research would fuel the creation of
drugs the company could tailor to different genetic profiles. 23andMe would
become a new kind of healthcare business, sitting somewhere between a Big
Pharma lab, a Big Tech company and a trusted neighbourhood doctor.
-----
International Issues.
-----
https://www.afr.com/markets/equity-markets/central-banks-weigh-trade-offs-between-inflation-and-tightening-20211114-p598qb
Central banks weigh trade-offs between inflation and tightening
A cautious
approach to curtailing ultra-loose monetary policy will take longer to temper
inflation, and an aggressive move will threaten the recovery.
Tamar Hamlyn
Nov 14, 2021
– 10.05am
Financial
markets have kept investors on their toes in recent weeks. A sharp rise in
short-term bond yields has been accompanied by yet another barrage of
uncomfortably high inflation releases.
The latest salvos,
in the form of Australian inflation for the September quarter and US inflation
for October, served only to elevate these concerns.
The challenge
this poses for investors is very real: should we be concerned about the impact
of persistently high inflation outcomes eroding after-inflation rates of
return? Or should we be more concerned that central banks might be forced to
the table to tighten aggressively, perhaps sowing the seeds of a future
downturn, which would also be detrimental for returns?
The implications
of this choice matter enormously for returns across asset classes, and the
performance of bonds, equities, and other assets is heavily influenced by
inflation outcomes and by the level of interest rates.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/time-is-running-out-for-beijing-to-fix-china-s-property-crisis-20211115-p598z0.html
Time is running out for Beijing to fix China’s property crisis
By Shuli Ren
November 15,
2021 — 11.10am
There are two
types of scary borrowers in China. The first kind has good-looking assets but
it isn’t quite clear how much debt they have hidden away. That’s at the heart of
the China Evergrande Group crisis. The second has a lot of debt but no assets
to shore up their ability to repay — but they have the political connections
some hope will help bail out the first kind.
To avoid
hurting the broader economy, China is considering easing rules to let its
distressed real estate developers sell off assets to avoid defaults. The
so-called “three red lines” on leverage ratios — formulated in August 2000 —
were so tight that there were no buyers for developers’ property holdings even
if the likes of Evergrande were willing to offload projects at fire sale
prices.
Going
forward, as the Wall Street Journal reported, regulators might allow white
knight developers to take over assets without having the projects’ associated
debt affect their own leverage ratios and risk crossing the three red lines.
That would be
a relief. But will anyone take the bait? Even the richest real estate magnates
might have second thoughts because of the many hazards beneath the surface.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/economics/ubs-chief-axel-weber-warns-of-growing-risk-of-sustained-global-inflation/news-story/47fcdac60fcdd5201ecd81fe8d36dec4
UBS chief Axel Weber warns of growing risk of sustained global inflation
Ticky Fullerton
6:37PM
November 15, 2021
Axel Weber,
global chairman of Swiss giant UBS and former head of Germany’s central bank,
believes investors should be concerned about the risk of a sustained rise in
inflation.
On Tuesday,
he shares his views at the annual UBS Australasia conference. This will be Dr
Weber’s first live appearance at the conference and comes at a pivotal time for
monetary policy as central bankers and markets contemplate rising inflation.
Dr Weber has
been chair of UBS for more than a decade and was president of the Deutsche
Bundesbank between 2004 and 2011, right through the global financial crisis.
In recent months he says inflation risk is what investors want to talk to him
about.
Last week –
at the UBS European conference – Dr Weber said that uncertainty may be lower
than 12 months ago, but there was still a lot of new risk to manage.
-----
https://www.afr.com/chanticleer/the-next-inflation-wave-is-here-and-it-s-not-a-supply-chain-squeeze-20211116-p599bn
The next inflation wave is here (and it’s not a supply chain squeeze)
Veteran US
investors Larry Jeddeloh says the speed to the energy transition will lift
prices across economies, ushering in a new inflationary cycle.
Nov 16, 2021
– 11.59am
If you want
to know where inflation is going next, don’t look at port bottlenecks or used
car prices or computer chip shortages. Instead, look at the resolutions that
came out of COP26, which has effectively baked in an energy transition that is
as expensive as it is urgent.
That’s the
message from veteran US investor Larry Jeddeloh, founder
of The Institutional Strategist, and economist Julien Garran, partner at
British group MacroStrategy Partnership, who argue that the desire of
governments to tackle climate change and inequality has ushered in the start of
a new, inflationary cycle that will last long after the current supply chain
squeeze eases.
A more
progressive Federal Reserve that works much more closely with the US
government, a potential food crisis and rising costs across the economies that
chase environmental and social goals hardest are likely outcomes of this big
shift.
For both
Jeddeloh and Garran, who spoke at the UBS Australasia
conference on Tuesday, the shift away from fossil fuels as the world’s core
energy source – a key plank of the COP26 negotiations – is the starting point
of the next wave of inflation.
-----
https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/china-s-alarming-new-nuclear-capabilities-20211116-p599bz
China’s alarming new nuclear capabilities
The rapid
build-up has the potential to alter the power balance in Asia and raises hard
questions over US nuclear policy.
Demetri
Sevastopulo
Nov 16, 2021
– 2.38pm
On July 27,
China became the first nation to fly a hypersonic glide vehicle – a
manoeuvrable craft that travels at more than five times the speed of sound –
around the earth.
The vehicle
was propelled by a rocket that can fly over the South Pole, evading US missile
defences that are focused on the North Pole, and giving the Chinese another way
to hit targets in America.
This test was
the latest in a series of revelations about China’s growing nuclear
capabilities that have set off multiple alarm bells in Washington. Earlier this
month, the Pentagon said it believes China has accelerated its nuclear plans
and will quadruple its arsenal to at least 1000 warheads by 2030.
Over the past
two decades, China has stunned Washington with the relentless pace of its
conventional military build-up, ranging from fighter jets and bombers to
submarines and warships. Its navy is now by far the largest in the world.
-----
https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/investors-lulled-into-dreamland-by-central-banks-20211117-p599nd
Investors lulled into ‘dreamland’ by central banks
Robin
Wigglesworth
Nov 17, 2021
– 10.52am
Investors are
living in a “dreamland” brought on by global central banks’ decision to
continue pumping up the world economy even as it has rebounded sharply from the
pandemic, Bill Gross has said.
Historically
low-interest rates and mammoth bond-buying programs, which are only now being
cautiously scaled back, have nurtured a widespread bout of financial euphoria
in everything from stocks to digital assets such as “non-fungible tokens”, the
founder of bond investment group Pimco told the Financial Times in an
interview.
“It’s
dangerous,” Mr Gross warned of accommodative central bank policy. “It’s all
dreamland that’s been supported by interest rates that aren’t where they should
be.”
The US
inflation rate, which was already running hotter than the Federal
Reserve had been expecting,
accelerated to a three-decade high of 6.2 per
cent in October.
Price growth
is also running well ahead of target in other global economies, including the
UK. That has exacerbated concerns that central banks will need to act sooner
and more aggressively than previously indicated.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/my-old-friend-biden-xi-begin-superpower-summit-on-friendly-note-20211116-p599cj.html
Biden, Xi de-escalate threat of military conflict over Taiwan
By Matthew Knott and Eryk Bagshaw
Updated
November 16, 2021 — 6.30pmfirst published at 3.28pm
Talking points
- China’s President Xi Jinping
and US President Joe Biden confirmed their commitment to the status quo
that has protected Taiwan for decades, in their first summit since Biden
became President.
- This comes after months of
hawkish rhetoric, international disputes and military exercises ratcheted
up fears of military clashes.
- Biden said the US recognises the
“one China” policy and opposes any “unilateral changes to the status quo”
in Taiwan.
- Xi said of China’s aims for
Taiwan: “We are patient and willing to do our utmost to strive for the
prospect of peaceful reunification with the utmost sincerity.”
Washington: US President Joe Biden and China’s
President Xi Jinping have sought to protect Taiwan’s uneasy peace by
de-escalating the risk of a military conflict over the democratic island.
In
the most direct conversation between the leaders of the two superpowers since
Biden took office, Xi and Biden reaffirmed their commitment to the status quo
after months of rising rhetoric, international disputes and harassment of the
Taiwan Strait by China’s warplanes.
During
the more than three-hour teleconference summit on Tuesday, Xi said that China
posed no immediate threat to its neighbour.
-----
https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/the-fed-needs-to-move-on-inflation-before-it-s-too-late-20211117-p599n9
The Fed needs to move on inflation before it’s too late
Current
policy would make sense in a depression. But we no longer risk a depression. A
faster shift towards monetary sobriety now could prevent having to go cold
turkey later.
Martin Wolf Columnist
Updated Nov
17, 2021 – 12.02pm, first published at 11.15am
It starts
with the occasional rock as the policymakers row over the sea of denial. Then
many more rocks appear. Finally, they see that they are sailing towards an
inflationary cliff. Only with great effort do they turn the ship around and row
to safety.
This is how
the world is beginning to feel to someone whose life as an economist began in
the 1970s. Few wanted to believe Milton Friedman’s warnings. But he was right.
The process
began to be visible with jumps in prices in what the late John Hicks called
“flexprice” markets, such as those for food. Some jumps in prices could be
explained away by supply restrictions, such as the oil embargo of 1973-74.
In what Hicks
called “fixprice” markets we saw excess demand and shortages. But, as price
rises became more general and real wages were being eroded, workers became
increasingly militant. Finally, a general wage-price spiral became all too
visible.
-----
https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/canada-inflation-accelerates-to-4-7pc-annual-pace-highest-since-2003-20211118-p599x6
Canada inflation accelerates to 4.7pc annual pace, highest since 2003
Shelly Hagan
Nov 18, 2021
– 6.57am
Ottawa |
Canadian inflation climbed to the highest in two decades, adding pressure on
the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates.
The consumer
price index rose 4.7 per cent in October from a year earlier, compared with 4.4
per cent in September, Statistics Canada said Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) in
Ottawa.
The October
number is the highest since 2003, when it last hit 4.7 per cent. Inflation
hasn’t exceeded that level in the three decades since the Bank of Canada first
started targeting inflation in 1991.
The 4.7 per
cent figure for October was in line with the median estimate of economists in a
Bloomberg survey. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.7 per cent, on par with
estimates.
-----
https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/us-overdose-deaths-topped-100-000-in-one-year-20211118-p599vz
US overdose deaths topped 100,000 in one year
Mike Stobbe
Nov 18, 2021
– 3.53am
An estimated
100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in one year, a never-before-seen
milestone that health officials say is tied to the COVID-19 pandemic and a more
dangerous drug supply.
Overdose
deaths have been rising for more than two decades, accelerated in the past two
years and, according to new data posted on Wednesday, jumped nearly 30 per cent
in the latest year.
President Joe
Biden called it “a tragic milestone” in a statement, as administration
officials pressed Congress to devote billions of dollars more to address the
problem.
“This is
unacceptable and it requites an unprecedented response,” said Dr Rahul Gupta,
director of National Drug Control Policy.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/the-past-is-the-past-news-corp-s-rupert-murdoch-urges-trump-to-move-on-from-2020-defeat-20211118-p599ys.html
‘The past is the past’: News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch urges Trump to move on
from 2020 defeat
By Zoe Samios
November 18,
2021 — 11.26am
Media mogul
Rupert Murdoch has urged former United States president Donald Trump to move on
from his loss at the 2020 US general election as he took a swing at tech
platforms Google and Facebook for censoring conservative voices.
The
billionaire executive chairman of News Corp told shareholders in the media
giant in the US on Wednesday (EST) that Mr Trump was not helping conservatives
focus on the future and contribute to public debate.
“The current
American political debate is profound, whether about education or welfare or
economic opportunity,” Mr Murdoch said. “It is crucial that conservatives play
an active, forceful role in that debate, but that will not happen if President
Trump stays focused on the past.”
News Corp
owns a controlling stake in Australian pay TV platform Foxtel, as well as local
newspapers such as The Australian, Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, Melbourne’s Herald
Sun, New York based The Wall Street Journal and London based The Times.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/kissinger-us-and-china-must-realise-there-can-be-no-victor-without-destroying-humanity-20211117-p599oc.html
Kissinger: US and China must realise there can be no victor without
destroying humanity
By Eryk Bagshaw
November 17,
2021 — 4.05pm
Singapore:
Henry Kissinger, the Secretary of State who helped lead America through the
Cold War, said the landmark virtual meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping
was the first step towards reducing conflict between the US and China after
years of escalating tension.
“We are
through the mountain pass, but there is a precipice through which you can look
in both directions,” Kissinger said on Wednesday.
“The
necessity for both sides is to see whether from that position they can move to
a pattern in which disputes are mitigated and in which they realise a victor is
not possible without a risk of destroying humanity.”
Speaking at
the Bloomberg New Economy Forum
in Singapore on Wednesday, Kissinger, 98, said the conversation between the two
Presidents had the promise of a détente where coexistence becomes “not only
possible but essential”.
-----
https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/one-gobsmacking-chart-shows-how-biden-s-economy-is-beating-all-others-20211119-p59aau
One gobsmacking chart shows how Biden’s economy is beating all others
Ben Winck
Nov 19, 2021
– 8.55am
Americans are
not too happy about the country’s economic recovery. They should see the other
guys.
For the most
part, the US is rebounding well. Hiring picked up last month after slowing during the Delta
wave, and consumer spending leapt to record highs last month.
Yet the
average American thinks the economy is in the can. Consumer sentiment plunged
to decade lows this month and some even said the current situation is worse than the depths of the Great Recession. Inflation is
probably to blame. Prices rose last month at the fastest pace since 1990.
Although the country is healing, people are not liking the higher prices that
have come with it.
Compared with
other advanced economies, however, the US is in a league of its own.
Preliminary gross-domestic-product readings for the third quarter show the US
as the only G7 nation to surpass its pre-pandemic health, the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development said in a report on Thursday.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/a-winter-energy-crisis-looms-for-europe-as-putin-tightens-his-grip-20211118-p599xo.html
A winter energy crisis looms for Europe as Putin tightens his grip
By Ambrose
Evans-Pritchard
November 19,
2021 — 7.00am
Europe’s
energy crunch has returned with a winter vengeance. We are back to warnings of
power rationing and industrial stoppage, a looming disaster for the European
Commission and the British government alike.
Vladimir
Putin has tightened
his stranglehold on gas, driving up futures contracts for January by 40 per
cent in barely a week. Prices are nearing the levels of September’s panic. The
difference this time is that the underlying geopolitical crisis is an order of
magnitude more serious.
Russia has
mobilised 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s border in what Nato calls a “large and
unusual build-up” with hostile intent. American and British intelligence
officials last week showed Ukraine’s top brass satellite images and electronic
intercepts indicating a “high probability” of military attack this winter, led
by the sorts of Spetsnaz special forces deployed in Crimea.
Putin has
already prepared the ground for the perfect energy squeeze. He took advantage
of the world’s post-pandemic gas shortage over to withhold the top-up flows
needed to replenish Europe’s depleted storage.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/the-wall-street-journal/woke-is-a-bad-word-for-a-real-threat-to-american-democracy/news-story/b355748638c150a94ad249e9729ebccb
‘Woke’ is a bad word for a real threat to American democracy
Garry
Kasparov
The Wall
Street Journal
November 19,
2021
The search is
on for new words for old ideas. “Cancel culture” and “woke” have become
overused and abused, part of a struggle to define one’s political opponents in
the harshest possible way, to dismiss ideas as not only wrong or harmful, but
intolerable.
As a
non-native English speaker, I am content to avoid rhetorical fashion and use
older phrases. Call it the mob mentality, groupthink, or punitive neo-Puritan
orthodoxy. It is the abuse of power — mostly social, not yet governmental — to
silence debate and paralyze the spread of any ideas that challenge the
prevailing ideological dogma. It is the co-ordinated, coercive attempt to win a
debate by ending debate — to punish, not to educate.
The leading
practitioners of these tactics have two contradictory responses to criticism.
First, they say it isn’t happening, that it doesn’t exist, that drawing
attention to it is a rhetorical whine to silence critics of the establishment
and shield the privileged from accountability. Second, they blame the victims,
calling them bad people with bad ideas who should be banished to make room for
more diverse voices. Claiming you are fighting fire with fire can be used to
justify any excess; the only way to fight back is to take freedom away from
someone else.
-----
https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/don-t-underestimate-xi-s-ambitions-20211119-p59abe
Don’t underestimate Xi’s ambitions
China’s
foreign policy was for decades patient and unthreatening. But Xi Jinping is
already a very different kind of Chinese leader.
Henry Olsen
Nov 19, 2021
– 11.17am
For anyone
who thought that fears of China invading Taiwan
are overblown, think again. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s rise as the
paramount figure within the Communist pantheon suggests he has greater
ambitions than his recent predecessors.
Communist
China has a relatively consistent pattern with respect to military activity. It
has fought other nations to prevent the United States from establishing a
presence on its border (the Korean War) or to exercise its influence with
neighbours, such as with its short conflicts with India and Vietnam.
It has yet to
risk conflict with a power far from its borders or in a region that another
nation considers essential to its national security. This suggests an invasion
of Taiwan is highly unlikely despite China’s military build-up and increasingly
provocative action.
But this
analysis presumes that China’s traditional governing structure and principles
remain largely unchanged. It presumes that the Communist Party will act as it
has for decades – slowly, steadily and with its predominant concern being the
collective whole rather than individual glory.
This patient,
nonthreatening style was the party’s leitmotif after the death of Mao Zedong.
The internal purges, turmoil and famine his personalist rule created caused
subsequent Chinese communists to make alliances to prevent a second Mao coming
to power.
-----
https://www.afr.com/world/asia/japan-wants-in-on-aukus-20211119-p59aha
Japan wants in on AUKUS
Michael Smith North Asia
correspondent
Nov 19, 2021
– 5.18pm
Tokyo |
Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has called for greater defence
co-operation with Australia and says Tokyo should work with the AUKUS security
partnership in areas such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and quantum
technology.
Mr Abe, who
still wields significant influence in Japan’s ruling coalition, made the
comments as new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida unveiled a multi-trillion yen
stimulus package which included ¥770 billion ($9.25 billion) in defence
spending.
“I welcome
the creation of AUKUS. It is extremely important to promote multilayered
efforts for peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region,” Mr Abe said in an
online forum where he was interviewed by former Australian prime minister John
Howard.
“I think that
Japan should engage in the co-operation under the AUKUS in such areas as cyber
capabilities, artificial intelligence, and quantum technologies.”
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/murdoch-has-the-power-if-he-really-wants-trump-to-move-on-20211119-p59ab1.html
Murdoch has the power if he really wants Trump to move on
By Timothy L.
O'Brien
November 20,
2021 — 5.00am
Rupert
Murdoch told News Corp’s shareholders that former President Donald Trump needs
to get over himself.
“The current
American political debate is profound, whether about education or welfare or
economic opportunity,” he said at Wednesday’s annual meeting. “It is crucial
that conservatives play an active, forceful role in that debate, but that will
not happen if President Trump stays focused on the past. The past is the past,
and the country is now in a contest to define the future.”
Murdoch is
the founder and executive chairman of News Corp, and its primary US holdings
are Dow Jones & Company, which publishes the Wall Street Journal; the New
York Post; and book publisher HarperCollins. Murdoch also met with shareholders
of another one of his companies, Fox, last week. Fox, of course, owns lots of
things named Fox, including Fox News. Murdoch didn’t mention Trump at the Fox
gathering.
It might have
been healthy, and a public service, for Murdoch as Fox’s chairman to share his
thoughts about Trump with institutional investors such as Vanguard, Blackrock
and Dodge & Cox that fund Fox’s operations. Fox News has spent years
amplifying the dangerous and damaging garbage Trump continues to peddle, and
it’s the single most influential media platform supporting him. But such is
life.
-----
I look
forward to comments on all this!
-----
David.
