August 25,
2022 Edition
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The big story
this week has been the multiple PM story in Australia with ScoMo. What an
amazing saga!
In the UK there
seems to be an impending collapse of the economy coming unless some-one takes
some really smart steps real soon now.
Relatively
the US has seemed pretty calm this week – just waiting for an impending
recession – along with China and Europe.
Fair to say
things globally are pretty messy!
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Major Issues.
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https://www.afr.com/markets/equity-markets/every-investing-trend-misfires-as-stock-bears-are-crushed-20220814-p5b9o2
Every investing trend misfires as stock bears are crushed
Denitsa
Tsekova
Aug 14, 2022
– 9.07am
Stock bears
are suddenly getting
crushed. Once-dependable momentum trades are misfiring. Inflation-lashed
bonds are bouncing back.
After another
expectations-busting week on Wall Street, sharp market reversals are baffling
real-money veterans, retail speculators and quants alike.
Big data
surprises, including a blockbuster jobs report and a softer-than-expected July
consumer price reading, have caught a heavily hedged investor base off guard,
as the S&P 500 Index enjoys a nearly 17 per cent rally from the June
bear-market low.
Economic
angst and speculation that price pressures are peaking have helped global bonds
climb almost 4 per cent from their mid-June nadir, while once-hot stock shorts
are backfiring.
Put another
way, every investing trend that defined the wild first half is staging a messy
reversal in the latest
twist of this exhausting year.
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https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/the-reserve-bank-s-growing-china-anxiety-20220808-p5b846
The Reserve Bank’s growing China anxiety
Karen Maley Columnist
Aug 15, 2022
– 5.00am
As the
Reserve Bank hikes
interest rates to slow economic activity and take some heat out of
inflationary pressures, it’s acutely aware that the worsening slump in the
Chinese property market could upend its plans by delivering a severe growth
shock.
The Reserve
Bank is expecting Australia’s economic growth will drop from 3.25 per cent this
year, to 1.75 per cent in both 2023 and 2024, as rising interest rates and
higher consumer prices, and falling house prices weigh on consumer spending.
But, it
expects the Australian economy will be partly cushioned because “the elevated
terms of trade [the ratio between export prices and import prices] will boost
national income substantially”.
The problem
is that the Reserve Bank’s assumptions on export prices – particularly for iron
ore – could prove overly optimistic if China’s rapidly deflating property
bubble further darkens the outlook for growth in the world’s second-largest
economy.
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https://www.afr.com/wealth/personal-finance/is-it-time-to-increase-your-allocation-to-bonds-20220812-p5b9i3
Is it time to increase your allocation to bonds?
While they
haven’t been a buffer in the first half of 2022, the returns enjoyed by
bondholders in July have been significant.
Ben Smythe Contributor
Aug 15, 2022
– 5.00am
Self-managed
superannuation fund members have had to deal with periods of extreme
volatility since January and, with June 30 top-up contributions and dividends
in the bank account, are deciding what to do next with their excess cash.
They might be
considering topping up either their “growth” or “defensive” asset classes based
on investment time horizons. Alternatively, this classic equities versus bonds
decision might be driven by which asset class they believe will perform better
over the next 12 months.
So, what
should be considered when trying to forecast what will happen next?
Looking at
the defensive option, and bonds in particular, there have been sizeable
negative returns – of a magnitude last seen in 1994.
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https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/beware-these-pitfalls-in-review-of-defence/news-story/ad462abccc7b37293ebb636caeeefe39
Beware these pitfalls in review of defence
Paul Dibb
12:00AM
August 15, 2022
When
announcing his Defence Strategic Review on August 3, Richard Marles stressed
that the strategic changes we are facing are accelerating at a rate faster than
anticipated in the 2016 defence white paper. This implies we need to anticipate
further and accelerated strategic change.
The Defence
Minister says he wants the review to be as signific`ant as the report I wrote
in 1986, which he said “established the framework for every defence white paper
from then until the most recent in 2016”. But the 1986 review faced some
serious obstacles that must be avoided at all costs by the current review.
The most
important hurdle I had to confront was that, despite a clear directive from the
minister for defence to the secretary of Defence and the chief of the Defence
Force to advise on military capabilities for the defence of Australia, they had
been unable over the preceding 12 months to arrive at any agreement.
This should
not be a problem this time because the current secretary and CDF seem to get
along just fine. In 1986, the opposite was the case because they both got
bogged down with what I can only describe as competing theological
interpretations of defence concepts such as warning time, low-level conflict
and high-intensity conflict. These led to very differing implications for the
sort of force structure Australia should develop.
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https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/scott-morrison-appointed-by-gg-to-take-control-of-department-of-industry-science-energy-and-resources-11months-before-he-scuttled-offshore-gas-project/news-story/38338e07f09df91fa68409cde43e013c
Scott Morrison appointed by GG to take control of Department of Industry,
Science, Energy and Resources 11-months before he scuttled offshore gas project
Geoff Chambers
August 15,
2022
Scott
Morrison was appointed by Governor-General David Hurley to take control of the
entire Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources 11-months before
he scuttled an offshore gas project weeks out from the federal election.
Federal Court
documents obtained by The Australian reveals that the former prime minister was
appointed to administer the super department on April 15, handing him powers
over the Commonwealth-NSW Offshore Petroleum Joint Authority.
Prime
Minister Anthony Albanese is considering whether to probe the legality of
former prime minister Scott…
In the court
documents dated May 31, the Australian Government Solicitor said “on 15 April
2021, the then prime minister, the Hon. Scott Morrison MP, was directed and
appointed by the Governor-General pursuant to sections 64 and 65 of the
Constitution to administer the Department of Industry, Science Energy and
Resources”.
“(He) was
therefore, for the purposes of the Joint Authority’s decision of 26 March 2022,
the ‘responsible Commonwealth Minister’ for the Joint Authority,” the document
said.
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https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/politicsnow-canberra-airport-reopens-after-shooting-drama/live-coverage/cc22a1f8a44d21a6b11b92bf88d1beaf
PM considering probe over Morrison's Covid move
SAM KING
The Albanese
government is considering whether to probe the legality of Scott Morrison’s
moves to secretly swear himself as health and finance minister during the
Covid-19 pandemic.
Government
sources have confirmed it is investigating its options over the swearing-ins –
first revealed in The Weekend Australian – as Labor ministers said they
were “deeply concerned” by Mr Morrison’s multiple portfolios.
The Weekend
Australian report claimed that Mr Morrison made the unprecedented move
in March 2020 amid concerns that by invoking emergency measures under
biosecurity laws, he was effectively handing control of the country to Greg
Hunt.
The then
prime minister wanted to ensure that if his health minister was incapacitated
by the virus, he could still administer the never-before-used emergency health
powers, which could not be delegated, even to cabinet.
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https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/wealth-adviser-education-reforms-were-botched-coalition-mp-20220815-p5b9t1
Albanese seeks advice on Morrison’s ‘secret government’
Georgie Moore
15/08/2002
The Department
of Prime Minister and Cabinet will examine former prime minister Scott
Morrison’s “extraordinary and unprecedented” move to secretly swear himself
into three portfolios.
Anthony
Albanese says the former PM was running a “shadow government” that it “is the
sort of tin-pot activity that we would ridicule if it was in a non-democratic
country”.
“Australians
knew during the election campaign that I was running a shadow ministry. What
they didn’t know was that Scott Morrison was running a shadow government, a
shadow government that was operating in the shadows,” the PM told reporters.
“A whole lot
of questions arise from this. What did Peter Dutton and other continuing
members of the now shadow ministry know about these circumstances?
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https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/morrison-is-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving-to-labor-20220815-p5b9xz
Morrison is the gift that keeps on giving ... to Labor
Scott
Morrison’s self-confidence meant he didn’t even tell most of his own cabinet
colleagues of his intention to share the responsibilities of other ministers by
being appointed to their portfolios. It’s another example of unnecessary
political self-harm.
Jennifer Hewett
Columnist
Aug 15, 2022
– 3.35pm
COVID-19
emboldened federal and state governments to impose extraordinary restrictions
on Australians’ rights as citizens. At least some of those decisions,
particularly in hindsight, were overreactions that were driven more by political
panic and fear of the unknown than by policy logic or evidence.
But they were
still shared with the public, even when announced
by diktat. A largely compliant nation mostly obeyed the rules despite
rising complaints about unfair or excessive application and increasing evidence
that many restrictions were counter-productive or ineffective.
Which makes
revelations about Scott Morrison’s willingness to bend, if not break the rules
to secretly give himself additional ministerial roles seem even more extraordinary.
Little wonder Anthony Albanese couldn’t use the term often enough – along with
plenty of other scathing descriptions – about the revelations in a new book,
Plagued, released this week.
“This isn’t
some local footy club,” the prime minister declared.
“This is the
government of Australia where the people of Australia were kept in the dark as
to what the ministerial arrangements were. It’s completely unacceptable.
There’s an absolute need for clear transparency to come through.
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https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/ghost-portfolios-it-s-the-secrecy-that-makes-morrison-look-dodgy-20220811-p5b8y7
It’s the secrecy that makes Morrison look dodgy
Anthony
Albanese could use Scott Morrison’s ghost portfolios to kick-start his
long-promised royal commission into the handling of the pandemic.
Phillip Coorey Political
editor
Aug 15, 2022
– 3.46pm
When COVID-19
first ravaged Australia, we gave our governments, state and federal, enormous
licence as they moved simultaneously to shut down society while “keeping us
safe”.
In the
context of the economic and social decisions made every day, it would have been
of little consequence had Scott
Morrison divulged he used an administrative instrument, on the
attorney-general’s advice, to effectively appoint himself as back-up health and
finance minister.
After all,
Mathias Cormann was shelling out billions of dollars a day on a discretionary
basis to combat the crisis, while Greg Hunt, to his own alarm, inherited powers
that all but would have allowed him to introduce martial law, and which could
not be overridden by any parliament.
Given
Morrison had his head across every detail, and given there was no vaccine, and
that any minister, at any time could have fallen ill or worse, it would have
been viewed as yet another unprecedented, but prudent move, in extraordinary
times.
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https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/albanese-mulls-probe-into-morrison-s-ghost-ministries-20220816-p5ba47
9.14AM
16/08/2022
Morrison defends secret power moves
Georgie Moore
Former prime
minister Scott Morrison has sought to defend his secret move to assume an
unknown number of ministerial portfolios.
Pressed on
reports that he assumed a fourth portfolio, of secret services, last year,
Morrison told 2GB he didn’t recall it but also said he didn’t dispute it.
Morrison said
his moves to assume various portfolios from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic
were based on appropriate advice.
“Throughout
the process, we took advice on all of these things. And the governor general
set that out very clearly yesterday as well,” he said.
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https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/albanese-mulls-probe-into-morrison-s-ghost-ministries-20220816-p5ba47
9.40AM 16 Aug
2022
‘Extraordinary measures’ were needed during pandemic: Morrison
Georgie Moore
Scott
Morrison says he assumed the health and finance portfolios at the start of the
COVID-19 as a contingency plan and concedes he didn’t inform then-finance
minister Mathias Cormann at the time.
He compared
it to being on a nuclear submarine, where two people need keys to deploy a
weapon.
“We were
dealing with quite extraordinary circumstances ... We had to take some
extraordinary measures to put safeguards in place,” Morrison told 2GB.
“None of these
in the case of the finance and the health portfolio ... were required to be
used, and they were there as a safeguard. They were there was redundancy
because both of the power the powers in those portfolios, they weren’t overseen
by cabinet.”
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https://www.afr.com/wealth/personal-finance/how-to-get-your-head-around-fixed-income-20220812-p5b9ie
How to get your head around fixed income
Just as
with equities, the uncertain outlook for inflation is a game changer.
James Weir Contributor
Aug 16, 2022
– 5.00am
Fixed income
returns over the fiscal 2022 year were the worst on record. When sharemarkets
experience returns like that, investors are conditioned to look for bargains,
but bond
markets don’t necessarily work the same way.
Any
well-diversified portfolio will include defensive holdings
designed to reduce volatility and cushion the effects of falling sharemarkets.
Fixed income investments normally play that role which typically means
allocating to government or corporate bonds, which are two very distinct
markets that are driven by different factors.
Because bonds
issued by governments of developed nations are almost certain to be repaid, the
price they trade at is not normally influenced so much by their credit rating
as the outlook for inflation in their home country. If the market expects
inflation to rise, investors will demand a higher yield to compensate, which
requires a lower price and vice versa.
By contrast,
while inflation also plays a role in the pricing of corporate bonds, credit
risk is the biggest issue – that is, the risk of the company defaulting, and
you don’t get your money back. Consequently, corporate bond prices are more
sensitive to the outlook for recession, when company earnings come under
increased pressure. The more investors are worried about an economic slowdown,
the higher the premium, or credit spread, to investing in risk-free government
bonds they will demand.
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https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/scott-morrison-a-well-primed-minister-for-everything-20220815-p5b9zh.html
Scott Morrison, a well-primed minister for everything
Jacqueline Maley
Columnist and
senior journalist
August 16,
2022 — 5.00am
All prime
ministers have their idiosyncrasies. Tony Abbott ate the onion and Kevin Rudd
wrote a children’s book about his cat. Former British PM Gordon Brown
reportedly consumed nine bananas a day during his time in office.
But none have
had quite the constitutional implications of what has been revealed as Scott
Morrison’s peccadillo – secretly appointing himself to ministerial portfolios
with an alacrity that would make a dictator blush.
The first
ministerial portfolio Morrison took over was health. This was presented as a
patriotic act, part of the superlative pandemic management for which Morrison
has never received due credit.
“I trust you
mate,” the former PM reportedly told his health minister in early 2020 as the
pandemic started to get really real. “But I’m swearing myself in as health
minister, too.”
It seems
never to have occurred to Morrison that the trust needed to flow back in the
other direction. To be fair, he was busy.
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https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-s-mystery-ministries-reduced-the-westminster-system-to-a-sitcom-20220815-p5ba10.html
Morrison’s mystery ministries reduced the Westminster system to a sitcom
David Crowe
Chief
political correspondent
August 15,
2022 — 4.41pm
The mystery
of the Morrison ministries is the story of a federal cabinet that lost sight of
good government after its leader triumphed against the odds.
Scott
Morrison was always inclined toward the presidential style, as many leaders
are, but this became a defining feature of his government after he won the 2019
election by hiding his ministers.
Now we know
how far Morrison went to centralise power. Thinking he did not really need his
ministers, he had himself sworn into their jobs.
This looks
like a bedroom farce, with doors slamming and characters striding on stage in
confusion, but it should ring alarm bells in Australian politics because the
itch to centralise control is part of every government. Morrison simply took it
to an absurd conclusion.
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https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/had-we-known-we-would-have-rolled-him-liberal-colleagues-disbelief-over-scott-morrisons-multiple-ministries/news-story/d4a9fda2eca8916115d8b75e615f83c8
‘Had we known, we would have rolled him’: Liberal colleagues’ disbelief
over Scott Morrison’s multiple ministries
Peter van
Onselen
6:08AM August
16, 2022
Scott
Morrison’s brazen decision to secretly appoint himself to multiple ministries
with the help of an acquiescent Governor-General is, as new PM Anthony Albanese
said yesterday, the stuff of tin pot dictatorships.
Especially
given that is started during a pandemic when the former PM was casually
cancelling parliament at the same time. Junking our representative system of
government with all its institutional checks and balances. That his self-appointment
process continued well beyond 2020, across multiple portfolios with more
such secret co-ministerial take-ups soon to be revealed (yes, that’s right –
there are more), speaks to Morrison’s utter contempt for our political
institutions and political culture.
Transparency
and openness are words he apparently never learnt the meaning of.
I can tell
you my phone has been running hot with former and current front and backbench
colleagues of Morrison expressing everything from disgust to disbelief in his
actions.
Had they
known before the election what they know now, “we would have rolled him”, is
how one Liberal bluntly put it.
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https://www.afr.com/wealth/personal-finance/why-47pc-of-diy-super-funds-are-having-a-great-day-20220816-p5ba6u
Why 47pc of DIY super funds are having a great day
Lucy Dean Wealth reporter
Aug 16, 2022
– 2.58pm
Nearly half
of self-managed super funds have exposure to mining giant BHP, analysis of the
$892 billion sector has revealed, as the resources
giant marks its second-biggest profit ever and a bumper dividend.
BHP is held
by 46.8 per cent of SMSFs, according to software provider Class’ Annual
Benchmark Report, which analysed 183,000 funds, or around a third of the total
market.
The report
found that BHP, which on Tuesday announced a record $US16.3 billion dividend,
also makes up 4.8 per cent of total SMSF domestic share investments.
Shareholders
will receive a final dividend of $US1.75 a share, as the
company also reported an underlying profit of $US21.3 billion.
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https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/morrison-s-ministerial-mess-needed-cleaning-up-not-covering-up-20220816-p5bacl
Morrison’s ministerial mess needed cleaning up not covering up
Making
appointments public is not a legal requirement. But it seems timely to revisit
this and to formalise the requirement for transparency.
Anne Twomey Law professor
Aug 16, 2022
– 4.47pm
It is a
cliche that it is not the actions of the government, but the cover-up, that
gets it into trouble. Scott
Morrison has provided a novel variation on the theme by applying the
cover-up before even exercising the particular power.
It is not
unusual to have more than one minister sharing responsibility for a portfolio.
For example, in the current Home Affairs portfolio, under the Albanese
government, Clare O’Neil is the Minister for Home Affairs and the Minister for
Cyber Security, Senator Murray Watt is the Minister for Emergency Management
and Andrew Giles is the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural
Affairs.
The problem
with Scott Morrison’s appointment to administer Home Affairs in May last year
was that the ministers within the portfolio did not know, no arrangements had
been made about how power would be distributed within the portfolio, and the
public could not know who was responsible for exercising important powers
conferred by legislation.
Currently,
there is a convention that ministerial appointments are recorded and made
public in a number of ways – by press releases, on departmental websites and in
a formal record on the Federal Register of Legislation.
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https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/colleagues-call-for-morrison-to-go-as-more-secret-ministries-revealed-20220816-p5ba8q
Colleagues call for Morrison to go as more secret ministries revealed
Phillip Coorey Political
editor
Updated Aug
16, 2022 – 6.17pm, first published at 6.13pm
An apologetic
Scott Morrison has conceded his secret acquisition of five ministerial
portfolios was “unnecessary”, as he
faced calls from colleagues for his resignation, and the Albanese
government threatened an inquiry to hold to account all who knew of the
scandal.
Former
treasurer Josh Frydenberg was understood to be livid after only learning on
Tuesday that his portfolio was one of the five that Mr Morrison secretly
assumed.
Mr
Frydenberg, now in the private sector, told former colleagues he had been
unwaveringly loyal to Mr Morrison as the former government began to unravel in
the polls, even rejecting approaches by some to mount a leadership challenge in
the final months before the May 21 election.
Senior
Coalition frontbencher Karen Andrews demanded publicly that Morrison quit
politics after learning he took on her home affairs ministry as well.
Ms Andrews
made the call after Anthony Albanese accused his predecessor of undermining
Australia’s democracy by secretly giving himself a total of five portfolios.
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https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/scott-morrisons-secrecy-the-curse-in-this-fiasco/news-story/32cb8d70ad7f853bbdac564c3f944eaf
Scott Morrison’s secrecy the curse in this fiasco
Paul Kelly
12:00AM
August 17, 2022
It is the
secrecy, deception and absence of visibility around prime ministerial power
that has brought Scott Morrison undone.
Secrecy is
the curse in this fiasco. Morrison’s swearing himself in to five separate
portfolios in addition to being prime minister meant a deception of the public,
the parliament and most of the ministers involved.
Anthony
Albanese is engulfed in a synthesis of genuine outrage and unique political
opportunity. He accuses Morrison of “an extraordinary and unprecedented
trashing of our democracy” – and Morrison is wedged, under fierce assault by
the Labor government while facing a reaction of dismay, anger and bewilderment
from his own side.
The fortunes
of the Liberal Party and the Coalition have sunk even further. Albanese is
rolling out evidence to show unconventional and untrustworthy behaviour
orchestrated by the former prime minister in response to the pandemic. He wants
to damage the Liberals for years. The core problem is Morrison’s conception and
concentration of power during the pandemic.
-----
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/what-morrison-did-wrong-and-why-it-matters-20220816-p5baay
What Morrison did wrong and why it matters
Scott
Morrison says he needed to assume the powers of other ministers in case of an
emergency but others say he overstepped. So what exactly happened?
Aaron Patrick Senior
correspondent
Aug 17, 2022
– 9.59am
When Scott
Morrison was prime minister in 2020 and 2021, he secretly appointed
himself co-treasurer, co-finance minister, co-health minister, co-resources
minister and co-home affairs minister. In some cases, the ministers didn’t
know, including Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.
There are
three reasons these self-appointments are a big deal: other prime ministers
don’t seem to have done this; they suggest Morrison didn’t trust his ministers,
or feel the need to consult them; it gives the Labor Party material to
challenge the claim that Morrison led a well-run government.
What did
Morrison do?
The prime
minister got Governor-General David Hurley to swear him in as the minister in
each case. Normally, swearing-ins are ceremonial events filmed for TV. In these
cases, Hurley just completed the paperwork.
It may seem
counterintuitive, but ministers have legal powers the prime minister doesn’t.
The home affairs minister can deport foreigners. The health minister can
declare biosecurity emergencies, which gives him or her the power to impose
lockdowns. The treasurer can veto foreign investment.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/what-the-governor-general-should-have-asked-the-minister-for-everything-20220816-p5baa6.html
What the governor-general should have asked the minister for everything
Rosalind Dixon
Professor of
law
August 17,
2022 — 5.00am
Scott Morrison
has managed to create yet another political storm for himself and the Liberal
Party – and in the process drag the governor-general and his office into it.
Many voters
already knew they could not trust Morrison to do the job right and fired him at
the last election. But could they now be blamed for asking themselves whether
the governor-general has also failed to discharge his constitutional
obligations?
In the past
48 hours, we have learnt that in 2020 and 2021 Morrison appointed himself to
five ministries, in addition to the office of prime minister, and did so with
almost no pushback from the governor-general, David Hurley.
The
governor-general is required to act on advice of the government in making
ministerial appointments. But that does not mean that he has to do so
immediately – without first asking a few hard questions.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-serious-implications-of-morrison-s-shadow-grab-for-power-20220816-p5baax.html
The serious implications of Morrison’s shadow grab for power
By David Crowe
Updated
August 16, 2022 — 7.45pmfirst published at 7.42pm
The most
telling verdict on Scott Morrison’s deception within his own government is the
outrage from colleagues who want him gone.
The former
prime minister trashed the conventions of good government by naming himself to
powerful ministries without telling the parliament or the people, so voters are
right to feel aggrieved and deceived.
But the anger
from the Liberals and Nationals is something else. It has reached a point where
former home affairs minister Karen Andrews wants Morrison out of parliament
because of what he did. Others are shocked but are biding their time before
they go public. Some will back him. Nobody is shrugging this off as a minor
affair.
The defence
from Morrison and his supporters is that he had to move quickly during the
pandemic and took unconventional steps under extreme pressure. This is true.
The powers vested in the health minister, Greg Hunt, were staggering: he could
shut down cities or close borders by a simple order without judicial review or
a vote in parliament. Checks and balances were needed.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/i-acted-in-good-faith-says-scott-morrison/news-story/5eeb54276c3dd6faeb84f5b6502dfd2b
‘I acted in good faith’, says Scott Morrison
SCOTT MORRISON
12:52AM
August 17, 2022
The
devastating impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated recession required
an unprecedented policy response from our government.
These were
extraordinary times and they required extraordinary measures to respond. Our
government’s overriding objective was to save lives and livelihoods, which we
achieved. To achieve this, we needed to ensure continuity of government and
robust administrative arrangements to deal with the unexpected in what was a
period of constant uncertainty during the nation’s biggest crisis outside of
wartime.
The prospect
of civil disruption, extensive fatalities and economic collapse was real,
especially in the early stages, which was occurring in other parts of the
world.
The risk of
ministers becoming incapacitated, sick, hospitalised, incapable of doing their
work at a critical hour or even fatality was very real. The home affairs
minister was struck down with Covid early in the pandemic and the UK prime
minister was on a ventilator and facing the very real prospect of dying of
Covid.
-----
https://www.afr.com/wealth/personal-finance/what-happens-to-my-super-when-i-die-20220803-p5b701
What happens to my super when I die?
Single with
no dependants and cited nieces or nephews as beneficiaries if you die? You’ll
need to take more action to make sure they’re the ones who get it.
Lucy Dean Wealth reporter
Aug 12, 2022
– 5.00am
Only 16 per
cent of Australians aged 18 to 34 have carried out some form of end-of-life
planning, and it can cause painful and expensive problems for families, an
estate planner has warned.
Among those
with end-of-life planning, 37 per cent had completed their death benefit
nomination form for their superannuation, according to YouGov research
commissioned by end-of-life planning advocacy group Groundswell.
Anna Hacker,
Australian Unity Trustees Legal Services general manager of estate planning,
says she’s seen dozens of familial fall-outs due to poor awareness and a lack
of planning around what
happens to superannuation after death.
The question
of “where does my super go when I die?” is one that most people without a
partner or dependants will almost always get wrong, says Hacker.
-----
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2022/08/18/welfare-state-mulino-kohler/
6:00am, Aug
18, 2022 Updated: 5:33pm, Aug 17
Alan Kohler: A plan for the new welfare state
Alan Kohler
On Tuesday
night this week, in the Readings bookstore in St Kilda, Bill Kelty launched a
new book about welfare, called Safety Net: The Future of Welfare in Australia.
It was
written by Daniel Mulino, the Labor member for Fraser, a federal electorate in
Melbourne’s western suburbs, and now chair of the House of Representatives
economics committee.
Kelty said it
may be one of the most interesting things to come out of COVID-19 lockdown, and
will prove to be a source book for social democrats around the world.
And there is
no doubt this is an important book, written by one of the more interesting
politicians in Parliament: The 52-year-old Mulino was born in Italy and has
served at all three levels of government – as councillor and deputy mayor of
the City of Casey, an MP in the Victorian upper house and now the House of
Representatives in Canberra.
-----
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/morrison-stands-defiant-in-the-face-of-overwhelming-political-logic-20220817-p5baku
Morrison stands defiant in the face of overwhelming political logic
The former
prime minister says the strident criticism of his behaviour ignores the context
for his decisions.
Jennifer Hewett
Columnist
Updated Aug
17, 2022 – 6.40pm, first published at 5.50pm
Scott
Morrison has never been a politician prone
to conceding error. Even so, the combative press conference to justify his
actions in secretly extending his prime ministerial reach into his own
colleagues’ portfolios was a standout example of defiance in the face of
overwhelming odds – and political logic.
According to
the former prime minister, the strident criticism of his behaviour ignores the
context for his decisions. He biblically describes this as the need to “steer
the ship in the raging tempest” of COVID rather than today’s “relative calm
seas or safety of the shore”.
“There was a
clear expectation in the public’s mind, certainly in the media’s mind, and
absolutely certainly in the mind of the opposition … that I was pretty much
responsible for every single thing that was going on.”
This one-man
band mindset apparently made it seem rational to take on ministerial
responsibility for several additional portfolios in case he needed to exercise
that power. Yet it apparently never seemed rational to him to explain
this to his ministerial colleagues – let alone ask for their advice or
share his thinking with the Australian public.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/we-need-a-royal-commission-to-shed-light-on-shadow-government-20220817-p5bah4.html
We need a royal commission to shed light on ‘shadow government’
Chris Wallace
Political
historian
August 17,
2022 — 7.15pm
Liberal
backbencher Scott Morrison was true to type this week when the revelation of
his secret multi-ministerial existence while prime minister convulsed Canberra.
On social media,
radio and television there was wordy self-justification.
Morrison failed
to “recall” additional ministries he might have secretly appropriated.
Within hours, further revelations emerged of him being secretly sworn in as
treasurer and minister for home affairs too – hardly something you would
forget.
The
exculpatory wall of words and prevarication made Emmanuel Macrons
of us all, including Morrison’s former cabinet colleagues: “We don’t think, we
know” that Australia’s 30th prime minister hasn’t told the full story.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/scott-morrisons-actions-now-appear-even-harder-to-understand/news-story/c993c3bf93967d36e1a8c10c107f2440
Morrison’s actions now appear even harder to understand
While the
former prime minister did the right thing in addressing the public, his
explanation was confused and contradictory.
By JOE KELLY
From Politics
18 August,
2022
Scott
Morrison has failed to provide a convincing explanation for secretly appointing
himself to several other ministries during the global pandemic.
In an hour
long press conference on Wednesday, the former prime minister was unpersuasive
about why he gave himself the ability to take over the finance, treasury,
resources and home affairs portfolios between March 2020 and May 2021.
There was
only one portfolio for which there was a convincing reason for Morrison to
share responsibility: health.
To justify
the expansion of his authority into the remaining four portfolios, Morrison
made two central claims. And both appear disingenuous.
First,
Morrison said he was responding to public pressure and needed to do what was
“necessary”. Second, Morrison said he was ensuring there was effective
management of the pandemic.
-----
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/the-god-complex-when-scott-morrison-ended-cabinet-government-20220808-p5b80r
The god complex: When Scott Morrison ended cabinet government
The
revelations this week that the former prime minister secretly assumed
responsibility for the health, home affairs, resources, finance and treasury
portfolios are only part of the story.
Aaron Patrick Senior
correspondent
Aug 19, 2022
– 9.15am
This is a
story about power. Power won, used and lost. How power blinded men, silenced
sensible voices, and consumed itself. It is the untold
story of Scott John Morrison. Told he had been sent by God to save
Australians from a great sickness, Morrison turned himself into a kind of
one-man government. He wasn’t quite a president, but he wasn’t bound by the
conventional institutional constraints on a prime minister either.
The
revelations this week that Morrison secretly assumed responsibility for the
health, home affairs, resources, finance and treasury portfolios are part of a
bigger story. Morrison’s colleagues watched him concentrate power, perhaps more
so than any other prime minister in the post-war period. Many were uneasy. With
few exceptions, though, they acquiesced to the Morrison show.
Morrison was
elected Liberal Party leader in 2018 to “save the furniture” and wasn’t
expected to win the election, one of his cabinet ministers said. Twenty-two of
Morrison’s ministers, advisers, backbenchers and party workers described, for
this article, the evolution of Morrison from surprise Liberal leader to
unexpected election winner to national saviour.
The first day
of February 2020, a Saturday, was when it began. Health minister Greg Hunt and
his departmental secretary, Brendan Murphy, called Morrison and told him a
novel coronavirus – so new it didn’t have a name – had spread from China’s
Wuhan province to Beijing. They advised him to shut down the border with China.
-----
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/secret-ministerial-deeds-trash-morrison-s-legacy-20220817-p5baia
Secret ministerial deeds tarnish Scott Morrison’s legacy
The former
prime minister’s defence of backing up the health and finance ministers doesn’t
pass muster. And ghosting Treasury, Home Affairs and Resources was just plain
abuse.
Phillip Coorey Political
editor
Aug 18, 2022
– 8.00pm
On March 18,
2020, as the nation was spiralling downwards thanks to the COVID-19 outbreak,
Scott Morrison used his daily press conference to provide an update on the
latest restrictions, as well as appeal for calm.
The mob,
alarmed at events unfolding abroad and determined to control what they could
control, was stripping supermarket shelves of toilet paper and other essentials
faster than they could be restocked.
“Stop
hoarding. I can’t be more blunt about it. Stop it. It’s not sensible, it’s not
helpful, and I’ve got to say it’s been one of the most disappointing things
I’ve seen in Australian behaviour in response to this crisis,” Morrison urged.
“That is not
who we are as a people. It is not necessary.”
Understandably,
the press conference was remembered for that forthright (but largely ignored)
advice, as well as the latest social distancing restrictions that were
foreshadowed.
-----
https://www.afr.com/wealth/personal-finance/hordes-of-zombie-companies-are-about-to-die-20220817-p5bajz
Hordes of zombie companies are about to die
Prepare for
the first interest rate-led business default cycle since the 1991 recession.
Christopher Joye
Columnist
Aug 19, 2022
– 10.15am
This column
has been much more constructive on risk since late May when we determined that
interest rate markets were finally pricing in the monetary policy tightening
required to deal with the near-term inflation threat coupled with our central
case that consumer price pressures would start dissipating as supply chains
normalised.
I want to
make clear that we are not, as a consequence, bullish on the macro outlook. Our
core view remains that the US economy tumbles into some sort of recession and
that global activity data continues to sour.
It would
appear that while equities have appropriately responded to the regime change in
long-term interest rates (or discount rates), there are continuing vulnerabilities
regarding earnings expectations.
The long and
variable lags inherent in monetary policy tightening cycles mean that it is
inevitable that in the first phase of that process we see large cross-currents
in data releases that have something for everyone.
-----
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/morrison-friendless-as-howard-and-dutton-condemn-secret-ministries-20220818-p5barv
Morrison friendless as Howard and Dutton condemn his actions
Phillip Coorey Political
editor
Aug 18, 2022
– 5.45pm
Former prime
minister John Howard says there was no justification for Scott Morrison giving
himself five
secret ministries between 2020 and 2021, and has backed the
Governor-General’s criticism over the appointments not being made public.
On the same
day that Opposition leader Peter Dutton distanced himself from Mr Morrison’s
actions, and said he would have tried to stop him had he known, Mr Howard
suggested not even the coronavirus pandemic warranted what the
former prime minister did.
“I don’t
think he should have done that, I don’t think there was any need to do it, and
I wouldn’t have,” he told the National Press Club.
“I can’t
really have imagined the circumstances when I was prime minister that there was
any need to swear myself in as a duplicate minister.″
-----
https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/the-secret-ministries-and-scott-morrison-s-god-connection-20220819-p5bb43
The secret ministries and Scott Morrison’s God connection
Only the
former PM knows what motivated him to ghost so many of his colleagues’ roles.
But it is hard to ignore the place of religion in his character.
Andrew Clark Senior writer
Aug 19, 2022
– 12.48pm
In the cowboy
comedy movie Cat Ballou, hard-drinking hired gun Kid Shelleen, played by Lee
Marvin, presents for shooting practice, but his shaky hands can’t hold a gun.
He has a few swigs of whisky, expertly picks off some targets, and descends
into an alcoholic haze.
“I never saw
a man go through a day so fast,” observes one onlooker. Change a few details,
and you have the week’s narrative for Scott Morrison.
From a former
prime minister under fire after revelations of his secret self-appointment to
five portfolios, including home affairs, Morrison tried to stem the
blood-letting during a combative mid-week news conference. But by the next day,
he was under siege.
Opposition
Leader Peter Dutton publicly humiliated him by demanding he apologise
to former home affairs minister Karen Andrews, who had earlier called on
her former party leader to leave Parliament.
-----
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/bewilderment-betrayal-anger-the-week-morrison-s-legacy-was-trashed-20220818-p5bayq
Bewilderment, betrayal, anger: the week Morrison’s legacy was trashed
Former
prime minister Scott Morrison went behind the backs of his ministers and the
public, and appointed himself to five ministries. This week, his colleagues and
opponents found out.
Phillip Coorey Political
editor
Aug 19, 2022
– 4.28pm
There are at
least three reasons why Scott Morrison will not accept the free advice
currently on offer and quit politics.
First, the
Liberal Party can ill afford a byelection right now. Morrison’s NSW division is
gearing up for a state election in March, the coffers are bare after the
federal election, and there is a risk, albeit slight, the party could lose
Morrison’s Sutherland Shire seat of Cook if there were a byelection any time
soon.
Second,
Morrison, along with Malcolm Turnbull, is unique among former prime ministers
in that he is not entitled to a parliamentary pension once retired. Under the
changes forced in by John Howard and Mark Latham, anyone elected from 2004
onwards does not qualify for the old, generous pension.
While
Turnbull is independently wealthy, Morrison, elected in 2007 and aged in his
mid-50s, still has a mortgage, and kids at school. If he retires from politics,
he receives an office, car and phone like all former PMs, but no salary. Until
he can establish a post-political career, he won’t be leaving.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-secrets-that-made-morrison-a-pariah-in-parts-of-his-own-party-20220818-p5baxb.html
The secrets
that made Morrison a pariah in parts of his own party
Scott Morrison may be the loneliest politician in Australia as this week
ends.
By Tony Wright
August 20,
2022
Scott
Morrison made his name in Australian politics by invoking the right to secrecy
over public policy.
As
immigration minister in 2013, overseeing Australia’s system of turning back
asylum seeker boats at sea, he made sure it operated under a cloak of stealth
by the simple process of refusing to reveal “on-water” or “operational”
matters.
Now, his long
dedication to secrecy has reduced Morrison – prime minister only three months
ago – to a pariah within sections of his own party.
Revelations
that as prime minister he covertly had himself granted full
authority over five other ministerial portfolios by persuading
Governor-General David Hurley to sign legal papers conferring those powers –
some of which he claimed
on Tuesday he didn’t recall, before regaining clarity on Wednesday to mount a stout defence
of his actions – have all but dismantled his political legacy.
He may be the
loneliest politician in Australia as this week ends.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/excuses-arrogance-and-deception-morrison-was-always-the-problem/news-story/6d3208f96c28d78d5c202111c8451978
Excuses, arrogance and deception: Morrison was always the problem
Peter van
Onselen
12:00AM
August 20, 2022
If news of Scott
Morrison’s collector tendencies had been ventilated prior to the last election
his colleagues may have removed him as prime minister. That is how angry many
are now when you talk to them.
A small band
of Morrison defenders – led by the member for Cook – has sought to downplay the
significance of what happened when the former PM began accumulating ministerial
portfolios without the knowledge or consent of his colleagues. But for most
conservatives, what he did was an abject violation of the founding principles
of their ideology.
Conservatives
are supposed to protect institutions, party systems; indeed, the due process
that provides transparency. Morrison’s actions would have been concerning
enough if we knew about them. If the public or his colleagues did know, they
would have stopped his actions, which is the whole point. The fact that he went
about collecting portfolios in secret has shredded what reputation he had left
after the damage done presiding over the May 21 electoral catastrophe.
The inquiries
will happen, the rules will be changed. The biggest legacy of the Morrison
administration might now be the consequence of his maladministration. A change,
hopefully, in the culture of secrecy he encouraged.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/scott-morrisons-secret-ego-trip-has-damaged-the-liberal-brand/news-story/8aa959f424bebd17d33659d719b4a276
Scott Morrison’s secret ego trip has damaged the Liberal brand
PAUL KELLY
12:00AM
August 20, 2022
Scott
Morrison’s mistake as prime minister was his failure to recognise that means
can be more important than ends – Morrison had stellar results protecting
Australia’s health and economy from the pandemic but his actions undermined
democratic principle, public trust and cabinet government.
The ironic
aspect of Morrison’s secret
accumulation of portfolios is that had this week’s revelations come late
last year it is difficult to see how he could have survived as prime minister
given the anger of his colleagues and greater stakes for a Coalition that would
still have been in government.
The damage to
the Liberal Party is palpable.
The Liberals
are supposed to be the party of principled government and respect for
institutions. But Morrison embarked on an untenable and deceptive accumulation
of power. Can you imagine Robert Menzies secretly commissioning himself into
five extra portfolios without telling most of the ministers?
The real
damage to Morrison comes from his own side – his current and former colleagues
who are dismayed, angry and bewildered. The three previous Liberal prime
ministers – John Howard, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull – have criticised
Morrison in different ways along with current Liberal leader Peter Dutton, who
has had no option but to brand Morrison’s actions as the “wrong call”.
-----
https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/lowe-and-behold-the-path-to-a-soft-landing-20220817-p5balp
Can the RBA kill inflation without killing the economy?
Central
bankers everywhere are playing catch-up to tighten ultra-loose pandemic
monetary policy after being caught off guard by a stimulus-fuelled inflationary
pulse.
Ronald Mizen Economics
correspondent
Aug 19, 2022
– 2.01pm
Like
passengers aboard a long-haul flight skirting a hurricane, everyone strapped
into the Australian economy is feeling tense and hoping for a soft landing amid
a global inflationary storm.
Whether
that’s likely depends on which direction you look. Key Australian economic
releases this week signal two very different outlooks depending on who you ask
and how they choose to interpret the data.
Around the
world, central bankers are playing catch-up to tighten ultra-loose pandemic
monetary policy after being caught off guard by a stimulus-fuelled inflationary
pulse that in many places has hit multi-decade highs.
That has
households sweating over how high their mortgage repayments will go and
businesses wondering how that will influence consumer confidence and household
spending on goods and services.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/weekend-australian-magazine/were-tired-as-a-country-of-being-morally-affronted/news-story/e9aee581bb0c2d606bc143d0c315fab4
We’re tired, as a country, of being morally affronted
Nikki Gemmell
The Weekend
Australian Magazine
12:00AM
August 20, 2022
Most humans
have an impulse to be good, to do good, and when there’s a tear in the moral
fabric of our existence it’s keenly felt. We heard recently of the castration
of a Ukrainian soldier by Russian invaders, in the wider picture of a war of
extreme barbarity; an invasion of a sovereign nation that demonstrates a
shocking impoverishment of the human spirit. The childlike equation – I want,
therefore I shall have – without any respect for the laws of ownership, of
dignity or civility, is an affront to humankind; to all of us, as a collective.
The thrust of the demand – Putin wants, therefore he shall have – has left the
world reeling from a sense of moral injury that’s been inflicted upon us all.
That term
“moral injury” was coined by US psychiatrist Jonathan Shay, who spent years
examining traumatic wartime experiences of Vietnam veterans through the prism
of Homer’s epic narratives the Iliad and the Odyssey. Shay wrote that a sense
of moral injury could be triggered when there had been “a betrayal of what is
morally correct by someone who holds legitimate authority in a high-stakes
situation”. A perception of state-sanctioned injustice goes against the moral
order of society, what we perceive of as “right” and can result in feelings of
bewilderment, anxiety, vulnerability and rage.
Outside the
realm of war, a sense of moral outrage over the actions of those in authority
has fuelled anger, again and again, in the recent past. We have seen repeated
examples of moral injustice inflicted by those in power upon the powerless, and
the result of this slippage has been frustration and fury from a flinching
populace. The moral indignity of Donald Trump doing nothing while his
supporters trashed the Capitol. The moral outrage of Boris Johnson blithely
partying with colleagues while his country was placed under strict Covid
lockdowns. Of Pauline Hanson’s performative stunt where she played up to her
base by storming out of parliament during an Acknowledgement of Country; words
that are a small gesture of politeness and balm to a nation’s conflicted soul.
The moral outrage induced by oppositional forces wilfully obstructing or
muddying the waters over an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, which, as our Prime
Minister recently declared, is “a hand outstretched, a moving show of faith in
Australian decency and Australian fairness”.
-----
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/governor-general-s-diary-blank-on-morrison-s-secret-ministries-20220821-p5bbgy?post=p542a2
Albanese flags Morrison inquiry
Campbell Kwan
21-8.2022
Prime
Minister Anthony Albanese also says an inquiry may be held to investigate
whether former prime minister Scott Morrison’s decision to secretly appoint
himself into five ministry portfolios overturned any constitutional
conventions.
The PM told
Sky News that while there are currently no suggestions that Morrison’s actions
were illegal, he blasted his predecessor for his “trashing the Westminster
system”.
He also
signalled reforms may be in the works to prevent a prime minister from creating
a ghost ministry again.
“There are
separate questions about the functioning about democracy about conventions and
whether any conventions have been overturned and whether there’s a need for any
reforms required to ensure that something like this can never happen again. So
there could be a further inquiry or further reforms out of this to ensure it
does not happen again.”
-----
COVID-19 Information.
-----
No entries in
this category.
-----
Climate Change.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/money/saving/how-much-will-it-cost-me-to-ditch-gas-entirely-20220815-p5ba02.html
How much will it cost me to ditch gas entirely?
By Joel
Gibson
August 16,
2022 — 2.00pm
Last week a
team of workers dug up the street outside my home for a day to connect a house
across the road to mains gas. It was an expensive exercise to install an energy
source that’s becoming very costly indeed.
Wholesale gas
prices have tripled
in the past year. So far, households have only seen increases of about 10 per
cent in their retail rates, but worse is yet to come as the soaring prices flow
through to homes.
Gas used to
be the cheaper alternative to electricity for heating, cooking and hot water.
But those days may be behind us. With gas prices through the roof and fossil
fuels on the nose, some of us have started ripping out gas appliances for a
mixture of money saving and planet-saving reasons.
So, what does
it cost to ditch gas, and how much money could save?
The
transition cost is a major hurdle. If you replaced three gas appliances –
heating, hot water and cooking – all at once, it adds up to about $4000-$5000
for average-priced appliances and at least a few thousand dollars for
installation.
-----
Royal Commissions And The Like.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/greensill-s-ghost-will-haunt-the-finance-world-20220816-p5baen.html
Greensill’s ghost will haunt the finance world
By Lionel
Laurent
August 17,
2022 — 5.42am
SoftBank
chief Masayoshi Son and Credit Suisse chairman Axel Lehmann doubtless wish
their respective firms had never met disgraced Australian financier Lex
Greensill.
But hopefully
they — and the finance industry at large — can learn lessons from the scandal
that ensued.
Greensill’s
charm, self-belief and supposed skill at turning the staid business of
supply-chain finance into a booming source of cash had Softbank and Credit
Suisse seeing dollar signs, as Duncan Mavin’s new book about the saga — The
Pyramid of Lies — reveals.
For Son,
whose Vision Fund dragged SoftBank to a recent record loss, taking an ownership
stake in Greensill was meant to be a fintech home run. Here was a firm claiming
to mix old finance with new data tricks, growing at breakneck speed and with
apparently enough cash to prop up dreams such as investing in a new $US34
billion ($48.5 billion) city in Borneo.
-----
National Budget Issues.
-----
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2022/08/15/alan-kohler-hubris-money/
6:00am, Aug
15, 2022 Updated: 6:45pm, Aug 14
Alan Kohler: The hubris of central bankers and the limits of money
Alan Kohler
In 2002, at
the end of a two-year stint at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in
Switzerland, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe made a point for which
he is still remembered in the economic salons of the world, and which he is now
trying to put into practice.
He and a BIS
colleague Claudio Borio wrote in a prescient paper: “…lowering rates or
providing ample liquidity when problems materialise but not raising rates as
imbalances build up, can be rather insidious in the longer run. They promote a
form of moral hazard that can sow the seeds of instability and of costly
fluctuations in the real economy.”
It’s an
obvious point, made when the US Federal Reserve was slashing interest rates in
the wake of the dot-com bust, but since forgotten by most central bankers,
including Dr Lowe, after they were mugged by events.
BIS might be
described as the central bankers’ gamekeeper. Borio stayed on there and now heads
the BIS’s monetary and economic department. Philip Lowe on the other hand,
having briefly served as gamekeeper, returned to being a poacher.
In fact Borio
has remained a critic of central banking practices since the GFC, while his
partner in scepticism back in 2002 went on to practise what he and Borio back
then preached against.
-----
https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/the-case-for-the-rba-to-slow-down-rate-hikes-20220815-p5b9wb
The case for the RBA to ‘slow down’ rate hikes
John Kehoe Economics editor
Aug 16, 2022
– 2.33pm
Many home
borrowers have only felt the impact of one or two of the Reserve Bank of
Australia’s four interest rate rises this year, due to lags of up to more than
two months for rate
hikes to be fully passed through by some of the nation’s largest lenders.
Commonwealth
Bank of Australia economist Gareth Aird said the delay in official interest
rate rises flowing through to monthly repayments may explain the dichotomy of
consumer sentiment being weak but spending remaining robust.
“There’s
quite a lag of when the RBA moves and when your repayment resets,” Mr Aird
said.
“The full
impact of the four rate hikes that have been delivered to people on the minimum
repayments doesn’t really fully wash through to around December.”
“So there is
three 50s [basis points] in the pipeline still to hit even if the RBA was to do
nothing from here.”
-----
Health Issues.
-----
https://www.afr.com/companies/healthcare-and-fitness/medical-mdma-focus-for-forrest-s-new-250m-health-tech-fund-20220815-p5b9ty
Medical MDMA focus for Forrest’s new $250m health tech fund
Brad Thompson Reporter
Aug 15, 2022
– 8.51am
Andrew
Forrest will use a new $250 million venture capital business to continue
backing the work of a Perth-based company looking at using variations of MDMA -
known on the street as Molly or ecstasy - to treat psychological disorders.
ASX-listed
Emyria is one of three health and biotech companies to have received millions
of dollars from the Forrest family’s private investment arm Tattarang, with
other investments in the pipeline through the new vehicle known as Tenmile.
The Forrests
invested $5 million in medicinal cannabis and psychedelic drug developer Emyria
in November, and through Tenmile executive Chairman Steve Burnell have given
the strongest indication they intend to back any future capital raisings.
Emyria is
advancing several MDMA-based programs, including an MDMA-assisted therapy trial
for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as evaluating a library of
novel MDMA analogues in partnership with the University of Western Australia.
-----
https://www.miragenews.com/racgp-medical-group-data-reveals-true-state-of-836569/
RACGP: Medical group data reveals true state of general practice care
Royal
Australian College of GPs
The Royal
Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has warned that general
practice care urgently requires greater investment so that no patients are left
behind.
It comes following
reports of new data from hundreds of Australia’s largest
medical centres, casting further doubt on the optimistic bulk-billing figures
frequently trumpeted by the previous federal Government. When the Primary Care
Business Council, a group representing the seven biggest operators of 500 GP
clinics, compiled statistics analysing all cases of a GP consult lasting 20
minutes or less (the most common type of GP visit) and calculated the
percentage of those consults that were bulk-billed they found the rate has
fallen to an average of 61% across the 12 clinics. This is a 12% decline from
just two years ago and one of the operators has a rate of just 36%.
RACGP
President Adj. Professor Karen Price said this was further evidence that
general practice care needed greater support.
“Unless greater
investment is made in general practice care, more and more practices will have
little choice but to pass the cost on to patients,” she said.
“This can
result in patients delaying or avoiding consultations with their GP and having
a health condition worsen to the extent that they end up in a hospital bed.
When this is replicated in communities across Australia, particularly in rural
and remote areas, the health of the nation suffers.”
-----
https://www.fnarena.com/index.php/2022/08/15/market-share-gains-key-to-resmeds-outlook/
Market Share Gains Key to ResMed’s Outlook
Australia
| 1:10 PM
Following
FY22 results, brokers set higher price targets for ResMed on average and expect
market share gains.
-Strong
demand and competitor woes assist ResMed’s FY22 result
-Fourth quarter device revenue rises by 14% relative to the third quarter
-Brokers set higher 12-month price targets on average
-Ord Minnett downgrades on valuation and a delayed buyback
By Mark
Woodruff
ResMed ((RMD)) can secure a ‘Cochlear-esque’ ((COH)) 70% market share of the global sleep
market, given more strength in the US market, says Wilsons.
As a result
of this view, following fourth quarter/FY22 results, Wilsons upgrades its
rating for ResMed to Overweight from Market Weight and increases its target
price to $38.75 from $30.71.
The fourth
quarter was ahead of expectations, according to Morgans, with strong demand,
competitor Philips’ device recall gains and price rises helping expand gross
margins, though operating margins were flat on higher operating expenses.
Excluding
covid-related ventilator sales in the previous corresponding
period, fourth quarter device revenue rose by 6% year-on-year and
increased by 14% relative to the third quarter.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/the-times/kidney-transplant-hopes-rise-in-bloodtype-breakthrough/news-story/2d22cfbe00333070ab93193e56147564
Kidney transplant hopes rise in blood-type breakthrough
By Rhys
Blakely
The Times
8:50PM August
15, 2022
Researchers
have modified the blood type of three donor kidneys in a breakthrough that
could have a large impact on patients waiting for transplants.
The technique
could be especially useful for altering organs to make them suitable for black
and ethnic minority patients, who are less likely to find a match. A kidney or
other organ from someone with blood group A cannot be given to someone with
blood group B, or the other way around.
The new
process allowed the blood group of three kidneys to be changed to the universal
“O”. This means that they could, in theory, be given to people with any blood
type. If further testing is successful, this should allow more transplants to
be carried out.
Serena
MacMillan, a PhD student at Britain’s University of Cambridge, said: “It’s very
exciting to think about how this could potentially impact so many lives.”
-----
GPs demand action to fix ‘disintegrating’ Medicare
Natasha
Robinson
4:16AM August
17, 2022
Doctors have
issued the federal government with an urgent demand for more Medicare funding,
warning general practice clinics are “running for the defibrillator” and need
an immediate rescue plan as patients struggle to access bulk billing and more
surgeries close their doors.
Health
Minister Mark Butler is refusing to commit to raising the diminished Medicare
rebate despite patient gap fees being at an all-time record, and doctors’
groups are now saying they cannot wait any longer for action as a federal task
force ponders how to spend $750m that Labor has committed to fixing primary
care.
Hundreds of
doctors’ surgeries every week are writing to their patients to advise they
will no longer be able to bulk bill all patients, with some now even charging
pensioners a gap fee amid warnings of the collapse of universal bulk billing.
“I think at
the end of the day we’ve really hit crunch time,” said Australian Medical
Association president Steve Robson. “There’s no Plan B. We need a plan now. The
time has come for a proposal, not being commitment phobic.”
------
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/shocking-images-a-familiar-story-in-a-hospital-system-in-crisis-20220818-p5baym.html
Shocking images a familiar story in a hospital system in crisis
By Aisha Dow
August 18,
2022 — 5.01pm
Many have
been shocked by images that have emerged from a major Victorian hospital. Two
vulnerable people – a young cancer patient and a nursing home resident –
reportedly waited for hours in a corridor and a large tent set up outside the
emergency department.
However these
stories will come as no surprise to frontline health workers, who have been
warning for months that conditions in Victoria’s hospitals, already at crisis
point, have been worsening.
They say that
things that never happened before or happened quite rarely – such as a patient
waiting in an emergency department for more than a day – are becoming almost
commonplace. They’ve told us that people who have had strokes or a heart
attack, who once would have been seen urgently,
are now among those routinely having to wait for care.
On Wednesday,
journalist Louise Milligan tweeted
an account of a teenager who she said had just finished chemotherapy, who
had waited 27 hours in a corridor of the Box Hill Hospital, alongside
heartbreaking photos of his makeshift bed.
-----
International Issues.
-----
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/soft-power-is-next-battleground-in-tussle-with-china-20220812-p5b99s
Soft power is next battleground in tussle with China
Australia
is trying to counter the lure of China’s cash in the Pacific by diverting its
unused IMF drawing rights and tapping private wealth.
Andrew Tillett
Political correspondent
Aug 12, 2022
– 3.46pm
China’s war
games over Taiwan, including live fire drills, have been dismissed as an
overreaction to the visit of a geriatric politician playing for domestic
political gain in a last gasp before she loses power.
That would be
a mistake.
Just as its
island building and militarisation of the South China Sea created new facts on
the water, Beijing has pushed the boundaries on what it can get away with.
Since China
launched its military exercises on August 5, at least 136 of its aircraft (as
of Thursday) had crossed, with impunity, the median line of the
160-kilometre-wide Taiwan Strait – including 49 on the first day alone.
For
comparison, just 49 planes crossed the line in the whole of 2020.
-----
https://www.afr.com/world/asia/in-a-takeover-fight-both-taiwan-and-china-come-out-losers-20220814-p5b9rb
In a takeover fight, both Taiwan and China come out losers
High-income
and high-tech Taiwan would gain nothing from being merged into China. And
Beijing would not hold on to Taiwan’s dynamism if it did seize the island.
Adrian
Blundell-Wignall Economist
Aug 15, 2022
– 2.00pm
The
legitimacy of a government requires the consent of a country’s citizens and
beneficial consequences for them, as judged by reasonable persons, and tested
within a democratic framework.
Chairman Mao
Zedong’s dictum that “political power comes from the barrel of a gun” fails all
of that. Most recently, we have seen that gun-barrel power in Hong Kong, where even
the promise of a 50-year continuation of its freedoms, could not be
tolerated.
After that
move went out the door, so too did the credibility of a two-systems model for a
peaceful reunification of China and Taiwan.
Beijing’s
more urgent claims to Taiwan have some puzzling aspects. North and South Korea
merit being thought of as a single country. But here, China supports
separation. China has a long history with under-developed
Mongolia, once ruled by the Ming, but they don’t threaten to take it by force
today. Mongolia is neutral regarding China and Russia. It is landlocked,
dependent on Chinese ports and is vertically integrated in trade (copper and
coal exports to China). China has power without the need of a gun.
-----
https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/why-the-fed-might-be-at-neutral-already-on-monetary-policy-20220816-p5ba4f
Why the Fed might be at ‘neutral’ already on monetary policy
The peak in
the federal funds rate during the current cycle will be lower than otherwise
because the combination of quantitative easing and the strong dollar are
equivalent to at least a 1 percentage point increase.
Edward Yardeni
Aug 16, 2022
– 8.13am
Most Fed
watchers seem to spend more time criticising the US Federal Reserve than
watching it. It’s easy to do. Anyone can play the game and attacking the Fed is
like shooting at sitting ducks: officials at the central bank can’t respond
directly given their public role.
Recently, Fed
chair Jay Powell has been skewered by his critics for claiming that the federal
funds rate was
now at “neutral” at his July 27 press conference just after the
policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee had voted unanimously to raise its
benchmark federal funds rate range by 0.75 percentage points to 2.25 to 2.50 per
cent.
His
suggestion that the Fed is on the borderline of restrictive territory and
therefore closer to being done tightening was well received by both bond and
stock investors, but not by the Fed’s critics.
Former
Federal Reserve Bank of New York president William Dudley said last Wednesday
that, given the level of uncertainty, “I’d be a bit more sceptical” in saying
policymakers had reached neutral.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/chinas-orwellian-plans-for-taiwan-are-plain-to-see/news-story/3cdb1580eefc0d7f52f3d6ea0a8059bf
China’s Orwellian plans for Taiwan are plain to see
Peter Jennings
12:00AM
August 16, 2022
Beijing’s
huge naval, air and live-firepower exercises around Taiwan offer insights into
how the People’s Republic of China plans to take over the island, but the aim
is more to intimidate than reveal a military blueprint for an invasion.
Late last
week, at the height of the military exercise, the Chinese Communist Party’s
Taiwan Affairs Office released a new white paper, titled The Taiwan Question
and China’s Reunification in the New Era. The document is Xi Jinping’s velvet
glove masking the iron fist of China’s military. It claims: “Never before have
we been so close to, confident in, and capable of achieving the goal of
national rejuvenation.”
The paper says
taking control of Taiwan can be done peacefully: “We maintain that after
peaceful reunification, Taiwan may continue its current social system and enjoy
a high degree of autonomy in accordance with the law. The two social systems
will develop side-by-side for a long time to come.”
This stands
in stark contrast to the views China’s ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, put
to the National Press Club last week. Under intense questioning Xiao
acknowledged that the views of 23 million Taiwanese people counted for nothing
compared with the CCP’s hyper-nationalist brainwashing of 1.4 billion PRC
citizens. After a takeover, he warned, “There might be a process for the people
in Taiwan to have a correct understanding of China about the motherland.”
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/the-times/how-to-survive-nuclear-war-stay-in-australia/news-story/5c0edb54cf18c4a2a44806a5d2e134b3
How to survive nuclear war? Stay in Australia
By Tom
Whipple
The Times
August 16,
2022
Who would win
in a nuclear war between the US and Russia? Nobody, of course. But according to
a new study, the countries with the best hope of at least seeing their
civilisation survive the decade afterwards would be Argentina and Australia.
In Britain 90
per cent of people would starve to death, the study suggests.
Scientists
have performed one of the most detailed analyses of the effects of a nuclear
winter, looking to understand what will happen when the massive firestorms
caused by a large-scale nuclear exchange throw up enough soot to block out the
sun. Their conclusion is that even if you avoided being among the initial
deaths, the indirect effect of the conflict means five billion people could
starve to death globally in the years immediately after the attack.
“Everybody
understands that the direct effects of nuclear war would be horrific, as we saw
in Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” Professor Alan Robock, from Rutgers University in
New Jersey, said. “Our work shows that more than ten times as many people could
die in the rest of the world because of the impacts on climate and
agriculture.”
-----
https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/is-china-finally-hitting-the-economic-wall-20220811-p5b8yv
Is China finally hitting the economic wall?
Globalisation
is heading into a perfect storm – and for China in particular it could not be
coming at a worse time.
Arvind Subramanian
and Josh Felman Development economist
Aug 16, 2022
– 11.08am
Over the past
decade and a half, financial, health, and geopolitical shocks pummelled world
trade. The 2008 global financial crisis devastated the banks that financed much
of the world’s commerce, and then triggered a secular decline in economic
growth.
In 2020, the
COVID-19 pandemic closed factories and upended global supply chains. And now
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has disrupted food and energy supplies,
threatening to divide the world along geopolitical lines.
Some argue
that these three shocks might even lead to the death of globalisation. But the
reality is likely to be more complex: The disruptions will probably transform
the global trading system rather than shrink it, with the impact varying across
countries. Significantly, China will probably lose, while India might even gain.
Starting in
the early 1990s, developing countries advanced as a group for almost two
decades, rapidly catching up to rich countries’ standards of living. This
convergence was facilitated by hyper-globalisation, whereby trade
liberalisation and large declines in transport and communication costs swiftly
increased opportunities for the developing world. China and India benefited
enormously, leading to the largest reductions in poverty the world has ever
seen.
-----
https://www.afr.com/world/asia/full-scale-nuclear-war-could-kill-5-billion-people-study-shows-20220817-p5baga
Full-scale nuclear war could kill 5 billion people, study shows
Alex Millson
Aug 17, 2022
– 7.20am
Hong Kong |
Five billion people would die in a modern nuclear war as the
impact of a global famine – triggered by sunlight-blocking soot in the atmosphere
– would probably far exceed the casualties caused by lethal blasts.
Scientists at
Rutgers University mapped out the effects of six possible nuclear conflict
scenarios. A full-scale war between the US and
Russia, the worst possible case, would wipe out more than half of humanity,
they said in the study published in the journal Nature Food.
The estimates
were based on calculations of how much soot would enter the atmosphere from
firestorms ignited by the detonation of nuclear weapons. Researchers used a
climate forecasting tool supported by the National Centre for Atmospheric
Research, which allowed them to estimate productivity of major crops on a
country-by-country basis.
Even a
relatively small-scale conflict would have devastating consequences for global
food production. A localised battle between India and Pakistan would cause crop
yields to decline by an estimated 7 per cent within five years, the study
suggested. A US-Russia war would make production fall by 90 per cent within
three to four years.
-----
https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/biden-signs-expansive-health-climate-and-tax-law-20220817-p5bagb
Biden signs expansive health, climate and tax law
Jim
Tankersley
Aug 17, 2022
– 7.22am
Washington |
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) signed a long-awaited
bill meant to reduce health costs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and
raise taxes on corporations and wealthy investors, capping more than a year of
on-again, off-again negotiations and cementing his early economic legacy.
“This bill is
the biggest step forward on climate ever,” Mr Biden said, after drawing a
standing ovation from a White House crowd filled largely with aides and allies.
The bill,
which Democrats named the Inflation
Reduction Act, invests $US370 billion ($527 billion) in spending and tax
credits in low-emission forms of energy to fight climate change. It extends
federal health insurance subsidies, allows the government to negotiate
prescription drug prices for seniors on Medicare, and is expected to reduce the
federal budget deficit by about $US300 billion over 10 years.
The legislation
would increase taxes by about $US300 billion, largely by imposing new levies on
big corporations. The law includes a new tax on certain corporate stock
repurchases and a minimum tax on large firms that use deductions and other
methods to reduce their tax bills.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/bizarre-behaviour-thats-fast-becoming-the-political-norm/news-story/d09b0fe292d25ea77fe5af66d831be19
Bizarre behaviour that’s fast becoming the political norm
Greg Sheridan
August 17,
2022
Scott
Morrison’s extraordinary decision to be prime minister for so many portfolios
indicates unmistakably one of his government’s worst features, which is shared,
sadly, by many others in the West.
That is the
inclination to centralise all power, decision-making, even daily tactical
responses, in the chief executive’s hands.
Morrison’s
actions were bizarre. Democratic governments have negotiated world wars without
such behaviour. Covid caused very few Western governments to bend their
institutional arrangements so peculiarly out of shape. If Morrison was ever
worried that ministers were exercising statutory power inappropriately, he
could have sacked them. Even more indefensible is not telling anyone about
these arrangements.
However, the
general trend to over-centralising power is widespread and accelerating in
Western politics. Sajid Javid in February 2020 resigned as UK chancellor
because Boris Johnson decided to appoint all of Javid’s advisers, a
preposterous imposition on a senior minister.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/the-times/disappearing-rhine-adds-to-the-drip-of-problems-in-europe/news-story/bb4725c381c66a5fee700efadcd3a70f
Disappearing Rhine adds to the drip of problems in Europe
By Oliver
Moody and Charlie Devereux
The Times
5:11PM August
16, 2022
Two summers
after the end of the Second World War, Germany wilted in a drought so severe
that the Rhine could be crossed on foot and leaves withered on the trees in
August. One resident of the city of Worms took a chisel and carved the words
“Year of Hunger 1947” into a stone exposed by the river’s receding waters.
Three quarters of a century later and with the Rhine a brackish shadow of its
usual self, the “hunger stone” has resurfaced.
This summer’s
drought has rendered the river impassable to heavier cargo ships and economists
worry that blocking such an important artery of trade, one that carries cars,
chemicals and clothing in one direction and gas and coal in the other, could
deal a measurable blow to German GDP at a time when growth is scarce enough to
begin with.
The Rhine
river in Germany has fallen below a key waterline level used as a reference for
judging its accessibility for… shipping. The water dropped below the
40-centimetre (15.7-inch) reference level in Kaub, a noted bottleneck for
shipping where the Rhine runs narrow and shallow. That level is More
Nor is the
Rhine the only European river to be drying up in what some researchers believe
could be Europe’s worst drought in 500 years. According to the European Drought
Observa- tory, part of the European Union’s Copernicus Earth monitoring
programme, a “staggering” proportion of the Continent, including France, Spain,
Croatia, Romania and southern Greece, is going through a “severe precipitation
deficit”.
-----
https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/uk-inflation-hits-double-digits-for-first-time-in-40-years-20220817-p5baod
UK inflation hits double digits for first time in 40 years
Andrew
Atkinson and Celia Bergin
Aug 17, 2022
– 4.44pm
London | UK
inflation rose more than expected last month to the highest in 40 years,
intensifying a squeeze on consumers and adding
to pressure for action from the government and Bank of England.
The Consumer
Prices Index rose 10.1 per cent in July from a year earlier after a 9.4 per
cent gain the month before, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday.
Economists had expected a reading of 9.8 per cent.
Rising food
prices made the biggest contribution to this month’s increase, indicating
inflationary pressures are spreading beyond energy. Investors moved to price in
2 percentage points of increases in the BOE’s key rate to 3.75 per cent by May
next year.
“Food prices
rose notably, particularly bakery products, dairy, meat and vegetables, which
was also reflected in higher takeaway prices,” said Grant Fitzner, chief
economist at the ONS. “Price rises in other staple items, such as pet food,
toilet rolls, toothbrushes and deodorants also pushed up inflation in July.”
-https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/herd-gets-recessions-talk-wrong-20220817-p5banv
Herd gets recessions talk wrong
There are
four good reasons to question whether the prevailing pessimism about
stagnation, inflation, and stagflation is justified.
Jim O'Neill Columnist
Aug 18, 2022
– 12.38pm
With so much
talk of stagnation, inflation, and stagflation in recent months, it is worth
questioning whether the prevailing pessimism is justified. While I have shared
in the gloom, warning early on that it could be a “bad year for markets”, I’m
starting to reflect on my previous views, for four reasons.
First, I am
struck by just how widespread the recession
narrative has become. Almost everyone seems to believe that developed countries
are heading into, or are already in, a recession. I have given multiple
interviews to business consultants who all want to know “how to prepare for the
recession.” As I remarked to one of them, I know of no previous recession that
was so confidently anticipated as the one that is supposedly upon us now.
After all,
the main reason that “recession” is such a scary word is that it is usually
unexpected. Economic forecasters tend not to see them until they have already
arrived. That is what happened in 2007-2008, which was admittedly rather
unique, and again in 2020, following the arrival of COVID-19. Yet now, even
some central banks (namely, the Bank of England) are openly forecasting a
recession later this year.
Has economic
forecasting suddenly become better, or is something else going on?
-----
https://www.afr.com/world/europe/truss-sunak-shy-away-from-uk-s-real-life-economic-woes-20220819-p5bb4t
Truss, Sunak shy away from UK’s real life economic woes
With
runaway inflation, worker shortages and range of other problems, the UK economy
is in trouble. The candidates to take over from Boris Johnson, however, seem
oblivious to this.
Mark Landler
Aug 19, 2022
– 10.09am
London | The
last time Britain suffered double-digit
inflation, in 1982, Margaret Thatcher was prime minister, the nation was
about to go to war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands, nurses and miners
went on strike, and Prince William was born to Prince Charles and his wife,
Princess Diana.
This week,
Britain is again in upheaval, with an inflation rate of 10.1 per cent in July,
a looming recession and a Conservative Party in the throes of a rancorous
campaign to choose a new leader. If, as expected, Liz
Truss is elected next month, she would take power during a period of
economic stress comparable to what Thatcher confronted.
And yet, the
multiple shocks Britain faces — from soaring energy prices because of the war
in Ukraine, supply chain disruptions after the coronavirus pandemic, and the
hollowing out of the British labor market by Brexit — seem strangely
disconnected from the contest to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/ukraine-can-win-this-war-on-these-five-conditions-20220817-p5bajr.html
Ukraine can win this war - on these five conditions
Mick
Ryan
Military
leader and strategist
August 19,
2022 — 5.00am
The Ukrainian
attack on the Russian airbase in Crimea last week has dragged attention back to
a war which many in the West, including this country, have largely lost sight
of. Rising interest rates, high fuel and energy costs, and election campaigns
have reasserted domestic issues as the primary concerns in the minds of most
Western citizens.
Despite this
collective inattention to the war, it continues, nonetheless. The Russians are
pounding away at Ukrainian defensive positions in the Donbas, gaining ground by
the metre while losing soldiers in their hundreds. Russian missiles, with
variable accuracy, continue to rain down on Ukrainian cities, callously killing
children and civilians.
In the early
days of the war, the Ukrainians were given little chance of defending their
country against the larger, and supposedly more capable, Russian army. Vladimir
Putin planned a short, lightning war against his southern neighbour but instead
drew Ukraine and the West into a bloody, expensive and prolonged conflict. As
months have passed, the initiative has slowly bled away from Russia as Ukraine
corrodes its ability to conduct offensive operations.
What are the
prospects for a Ukrainian victory? As I wrote in March, Ukraine can win. But
such a victory relies on five foundational conditions.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/the-wall-street-journal/china-to-join-russia-military-exercises-as-us-rivals-deepen-ties/news-story/181f5c85fccd094eab7f3539635e0c3d
China to join Russia military exercises as US rivals deepen ties
By James
Areddy and Ann M. Simmons
The Wall
Street Journal
8:37PM August
18, 2022
China’s
People’s Liberation Army said it is set to join military exercises led by
Russia, in the latest demonstration of partnership between the two US rivals.
Building on a
“no limits” pact their presidents signed this year, the Russian and Chinese
militaries are expected to drill side-by-side starting later this month in the
Russian Far East, according to China’s Ministry of Defence.
The exercises
will mark their second joint show of force in the region this year after
bombers from each country in May conducted a 13-hour drill close enough to
Japan and South Korea that those nations scrambled jet fighters, at a time when
President Joe Biden was visiting Tokyo.
Russia’s
Ministry of Defence didn’t immediately respond to a request for confirmation of
whether China would participate in the exercises, which are scheduled August 30
to September 5.
-----
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/what-if-china-saved-the-world-and-nobody-noticed-20220818-p5bavz.html
What if China saved the world and nobody noticed?
Nick O'Malley
Environment
and Climate Editor
August 20,
2022 — 5.00am
Climate
activists and scientists the world over breathed deeply in relief this week
when President Joe
Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, as America’s
biggest-ever package of climate actions had been rebranded while it was
wrestled forcefully through the Senate.
“It’s law,”
said Biden at the White House on Tuesday. “This bill is the biggest step
forward on climate ever.”
And the scope
of the package is extraordinary. Its various measures will channel $US370
billion ($535 billion) into programs that, if successful, will see the creation
of 60 gigawatts of new renewable energy capacity a year, doubling the amount
deployed last year.
But in
focusing on the future plans of America, the world risks missing what is
already going on in China, where a green revolution is already sweeping the
economy.
In the
world’s popular imagination, China is a machine built on coal. At the COP26
climate talks in Glasgow in November last year, China – along with
Australia and India – declined to sign a
pledge to phase out coal use. In the wake of the pandemic, it stimulated
its economy by ramping up coal production so much that climate observation
satellites detected new plumes of methane emissions leaking from mines across
Inner Mongolia.
-----
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/power-off-panic-on-in-british-energy-crisis/news-story/78f854c7e09cd0f0af57a567f5249fa6
Power off, panic on in British energy crisis
Jacquelin
Magnay
10:00PM
August 19, 2022
People in
Cornwall have been turning off their freezers, to the alarm of health officials
warning of food poisoning. In Newcastle, food charities have been flooded with
requests for non-perishable items that don’t require turning on the stove.
And in London
at my house, the hot water has been off for the past month with showering
scheduled for immediately after a sweat-inducing run in the park.
A neighbour
has given up toast and community groups advise people to vacuum the backs of
their fridges to ensure they work as efficiently as possible and to shower
every second day.
A pre-panic
mode has struck households across Britain as a cost-of-living crisis approaches
uncharted territory.
-----
https://www.afr.com/markets/equity-markets/s-and-p-500-could-drop-dramatically-in-months-ahead-guggenheim-20220820-p5bbe2
S&P 500 could drop dramatically in months ahead: Guggenheim
Timothy Moore Before the
Bell editor
Aug 20, 2022
– 9.58am
US stocks are
in trouble if the S&P 500, which has rebounded about 16 per cent from its
2022 low in mid-June, fails to break through its 200-day moving average,
according to Guggenheim Partners.
In a note,
the firm’s research team argues that investors should brace for potentially
deep losses.
“Stocks have
seen a strong rally since the Federal Open Market Committee meeting in
mid-June, but the S&P 500 has struggled to close above its 200-day moving
average in the past week.
“Based on the
history of previous bear markets, this level (currently 4320) is an important
one to watch. A failure to break the 200-day moving average could portend much
deeper losses for equities in the months ahead.
“Additionally,
it is noteworthy that the current rally has failed to break the downtrend that
has been in place since the beginning of the year.”
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I look
forward to comments on all this!
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David.