Wry & Dry: a cynical and irreverent review of the week in politics, economics and life. For intelligent Readers who disdain the trivial.
Investment Matters
Company profit reporting season continues. This week, Investment Matters reports on 17 companies, with deep dives on:
- Emeco
- Cleanaway
- Reliance Worldwide
- Challenger
To read Investment Matters, you can still just click on the link at the bottom of this week’s Wry & Dry. Or here.
Wry & Dry’s musings
Wry & Dry returns from leave to relive King Jim’s Roundtable, Uncle Albo’s finally showing spine and Liberals – Victorian and elsewhere – continue to be the gift that keeps on giving. And Readers looking for a comment on the engagement of Ms. Swift to a footballer will find none.
1. King Jim’s Roundtable – a reflection
Before the bounce, the federal Treasurer advised “The first day will be resilience. The second day productivity. The third day budget sustainability.”
The good Lord took six days to design the planet and its inhabitants. What hope Jim Chalmers for Australia in three?
None. It is now clear that the government was never going to outsource policy to a collective of rent-seekers, academics, policy wonks and do-gooders, even though there were some very good ideas promulgated from each cohort.
The Roundtable outputs were input before the bounce.
King Jim very well knows the government’s problems: Soviet-level productivity and too little revenue to finance its too much spending. And that he and Uncle Albo wasted the first three years of government on (a) a divisive ideological quest and (b) throwing away billions of fortuitous revenue from record iron ore prices.
The productivity problem has structural and commonsense fixes. But sadly, requires the cooperation of bureaucracies at local, state and federal levels. Bureaucracies are run by bureaucrats, whose very existence requires the employment of kilometres of red tape with which to bind approvals.
Any sensible bureaucrat is not going to put at risk his/her future employment by recommending processes that would eliminate it.
The revenue problem has the ageless challenge: how to “pluck the goose so as to get the most feathers with the least hissing.” 1
Hence the Treasurer’s creation of the magical but intellectually lazy lens through which taxation policy will now be viewed: “intergenerational equity.” Good grief! He has pushed the canoe of even more taxation into the river of public discourse.
The ‘intergenerational equity’ mantra will now become part of government-speak. And be used to provide cover and justification for the broader plucking of the goose.
1 Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV’s finance minister.
2. Uncle Albo mans up. At last.
Uncle Albo has gone through life doggedly trying not to upset people. Stolid as a librarian and as sturdy as an oak, he has dependably sat on the fence of difficult decision making throughout his life. But this week, he climbed down from sitting on what was an increasingly uncomfortable fence.
In giving the DCM to the Iranian Ambassador Mr. Sadeghi for complicity in the anti-Semitic fire bombings in Sydney and Melbourne he has shown what he can do when he has run out of alternatives.2 He had to upset some people eventually, especially those who continue to believe, in the face of all malevolent evidence, in the good intentions of Iran’s ultimate leadership.
Didn’t anyone on planet Canberra, or in the media, join the dots and ask why were portraits of Ayatollah Khamenei and flags of al-Qaeda and ISIS being carried in almost 2 years of pro-Palestine rallies? Were these people just useful idiots, or sincere operatives of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp?
Uncle Albo’s proscription of the IRGC strongly suggests the latter. And that there are more submerged IRGC logs beneath the surface.
Two years ago, the federal Home Affairs department wanted the IRGC listed as a terrorist group. The dilatory response of Uncle Albo provided cover for IRCG operatives to recruit local criminal networks. And to do their disgusting work.
The risk in all of this is that having found a third-party actor to blame for anti-Semitism in Australia, Uncle Albo and his cabinet of appeasers might now move on from their anti anti-Semitic campaign.
2 Which brings to mind: “You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing, after they have exhausted all the other possibilities.”
3. Nailing a coffin from the inside
To the delight of Labor Premier Allen, the Liberal Party in Victoria, already resting gently in the gilded electoral coffin, has achieved an amazing feat. It has not only closed the lid on itself in the coffin, but also somehow nailed the lid shut. From the inside.
Indeed, a reverse Houdini.3
Y’see, a group of Liberal Party members opposed to the party lending $1.5m to former Leader John Pesutto have spent some of their hard earned to take a poll of his popularity in his own electorate. Or was it an external party’s hard-earned?
The polling, whilst with a small sample and some push-polling questions, suggested that he trails Labor 45-55. The Quislings ensured the poll result received media coverage.
The outcome of the poll is irrelevant. Pesutto will face preselectors in due course, when the Quislings can put up or shut up.
These well-funded and demented Quislings are bent on revenge. Readers will recall the Chinese proverb: a person going on a journey to seek revenge should carry two coffins. The Quislings may well put Pesutto in a coffin, but in so doing have ensured that the Liberal Party in Victoria is not only in a coffin, but also well buried.
3 Erik Weisz (1874 – 1926), known professionally as Harry Houdini, was an American escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer noted for his escape acts. He was also the first person to undertake a powered flight in Australia (at Digger’s Rest, Victoria, in 1910).
4. Macron reaps what he has sown
The French are a very proud lot. None more so than their glorie seeking President. So, it is with great interest that the world considers that France might be the largest modern economy to be bailed out by the International Monetary Fund.
Readers will remember recent dosh handouts: Greece (over 8 years to 2018), Iceland (2008), Portugal (2011) and Ireland (2010). Older Readers will recall that the UK was bailed out in 1976.
In each case, the government of the day was given the DCM by voters.
C’est embarrassant! Especially to follow the Brits to bring out the begging bowl.
The possibility was foreshadowed on Tuesday by France’s Finance Minister Eric Lombard. He has to present a budget next month. Which is unlikely to pass muster, much less the parliament.
His budget got the attention of the country because of the most prominent of his measures: the scrapping of two national holidays. The aim being not so much a fiscal saving measure, but more to get the French to understand that the time has come to roll up the sleeves.
The budget will fail. So, for the third time in a year, France looks likely to lose its prime minister. Y’see, France’s budget deficit is 5.4% of GDP (UK’s is 5.7%, but declining; US’ 6.2% and static, and Australia’s 1.5% and increasing).
M. Macron must be running out of fiscal ideas. Hence, his looking for populist ideas. Such as… Oh, never mind.
5. Speaking of bureaucracies, if not inhumanity…
Today, the Financial Times has chronicled how Trumpster’s deportation of illegal immigrants works:
30 April 24-year-old Ecuadorian woman arrested in New Jersey. Incarcerated nearby.
4 May Flown to a Louisiana facility
8 May Flown to a Texas facility
9 May Flown to an Arizona facility
14 May Flown to a Colorado facility
24 June Flown back to Louisiana
25 June Flown to… Ecuador.
Seven flights, 56 days in detention. Ignoring the want of humanity, surely there was a flight on 4 May from Louisiana to Ecuador. If not, perhaps better to wait in Louisiana until there was one?
6. Mr. Albanese doesn’t go to Washington
The leaders of only three G20 nations have yet to secure a meeting with Trumpster. They are Brazil, Mexico and…
- Bhutan;
- Lesotho;
- Moldova; or
- Australia.
Close, but no cigar. The correct answer is d. The other three nations are not in the G20, and probably wouldn’t get a guernsey in Washington in any case.
A blend of a petulant president and a diplomatically artless prime minister will not be helpful in times of trouble. Although Albo might get a Trumpster pat on the back for giving the Iranian ambassador the DCM.
7. For Netflix fans
The privacy loving Princess Princess has come back for a second series on Netflix. She may not need the dosh, although there are rumours.
Her first series on Netflix, With Love, Meghan, rated as high as 383rd on the streamer’s most-watched list. Not quite up there with a royal wedding. But memories fade.
Meghan v 2.0 has excitedly just been released. That it might rank higher than Meghan v 1.0 will be the question on every viewer’s botoxed lips?
8. Retail crime
Say no more. The chart shows the increase in criminal events in the six months to June 2025 compared to the corresponding period to June 2024.
9. Meanwhile, on Planet Federal Liberal Party
It was recently noted in the media that of the 30 ‘youngest’ (defined by average age of voters) federal electorates in Australia, 25 are held by the Labor government. And the Coalition holds most of the oldest 30.
Is there a story in that statistic for the Coalition? Well, if there is, it’s that abandoning (as agreed this week by the Western Australian and South Australian parties, joining the Queensland folk) the already agreed Net Zero By 2050 policy is electoral suicide of most stupid kind.
The stupidity is shown by the proponents of the abandonment having the arrogance of not even suggesting a replacement policy. Perhaps the nuclear-power-station-in-a-backyard-near-you policy was their last best alternative. And look how well that worked.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, in her speech to win party room support for her leadership quest after the election, spoke of the need to broaden the electoral appeal of the party to past and present constituencies. That message has already been cast adrift in the sea of a yearning for Robert Menzies’ return from the dead.
Ms. Ley did not mention the need to electorally appeal to emerging constituencies. Such as those currently under the age of 18, but who will get the vote over the next six years. Wry & Dry guess that these folk like the idea of the Net Zero.
10. And peace broke out throughout the planet
Trumpster claims to have ended seven wars. This is the stuff of a Nobel Peace Prize. Surely?
Err. Maybe not. The venerable folk at the venerable BBC assessed his claims, as follows:
- Israel v Iran. This was 12-day conflict. Not a war.
- Pakistan v India. A four-day skirmish. Not a war.
- Rwanda v DRC. A 23-year war. Peace agreement not signed. War has resumed.
- Thailand v Cambodia. A 3-month border skirmish. Not a war.
- Armenia v Azerbaijan. A 40-year conflict, with the final 6-year war ended.
- Egypt v Ethiopia. A disagreement about water rights. Ongoing dispute.
- Serbia v Kosovo. Trumpster claimed to prevent a war from starting.
Objectively, Trumpster can claim to have ended just…one war.
To get his NPP, however, he will have to be the principal actor in ending a considerable war. The world has given him two opportunities. Ukraine, without compromising Ukraine’s sovereignty; and Gaza, without compromising both (a) Gazan’s right to occupy and (b) Israel’s right to exist and be peaceably left alone.
If Trumpster had a spine, the first is possible. If he were God, the second is possible. Which is why he likes his chances on the second.
Snippets from all over
1. Reform UK’s DCM plans for illegal immigrants
Women and unaccompanied children would be deported [as well as men] under Reform UK’s plan to remove up to 600,000 illegal immigrants within five years of it taking power, according to Nigel Farage. (The Times)
Wry & Dry comments: Farage is the man who started the Brexit movement. His political party, Reform, heads the polls with 33%, well ahead of Labour (22%) and Conservatives (17%).
2. Tourism to US down
The US is set to be the only major economy to suffer a decline in tourism spending this year. (UK Telegraph)
Wry & Dry comments: Tourism from Canada is down 32% by land and 14% by air this year. For Europe it is between 11-17%, depending on source country. Cannot guess what has changed this year.
3. Nevergrand
Evergrande, the world’s most indebted property developer, has been officially ejected from Hong Kong’s stock exchange, bringing down the curtain on the public status of a company that embodied the rise and fall of China’s real estate sector. (Financial Times)
Wry & Dry comments: In 2022 it had total assets of $250bn. And liabilities of $300bn+.
4. Google Zero
Publishers are racing to find ways to counter the threat of “Google Zero” — the sharp fall in web traffic that many media executives worry about following the launch of AI-based tools on the US platform. (Financial Times)
Wry & Dry comments: When will Trump Zero occur?
5. Mounties to Ukraine
Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister, pledged more than C$1bn ($723m) in military aid to Ukraine during Independence Day celebrations in Kyiv. (Economist)
Wry & Dry comments: Canada should send the Mounties to the Kremlin.
It figures
- 2.7%: Australia: Inflation in year to July, up from 2.1% in June. No more rate cuts?
- 3.8%: UK. Inflation in year to end July, up from 3.6%. No more rate cuts?
- 23%: UK. Percent of white British school children who were persistently absent last year.
- 4%: UK. Percent of ethnic Chinese school children who were persistently absent last year.
And to soothe your troubled mind…
(Higgins) demonstrated such an indifference to the truth that her account of the essential elements of the allegation can only be regarded as dishonest.”
Justice Paul Tottle in awarding $340,000 plus interest to former Senator Linda Reynolds in her claim for defamation damages from Brittany Higgins. This follows Ms Higgins’ claim that Ms. Reynolds had engaged in a cover up of her alleged rape.
Wry & Dry comments: Ms. Higgins may have to pay for Ms. Reynolds’ costs as well as her own. Down to Centrelink?
Wry & Dry is on leave next week and so Wry & Dry will not be published. But Investment Matters will.
Wry & Dry returns on Friday 12 September.
Disclaimer
The comments in Wry & Dry do not necessarily reflect those of First Samuel, its Directors or Associates.
Cheers!
Read this week’s edition of Investment Matters.