European Union

The markets are melting down again. The ASX 200 fell $33 billion, or around 3 per cent yesterday, on the back of more European scares. As you’d imagine, people like CommSec Chief Economist Craig James were rather busy yesterday. But we managed to grab him for a few quick questions.

What’s the best case scenario?
The best case scenario is that the Italian Government comes out with concrete proposals to address its budget situation. Another positive proposition would be instead of calling elections for early next year the Government or the Prime Minister simply resigns and a new government is formed. So anything that would provide a degree of confidence to the markets – at the moment we’ve got nothing.

And the worst case scenario?
It could be anything. It could be countries deciding to exit the Eurozone. It could be continued silence from the Italian officials on dealing with the situation. One of the worst case scenarios could be a country actually physically defaulting on its obligations. So there’s a whole range of negatives out there. There’s no one specific bad scenario; there are a number.

Continue reading "Punch Q&A: Should we panic over European meltdown?" »

Australia’s climate change policy debate is far from over. Earlier this month Kevin Rudd conceded it was a mistake to shelve the ETS, and yesterday Rio Tinto joined the fray, warning Australia not to go it alone on pricing emissions. At The Punch we realised we hadn’t heard much about the international experience, so we spoke to Scott Wyatt, Energy and Environment Advisor at the Delegation of the European Union, about how carbon pricing (they have an ETS) has gone in the EU.

Q. How does carbon pricing work in the EU? Is it similar to the proposed Australian system (what details we have!)?

A. There are differences in scheme design, but the principle is very much the same as (the cap and trade system) proposed under the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme White Paper.

Continue reading "Q & A: How does carbon pricing work in practice?" »

They both attended universities in Adelaide, were members of the ALP, and both wanted desperately to become prime minister of Australia. One of them actually did it. The other, well, even to say he came close would be generous.

They are Julia Gillard and Brendan Nelson. There they were yesterday. Gillard, the all-conquering but nonetheless skin-of-her-teeth winner of the 2010 election campaign which had made her Australia’s first elected female prime minister (she already had the other record of first female PM sewn up). And Nelson - a distant echo from the recent past. A man who rather too frequently even for his irrepressible smile, had acquired the unfortunate prefix ``hapless’’ during his trevails as Liberal leader.

History shows, as we all know, that they ended up on different sides of the political fence and pursued markedly different trajectories to their current positions. Yet as fate would have it, yesterday, this unlikely pair with way more differences than similarities (despite the above) found themselves on the same team.

Continue reading "The odd couple: PM Julia meets Ambassador Brendan" »

The appointment of Brendan Nelson as Australia’s ambassador to NATO and the EU is good news for him and good news for Kevin Rudd, but it is an embarrassment for Malcolm Turnbull.

While Nelson maintains that there was no offer made prior decision to leave Parliament – the deal was apparently struck over a cup of tea after Nelson decided to leave Parliament with the Prime Minister and only finalised last week – it does cast his decision to leave Parliament early in an entirely new light.

In choosing to leave Parliament early Brendan Nelson has caused a headache for Malcolm Turnbull in having to hold a by-election for his seat of Bradfield, has dropped several mischievous bombs on coalition policy on ETS and is now going to work for the Government that only one year ago he was the leading the charge against.

Continue reading "Nelson just dropped the bomb on Malcolm" »

Retirement never comes easy to politicians. There’s a long line of prime ministers and presidents who, upon leaving office, struggle either to settle back into ordinary life or to fade into the shadows with quiet dignity.

Some verge on the comical. The patrician figure of Harold Macmillan was known in his political afterlife to deliver impromptu lectures to train conductors about the history of the British railway system.

Others mope in operatic self-pity, with periodic and spectacular volcanic eruptions: Paul Keating the Retirement. Some meanwhile never quite manage to surrender their indomitable will to power.

Continue reading "Tony Blair for President (of the European Union)" »