Archive for Australia
December 7, 2009 at 8:24 am · Filed under America, Australia
Changes rocked Australian politics last week. The Leader of the Opposition last Monday was Malcolm Turnbull until Liberal party colleagues voted for a change. Media pundits backed Joe Hockey and, much like the Melbourne Cup, the favourite was nowhere near the finish line.
The new leader of the Opposition is Tony Abbott – conservative, anti-Emissions Trading, anti-union and a practicing Catholic. While religion rarely matters in politics, for a Catholic head of party it may make a difference as Australia has socialised medicine with a broad offering in reproductive medicine.
In August I wrote a post, “Facing an Election? Take Your Shirt Off!” Abbott is a fitness enthusiast known to bicycle 60 kms on the weekend for fun. There is no shortage of photos in the newspapers featuring Tony dashing across the finish line after an ocean swim. Of course he’s wearing the Australian standard – budgie smugglers (aka Speedos). If you’re not up on Aussie slang, a budgie is a type of bird. Put the two words together and you’ll probably get a visual. No? Look at this made-up campaign poster from today’s The Australian.
Later in the week the State of New South Wales (home to Sydney) also forced a change. This time it was the leader of the sitting government. Premier Nathan Rees was dumped in favour of Christina Keneally. Amazingly Christine is originally from Ohio and is the first female Premier in NSW. She still has a Yankee twang.
And like me, she fell in love and married an Australian – and fell in love all over again with Australia. It’s rare you get to choose your nationality!
Keneally shares a famous last name with Australian author Tom Keneally – best known for “Schindler’s Ark” which later became Speilberg’s film “Schindler’s List”. Christine is married to Tom’s nephew and they have two bi-national sons (Aussie-Yanks like my son).
Sad for Keneally is the view she’s a puppet to factional elements within the Labor Party – which was summed up neatly in The Sun Herald this weekend in their cartoon by David Rowe. I like the Yankee dress, the demure pose – and the numerous wingtips under the bustle of her dress.
November 26, 2009 at 6:33 am · Filed under America, Australia
In the land of November beach days, it’s not Thanksgiving today.
It’s just a Thursday in November and I am already at work.
There’s no steam in the kitchen as multiple pots come to boil. No one’s setting up the children’s table or ironing out Mimere’s lace tablecloth. There aren’t chores like shucking corn or stirring pearl onions or laying the fire. No one’s uncorking the wine or seeing if we remembered cranberry juice.
It’s all rather quiet.
I try to explain Thanksgiving but no one quite understands. What are Pilgrims? Didn’t you wind up killing Indians? Is it religious?
You can’t explain the conflicted thinking as you help yourself to a third serve of turkey - even though you were full after the first plate. You can’t explain the contentedness of being so squeezed onto a table three people need to pull out their chairs if you want to go to the bathroom. You can’t explain the wonderful incongruity of three generations together for one day a year - even if there are arguments. And you can’t explain why one woman…or two…or three…or some men…would cook for two days only to face a cavalcade of dirty pots.
No one understands Thanksgiving outside of America. And nowhere have I travelled that there’s been an equivalent holiday. It’s not like Christmas because you don’t have to buy gifts. It’s not like Easter because you don’t have to go to Church. It’s not like the Fourth of July because the weather keeps you indoors - all of you - and you have to wear nicer clothes. Plus they don’t televise football in summer!
Thanksgiving is a holiday completely unique in the world. And wherever I am I wish I was home.
Happy Thanksgiving. I miss you all!
Wally Down Undy
November 4, 2009 at 7:58 am · Filed under Globalisation, Australia
As an island nation Australia is bound to attract illegal immigrants via boat. Under Liberal leader John Howard mandatory detention of all refugees stemmed the flow. Under Kevin Rudd, the Labor government has softened the stance. And that’s lead to an influx of refugees.
In total the numbers are quite small. More visa over-stayers are already in the country having arrived by long-haul jet. Yet the dramatic imagery of small boats on massive seas filled with desperate people is ripe for national television.
This week the issue escalated due to a running issue and a new problem.
Today 78 refugees remain aboard an Australian Customs ship docked in Indonesian waters. They refuse to leave for fear of persecution under Indonesia’s shaky human rights regime. Another boat has 255 people seeking asylum in Australia. This is the long-running issue. Refugees have been aboard boats for three weeks.
Yesterday another boat sank in the Indian Ocean on its way to Australia. Twelve people are known to have died and another 11 are still missing. Opposition minister Tony Abbott blamed the Prime Minister for the deaths:
“You look at this terrible tragedy that’s unfolding in the Indian Ocean at the moment and you’ve got to say this is a comprehensive failure and it’s all the Prime Minister’s fault,” Abbott said in a radio interview.
Talk Radio is filled with views supporting a tougher stance – and others crying out for Australia to take responsibility for these people. By docking Australian flag ships off Indonesia and hoping to disembark their problems, the government is seeking to transfer ownership of refugees to Indonesia.
Clearly a regional approach is mandated – and Australia must play a lead role in directing policy and resettling refugees. When Hungarian children were evacuated in the 1950s amnesty by that country’s Communist regime they were greeted as heroes. When Vietnamese fled after the fall of Saigon they were welcomed – The Smithsonian Institute has one of the boats on display. Jews fleeing war-torn Germany were similarly shuffled from country to country – with one boat returned to Nazi Germany when the USA wouldn’t accept refugees.
The debate will continue for months to come. And in that period refugees will continue to attempt the water crossing to Australia. After covering rough seas in shoddy craft I hope they’re greeted with a sound policy and a welcoming government.
October 27, 2009 at 11:01 am · Filed under America, Australia
ABC Radio National has an all news station - located at 630 AM here in Sydney. (For my Yank readers, ABC means Australian Broadcasting Corporation and is a national, taxpayer funded broadcaster.) At 10:30 am I was on the Harbour Bridge crossing to a meeting when the half-hour news flash played. Headline three for the bulletin was, “Australian sheepdog beats New Zealand rival on its home turf - for the second year in a row.”
Now I’m sure this was one hell of a dog. Clearly a prize winner. But Australian radio is not so desperate for news that they broadcast nationally the results of state fair competitions. (”And Bill Chadd’s prize Angus took the blue ribbon at the Wagga Wagga Beef Invitational today!”)
Instead Australians were indulging in a bitter national rivalry. Australia versus New Zealand. It’s the Hatfields versus the McCoys all over again. (These West Virginian families entered American folklore with a multi-generational feud.)
New Zealand is to Australia as Canada is to the United States - a nearby neighbour that we pretend to embrace while saying disparaging things when they’re not in the room.
The fact a sheepdog trial got national radio play shows the depths we’ll go to to show Australians are better than New Zealanders. It’s a bi-national sport!
October 8, 2009 at 10:02 am · Filed under Globalisation, Australia
Classic film fans will recall the Peter Sellers comedy classic, “The Mouse That Roared.” In it, a backwater country long overlooked decides to enter the global stage by declaring war on the United States. This Duchy quickly becomes the centre of attention – and adventure. And of course because Peter Sellers is centre stage – in roles as diverse as a senior Minister to the Dowager Empress – the laughs are plentiful. (Trivia Note: This is Peter Sellers’ first film role and was released in 1959.)
Australia pulled off a global roar this week – it was the first developed country to raise interest rates, with a 0.25% increase by the Reserve Bank on Tuesday. The news sent stocks, gold and the Australian dollar soaring. More than $260 billion of wealth was returned to the Australian Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
Like many proud nationals, Australians love it when their country makes global news. Today’s “The Australian” features a front page from America inspired by our rate move. “The Wall Street Journal” led with the story, ‘Recovery Hopes Stir Markets’.
All this good news makes many nervous. The Reserve Bank signalled this was the first rate rise – and not the last. Forecasts call for three more similar rises in the coming months. What concerns some is the rises could be too soon in the recovery cycle – and in the midst of continued government incentives. (Note to self: Buy a new car before 31 December for the business and claim 50% tax deduction for the purchase.)
Whether the rate rises are early or well-timed, it does signal that, for Australia, the worst of the economic shocks are over. This country never entered recession and kept unemployment figures low. The government is credited with smart and quick market interventions. And of the ten most secure banks in the world, four are located in Australia.
So it’s time to dust off the “Money Come Kitty” and return to work – and hopefully the lucky cat will wave in lots more business.
September 29, 2009 at 10:19 am · Filed under Australia, Social Media
Jim Croce knew what he was singing when he recorded “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” in 1973:
“You don’t tug on superman’s cape
You don’t spit into the wind
You don’t pull the mask off that old lone ranger
And you don’t mess around with Jim”
Today Kraft Foods is facing the music after playing with Australia’s national snack spread – Vegemite. Following a marketing campaign to name a new, lighter Vegemite variant the company announced the winner yesterday. iSnack 2.0 is the name selected for the new Vegemite. It appears the selection was made following a whiz-bang marketing meeting involving creative geniuses paid by the hour. In other words, consumers hate it.
Writers from far afield as London have deplored the choice, as “Word of Mouth” at The Guardian comments:
“But to consider calling the Vegemite cheese spread “iSnack 2.0″… yes, that’s right … can only be the biggest steaming honker of an egregious publicity stunt in recorded history.”
Call me “Ishtar” but I do believe there were bigger failures – but you’d have to reach back to Edsel and “New Coke” to find one worse (Great article on New Coke: “It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time“). Said Coke’s recalcitrant boss:
‘We did not understand the deep emotions of so many of our customers for Coca-Cola.’
— DONALD R. KEOUGH, Coca-Cola president (1985)
But that was so…1985. Back then we had to write ‘Letters to the Editor’ and mail complaints to Atlanta, Georgia. Maybe we opened a can in front of a grocer and let it run into the gutter – in front of local television news. Things moved slowly then.
Kraft came out with iSnack 2.0 on Sunday. Today is Tuesday. Already blogs are on fire with disappointment, and the company has been forced to defend its choice. Talk about good PR gone bad!
In today’s age of immediacy it doesn’t take long for creative types to rubbish the product on blogs, mass-email friends, Twitter on the name and post hate videos – like this one.
September 5, 2009 at 12:11 pm · Filed under America, Australia
It pains me to have friends visit from America. They’re full of bad news and disparaging comments about the economy. Real bites have been taken out of the workforce, retail sector, manufacturing, home ownership – you name it. And friends from Australia visiting the USA report discouraging signs – “For Rent” – in lots of storefront windows. It seems America is still in the throes of a historic recession.
Down here in sunny Australia we have yet to enter recession. This week the June GDP figures were released. Australia grew at a paltry 0.6% - however it grew. Next week the G20 finance ministers meet in London. Of the 33 developed economies in the world, only one never entered recession. For the next year growth of 3.25 is forecast.
(Back in June 2009 I wrote about first signs of our economy’s incredible performance: Like Keanu, Australia Dodges Recession).
It’s hard to summarise the reasons for this world-beating performance – unless you’re Michael Stutchbury. He’s the Economics Editor of The Australian and today he provides a masterly overview of why we fared so well.
If you want to understand why the nickname “The Lucky Country” still applies today, read this great article: “How We Beat The Recession“.
August 31, 2009 at 2:39 pm · Filed under Globalisation, Australia
This month Australia signed the largest trade deal in its history - a natural gas export contract valued at US$41 billion. The Gorgon Project is being brought to life by Chevron and ExxonMobil. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the full project would create 6,000 jobs and cost AU$50 billion. By 2014 when the project is on-line Australia will surpass Qatar as the world’s leading exporter of natural gas. Some economists predict the economic injection of Gorgon Project to exceed the multi-billion Federal intervention in the economy.
It’s great news for the economy - and provides wonderful quotes for politicians:
“This unprecedented export deal confirms Australia’s importance as a global energy superpower supplying vital clean energy resources and technologies to China and our other Asia-Pacific trading partners,” Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said. (Source: Agence France Presse)
It’s also good news for economies in Asia. Australia’s proximity means shorter shipping times and no need to pass through conflict zones in the Middle East. For Australians the sheer scope of the project is hard to fathom. Considering oil and gas analysts also find the scale staggering it is no wonder:
Asian demand for coal and iron ore have helped Australia’s economy avoid recession during the global downturn but State One Stockbroking analyst Peter Kopetz said LNG was the next boom commodity. The gas is liquefied for shipping abroad, where it is turned back into gas and distributed via pipeline.
“The numbers are phenomenal. When you look at them it’s mind-boggling,” he said. “It’s going to be LNG boom times.”
Australia exported 15.2 million tonnes of LNG worth 5.2 billion dollars in 2006, a figure the government estimates will quadruple to 60 million tonnes by 2015 if all currently planned projects proceed. (Source: Agence France Presse)
The challenge remains, though, for politicians and others guiding the economy. With robust growth planned from minerals and now gas, Australia will continue to have a two-gear economy. Our commodity exports will be trebling in volume and value, while the “old economy” of services and manufacturing will fight to stay competitive. With billions pumped into the economy due to gas exports, it will be hard to keep interest rates at reasonable levels.
So while Australia may become “the Middle East of Gas” it doesn’t mean every Aussie will be flying first class to buy the latest season’s clothing at Harrods.
August 31, 2009 at 10:40 am · Filed under China, Globalisation, Australia
Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Australia continues to grow. “From innovation to a highly educated and multicultural workforce Australia is a globally competitive location for business,” according to Austrade - the Australian government department responsible for attracting investors. Add to that a stable government, secure legal system, great infrastructure, competitive tax environment and high quality of life and you understand why companies want to invest in Australia.
As of 31 December 2008, the stock of inward FDI in Australia was A$392.9 billion. The top four source countries were the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and the Netherlands. (Source:Austrade)
Australia’s top exports are minerals and resources, and given our location adjacent to Asia Pacific we’ve become a provider of choice for iron ore and other commodities. We are more competitive in terms of shipping times than Canada or Brazil, two significant resource competitors.
Notably absent from the listing of top countries investing in Australia is China. That said there has been no shortage of investments from China, particularly from resource companies. Austrade’s fact sheet on how it helped inward investment into resources has six case studies - four are from China.
This weekend Aquila Resources announced a $285.6 investment by China’s biggest steelmaker, Baosteel. This follows on the heels from the failed investment bid by Chinalco for US$19.5 billion in Rio Tinto. And while is is reassuring to see nearly $300 million invested by Baosteel, the scale of the failed US$19 billion deal is overwhelming.
It appears small deals are acceptable - but major transactions flounder. Why? Probably because it is not politically acceptable for the Government of Australia to approve large-scale investments by state-run enterprises from China. Australians are scared of China and don’t want their politicians to approve these transactions.
For China the road forward is a long one - but an easy journey is possible. There have always been massive differences between the East and the West. Yet through assimilation and education these differences are better understood. Generally we do not fear what we understand.
While China made a great start with the 2008 Olympics, a wide-scale education and cultural exchange program will help in Australia. That would include the standards of scholarships, cultural exchanges and trade delegations. But the heartland of Australia is large - and not likely to travel to the National Gallery for an exhibition of clay soldiers. Instead greater use of mass media would help - whether it’s the reality series of “Wife Swap” between families in Sichuan and Sylvania Waters or “Super Nanny” takes on spoiled boys in Foshan.
We need to see that the daily struggles and challenges faced by families in Australia and China are the same. Then we can cheer the progress made by the new-found celebrity families from China as they get together to grill bean curd or corn cobs on an Aussie barbecue. Then we’ll know and accept and adore China all the more.
August 28, 2009 at 10:15 am · Filed under Australia
In a global study on gender equality, Australia rated #5 amongst the most equal countries (Sweden was #1, followed by Denmark, Norway, Finland then Australia - which tied with the Netherlands as equal fifth). The USA was #9 and the UK #10. Indicators to measure equality included income, parliamentary representation, control of household income, and tertiary education. It is great to see Australia so high in the rankings. (See today’s The Australian.)
Concurrent with the study was a survey by Boston Consulting Group. This global poll asked female respondents how they ranked gender equality. In this survey Australian women believed there was less equality than in the study looking at demographic and societal issues.
Australian women feel less equal than the study suggests.
In the survey of women, Australia ranked #11. Top of the list of “perceived equality” was the United Arab Emirates. Sadly the Emirates didn’t reach the top 20 list of countries based on real indicators. Women in Turkey placed themselves as ’somewhat equal’ - ranking #9 - whereas the indicators placed the country #20.
When describing this anomaly - where perceived equality was lower than indicators of equality suggested - study sponsor Boston Consulting Group believed the perception lagged reality because we are acutely aware of the differences:
”Because we are relatively egalitarian compared with many other countries, we may be more acutely aware of our remaining inequalities,” BCG partner James Goth said. “And I think we do have a view here that because so few women manage to penetrate into positions of power — people like Gail Kelly, Julia Gillard, Quentin Bryce and Anna Bligh are seen as the exception — this flows through into women’s perceptions that they are yet to crack it in terms of equality.” (Source: Stephen Lunn, Social affairs writer, The Australian)
I wish I’d paid more attention in maths class as I’d be able to recall this theory’s name - if you divide the distance between yourself and a goal by half each time, you will never reach the destination. You may be millimetres away and never arrive.
I do not suggest Australia is millimetres away from gender equality - there is enormous room for improvement. Yet it seems to follow that the closer we get to equality, the larger the differences appear. I like the fact that gender inequalities are recognised and highlighted. It means as a nation we’ll work all the harder to eradicate them.
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