27-09-2015, 07:24 AM
(24-09-2015, 07:38 AM)greengiraffe Wrote: [ -> ](22-09-2015, 04:26 PM)greengiraffe Wrote: [ -> ]PM change ‘boost to confidence’Start of a more stable political environment Down Under?
[b]A change in the nation’s leader has helped spark a turnaround in consumer confidence.[/b]
- AAP
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2015 3:05PM
The ANZ/Roy Morgan weekly consumer confidence index rose 8.7 per cent the week Malcolm Turnbull became prime minister, bouncing back from three weeks of falls.
ANZ chief economist Warren Hogan said the change in prime minister was the most likely reason for the surge in confidence, but the new administration would need to deliver on the economy to maintain that bounce.
“The sharp jump in consumer confidence last week is a clear vote of confidence in the new prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull,” he said.
“We believe the new prime minister’s first 100 days in office will be essential to formulating a new narrative for the economy that underpins confidence in the economic outlook,” he said.
Mr Hogan said expectations for the new prime minister were clearly high, not unlike when the coalition won government in September 2013, with Tony Abbott as leader.
“The community will be sensitive to disappointment on this front,” he said.
“Consumer caution and gloom in the long-term outlook could easily re-emerge, given weak wages growth and sub-par global economic activity.”
CommSec chief economist Craig James said performance of the new administration would be a key factor on whether the bounce in consumer confidence would be sustained.
“Increased confidence is certainly a positive for the Australian economy hopefully translating into increased spending, investment and employment,” he said.
Mr James said other factors such as a 1.5 per cent lift in the local stockmarkets over the week and some positive comments on the economy from Reserve Bank governor on the economy would also have helped consumer confidence.
“Even before the latest survey, the RBA noted that views on family finances were above average and supporting consumer spending,” he said.
“The latest consumer confidence data just reinforces the Reserve Bank view.”
The ANZ survey was conducted the weekend after Malcolm Turnbull beat Tony Abbott in a liberal leadership spill on September 14.
Group hugs as Malcolm Turnbull’s age of inclusion begins
- THE AUSTRALIAN
- SEPTEMBER 24, 2015 12:00AM
Niki Savva
[Image: niki_savva.png]
Opinion Columnist
Canberra
[Image: 987984-ba7b5016-61cf-11e5-afef-4942db4d24a5.jpg]
Illustration: Eric Lobbecke Source: TheAustralian
[b]Malcolm Turnbull’s first ministry has sent a powerful message of inclusion as well as regeneration. The photo of the new Prime Minister surrounded by all the women he has appointed to the cabinet and outer ministry, with his deputy Julie Bishop in the vanguard, will act as a clarion call to women that not only are they welcome inside the Liberal Party again, there is room for them at the top.[/b]
The previous administration kept talking about it, complaining incessantly about the shortage of prominent women despite the fact there were talented women there all along, waiting for the call, only to be locked out despite any number of opportunities to promote them. It was left to Turnbull to do it. He did it partly by having the courage to retire men who had a better run than they deserved or by appealing to mates such as Ian Macfarlane to step aside, which he did with great poise. Eric Abetz likewise maintained his dignity.
Will the country be less safe with Marise Payne as Defence Minister? Methinks her first press conference in that job showed it will not, nor would it have been a year ago when there was an opening. Michaelia Cash and Kelly O’Dwyer also have finally been given the opportunity to shine.
Importantly, Turnbull has conveyed a message of tolerance too. Many of those promoted, or who retained their positions, did not vote for him. Check them out: Andrew Robb, Scott Morrison, Mathias Cormann, Greg Hunt, Peter Dutton, Josh Frydenberg, Christian Porter. One of them went so far as to say he had spent more time discussing with the new Prime Minister the shape of things to come than he ever did with his predecessor. Those who suggest Turnbull has engaged in retribution, or that conservatives have been sidelined, are peddling self-serving nonsense.
While we wait for the changes in policy, there has been an immediate and welcome change in rhetoric, in tone and in manner. On Monday night, in a flirty, expansive interview with Leigh Sales, those viewers who had forgotten what Turnbull was like got an insight into an intelligent, complex personality. It also laid down some markers on matters on which he can be judged later, such as tax reform, the importance of polling in the lives of politicians, and the setting of policies within a free-market framework.
Yesterday, in another long interview, this time with Sky News, he was confident, cool, determined not to be led by one of the nation’s sharpest interviewers, David Speers, on to paths too dangerous to tread.
Turnbull has learned the value of consultation, and it shows. His colleagues are flattered he is asking, even more delighted when their suggestions are taken up, as some have been. It has come as a revelation to them, dispelling at least one doubt about his capacity to learn from his first time around. He has learned that colleagues often have good ideas too, so setting aside the time to talk to them pays off in more ways than one. Hallelujah.
The thrashing and gnashing of the capital-C conservatives continues, reminiscent if anything of the last moments of Pris, the replicant terminated by Deckard in the filmBlade Runner. If they want Bill Shorten to become prime minister, with everything that entails, they should keep it up. The lying, delusion, bitterness or vengefulness of the vanquished and their supporters is really smart. Dignified too. Not.
Turnbull cannot pander to those carrying on like they want him to fail, nor can he afford to ignore them. He needs to deliver another message, by way of a thoughtful, broad-ranging speech to promote the healing — or the bonding, if you like — of the party’s conservative and liberal wings.
It should come sooner rather than later because there is no point allowing things to fester.
The idea was prompted from one of many wise heads wanting him to succeed, one key to the success of the Howard era who became so disillusioned with the Abbott regime that he had stopped listening but is now, like many others, hopeful and alert.
The objective of such a speech should be to show Liberals, not just inside the government but in the party’s heartland (and to steal a favourite expression of John Howard’s) that what unites conservatives and small-l liberals is greater and more enduring than that which divides.
Take budget repair. Fulfilling the dream of returning it to surplus is both a liberal project and a conservative one. It is about prudent management of taxpayers’ dollars to ensure there will be money there for things society needs and cares about: strong defence, a proper safety net, improved health and education services.
Border protection is both a liberal project and a conservative one. Governments should be able to control who comes here, and if they can do that, they provide a vehicle for a more generous immigration and refugee program.
Tackling social problems with a strong focus on personal responsibility (such as domestic violence) is both a liberal project and a conservative one. Nowhere was that demonstrated more emphatically than when Howard reformed gun laws in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre. People are free only when they feel safe.
And so on.
Turnbull was restored to the leadership because he repaired relations with enough of the sensible Right to win. Others, except the completely unhinged, will gradually come across after a suitable period of mourning if he shows what they can achieve if they all work together.
But it will take more than words. Integral to the success of this government is the relationship between the Prime Minister and Scott Morrison.
When prime ministers and treasurers work well together, when both are at their peak in their jobs (which is the polite way of saying when both are up to their jobs) the government overall works well. That was the case with Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, then with Howard and Peter Costello. Keating slotted into the leadership role; however, after John Dawkins resigned as treasurer, the government struggled. A competent prime minister cannot succeed on his own.
Turnbull and Morrison have had a complicated relationship, which is now on a sound footing. Given their combined talents there is no reason, in the early years at least, they should not secure strong foundations for the Coalition, despite the best efforts of some to besmirch the Treasurer’s reputation.
http://www.valuebuddies.com/thread-4912-...#pid120178
Back track the last few threads and one would have discovered that the lucky and beautiful country is well alive and kicking despite the long in the news demise of the resources sector - price low just leave them underground and till another day and another economic cycle to revive the cyclical sector.
Meanwhile, freely fluctuating exchange rates are reviving servicing sectors like education, tourism and even high quality niche agri based mfging sectors. Whilst GSIC is cashing out of it ind prop portfolio that IMHO has more to deal with the emergence of Towkay in the its long strategic partnership in ALZ, AREITs landmark purchase has left a strong indication of the hunger of foreign buyers looking for stable and rare growth under the current global economic cloud.
On a pure textbook Economics analysis, Australia is probably one of the few rare cases where free mkts are functioning - freely fluctuating exchange rates, world class investment bankers stitching deals to help in privatisations that bridges the gap between bankrupt govt finances and that of complex investors appetite for bloated govt linked assets...
Lucky country still?
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