http://australianpolitics.com Resources, News & Commentary from Malcolm Farnsworth Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:23:43 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= Resources, News & Commentary from Malcolm Farnsworth AustralianPolitics.com no Resources, News & Commentary from Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/rss_default.jpg http://australianpolitics.com/category/issues/economy-issues http://australianpolitics.com/2012/02/01/gillard-building-a-new-economy-speech.html http://australianpolitics.com/2012/02/01/gillard-building-a-new-economy-speech.html#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:24:14 +0000 Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/?p=5013 http://australianpolitics.com/2012/02/01/gillard-building-a-new-economy-speech.html/feed 2 http://australianpolitics.com/2012/01/31/abbott-npc-speech.html http://australianpolitics.com/2012/01/31/abbott-npc-speech.html#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:00:12 +0000 Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/?p=5025 http://australianpolitics.com/2012/01/31/abbott-npc-speech.html/feed 0 http://australianpolitics.com/2011/12/13/martin-parkinson-speech.html http://australianpolitics.com/2011/12/13/martin-parkinson-speech.html#comments Tue, 13 Dec 2011 07:48:44 +0000 Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/?p=4680 http://australianpolitics.com/2011/12/13/martin-parkinson-speech.html/feed 0 Martin Parkinson,Treasury This is the text and audio of a speech by Dr. Martin Parkinson, Secretary to the Treasury. - Dr. Parkinson addressed The Sydney Institute. The speech was originally published on the Treasury website. - Whilst technical to some extent, This is the text and audio of a speech by Dr. Martin Parkinson, Secretary to the Treasury. Dr. Parkinson addressed The Sydney Institute. The speech was originally published on the Treasury website. Whilst technical to some extent, the speech is readable and informative. It traces economic developments over the past year and advances some thoughts on the coming decade. Listen to Dr. Parkinson's speech and answers to questions (58m) PLAY Download the accompanying Powerpoint slides displayed throughout the speech A Year in Retrospect, A Decade in Prospect I would like to acknowledge the assistance of Leigh Soding in preparing this address. Introduction Thank you for the opportunity to be here with you tonight. With 2011 rapidly coming to an end, I thought I might take stock of what has happened over the year, both globally and domestically, and muse a little about what lies in store for the year, and years, ahead. A year in retrospect 2011 has been a tumultuous year. Were I to have been standing here this time last year, I would have said something like: The Australian economy is in a strong position … real GDP is now growing at around its trend rate … The global economy has recovered from recession faster than expected, but at different speeds across regions … Financial market conditions have improved since the sharp increase in market volatility and stress experienced in mid-2010 when the European sovereign debt crisis reached its peak.[1] In fact, a barrage of events, either unanticipated or occurring more rapidly than expected, has battered both the global and Australian economies. Who would have thought standing here last December that we were shortly to see a series of tremendous and devastating natural disasters. Floods and cyclones in Australia; the triple calamity of an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident in Japan; and a second devastating earthquake in New Zealand. These natural disasters have wreaked immense damage on people and communities in all these regions. And they have also had significant implications for the Australian economy. The deadly floods in Queensland saw the tragic loss of 35 of our fellow Australians and, along with Cyclone Yasi, disrupted countless other lives, with the loss of houses, jobs and community infrastructure. They disrupted coal exports, while agricultural production was also hit hard, with the resulting supply shortages leading to temporary, but significant, increases in some product prices and to headline inflation. The events in Japan, a key export market for our commodities, impacted on the closely integrated global supply chains of vehicles and high-end manufactures. Indeed, the loss of production in Japan was a key factor in the 12 per cent plunge in US light vehicle sales over April to June, with similar impacts being seen in Australia — clearly evidence of globalisation at work. Combined these natural disasters subtracted around ¾ of a percentage point from Australia’s economic growth in 2010-11. These events also meant that the Australian economy, and to some extent the global economy, entered 2011 on a less stable footing than anticipated, although the global and domestic outlooks still seemed broadly positive. This stability has been questioned a number of times this year, including in part by the major geo-political event of the year – the “Arab Spring”. This reawakening of the Arab peoples has seen the overthrow of governments in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, a transition of power in Yemen, serious challenges to the authority of others in the region, and what looks to be virtual civil war in Syria. It is too early to tell how this will all turn out, but these are events that I suspect will have long-term geo-political and, possibly, economic implications. But what of the global recovery? Well, it was dramatically undermined by a series of events emanating in the North Atlantic. AustralianPolitics.com no http://australianpolitics.com/2011/11/21/tony-abbott-speech-to-sydney-institute.html http://australianpolitics.com/2011/11/21/tony-abbott-speech-to-sydney-institute.html#comments Mon, 21 Nov 2011 09:50:36 +0000 Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/?p=4587 http://australianpolitics.com/2011/11/21/tony-abbott-speech-to-sydney-institute.html/feed 0 http://australianpolitics.com/2011/09/27/global-resolve-wayne-swan.html http://australianpolitics.com/2011/09/27/global-resolve-wayne-swan.html#comments Tue, 27 Sep 2011 06:43:35 +0000 Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/?p=4399 http://australianpolitics.com/2011/09/27/global-resolve-wayne-swan.html/feed 0 http://australianpolitics.com/2011/03/31/abbott-welfare-crackdown.html http://australianpolitics.com/2011/03/31/abbott-welfare-crackdown.html#comments Thu, 31 Mar 2011 08:19:47 +0000 Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/?p=4157 http://australianpolitics.com/2011/03/31/abbott-welfare-crackdown.html/feed 1 http://australianpolitics.com/2011/02/01/gillard-my-vision-for-the-nation.html http://australianpolitics.com/2011/02/01/gillard-my-vision-for-the-nation.html#comments Tue, 01 Feb 2011 04:17:47 +0000 Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/?p=4069 http://australianpolitics.com/2011/02/01/gillard-my-vision-for-the-nation.html/feed 0 CEDA,Julia Gillard The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has outlined her "vision for the nation", an economic future beyond the mining boom that positions Australia as a flexible market economy, highly skilled, high-tech, and low-pollution. - The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has outlined her "vision for the nation", an economic future beyond the mining boom that positions Australia as a flexible market economy, highly skilled, high-tech, and low-pollution. Outlining her vision in a spe... AustralianPolitics.com no http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/28/gillard-clashes-with-neil-mitchell-over-flood-levy.html http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/28/gillard-clashes-with-neil-mitchell-over-flood-levy.html#comments Fri, 28 Jan 2011 04:40:12 +0000 Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/?p=4021 http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/28/gillard-clashes-with-neil-mitchell-over-flood-levy.html/feed 0 Andrew Fraser,Anna Bligh,flood levy,Julia Gillard,Neil Mitchell,Wayne Swan The debate over the Gillard government's flood levy got willing today as the Prime Minister clashed with Neil Mitchell on Melbourne radio station 3AW. - Towards the end of the interview, Gillard and Mitchell clashed over Cabinet support for the levy a... The debate over the Gillard government's flood levy got willing today as the Prime Minister clashed with Neil Mitchell on Melbourne radio station 3AW. Towards the end of the interview, Gillard and Mitchell clashed over Cabinet support for the levy and oversight of the flood recovery spending. Listen to Gillard and Mitchell: "Don't patronise me, Neil." (3m) PLAY For the complete context of the encounter, listen to the complete Gillard-Mitchell interview. (20m) - transcript below. PLAY Later in the morning, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and Treasurer Andrew Fraser held a press conference to outline infrastructure rebuilding plans. Listen to Bligh and Fraser. (26m) PLAY In a speech this afternoon to the CEO Institute in Brisbane, the Federal Treasurer, Wayne Swan, defended the government's plan for the flood levy. He argued that in a growing economy it is important "to pay your way as you go". Swan said it would have been irresponsible to borrow to fund the rebuilding program. Listen to Wayne Swan's speech. (25m) PLAY Transcript of Julia Gillard's interview with Neil Mitchell. GILLARD: Good morning, Neil. MITCHELL: Thank you very much for your time. I appreciate it. Prime Minister, with your Government’s history of mis-management, like the insulation program, school re-building, who are you going to put in charge of the spending of this money you’re going to take from us? GILLARD: Major-General Mick Slater is the chair of the Queensland recovery authority. MITCHELL: But he’s a soldier. Is he going to be in charge of the money? GILLARD: So, Queensland has created a recovery authority just like Victoria did when we had the very devastating bushfires. We’ve made Mick Slater available. He’s obviously going to bring all of his Defence Force experience to that role, and then of course the authority will employee professional people, just like the recovery authority did in Victoria, to roll out funds. We will also have an agreement with the Queensland Government with strict guidelines around expenditure, but we do need to get on with this job, Neil, and start the re-build. MITCHELL: Look, I couldn’t agree more, but with due to respect to the Major-General, he’s probably a terrific organiser and soldier, but he’s not an accountant. He’s not a money man, and Defence hasn’t got a great record of managing its money. How can you guarantee us that it won’t go the way of the insulation program and the school rebuilding? Putting a soldier in charge doesn’t fix it. GILLARD: Well, the money will be spent through the recovery authority, which will obviously engage the professional staff it needs, the accountants, the- MITCHELL: -So who’s accountable? GILLARD: Well, the recovery authority has Mick Slater as the chair. There is a committee there that will run the authority. Obviously, the authority will report to the Queensland Government and we will receive reports from the authority, and we will have an agreement with the Queensland Government. I will, the Federal Government will, make sure that the guidelines are there and that they’re adhered too so that we get value for money. MITCHELL: You keep talking about Queensland. Does any of this money come to Victoria? GILLARD: Yes, of course, Neil- MITCHELL: -So who oversees it in Victoria? GILLARD: We’ll work with Baillieu Government on that, and see what sort of arrangements Premier Baillieu wants to strike- MITCHELL: -and what about Tasmania? Same thing in Tasmania? GILLARD: Well, yes. Neil, I think we’ve just got to take one step back here. Special arrangements in terms of a recovery authority are being made in Queensland because of the size and scale of the devastation – 75 per cent of the State natural disaster declared – but yes, we’ve got rebuilding to do in other parts of the country, including in Victoria. Now, the damage is there, AustralianPolitics.com no http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/28/impact-of-floods-on-economy-swan.html http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/28/impact-of-floods-on-economy-swan.html#comments Thu, 27 Jan 2011 23:55:18 +0000 Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/?p=4029 http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/28/impact-of-floods-on-economy-swan.html/feed 0 flood levy,floods,Wayne Swan This is the text of a speech delivered by the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, to the CEO Institute, in Brisbane. Listen to Wayne Swan's speech. (25m) PLAY - The Impact of the Floods on our Patchwork Economy - This is the text of a speech delivered by the Treasurer, Wayne Swan, to the CEO Institute, in Brisbane. Listen to Wayne Swan's speech. (25m) PLAY The Impact of the Floods on our Patchwork Economy Thanks very much for having me and for t... AustralianPolitics.com no http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/25/wayne-swan-cpi-floods-budget.html http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/25/wayne-swan-cpi-floods-budget.html#comments Tue, 25 Jan 2011 06:58:51 +0000 Malcolm Farnsworth http://australianpolitics.com/?p=3982 Treasurer Wayne Swan held a doorstop press conference today to comment on the release of the latest Consumer Price Index figures. Swan also talked about the impact on the federal budget of the floods.

• Listen to Wayne Swan's media doorstop. PLAY

]]> http://australianpolitics.com/2011/01/25/wayne-swan-cpi-floods-budget.html/feed 0 CPI,floods,Wayne Swan Treasurer Wayne Swan held a doorstop press conference today to comment on the release of the latest Consumer Price Index figures. - Swan also talked about the impact on the federal budget of the floods. Listen to Wayne Swan's media doorstop. PLAY Treasurer Wayne Swan held a doorstop press conference today to comment on the release of the latest Consumer Price Index figures. Swan also talked about the impact on the federal budget of the floods. Listen to Wayne Swan's media doorstop. PLAY AustralianPolitics.com no