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Dan and Kenton share their experiences watching the U.S. election night coverage. They then discuss the new Australian adaptation of The Office and begin casting a Canadian version. Let's get on that, CBC! For more on the Australian Office: https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2024/09/24/female-led-the-office-remake-looks-genuinely-terrible/ Follow the Nerds on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@danwatchesmovies https://www.tiktok.com/@kentonlarsen --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/starwarsnerds/support
Charlie Baker was back today alongside Paul Hawksbee. It was a very busy show, they were joined in studio by Actress Felicity Ward who is starting in the Australian Office. Harry Hill also came on to chat about his new book, along with comedian Travis Jay as we continue Black History Month here on talkSPORT. And finally former Real Madrid President Ramon Calderon spoke to the guys on Real Madrid boycotting the Ballon D'Or. Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Morning Glory Host Matty Johns joins the Run Home with Joel and Fletch talking about the new Australian Office TV show, the Pac Champs, Via Sistina and Keano Kini. 00:00 How bad is the Australian Office? 02:20 Review of The Penguin with Colin Farrell 02:50 Just finished Mr McMahon documentary 06:20 Shaun Johnson to come back from retirement? 07:20 How good is Harry Grant and Keano Kini? 09:00 Via Sistina's run at the weekend 10:15 Pulled the pin on going on holiday 11:00 Reflecting on a life 12:00 INXS vs Oasis Listen to The Run Home with Joel and Fletch live every weekday: 3pm AEDT on SEN 1170 AM Sydney 2pm AEDT on SEN 693 AM Brisbane Subscribe to The Run Home YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@JoelandFletchSEN Follow us on Social Media! TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joelfletchsen Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joelfletchsen X: https://x.com/joelfletchsen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The office dog is nothing new and is always a treat for the owner, dog, and employees lucky enough to have one. But in Tasmania, one insurance firm has made it a policy that employees' dogs can join the workforce. For many years now, insurer RACT has permitted its Hobart employees to bring their dogs to the office. In the beginning, Fridays were the only days when dogs could come to work. Now, it's every day. “Having my best friend in here with me and not having to leave her home whilst I'm at work it's just calming and it makes everyone happy,” explains Stella's owner Morghan Lawler. “I'm quite new to RACT as well, so it means I'm meeting people. So, they come in to see her and I get a chat to people so it's really good,” says Cocoa's owner Christie Stone. Like their human owners, the dogs have identification cards, and there's also a roster so as to avoid too many dogs on each floor on any given day. “As an employer, we're really focused on employee well-being, employee engagement and we just saw this is a great thing to try and see how it went. And it went absolutely gangbusters,” says RACT CEO Mark Mugnaioni. “Dogs just have this wonderful way of breaking down barriers. I think it's a positive effect all around, for me and for Billie,” explains Billie's owner Henry James. Companion Animal Network Australia is advocating for getting more pets into workplaces. “It's proven that it decreases stress in the workplace, increases productivity. It retains staff, it brings joy to the staff. It causes a great collaborative working space for people,” says Trish Ennis of the Companion Animal Network. But not all pets can be accepted in workplaces. Rabbits, for example, could cause a lot of damage in an office like chewing through power cords. Places like kitchens or laboratories where there are chemicals are also probably best to be kept off-limits. This article was provided by The Associated Press.
It's been four decades in the making but Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis is final here. And we have some thoughts. ALSO WE'RE BACK. THE PODCAST IS BACK. We get into the news of the week including the passing of Maggie Smith & John Cassaday, a potential Deathstroke and Bane movie, The Mandalorian wrapping up, a streaming release date for Hellboy: That Crook Bloke, trailers for The Last Of Us: Part II and Ballerina plus we do some hot quick news of the Thunderbolt* trailer, Kyle Chandler as Green Lantern, The Australian Office and more! Thanks for listeningJames & Maso live appearances at the Cheerful Earful Podcast Festival on October 5th in Melbourne! James joins Confessions at 5PM. James & Maso join Wilosophy at 7:30PM. Tickets are available to attend and livestream maybe: https://cheerfulearful.podlifeevents.com/Visit bigsandwich.co for bonus weekly shows including video game let's plays, exclusive movie commentaries, early stuff and ad-free podcast feeds for $9 per month.Please be aware timecodes may shift due to inserted ads. Maybe skip an extra few minutes.00:00 The Start05:13 RIP Maggie Smith & John Cassaday09:48 Bane & Deathstroke Movie Happening14:55 The Mandalorian Series Ending17:22 Straight to Streaming for Hellboy: The Crooked Man18:44 The Last of Us: Part Two Trailer21:42 Ballerina John Wick Movie Trailer23:20 Hot Quick News! Kyle Chandler Green Lantern Series26:44 Thunderbolts* Trailer & Joker 2 Might Flop in Cinemas33:40 Spider-Verse 3 Delay & Transformers One Latest37:52 The Office: Australian Version Trailer42:15 Megalopolis Review55:06 Megalopolis Spoiler Segment01:20:43 What We Reading, What We Gonna Read01:29:39 Letters, It's Time For LettersJames' Twitter ► http://twitter.com/mrsundaymoviesMaso's Twitter ► http://twitter.com/wikipediabrownMaso's Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/nickmaseauThe Weekly Planet Twitter ► https://twitter.com/theweeklyplanetThe Weekly Planet TikTok ►https://www.tiktok.com/@weeklyplanetpodThe Weekly Planet Clips Channel on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/@theweeklyplanetclipsPatreon ► https://patreon.com/mrsundaymoviesTWP iTunes ► https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-weekly-planet/id718158767TWP Direct Download ► https://play.acast.com/s/theweeklyplanetTWP YouTube Channel ► https://goo.gl/1ZQFGHAmazon Affiliate Link ► https://amzn.to/2QbmwGj Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Experience.... the new sex... welcome to... Nosexua.Chris Lilley's weird new YouTube content, the Australian Office, FKA Twigs, Dart's metal cruise and big changes for Rob. It's all happening and it's all a part of Nosexua.All our links can be found here: https://linktr.ee/welcometomeetyouWe post exlusive episodes every second week on Patreon. Sign up here to get access: https://patreon.com/user?u=80070653&utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
Hear every episode of The Dumb Zone by subscribing to our Substack - DumbZone.comThe Dumb Zone Day at the Ballpark with Jared Sandler and Emily Jones. Blake's fantasy league had their punishment which was 5 minutes of stand up comedy, Adrian Wojnarowski leaves ESPN, and the Australian Office isn't for us (00:00) - Open with Jared Sandler (24:21) - Substack announcement (35:57) - Sports: Sports Mayor, Woj leaving (52:30) - Blake's night at stand up comedy (01:12:27) - Viewer Mail (01:29:35) - Emily Jones (01:43:55) - News (02:08:49) - Today in History ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Stormer is filling in today for Bradley; Is the Australian Office on Prime going to be good? The penguin prosthetic suit was anatomically correct; The franchise is a new show on Max coming Oct 6th about making fun of making a superhero movies; one star reviews with Stormer! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Stormer is filling in today for Bradley; Is the Australian Office on Prime going to be good? The penguin prosthetic suit was anatomically correct; The franchise is a new show on Max coming Oct 6th about making fun of making a superhero movies; one star reviews with Stormer! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The integrity of bond markets on both sides of the Tasman is at stake as regulators probe issues of potential market manipulation, Australian Financial Review senior reporter Jonathan Shapiro says.Shapiro is covering the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) probe of the ANZ Group's role in a A$14 billion 2023 Australian government bond sale, and taking an interest in the Financial Markets Authority's probe into possible manipulation in New Zealand's wholesale interest rate and government bond markets. Speaking in the latest episode of the Of Interest podcastShapiro says the ASIC probe of ANZ boils down to allegations of interest rate rigging, allegations of providing false information to the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM), which manages the Australian government's debt portfolio and hired ANZ as risk manager for government bond issues, and workplace culture issues."What is alleged is in that role they [ANZ] might have moved the market in their favour and made trading profits. And those trading profits came at the expense of the [Australian] government because ultimately their alleged actions forced up the government bond [borrowing] rate. We calculated about five basis points extra ... and that's for $14 billion of debt over 11 years," Shapiro says.ANZ Group CEO Shayne Elliott says the bank itself has found no evidence misconduct or market manipulation by ANZ in connection with the bond issues cost the government financially. Elliott also says whilst some information provided to AOFM may have been incorrect, this was a mistake, rather than a deliberate act. Meanwhile, three traders have left the bank and a fourth has been warned.Shapiro says what's being alleged is very serious and everyone in Australia has an interest in the outcome because the government was ANZ's client.In New Zealand the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) says it's investigating two complaints about possible market manipulation in NZ's wholesale interest rate and government bond markets.Shapiro says market integrity is absolutely critical, with pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, central banks and other investors trading government bonds."They don't want to be on the other side of of any funny business...it's extremely important that these markets are trustworthy."Because they're viewed as the risk-free rate of return, government bond rates underpin the whole market, Shapiro notes."So regulators should absolutely be looking at any issues in these markets and making sure that they're transparent, that they're clean, and that there's nothing untoward going on. And one would think that participants in that market, especially the big banks of countries like New Zealand and Australia, would have an interest in making sure that, firstly, they're doing everything they can for their client, the government, but also making sure the bond market works as efficiently as it can."The ANZ Group has been left out of the last three Australian government bond issues, Shapiro says.In the podcast Shapiro also talks about why he refers to the ASIC probe as the biggest scandal in the ANZ Group's 182-year history, goes into detail on the three key issues at stake and the ANZ Group's responses, what's at stake for the bank potentially financially and reputationally, as well as for Elliott, possible similarities with what's at issue in the FMA investigations and more.*You can find all episodes of the Of Interest podcast here.
In this special summer edition Year in Review episode, we are joined by our friends Lafayette and Carlos from the Nerds Talking Podcast. We take a take a look back at the critical issues of 2023: streaming services, the rise of 'content', and the potential return of sailing the high seas for Australians. This episode we take a deep dive into what worked and didn't work for us this year. From poor adaptations of IP, to pumped up series that fell flat, to new games that we loved. We take on studio amalgamations, the loss of mid budget films, discuss the rise of 'content', let our American friends know about the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification and how they censor and ban games and films, and fill them in on the friendly Australian and New Zealand rivalry. Then we turn our gaze to take a bit of a look at what is ahead in 2024, and what we are looking forward to in gaming, tv, and film and (in one notable case) in literature. For detailed show notes and more information about the books, tv shows, movies, roleplaying games and computer games we discuss in this episode, check out the podcast website, podcultureoz.com.
Adaptive re-use. It's a hot topic right now as developers and investors assess how to best repurpose office buildings that are no longer fit for use. Given Australia's housing crisis, it seems a given that some of these empty office towers could be converted to apartments. But is this a magic bullet and what are some of the hurdles we need to overcome? And if not for apartments, what other uses could be considered for our ageing office stock. In this latest Talking Property episode, we speak to the Principal and Commercial & Workplace Sector Lead at Hassell Ingrid Bakker, the Executive Director of Business NSW David Harding and the head of CBRE's UK Development Advisory Business Zoe Bignell to assess the options available to reenergise our CBDs and create true 24/7 cities. If you have any questions regarding this episode or property topics that you'd like CBRE to address in future episodes, please email us at: talkingproperty@cbre.com.
Content warning. This episode does talk about child sexual abuse and child sexual abuse material. Dr Michael Salter is the Scientia Associate Professor of Criminology at the School of Social Sciences at UNSW and an expert in child sexual exploitation and gendered violence. Michael applies critical and feminist theory to the study of complex trauma, with a focus on intersections with technology. Michael sits on the Board of Directors of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, and he is an advisor to the Australian Office of the eSafety Commissioner, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection and White Ribbon Australia. He is Associate Editor of Child Abuse Review and sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation. In today's episode we talk about policy failure, the lack of preparedness to recognise and respond to the impact of child sexual abuse and exploitation and a whole range of sector updates. Welcome Michael.
It's been a big week of finales, and we celebrate the iconic winner of Alone Australia and those moments following the reveal. Succession and Ted Lasso have wound up too, but don't be scared; Myf is still catching up on Succession, and Zan on Lasso, so no spoilers here for now. As we hit record, breaking news about Samantha AKA Kim Cattrall's appearance on the Sex In the City reboot has us shook (and jazzed). And speaking of reboots, The Office will be getting a local makeover with it's first ever female boss. The rumoured relationship between Taylor Swift and Matty Healey has a lot of people talking, and plenty of Swiftie's responding. Is their involvement in her personal life crossing the line? And 20 years on, who or what was the “hipster”, and what has that reaction to “normie” culture become today? We've been listening keenly of late too, with Myf banging on about Normal Gossip, and Zan loving the Saving the Franklin podcast. Show notes: Gina wins Alone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNGePrCopGg&ab_channel=SBSAustralia Kim Cattrall WILL play Samantha Jones: https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/kim-cattrall-samantha-jones-and-just-like-that-season-2-1235629763/ The Australian Office: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/may/31/the-office-is-coming-to-australia-with-felicity-ward-starring-as-a-modern-day-david-brent Deadloch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRYlkqIK_4A&ab_channel=PrimeVideoAU%26NZ Taylor Swift and fan culture: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/30/taylor-swift-matty-healy-fan-culture?mibextid=Zxz2cZ The rise and fall of the hipster: https://www.vice.com/en/article/dy37qy/the-hipster-handbook-20-years-later Normal Gossip: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/normal-gossip/id1597761181 Somebody Somewhere: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5FgJxZAjOU&ab_channel=TrailerWorld Saving the Franklin: https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/dig Bang Back to us: bangon.podcast@abc.net.au Bang On is an ABC podcast, produced by Double J. It is recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.
It's been a big week of finales, and we celebrate the iconic winner of Alone Australia and those moments following the reveal. Succession and Ted Lasso have wound up too, but don't be scared; Myf is still catching up on Succession, and Zan on Lasso, so no spoilers here for now. As we hit record, breaking news about Samantha AKA Kim Cattrall's appearance on the Sex In the City reboot has us shook (and jazzed). And speaking of reboots, The Office will be getting a local makeover with it's first ever female boss. The rumoured relationship between Taylor Swift and Matty Healey has a lot of people talking, and plenty of Swiftie's responding. Is their involvement in her personal life crossing the line? And 20 years on, who or what was the “hipster”, and what has that reaction to “normie” culture become today? We've been listening keenly of late too, with Myf banging on about Normal Gossip, and Zan loving the Saving the Franklin podcast. Show notes: Gina wins Alone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNGePrCopGg&ab_channel=SBSAustralia Kim Cattrall WILL play Samantha Jones: https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/kim-cattrall-samantha-jones-and-just-like-that-season-2-1235629763/ The Australian Office: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/may/31/the-office-is-coming-to-australia-with-felicity-ward-starring-as-a-modern-day-david-brent Deadloch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRYlkqIK_4A&ab_channel=PrimeVideoAU%26NZ Taylor Swift and fan culture: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/30/taylor-swift-matty-healy-fan-culture?mibextid=Zxz2cZ The rise and fall of the hipster: https://www.vice.com/en/article/dy37qy/the-hipster-handbook-20-years-later Normal Gossip: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/normal-gossip/id1597761181 Somebody Somewhere: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5FgJxZAjOU&ab_channel=TrailerWorld Saving the Franklin: https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/dig Bang Back to us: bangon.podcast@abc.net.au Bang On is an ABC podcast, produced by Double J. It is recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land where we live, work, and learn.
Kochie's hanging up the boots and he told us what Katie Perry ate off of him. We speak to people who were jealous of random ass people and the Australian Office reboot has inspired more Aussie remakes. Bali do's and don'ts The Australian Office has inspired more remakes 610 Quiz: Two days of Uncle Kracker Kochie on what Katie Perry ate off of him Love rat: Who made them jealous? Deez your jeans? Melbourne's coldest job Belle tried to claim she was from Mornington Peninsula See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
While advances in technology are usually seen as beneficial, a new report shows they have also offered people who harm others new ways to do it. The Australian Office of the eSafety Commissioner says nearly all victims of domestic and family violence - more than 99 per cent of them - have experienced technology-facilitated abuse. The federal government has pledged to tackle the issue, announcing a grants program which aims to put a stop to that technology-based abuse
ASX 200 closed down 23 to 6645 as early gains evaporated in thin, convictionless trade. US futures turned south, and bond yields rose with the 10-year heading over 4%. AUD under pressure again. Banks turned lower with the Big Bank Basket down to $169.04 (0.6%). CBA and NAB on the nose. MQG fell 0.6% in a late sell off, insurers unchanged. Healthcare stocks also held up just CSL down 0.1% with RHC up 1.0%. Industrials were firm but idle, TLS rose 0.3% on its AGM and restructure plans. Tech slipped slightly but no real damage, WTC off 1.3% and the Index down 1.0%. Resources gave up some early gains as BHP slid 0.4% and FMG fell 2.2%. S32 eased 2.9% with lithium stocks remaining well sought, PLS up 0.6% and MIN up 2.8%. Energy stocks fell harder with WDS down 2.4% and STO off 1.3% with coal not such a merry old soul, WHC off 0.8%. In corporate news, BBN spat the dummy after its update on lower margins and inflation impacts, falling 20.5%. DBI rose 6.2% on an investor presentation, PNV up 6.0% on more director buying and SLC better by 11.8% on its AGM commentary. On the economic front, Westpac consumer confidence slipped again, and the Australian Office of Financial Management said it could nearly halve the amount of debt it plans to seek this year after a better than expected position. Asian markets off as Japan falls 2.6% HK down 1.6% though China up 0.5%. Why not sign up for a free trial? Get access to expert insights and research and become a better investor.
Shaq told not to stick his nose in, ScoMo leaves a bill, latest on Farnsey, Jim Jeffries to star in the Australian Office? and Johnny Depp is looking for work. Listen to the full interview with Jim Jeffries tap the link hereSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It's 2021! You'd be forgiven for thinking Animal Cosmetic testing is a thing of the past. Many countries around the world (including Australia) have enacted policies and legislation that bans cosmetic testing on animals- but unfortunately, despite these laws, you may be surprised to learn that some of your favourite, well-known and supposedly reputable brands are still partaking in this painful and inhumane practice. This year, Humane Society International released a stop motion, animated short film that stars familiar names like Taika Waititi, Ricky Gervais and Zac Efron. The film's called ‘Save Ralph' and it tells the story of the life of a rabbit named Ralph (voiced by Taiki Waititi) who is used, battered and bruised at his ‘job' as an animal tester for cosmetics. This 4 minute film highlights the very sad reality forced on to thousands of animals each year, still to this day. In this episode, we sit down with Nicola from Humane Society International to uncover the truth behind cosmetic testing of animals, and to find out how we as consumers can do our part in helping see an end to this cruel practice. About Nicola: Nicola Beynon is the Head of Campaigns for the Australian Office of Humane Society International. Nicola has worked in animal protection for over 25 years, championing stronger laws and policies for animals in Australia and the international treaties . Additional Resources:
When a central bank governor describes how money is created on computer keyboards, you might wonder why the Australian government needs to sell bonds to fund its spending. Avis Williamson joins us to wonder at how the Australian Office of Financial Management retains its sense of purpose. Professor Martin Watts joins us to debunk the debunking of the debunkers of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).
Welcome to the fourth and final episode of the Atlas Covid-19 Interview Series, where MIAS invites expert guests on our Atlas podcast to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on their area of study within international affairs. In the upcoming episode, hear from Prav, Winuri and Arshiya as we interview Alan Gyngell. Allan Gyngell AO is the National President of the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA), a fellow of the AIIA and an Officer of the Order of Australia. He is also an honorary professor at ANU's College of Asia and the Pacific. Allan was the Director-General of the Australian Office of National Assessments and the founding Executive Director of the Lowy Institute. Allan has worked at DFAT, serving as a diplomat in Rangoon, Singapore and Washington. He also worked in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet as Senior Advisor to Prime Minister Keating. He has co-authored the book Making Australian Foreign Policy with Michael Wesley and in 2017 published his book, Fear of Abandonment: Australia in the World Since 1942. Fear of Abandonment is available at the Matheson and Caulfield library and online. Email: atlas@mias.org.au Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MonashIAS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_mias___/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MonashIAS LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/monash-international-affairs-society-mias/ Website: https://mias.org.au/
In this episode of the Perch Pod, Jacob speaks with Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at the Australian National University. Rory has also been a Senior Strategic Analyst with the Australian Office of National Intelligence (formerly the Office of National Assessments) and served as an Australian Diplomat with postings in many countries including India and Japan. He has recently written a book titled: Indo-Pacific Empire: China, America and the contest for the world's pivotal region Timestamps 00:00 Intro 2:14 The latest on the Quad6:30 What is the Indo Pacific?16:40 The Future of China 25:59 The Future of India 31:04: India and Kashmir v. China and Hong Kong37:00 Australia's domestic politics as a role model for other democracies43:44 The curveball/googly: Rory's favorite Australian PMs47:28 Outro Rory's Book: https://www.amazon.com/Indo-Pacific-Empire-Contemporary-American-Canadian/dp/1526150786 (https://www.amazon.com/Indo-Pacific-Empire-Contemporary-American-Canadian/dp/1526150786) Subscribe to the Perch Pod so you don't miss any new episodes! We put out new videos every other Monday. Questions? Reach out at: info@perchperspectives.com Socials- Twitter: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FPerchSpectives&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbEtIVXh4MkE0b25JWFVHZmJ2MDZfSHZobUtyd3xBQ3Jtc0ttcW1uY2NLd0JoZEQ0dEU3VVBDQjJ3ckhBZnZvS01pOV92OTVTTmxqUVk3dUE1bjBOeFdSZ3E4TGU5OHdyelZVRFhVVlJNOUNPTHRQd3VyOXp2NWxOMHQ1eVVVZWRSUmItakttX1d6LU9pU2lTRkxldw%3D%3D&v=KY3pRpo3zXM&event=video_description (https://twitter.com/PerchSpectives) LinkedIn: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fcompany%2Fperc&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbk1mZ3BxNzBmcXY2NUt4N0lRUDR1RUFvQ1JCd3xBQ3Jtc0tsLTZDUkhkUmo3VFVoaVZ0TF90cXU2cUJKUkg2Rk5IbDk3UzJYOFR3WUZKVTQxX0ZyZ3lOaHI2Vml0dGZDTlFSVTFjT0ZJa2YzeVA3QjNPRDhPYldoU25wWk5Da3BWS0hoanhiY3FaOHZyZHc0SmEycw%3D%3D&v=KY3pRpo3zXM&event=video_description (https://www.linkedin.com/company/perc)... Website: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fperchperspectives.com%2F&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbjNLVGpDZmU4TDJtWVdDRGdYdTRzTFI5VXhUUXxBQ3Jtc0tsUjBBZG15VWNPQUp2V0t4NFMyWUtUalRXeFBIUG1oeUNJZDE0OXdKeVExdnZtRDNiOU50T3hVSko2QXJlbnJ4VjVjUkZZWjZoaWc3RFg5SkVqQXg0dEltU1hGZkdmV1hvREJTMjFqSnIyRkdsZnQ0VQ%3D%3D&v=KY3pRpo3zXM&event=video_description (https://perchperspectives.com/)
In Episode 49, “The Big Challenge”, Blenheim Partners’ Gregory Robinson speaks to Dr Martin Parkinson AC, the Chancellor of Macquarie University. Martin served in the Commonwealth Government for almost 40 years, most recently as the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet from 2016 to 2019 and Secretary of the Australian Treasury from 2011 to 2014. He was also Secretary of Australia’s inaugural Department of Climate Change between 2007 and 2011.Martin is currently a Non-Executive Director of Worley Ltd, North Queensland Airports and Male Champions of Change, and is a member of the Northern Territory Economic Reconstruction Commission. He previously served on the Boards of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Orica Ltd and the German Australian Chamber of Industry and Commerce and was Chair of the Australian Office of Financial Management.In this insightful conversation, Martin shares with us his views on a myriad of topics, from the inner workings of Government, the difficult task of bringing everyone together on climate policy, the impact of the pandemic on our third largest export, education, and the current dynamics in play in foreign policy. Martin and Greg address the big issues – what do we want as a society, what is important, where we are headed and the big challenge ahead.
Welcome to Finance and Fury Budget came out last week – this episode – go through the fiscal overview and the policy measures in it Fiscal overview – provided updates on the government budget position and economic updates Government – added $289 billion in fiscal spending and balance sheet measures - equivalent to around 14.6 per cent of 2019‑20 GDP At the same time - estimated large declines in taxation receipts has seen a major deterioration in the budget position, with estimated deficits of $85.8 billion in 2019‑20 and $184.5 billion in 2020‑21 – so the annual position is a loss Gross debt was $684.3 billion (34.4 per cent of GDP) at 30 June 2020 and is expected to be $851.9 billion (45.0 per cent of GDP) at 30 June 2021. Net debt is expected to be $488.2 billion (24.6 per cent of GDP) at 30 June 2020 and increase to $677.1 billion (35.7 per cent of GDP) at 30 June 2021 – gross going up by 24% and net debt going up by 39% Real GDP is forecast to have experienced its sharpest fall on record in the June quarter - expected to pick up in the September quarter and beyond, with the easing of restrictions in most parts of the country. Real GDP is forecast to fall by 0.25% in 2019‑20 and by 2.5% in 2020-21. In calendar-year terms, real GDP is forecast to fall by 3.75% in 2020, before increasing by 2½ per cent in 2021. The economy is forecast to recover faster than in past recessions due to the unwinding of restrictions, but it will be a long road back. The unemployment rate will remain elevated for some time. The economic and fiscal outlook remains highly uncertain. The Government will provide forecasts and projections over the forward estimates period and medium term in the 2020‑21 Budget, to be delivered on 6 October 2020. Table 1.2: Major economic parameters(a) Outcome Forecasts 2018‑19 2019‑20 2020‑21 Real GDP 2.0 ‑ 1/4 ‑2 1/2 Employment(b) 2.5 ‑4.4 1 Unemployment rate(b) 5.2 7.0 8 3/4 Consumer price index 1.6 ‑ 1/4 1 1/4 Wage price index 2.3 1 3/4 1 1/4 Nominal GDP 5.3 2 ‑4 3/4 Key policy measures – This is a delayed budget – not like a normal budget - A lot of it is specific to Covid – like health and stimulus to sectors of the economy Health – major focus - committed $9.4 billion for the health response - large‑scale purchases of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), boosting Australia’s testing capacity and ensuring access to essential health services through expanded telehealth. also investing in finding a vaccine and treatments for COVID‑19, as well as better preparing for future pandemics. The Government has boosted Australia’s testing capacity to meet the challenge of the COVID‑19 pandemic, including by establishing dedicated Medicare‑funded pathology tests and dedicated respiratory clinics, with coverage of 97 per cent of the population. The Government is also providing $3.7 billion to build our hospital system capacity Government has enabled whole‑of‑population Medicare subsidised telehealth for medical, nursing and mental health services The Government is working with Community Pharmacy and the medicines supply chain to ensure ongoing access to essential medicines to ensure that Australians in home isolation can continue to access the medicines they rely on In addition to the National Partnership Agreement on COVID‑19, the Government is investing $131.4 billion in Commonwealth funding for Australia’s public hospitals, an increase of 30 per cent over the previous five years, through the 2020‑25 National Health Reform Agreement. Reopening recovery JobKeeper payments – the payments to businesses significantly impacted by government restrictions to cover the costs of their employees’ wages over 960,000 organisations and over 3.5 million individuals covered - at 16 July, payments have totalled $30.6 billion over the six JobKeeper Payment fortnights to 21 June the Government announced the JobKeeper Payment will be extended to 28 March 2021 - Payment targeted to those businesses that continue to be most significantly affected by the economic downturn level of the JobKeeper Payment will be tapered in the December 2020 and March 2021 quarters to enable businesses to transition towards their long‑term recovery A two‑tiered payment will also be introduced from 28 September - better match the Payment with the incomes of employees before the onset of COVID‑19 It is estimated that the total cost of the JobKeeper Payment will now be $85.7 billion over 2019‑20 and 2020‑21 The review also found that the JobKeeper Payment has a number of features that may create some disincentives — for example, dampening incentives for some employees to work and for some businesses to consider their long‑term viability. While these are unlikely to be significant in the short term, the review considered that they are likely to become more pronounced the longer the program runs. Support for individuals and households – income support payments - $16.8 billion over five years from 2019‑20 Coronavirus Supplement is $550 per fortnight from 27 April 2020 until 24 September 2020. From 25 September 2020 to 31 December 2020, the Supplement will be $250 per fortnight to reflect the gradually improving economic and labour market conditions. In addition, the personal income test for JobSeeker Payment and Youth Allowance (Other) will increase to a $300 per fortnight income free area and a 60 cent taper for income above the free area Government has provided $9.4 billion for two separate $750 Economic Support Payments to social security, veteran and other income support recipients and eligible concession card holders. The first payment, made from 31 March 2020, provided $5.6 billion to over 7 million Australians - second payment commenced on 13 July 2020 and will benefit around 5 million recipients. Superannuation - individuals affected by the adverse economic effects - Government has temporarily allowed eligible individuals to access their superannuation early and tax‑free - extending the application period to 31 December 2020 The Government has also provided assistance by: temporarily halving superannuation minimum drawdown requirements for the 2019‑20 and 2020‑21 income years - lower social security deeming rates to 2.25 per cent and 0.25 per cent respectively from 1 May 2020, taking into account the low interest rate environment and its impact on income from savings. Support for businesses and employers - Cashflow and write-offs - Eligible entities automatically receive payments of between $20,000 and $100,000 for the March to September 2020 reporting periods upon lodgement of relevant activity statements. As at 16 July 2020, over 750,000 entities have received over $16 billion in cash flow support – helps reduce GST includes deregulation measures to allow companies to hold meetings virtually and execute documents electronically, to modify continuous disclosure provisions to enable companies to more confidently provide guidance to the market, and to provide relief to directors from personal liability for insolvent trading. Government is backing businesses to invest by increasing the instant asset write‑off threshold to $150,000 (up from $30,000) and expanding access to include businesses with aggregated annual turnover of less than $500 million (up from $50 million) Supporting Australians build their skills and return to work Funding additional training - $2 billion JobTrainer Skills Package establishes a $1 billion JobTrainer Fund and extends the Supporting Apprentices and Trainees wage subsidy The Government is also helping businesses keep apprentices and trainees employed. The Government’s initial $1.3 billion Supporting Apprentices and Trainees wage subsidy provides employers with 50 per cent of the apprentice or trainee’s wages for 9 months, up to $7,000 per quarter to support the continuity of training. Supporting Job Seekers Package - investing $159.5 million to assist job seekers to improve their employability and search for work, including $115.1 million to ensure job seekers can be connected to employment services at the earliest opportunity. providing job seekers with earlier access to Employment Fund credits, providing the Coronavirus Supplement to eligible New Enterprise Incentive Scheme participants and enhancing IT systems to streamline registration and referral processes in order to simplify income support claims Job‑ready Graduates Package focuses the public investment in higher education on national priorities and ensures the system delivers for students, industry and the community. The reforms will create more places at Australian universities for domestic students, with an additional 39,000 by 2023 growing to 100,000 in ten years — meaning that more Australian students will be able to get a university degree. higher education - the Government has guaranteed $18 billion in funding for universities for 2020, and has provided greater flexibility in the use of this funding. In addition, the cost to study short, online courses through universities and private providers has been reduced to support Australians to upskill or reskill. Students studying courses in key growth areas will see significant reductions in their student contributions, including by around one‑fifth for science, engineering, health, and architecture, almost one‑half for education and nursing, and over one‑half for mathematics. Infrastructure and housing sector spending - Infrastructure - The Government continues to deliver its $100 billion pipeline of investment in transport infrastructure. The Government will provide $2.0 billion over three years from 2020‑21 for priority regional and urban transport infrastructure across Australia to support local jobs and economic recovery post COVID‑19. This includes $1 billion for shovel‑ready projects and $500 million for targeted road safety works. It also includes $500 million to local governments for a new Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program which will help local councils undertake priority projects focused on infrastructure upgrades and maintenance. The Government will also provide an additional $1.9 billion towards other infrastructure priorities, including $1.8 billion for the Sydney Metro‑Western Sydney Airport rail project. Housing - The Government will invest $680 million in 2020‑21 through the HomeBuilder program This is the $25k grant if eligible to build or renovate - Aim to support jobs and the residential construction market by encouraging the commencement of new home builds and substantial rebuilds this calendar year. HomeBuilder will help to support around 140,000 direct jobs and around another 1 million related jobs in the residential construction sector. It is being implemented via a National Partnership Agreement, and all states and territories have signed up to deliver the program. Covid specific policies - The Government has established a $1 billion COVID‑19 Relief and Recovery Fund to provide direct support to the regions and communities most affected by the economic impacts of the pandemic, supporting a range of industries including the aviation, agriculture, fisheries, tourism, and arts sectors. Examples of support include: $110 million to reduce the cost of air freight, assisting Australian exporters to maintain markets and ensuring critical imports continue to be available $94.6 million for vital funding to exhibiting zoos and aquariums, including those in regional Australia $36.3 million in 2020‑21 to provide support to agricultural show societies to meet the costs incurred through shows cancelled at short notice. Childcare - provided $1.9 billion to support the viability of the early childhood education and care sector and to provide families free childcare during the earlier stages of the pandemic. On 13 July 2020, the Government re‑established the Child Care Subsidy arrangements to ensure sufficient childcare places are available to all families and parents who wish to work. Aviation - Government will provide $1.9 billion over four years from 2019‑20 - Australian Airline Financial Relief Package provides support for the sector through rebates and fee waivers for aviation fuel excise, airservices charges on commercial aircraft operators and domestic and regional aviation security charges The Government support is in addition to $428 million for the aviation sector that the Government will provide under the Relief and Recovery Fund Aged care - The Government is ensuring the aged care sector is able to continue to provide care -the Government has provided $1.2 billion of direct assistance to support Australians in aged care including the provision of additional home care packages and additional funding to protect senior Australians in residential facilities. Arts and entertainment - The Government has committed $250 million to support production and employment in the arts and entertainment sectors. The Government commitment is a targeted package to help restart the creative economy and get the entertainment, arts and screen sectors back to work, as they rebuild from the impacts of COVID‑19, which includes: The Government will also provide $400 million over seven years from 2020‑21 to attract overseas film and television production to Australia through the Location Incentive Supporting the flow of credit The Government, Reserve Bank of Australia, APRA and ASIC have teamed up to support the flow of credit in the Australian economy, in particular for small and medium‑sized enterprises (SMEs) The Government has provided an exemption from responsible lending obligations for a period of six months in relation to the credit that banks and other lenders extend to their existing small business customers. SME Guarantee Scheme is supporting up to $40 billion of lending to help small and medium‑sized businesses get through -More than 15,600 small and medium‑sized businesses have accepted $1.5 billion in loans The Reserve Bank of Australia has implemented measures that have significantly reduced bank funding costs, including the Term Funding Facility which will provide at least $90 billion in funding at a fixed interest rate of 0.25 per cent The Government’s Structured Finance Support Fund is providing up to $15 billion to the Australian Office of Financial Management to support continued access to structured finance markets used by smaller lenders providing both consumer and business credit This budget is more retrospective in a way – update on what has been happening and what will happen to existing payments or policies – not like a normal budget that focuses on forward plans over the next few years – contains spending over the next year – Thank you for listening to today's episode. If you want to get in contact you can do so here: http://financeandfury.com.au/contact/
Welcome to Finance and Fury, the Furious Friday edition. In today’s episode we look at what the future of the economy looks like? First – I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has given great feedback and your support – many of you have reached out – great to hear you are enjoying the content – so thank you – really great to hear that many of you are enjoying it Before we get into the content – quick recap on the previous two episodes - First episode two weeks ago - went through how we are the economy – Last week – went through numbers being used as justification for these lock downs – These numbers sound very scary – Recapping on some numbers- but this time from the Covid shut downs - What other numbers sound scary – In Aus - Three million people have lost working hours and 390,000 have lost their jobs due to the shutdowns – 26% of the working population have been directly affected to date from the shut downs – 1 in 4 - Australia’s working population – 13m – 62% Full time – 38% casual – Underemployment – one of our major issues – even prior to the government shut downs What does unemployment and underemployment create – beyond the lower economic output – but also deaths - Study and Numbers come from – meta analysis – Study: losing life and livelihood: systematic review and meta-analysis of unemployment and all-cause mortality For every 1% unemployment – 5,300-10,000 deaths – so if unemployment goes up by 10% - may be up to 100,000 deaths - Drug overdoses, despair, alcoholism Scaling for population – big assumption we are similar – but lets say unemployment goes up by just 3% - about 2,400 people who will die in Australia – for each year that they cannot find work Outside of our first world nations – what is going on in the 3rd world? Potential of massive amounts of deaths – Especially in India – Not from Covid – but Starvation is their major concern right now – They have about 15k active cases and 680 deaths – in a country of 1.3 billion – so 0.001% case rate Remember – we are the economy – regardless of the function – even if you are doing daily jobs in Mumbai Over 7000 Indians die of hunger every day – likely to go up massively if people aren’t allowed to work – no social safety net there Why did the Indian prime minister do these shut downs, even though more people die in the streets of Mumbai of starvation related illnesses every day when compared to coronaviruses – WHO and World Bank loans – had to do it to meet conditions for $6bn of funds to be leant – question: will this go to the starving people? Or remain within the oligarchic system India has going on? Who knows – but personally doubt it There is the term being thrown around of unprecedented – but only in relation to the virus - The response is the thing that I find to be unprecedented – but in all media reports it is covid19 that is the unprecedented event – that is this is the most dangerous illness – but with no evidence to show it –even with the skewed numbers of deaths – and historically no pandemic or loss of life has caused the markets to panic in this way, or governments to shut down our way of life – and with it the economy – But What is also unprecedented is the extensive responses by Governments and Central banks – these responses whilst unprecedented in their implementation today – were already in talks within the Central banking and global economic communities – was reading about it all and covered it 8 or 9 months ago on the podcast - Check out the episode from September/October last year – one of the first Episodes: We are entering new economic and investment territory – An introduction to QE, what does it look like and what does it mean for investments? Regardless of the cause - We are living through transformational times – new environment for finances, investing and our economic way of life To get that – run through main components of the market economy going forward – what is being implemented - Few components – but in summary – the Permanent QE, also low interest rates and moving towards cashless economy, additional Fiscal expansion through Government spending, additional direct payments to the population in an effort to help boost demand through Helicopter money policies – these are all now playing out The only thing that hasn’t that was being covered last year was the Abandonment of the dollar – to be replaced with the IMF SDR – new reserve digital currency replacing this – But with oil demand collapsing – the petrodollar system may be on its last legs given the pressure of government shut downs in addition – new financial reset may be coming soon – especially with the levels of the debt economy being driven up further right now Looking to Australia and the RBA – what are they doing – focus on two broad issues – current outlook for economy and the recovery = today – look at the immediate outlook for the economy in relation to the overall components to the new market economy First – lets look at the economic indicators which are used as a measurement for the economic health of a nation - GDP - The result of both the restrictions and the uncertainty - over the first half of 2020 RBA expecting the biggest contraction in national output and income witnessed since the 1930s – great depression Putting precise numbers on the magnitude of this contraction is difficult, but our current thinking is along the following lines: GDP fall by around 10% over the first half of 2020, with most of this decline taking place in the June quarter Employment - Total hours worked in Australia are likely to decline by around 20% over the first half of this year. The unemployment rate is likely to be around 10% by June Inflation - expecting a significant decline in the June quarter. The large fall in oil prices, combined with the introduction of free childcare and the deferral or reduction in some price increases mean that it is quite likely that year-ended headline inflation will turn negative in June. If so, this would be the first time since the early 1960s that the price level has fallen over a full year. Major problem for central banks – debt deflation – covered this as well – but take numbers with grain of salt – modelling never accurate - Essentially – the economy and a large chunk of the populations livelihoods are going to be ruined - so There is a lot of cash being thrown around to solve this – where is this coming from – Permanent QE policies to fund the Deficit spending – which is facilitating the helicopter money policies – But also need to have lower interest rates -so governments can continue this – which reduced funding costs – along with moving towards a cashless economy to avoid a further deflationary spike First – Permanent QE – The funding arm for deficit spending by Governments - as is facilitated through QE – bonds issued by Government are bought up in the secondary market – allows the Gov to continue to raise funds through issuing bonds = that money can then be distributed out RBA Purchases of government bonds had been scaled up significantly. As a result of these purchases, central bank balance sheets had expanded rapidly in March. Central banks had also sought to accommodate increased demand for cash and support market functioning. They had increased the provision of liquidity to the financial system by increasing the size and extending the maturity of their regular open market operations. Many central banks had also sought to improve market functioning – particularly of key bond markets that provide important pricing benchmarks – by directly purchasing securities in secondary markets. The Bank had purchased in aggregate around $36 billion of government bonds in secondary markets. This had contributed to generally improved functioning of these markets, including a reduction in bid-ask spreads and achievement of the three-year yield target. Furthermore, the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM) and state and territory government borrowing authorities had issued securities, consistent with market conditions having improved. Alongside these purchases, the Bank had injected around $50 billion of liquidity into the financial system through its daily open market operations to support credit and maintain low funding costs in the economy The lowering of rates is also very important – This is the costs to this method – If it was going to cost governments 10% p.a. to deficit spend in interest – would spiral very quickly – But if it costs them 0.25% or 0.1% in some cases – is maintainable in the longer term – Especially if through the redistribution policies of funding – can help to get inflation back up to 2-3% as the RBA target sits – This way – the real value of repayments over the life of these bonds is actually negative – Paying 0.25% but the value of the bond decreases by 2.5% p.a. – means that when you have to repay the bond to the investor in 50 years – have to pay less – Example – Per $100 of debt (bonds issued) – You would have to repay $29 in 50 years’ time – you would have had to pay $12.50 in coupon payments – but discounting this – to todays value over 50 years = $7 – so in total – about $36 is the cost for raising $100 today – so you walk away 64% better off being a government doing this – assuming you can get 2.5% of inflation Now – this seems like an awful deal for anyone who buys these bonds, right? Like a super fund or investor- you would be correct – but that is where the RBA comes into it with QE – as they are buying these bonds in the secondary market – as when you can print money to buy these bonds – like the RBA can – any funds you print to buy debt are profits – so the RBA prints say that $100 in the previous example- they then can make a further $12.5 in nominal income off it over 50 years – free money for them - If you could print money to buy anything paying you a positive return, wouldn’t you? If you needed to work for your money – and you had savings – probably wouldn’t do it – but if you could print billions and these are the only investments that you can buy = free money And if you are the government – who can spend today in your political term – at a future discount of 64% - good deal – But all of this is bad for us – well unless in the short term you are a recipient of the helicopter money policies – go through in a second - we were already fast reaching the limits of monetary printing - markets are still trying to work out how to price that in Past model – print money - Get GDP growth through aggregate demand increase – mainly consumption Therefore – due to velocity of money (turnover) – get multiplier effect – more times money changes hands the bigger the effect = $1 might lead to $3.2 Trouble is that turns out inflation is mostly driven by behaviours/psychological phenomenon GDP growth, inflation, productivity are all missing in action despite 9 years of declining rates and 6 years of monetary doping and financial engineering the world over. If you increase money supply – money needs to go somewhere – sometimes through existing off investment managers or pension funds or new bonds issued from the bank RBA will give CBA $1bn of newly printed money – in return gets CBA Bond to the value of $1bn with a coupon Bank uses new money as deposits to fund further lending – leading to more economic growth through increased consumption – then we are meant to get inflation – Found to be very ineffective – UK QE = £375 billion of new money just to create £23-28bn billion of extra spending in the real economy Over time reduces growth if money went into mortgages – lowers spending due to larger loans to repay as borrowing capacities rise as rates drop due to this policy Where does this money go? Well into hard asset prices going up – making it harder for the average joe to get into property for instance – but it doesn’t create inflation – as there is no velocity to the money Even before this – there were No positive outcomes from QE- leading falling credibility of Central Bankers, as they ran out of policy space – but in an ‘emergency’ – people will be desperate for the money and also distracted to what is going on behind the scenes But given the economic crisis – they now are the saving heroes – rather than provenly failed controllers of the monetary world Yet - Australia – Lowering rates – calls for QE – Quantitative easing – printing money for liquidity Officially - known as large-scale asset purchases through using newly created money Type of monetary policy – an extreme one – where a central bank creates a policy to buy predetermined amounts of government bonds or other financial assets in order to inject liquidity directly into the economy Purchase of bonds and assets – starting to see the mandate expanded in the USA – Corporate debts – in Japan and SNB – into ETFs – i.e. the share market That is where the new evolutionary phase of combining QE, deficit spending, and ‘helicopter money’ – is the nuclear fusion of monetary and fiscal policies – With helicopter money – well imagine a helicopter – no one by the police thermal imagine people for social distancing – but to drop cash on the population – this is the combination of monetary and fiscal policy now that is being implemented to create the velocity of money and as they are hoping – get some inflation back Helicopter drop is an expansionary fiscal policy that is financed by an increase in a economy's money supply – I.e. deficit spending through QE- it involves printing large sums of money and distributing it to the public in order to stimulate the economy – demand side economics – but if supply is shut down – does it work? Well for business allowed to remain open – it does – go through this side to the economy next FF episode - Funded through deficit spending – so Gov issues bonds to fund spending – more debt every year Money to spend/buyers of bonds are the Central Banks by more QE – in perpetuity Trouble is that there is a lot of evidence that this policy type won’t work – well – for our economic benefit anyway – just leave with money to pay back for future generations – but based around the basic calculations – governments can benefit and so can central banks – as when you can create money to buy up ‘assets’ – even if they are debt instruments – you make the coupon rate – regardless of how small it may seem – when talking in the billions and trillions – is a lot of money But extending this – beyond what the RBA is doing – what other central banks are doing is buying up debt in companies or the equity in those companies- this is not he free market – but what a soviet Russia would be proud of Next FF episode – look at the potential recovery along with what the nature of the economy might look like at the top end – i.e. large companies versus smaller business – Sources – https://www.rba.gov.au/monetary-policy/rba-board-minutes/2020/2020-04-07.html https://www.rba.gov.au/speeches/2020/sp-gov-2020-04-21.html?fbclid=IwAR2GrfTiT5UxHRuYwwXR7DoM7Kiiu2RwsDypO8hAiZ3GA4zNxgj7OyE29Iw Thank you for listening to today's episode. If you want to get in contact you can do so here: http://financeandfury.com.au/contact/
Social distancing measures to contain coronavirus have crashed economies around the world, reducing government tax revenues. At the same time, governments have brought in massive economic rescue packages to support workers and businesses. An obvious question is: where is the money coming from to pay for these rescue packages and to make up for the lost tax revenue? Economics Explained host Gene Tunny explores this question with Joe Branigan, Director of Tulipwood Economics. TimestampsUse these timestamps to help you jump right to the highlights:5:45 - Gene recalls his time in the Australian Treasury's Budget Policy Division where he dealt with debt policy and cash management issues7:15 - discussion of how governments borrow money by selling bonds12:20 - discussion of bond auctions/tenders by the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM)17:30 - who buys bonds? (for Australian info, check out the excellent AOFM article The Australian Government Securities investor base)20:00 - discussion of Bank of England direct financing of UK Gov't spending (discussed in a pay-walled article in the Financial Times, Bank of England to directly finance UK government's extra spending), monetisation of deficits, and Modern Monetary Theory29:20 - repaying versus refinancing/refunding the debt31:10 - long-term problems/risks with government debt37:30 - overview of Joe's research on costs and benefits of coronavirus policy measures
Welcome to Episode 45 of Good Will Hunters, with Allan Gyngell. This episode is sponsored by SolarBuddy, the organisation providing solar lights to children living in energy poverty all over the world. The future is brighter with SolarBuddy! Allan Gyngell AO was appointed the National President of the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) in September 2017, having previously been named a Fellow of the AIIA in 2010. He is an honorary professor with the Australian National University’s College of Asia and the Pacific and was most recently Director of the ANU Crawford Leadership Forum. Allan has had an extensive career in Australian international affairs. He was the Director-General of the Australian Office of National Assessments (ONA) from 2009 to 2013. Prior to leading the ONA, he was the founding Executive Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy from 2003 to 2009. Additionally, he has worked at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, serving as an Australian diplomat in Rangoon, Singapore and Washington. He was Senior Advisor (International) to Prime Minister Paul Keating between 1993 and 1996. Allan was appointed as an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2009 for services to international relations. In 2007, he co-authored Making Australian Foreign Policy with Michael Wesley. His most recent book, Fear of Abandonment: Australia in the World Since 1942, was released in 2017 to considerable acclaim. In this episode we chat about Australian foreign policy, including the importance of inclusive and accessible public debate, our impact on world order over the last 70 years, relations with the Pacific, foreign aid and more. Allan is a brilliant intellectual who continues to make an enormous contribution to foreign policy in Australia. Enjoy, Rachel and the GWH Team
Things that creep and crawl in the dark are scary, but Nick Warner the Director-General of the Australian Office of National Intelligence says there's more to stop us from sleeping peacefully. Sino-American competition, Disruptive technological change, Regional tensions, Population growth in PNG, North Korea, and Terrorism is a short list of the major threats to our world as we know it. Please don't forget to subscribe to STRATEGIKON, and follow the SAGE International Australia Facebook and Twitter accounts. We welcome feedback and discussion! Let us know what you think Nick Warner Address 2011 Anders Behring Breivik Attack See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Things that creep and crawl in the dark are scary, but Nick Warner the Director-General of the Australian Office of National Intelligence says there's more to stop us from sleeping peacefully. Sino-American competition, Disruptive technological change, Regional tensions, Population growth in PNG, North Korea, and Terrorism is a short list of the major threats to our world as we know it. Please don't forget to subscribe to STRATEGIKON, and follow the SAGE International Australia Facebook and Twitter accounts. We welcome feedback and discussion! Let us know what you think Nick Warner Address 2011 Anders Behring Breivik Attack Support the show.
Australia's chief spy Nick Warner listed the international rules based order as one of the threats Australia must contend with as the power of states rather than the rules that inform the behaviour of states is more important than it used to be. Former Director-General of the Australian Office of National Assessments Alan Gyngell goes one step further saying it is indeed over. So what does this mean for our international structures and alliances?
Shutterstock/AAP/The ConversartionWhen Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced this week that a “sophisticated state actor” had targeted the big Australian political parties in a major cyber attack, the revelation threw up more questions than answers. Who did it and how? What data did they get their hands on? How vulnerable is our data – and our democracy? Read more: We've been hacked – so will the data be weaponised to influence election 2019? Here’s what to look for To make sense of it all, we’re hearing today from Nigel Phair, the director of UNSW Canberra Cyber and an expert on the intersection of crime, technology and society. He said that while hacks like these should be seen as “the new normal” there was good reason to be concerned. “Just merely having a breach is quite a big deal. Secondly, you look at the information that they hold. Political parties have information on donors – who they are and how much they give and what they want for it. They have information on the electorate, they have information on their own party politics and tactics for Senate Estimates for Question Time, those sorts of things,” he said. “So that’s a lot of rich data that you could then use as a nation state to infiltrate other areas to perhaps change voter outcomes.” The hackers may have used social engineering techniques such as phishing to gain access to the data, he said. “They are quite unsophisticated attacks. It’s often spoofing an organisation or a person and getting someone, an end user, to reveal login credentials. And because we share passwords across multiple logins, that’s how you gain access to a trophy asset,” he said, adding that the hack served as a reminder to use a password manager and ensure all passwords are long and strong. “I think we should be very concerned. We’ve got a great case study from the US. We’re very allied to the US and when you look at how nation states have disrupted that election I think it’s a given that there are many out there that’ll disrupt ours.” You can read an edited transcript of the interview below. Read more: A state actor has targeted Australian political parties – but that shouldn't surprise us New to podcasts? Podcasts are often best enjoyed using a podcast app. All iPhones come with the Apple Podcasts app already installed, or you may want to listen and subscribe on another app such as Pocket Casts (click here to listen to Trust Me, I’m An Expert on Pocket Casts). You can also hear us on Stitcher, Spotify or any of the apps below. Just pick a service from one of those listed below and click on the icon to find Trust Me, I’m An Expert. Additional audio editing by Wes Mountain, production assistance from Bageshri Savyasachi. Additional audio Kindergarten by Unkle Ho, from Elefant Traks ABC news report Image: AAP (Various)/Shutterstock/The Conversation Transcript SUNANDA CREAGH: And so what’s the main concern? Why was everybody so worried about this, particularly earlier this week? NIGEL PHAIR: I think when you look at the history with the attack in the US on the DNC (Democratic National Committee), and a lot that’s been reported in the US about nation states trying to infiltrate the election process over there and change people’s voting habits and we’re some weeks/months from an election here – it strikes at the heart of what could be our dear beloved democracy, when you have nation state actors trying to influence voting outcomes. SUNANDA CREAGH: And what do you think this week’s events tell us about the cyber security weaknesses here in Australia? NIGEL PHAIR: It tells us that no organisation is immune. It tells us that cyber is another vector for people trying to win the hearts and minds of people. SUNANDA CREAGH: If I was a sophisticated nation state using this as a strategy to achieve that goal, how might this sort of hack help me achieve that goal? What do you think they were actually trying to do here? NIGEL PHAIR: There’s a number of things that they’ve achieved. Firstly, is the goal of doing the hack. When we look at parliament house, we look at the political parties, when we think about it, they’re revered from a democratic perspective. Just merely having a breach is quite a big deal. Secondly, you look at the information that they hold. Political parties have information on donors – who they are and how much they give and what they want for it. They have information on the electorate, they have information on their own party politics and tactics for Senate Estimates for Question Time, those sorts of things. So a lot of rich data that you could then use as a nation state to infiltrate other areas to perhaps change voter outcomes. SUNANDA CREAGH: China has strongly denied that it was involved but a lot of speculation has focused on that country, as opposed to Russia or another state actor that’s been linked to this kind of behaviour in other contexts. In Australia, why do you think speculation has focused on China as a potential perpetrator? NIGEL PHAIR: Basically because they’re a near neighbour to ours, they’re in our arc of instability. They’re well known for their theft of intellectual property online. They’re well known for not adhering to the international norms of cyberspace. Add that all up and that’s why people keep pointing the finger at them. SUNANDA CREAGH: And I believe there’s news reports that China was linked to other previous hacks of universities and parliament and other key pieces of computer infrastructure around Australia. Is that right? NIGEL PHAIR: That’s right. They’ve been well known to do a range of cyber attacks on a range of different organisations – government, non-government, commercial etc. SUNANDA CREAGH: So in the context of concerns that Australians have about the government’s capacity to keep our personal information safe – and I’m thinking here about the talk around My Health Record, the census – what does this hack tell us, if anything, about how capable the government and people in power are at guarding our private details? NIGEL PHAIR: I think we need to go back a couple of steps before we start to think about this. Government, what they haven’t done is take the citizenry of Australia on a journey. They haven’t explained to them what it means to participate in a digital economy. What it means to be a good online citizen and transact with government and social media, commercially, e-commerce. If we had that narrative from the outset then people could understand that the internet is just another public place where they act ethically and lawfully and responsibly to what they do in the real world, then I think we wouldn’t be having this discussion. Because people would be able to have an informed decision about what it means to participate with My Health Record, or participate in an online census or other government instruments. But at the moment we just never had that background and people don’t have the certainty and because of that they make knee-jerk reactions. SUNANDA CREAGH: Where do you land on this issue, do you think the government is capable of keeping that data safe? NIGEL PHAIR: I think the government is capable of keeping it safe. The systems around My Health Record for example are really quite secure and there’s a lot of technologies, a lot of process and a lot of policy to ensure. But the reality is if there is going to be a breach of my health record, it’ll probably happen at a doctor’s surgery where there’s an unpatched or unprotected computer, or a user not using a good password, or accidentally emailing the wrong patient records to someone. It will be the end user compromise which we’ll see will be the failure. And that’s what the government isn’t investing in. It’s great to say they have a great secure system themselves but again we need to wind the clock back several years and start telling people this is what it means. SUNANDA CREAGH: Just on this hack, how might it have been actually perpetrated? Can you just explain that to me in really basic terms? NIGEL PHAIR: We don’t know yet until the forensic examination is done about how it occurred. Invariably, it was most probably some sort of social engineering attack against someone on the network. Most probably a phishing attack or something similar, where a person is targeted rather than the network itself is targeted. But again, until we know the forensics, we’re just speculating. SUNANDA CREAGH: And those phishing and social engineering attacks, am I right in thinking they mainly focus on trying to get somebody to reveal their password or their login details to another person who is perhaps impersonating somebody else or impersonating an official password reset type email. Is that the sort of thing you mean there about the social engineering? NIGEL PHAIR: Invariably, they are quite unsophisticated attacks. It’s spoofing an organisation or a person. Getting someone, an end user, to reveal login credentials and because we share passwords across multiple logins, that’s how you gain access to a trophy asset. SUNANDA CREAGH: So the lesson there for all of us really is never reuse your password details and get a password manager. Am I right? NIGEL PHAIR: You are right. SUNANDA CREAGH: We’ve heard some commentators saying that this is the new normal, that this type of attack really should be expected in this day and age. What do you think about that? NIGEL PHAIR: It’s been the new normal for quite some time. The reality is, most organisations get hacked just don’t know they’ve been hacked. This is all of a sudden a trophy matter, it’s come at the time where parliament is sitting, so it’s really got some attention in society, which is a great thing. And added to that the government that’s come out and actually said this is what’s happened and that is a completely different policy shift, whereas before it was swept under the carpet. SUNANDA CREAGH: Do you think that’s a positive policy shift? NIGEL PHAIR: There’s a great positive. We need to start having a conversation about what it means to be online and what it means to participate. And the fact is there’s countries out there, there’s actors out there trying to do us harm and Australians need to be brought into that confidence. SUNANDA CREAGH: There was a lot of talk about this at the start of this week, but it really has sort of shifted off the news headlines toward the end of the week and some people are now saying that was a lot of noise over what? And I’ve seen some media commentators saying that this was an announcement that fed into a narrative of fear as election day draws closer. And that is a criticism that’s been directed at the government in the past in their rhetoric around border control and security in more general terms. To what extent do you see this announcement as about safety and awareness and how much of it is politics? NIGEL PHAIR: I couldn’t put a percentage on either way but I focus purely on the safety and awareness side of it. I just think that’s the value of the message – is the safety and awareness. SUNANDA CREAGH: It’s an important message to get out to make people aware of those risks. And, as you say, bring them into that conversation around online security and online participation in an active globally networked world, is that right? NIGEL PHAIR: That’s right. SUNANDA CREAGH: So what needs to be done? What should governments do to reduce risks and educate people? NIGEL PHAIR: So the first thing for their internal networks, they need to do a proper risk management exercise. They need to identify the key target assets they hold and work out how sensitive that information is and put appropriate controls around where that data sits. Whether it’s a technology stack, whether it’s internal, cloud-based, those sort of decisions. And secondly, who has access to it, why they have access to it and how they access it. And once you start doing some simple things like that, you’ll find the cyber security posture of parliament house or a political party or anyone else in corporate Australia can really change the way that they’re viewed from a cyber security perspective. SUNANDA CREAGH: And if, and I know this is speculation, but if the source of the problem was somebody sharing their login credentials or being victim to a phishing scam or victim to some social engineering then it sounds like it’s possible that some education is needed around that issue and what to be aware of and how not to get tricked online. NIGEL PHAIR: Well, that’s a tough one. There aren’t sufficient technical controls to protect our data and ourselves online. In fact, we should’ve looked for any technical silver bullet. Likewise, we know education doesn’t work either. But education is all we have. So all we can keep doing is reinforce the message, particularly amongst young people as they grow up and participate in the online economy, and hopefully as time goes on we’ll be better protected for it. SUNANDA CREAGH: In other words, not forgetting to address the capacity for human error in our effort to cover off and protect ourselves from technical error. NIGEL PHAIR: Human error, but also the use of third parties and outlying people that you might not have specific command and control over. SUNANDA CREAGH: And going back to this week’s hack, if I am an individual who has given my details as a donor or as a supporter to a political party, what does this hack tell us about what we as individuals might do in future to protect our data? NIGEL PHAIR: Well, if you think you’ve (experienced) a loss of your data through this process, the first thing to do – contact the party that you’ve made say the donation or whatever it might be to. Secondly would be to start thinking about how that data or information that’s been stolen might be used against you - whether it’s identity theft or takeover, for example. So you need to start monitoring your bank accounts, you need to start thinking about consumer credit that might be done in your name. So you should be probably doing a credit reference check. SUNANDA CREAGH: What advice do you give to people who want to use best practice in keeping their details safe online? NIGEL PHAIR: Best thing you can do is use strong and long passwords. More stealthy it is, the harder it will be to guess by anyone else. Second, don’t replay the same password across multiple logins. Thirdly, be really wary when online and navigating around social media and e-commerce and other places. Really think about where you put your personal information in and why you’re placing it into a particular website or a portal. SUNANDA CREAGH: Now, in the US we’ve heard about state actors really appearing to have an influence on election outcomes. How concerned do you think Australians should be about that happening here? NIGEL PHAIR: I think we should be very concerned, we’ve got a great case study from the US. We’re very allied to the US and when you look at nation states that have disrupted that election I think it’s a given that there’s many out there that’ll disrupt ours. SUNANDA CREAGH: So what can we do about that? NIGEL PHAIR: It’s a tough one. We need to start working with all the players involved. And this is where the social media companies come into it. Your Googles, your Facebooks, your Twitters, your Instagrams etc. Because that’s the place of choice that nation states will use to send out any bespoke messaging. SUNANDA CREAGH: Should we be changing any progression we’re making in Australia towards electronic voting? NIGEL PHAIR: We have zero progression towards electronic voting, unfortunately, and I think it’s a great thing. But because we had the census failure, because we had the robo-debt issues, because we had the My Health Record issues, as a population there’s no way in my generation that we will see electronic voting. We just won’t countenance it because of the perceived risks. I’m a pro-online guy. We doom and gloom everything online too much and I’m guilty for doing that. But we want people to participate online. We are great and early adopters of mobile smart devices and we love being online itself, so it makes sense for service delivery to be online, it makes sense to order your food online, to do social media, participate in everything, there’s a lot of good benefit. But because we hear this messaging all the time about the government can’t deal with online issues, there’s already this level of distrust and dissatisfaction out there that voting will just be another one of those things. And the facts just don’t support that. SUNANDA CREAGH: Would there be anything that you’d change about the way political parties collect or are allowed to collect data on people given that they seem to be a perfect target or a growing target? NIGEL PHAIR: Oh, there’s lots I’d change. Primary to that is the Privacy Act and adherence to the privacy principles of which political parties don’t need to. SUNANDA CREAGH: In what way? What change would you make? NIGEL PHAIR: Well, I’d ensure that political parties have to adhere to the privacy principles when it comes to the collection, the storage, retention and dissemination of personally identifying information. SUNANDA CREAGH: And what are the privacy principles? NIGEL PHAIR: Well the privacy principles, there’s 13 of them, inform organisations in Australia where they have a turnover of more than A$3 million about how they should collect data, how they should store that data, how they should disseminate it and how they should destroy it. There’s some simple advice that’s provided by the Australian Office of the Information Commissioner. And they’re quite easy to adhere to, but unfortunately political parties are exempt from that and I see that as being a bad thing. SUNANDA CREAGH: So we’re at a point where I guess you’d have to assume that basically anybody could be a target for a hack and any organisation could be. So what options are there for organisations like political parties that don’t have My Health Record level of security set ups or government scale security set ups? NIGEL PHAIR: Well, the first thing they have to do is acknowledge that they’re are a target. Then they have to go through a risked-based process to understand what their information assets are, what their technology stack is, and who has access to it and make sound investment decisions around that. We can no longer, as a society, just say “it’s not us that gets hacked, it’s always someone else”. I mean, there is a cost of participating online. SUNANDA CREAGH: Nigel Phair, thank you so much for talking to us. NIGEL PHAIR: Pleasure.
Paul Bide Chair of School of SSE Australia Paul is Chair of SSE Australia and is a passionate advocate and capacity builder of Australia’s emerging social enterprise sector. He is motivated by wanting to play a part in better harnessing the power and wisdom that exists in the community to identify and solve social problems within it, and is particularly interested in business and mission development, developing access to early stage social capital, linking the social sector to business networks, inclusion and economic empowerment. Paul’s 27 year career in banking and finance started at the Reserve Bank of Australia in 1983. He then moved to Bankers Trust Australia in 1986 for 13 years and ended with a decade at Macquarie Bank where he was an Executive Director and Head of the Debt Markets Division. Paul is a Director of the Trustee of the Newpin Social Benefit Bond; a member of the Youth Justice Board of the WA Department of Corrective Services; a member of the investment committee of SVA’s Social Impact Fund; a Director of Challenger Retirement and Investment Services Limited, and; on the Advisory Board of the Australian Office of Financial Management.
there was no cyber-attack on Census, data was untouched Microsoft backflips on Australian Office 365 migrations Telstra prepares for 5G network Seagate announces 60TB 3.5in solid-state drive Microsoft slashes Windows 10 rollback period Quadrooter flaws menace 900 million Android devices Apple Said to Plan First Pro Laptop Overhaul in Four Years
there was no cyber-attack on Census, data was untouched Microsoft backflips on Australian Office 365 migrations Telstra prepares for 5G network Seagate announces 60TB 3.5in solid-state drive Microsoft slashes Windows 10 rollback period Quadrooter flaws menace 900 million Android devices Apple Said to Plan First Pro Laptop Overhaul in Four Years --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/aussietechheads/message