Wry & Dry: a cynical and irreverent review of the week in politics, economics and life. For intelligent Readers who disdain the trivial.
Investment Matters
This week Craig does a very deep dive on China’s…
- miracle GDP growth outcome
- weak population growth
and hence rising macro risks. As well as a portfolio around the grounds on:
- Origin Energy and Kraken
- Aurelia Metals
To read Investment Matters, you can still click at the bottom of this week’s Wry & Dry. Or here.
Wry & Dry’s much truncated summer ponderings…
Uncle Albo does a Steve Bradbury. Politicians’ exemplar of Self-Indulgent Petty Political Leadership 101 on a Day of National Mourning. Trumpster’s exemplar of Climbdown 101 in Switzerland. Europe finds a spine.
1. Now is the summer of our discontent…1
The week started with Uncle Albo about to hit the canvas for the third time. Four days later, he wears the champion’s belt. All because of four days of Steven Bradbury outcomes.2
The disgraceful political response to the Bondi Massacre failed not only Jews, but also Australians who felt ashamed of the realisation of the inevitable outcome of anti-semitism. Then this week’s political bitchiness and then bastardry shamed Canberra.
Consider the political bitchiness:
- Uncle Albo’s insistence that he was planning a royal commission all along, just that it wasn’t a priority. Fail.
- Uncle Albo’s determination to wedge the Opposition by combining the gun control bill with that of criminalisation of hate crime. Fail.
- Head Girl Sussan’s determination to get Uncle Albo to apologise for his many sins. Fail.
- The Gnats just wanted to express outrage at the “demonisation of legal gun owners.” Fail.
- The Gnats just wanted to pretend their deep concern for Jews. Fail.
- The Greens continued to argue against Israel rather than against anti-semitism and tried to draw some equivalence with other forms of prejudice or intimidation. Fail.
Whilst these Canberran political tribes were dancing around their toppling totem poles, an exemplar of the infiltration of anti-semitism in the cultural-left continued in sleepy Adelaide. The Writers’ Week director, Louise Adler had invited a brazen, brutal and pro-Hamas 7 October cheerleader. Not great timing, really. Wiser heads uninvited the antisemite.
Then the self-righteousness started. Adler spat the dummy onto the moon. She hits the phones to urge other writers to not appear. The antisemite lawyer up. The Writers’ Carnivale sunk into its own excrement.
Uncle Albo did what was possible in parliament. Yes, it could have been better in so many ways. But his apology to Australian Jews last night was masterful timing of a political masterstroke
By this morning, he was the only one left on the podium.
Y’see, the Gnats allowed Uncle Albo to do a Steve Bradbury. And the mourning for Australian Jews was diluted by their political self-interest.
1 “Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this sun of York;” the opening line of Shakespeare’s Richard III.
2 The first athlete from Australia to win a Winter Olympics gold medal (2002 Salt Lake City). In the semi-final the entire field ahead of him crashed out on the final corner. The same happened in the final.
2. Moses nowhere to be seen
It wasn’t the news that Uncle Albo had been weighed, and found wanting.3 Nor that the news for Head Girl Sussan is only marginally better. It was the surge in popularity of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Collective that drove the Gnats betrayal.
What’s going on? Well, it seems that Pauline Hanson has done what no-one thought possible: kept her mouth shut about the Bondi Massacre. Perhaps she wasn’t aware of the issue. Anyway, she did a Steve Bradbury. And skated to #2.
Predictably, no sooner were the poll results published on Monday than she came out and said that she is ready to lead the country. And form government. All of this with one single policy: essentially less immigration from non-Anglo-Celtic peoples. Her acolytes rejoiced.
It was this polling threat from One Nation that caused Tuesday’s Gnats’ betrayal. Which imploded the Coalition.
Consider, on Sunday night, shadow cabinet (which included three Gnats) agreed to support the hate laws. Then on Monday, the polling threat from One Nation spooked the Gnats. Its wannabe kingmaker, Senator Canavan, led an insurrection. On Tuesday morning the Gnats turned their coats. Three shadow cabinet members crossed the floor (they might have abstained). Head Girl Sussan did the right thing and gave them the DCM. The rest of the Gnats in the shadow ministry then walked, including its leader, David Littleproud.
Littleproud showed his true colours on the National Day of Mourning. And took the headlines by quitting the Coalition. His DCM will be served warm. There is no way possible that the Gnats could be in government without the Liberals.
Meanwhile, back at Liberal HQ, the search for a Moses to lead them out of the wilderness continues. Head Girl Sussan has bought time because of Littleproud’s bastardry, Taylor is a weak communicator, and Hastie is muddled at policy. Which leaves two outsiders left to lead the Liberals to the land of milk and money.
3 Astute Readers would recognise the figurative rendering of“tekel” that was written on the wall in last week’s Wry & Dry.
3. Trumpster meets Davos Man
Davos Man4 – an avatar of an aficionado of the technocratic globalised elite, presenting obsession with and virtue signalling of climate change, regulations, and the rules-based-order of the world; but in reality only interested in power – went to Davos to be seen seeing and hearing Trumpster. And to drink cocktails.
There were times when Trumpster’s rambling and repetitive assault on each of Davos Man’s cherished commandments caused fingers to instinctively type into mobile phones and eyes to wander to ESPN. Trumpster’s thrice confusion of Iceland and Greenland – lucky Thailand didn’t get a mention, but he knew that he was in Switzerland – wasn’t noticed by anyone except the Danes.
What the Danes did notice was the first step downward on Trumpster’s ladder of turning Greenland into his 51st state (JD Vance would never allow that to happen – it would automatically get two Senate seats and one House seat – all voting Democrat, imperiling post-Trumpster control of Congress). Yes, no invasion. Yes, no tariffs on the suddenly stiffer spines of Europe.
Davos Man will go home happy to have been seen seeing and hearing. Trumpster will go home, not noticing that he might have reached Peak Trumpster. The Danes will go home, happy that they have surrendered to Trumpster that which the US had anyway. And American telly viewers will no longer think that Davos is a ski resort in Colorado.
4 A gender neutral proper noun.
4. Spot the trend – Trumpster approval rating
Chart source: The Economist 22 January 2026
5. Silly season Trivia I
It’s no wonder that the US administration is chaos. Trumpster wrote to Norway’s Prime Minister, linking his want to purchase Greenland with Norway’s failure to give him the Nobel Peace Prize.5
Close. But no cigar. It is Denmark that has sovereignty over Greenland, not Norway. Google Maps (print edition) is in the mail.
5 “… considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize . . . I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”
6. Silly season Trivia II
Apparently, Princess Princess (aka Duchess of Sussex, Countess of Dumbarton and Baroness Kilkeel, aka Meghan Markle) has a telly programme on Netflix: With Love, Meghan.
The second series (or is it season?) of her programme ranked as loftily as 1,106th on Netflix’s list of its most popular shows. Viewer rating services were also beastly: 17% on Rotten Tomatoes and 3.2 out of 10 on IMDb.
Her Grace won’t mind. She is of the there-is-only-one-thing-in-life-worse-than-being-talked-about-and-that-is-not-being-talked-about school.6 Trouble is, the media want content contrast to Trumpster, and she is it.
6 Oscar Wilde.
7. Victorian government’s service delivery failures
The data tells what every Victorian knows, the state government last year failed to meet about one third of its service delivery targets.
The standout failure was, as Readers might expect: Justice and Community Safety (aka crime) failed almost 50% of its targets. There’s not much justice in Victoria. And precious little safety.
But wait! There’s more. It was noted in yesterday’s Age that Auntie Jacinta’s Department of Transport and Planning (the third worst department in service delivery – see above chart) has a Plan to lift standards for tradespeople. Well, a Plan is a good start.
However, the Plan’s implementation will now be delayed by as much as 14 years after the change was due to take effect.
Don’t Readers just love the Victorian state government?
Snippets from all over
From cars to banking
Ford and General Motors have received approval from federal regulators to set up banks, in a sign of the Trump administration’s more permissive approach to financial oversight. (Financial Times)
Wry & Dry comments: It’s called vertical integration.
Trumpster lawyers up, again
Mr Trump filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase and its boss, Jamie Dimon. He accused the bank of cutting ties with him for political reasons, and demanded at least $5bn in compensation. (The Economist)
Wry & Dry comments: Trumpster might find that both JP Morgan and its boss have a spine
Japan goes nuclear
Japan restarted one of seven reactors at the world’s largest nuclear power plant, which was taken offline after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. (The Times)
Wry & Dry comments: Japan is struggling to meet growing demand for renewable energy.
Emperor Eleven’s mega-embassy approved
The British government on Tuesday approved construction of a Chinese mega-embassy in the heart of London, rejecting the objections of critics who said the new building will make it easier for China to conduct spying operations. (New York Times, 21 January)
Wry & Dry comments: He’ll next buy Buckingham Palace.
Americans pay for Trumpster’s tariffs, not foreigners
Americans, not foreigners, are bearing almost the entire cost of U.S. tariffs, according to new research that contradicts a key claim by President Trump and suggests he might have a weaker hand in a reemerging trade war with Europe. (Wall Street Journal, 20 January)
Wry & Dry comments: Foreign exporters absorbed only about 4% of the burden of last year’s U.S. tariff increases by lowering their prices, while American consumers and importers absorbed 96%.
UK in second place
The UK has retained its ranking among global chief executives as the second most important market for international investment, beaten only by America, but international rivals are “gaining ground”.(The Times, 20 January)
Wry & Dry comments: The US scored with 35% of investment share, somewhat ahead of the UK’s 13%. The ‘international rivals’ are Germany and India.
Wry & Dry is not suggesting that there is a link…
It figures
- 4.1%: Australia – unemployment rate for December, down from 4.3%. Expect a rate increase.
And to soothe your troubled mind…
“We must recognise that Switzerland is part of Europe. If the continent is threatened by a Russian attack, it is clear that Switzerland could also be affected.”
Martin Pfister, Switzerland’s Defence Minister, speaking on his country’s newly adopted security strategy of closer military co-operation with Nato and the EU.
Wry & Dry comments: Thereby overturning Switzerland’s ‘perpetual neutrality’ granted at the post-Napoleonic Congress of Vienna in 1815.
Disclaimer
The comments in Wry & Dry do not necessarily reflect those of First Samuel, its Directors or Associates.
Cheers!