Treasurer Joe Hockey gave shock jock Alan Jones a scoop on Wednesday when he revealed that hairy-chested budgets - like the unappreciated one he delivered in May - has resulted in a reversal of the flow of free-loading queue jumpers arriving on our fair shores.
Speaking from the other side of the ''dutch’' Hockey told Jones: ‘‘Over here in New Zealand there is a very good lesson: if you make the hard decisions early on, the benefits come with more jobs, higher wages. The Kiwis have been telling me that as a result of their budget coming back to surplus, in the next 12 months you are now seeing for the first time more New Zealanders come back to New Zealand than those that have been leaving which is extraordinary. And you know what else Alan? The top tax rate in New Zealand is 33 per cent, 33 per cent! In Australia it is heading to 49 per cent.’’
So important was the news that Hockey revealed he had held up meetings with the Kiwi Minister for Finance, the Minister for Trade, and the Minister for Economic Services in order to reveal the news to 2UE listeners.
‘‘I said I have to take this call from Alan Jones and they know who Alan Jones is over here, more as a rugby coach of Australia as they do as a broadcaster,’’ he says.
Jones and Hockey then bravely predicted the reversal of Trans-Tasman traffic will soon include the Super Rugby trophy and Bledisloe Cup making their way to our side of the ditch.
‘‘I am polishing up the Bledisloe because I know it is coming up,’’ said an ever-optimistic Hockey.
The last time Australia won the rugby series the ABC had a surprise hit on its hands called Kath & Kim and the Ansett collapse was fresh news.
Squabble over shape of Herbalife
It was the corporate briefing of a life time with a billionaire accusing a listed company of being “a criminal enterprise” with alleged ties to double-crossing hitmen, and something about Nazis. The only part that did not follow the three-and-a-half-hour script was that the targeted company’s share price soared 25 per cent by the end of the day.
Welcome to the world of controversial US nutritional supplement Herbalife and investor Bill Ackman, who is bleeding financially on his billion-dollar bet that the company is a pyramid scheme.
Ackman had promised this highly publicised presentation "will be the most important presentation I’ve made in my career" and hinted it would be a knockout blow for Herbalife.
Bronte Capital’s John Hempton must be feeling pretty good right now.
Sydney-based Hempton has attracted a lot of global attention by going head-to-head with Ackman and arguing why he is long on the stock.
Bloomberg columnist Matt Levine does not seem impressed by either point of view.
‘‘Hedge fund manager and Herbalife bull John Hempton has written and spoken persuasively about how Herbalife's basic business is helping people lose weight, and how it's good at that. But to me, the business opportunity that Herbalife sells, with its many levels of distributors and its tiny chance of making any money, sure looks, you know, awfully pyramid-shaped.’’
Hempton's blog on Wednesday showed he is not retreating from his position.
‘‘This is not a pyramid. There are plenty of real sales to real people. That is visible. It's a lousy business but it is a business in which people have integrated their lives and their families.’’
Light on detail
CBD thinks it is one of the delightful anomalies of our financial system that the bean counters who rely on auditing services as their bread and butter eschew the service when it comes to their own financial accounts.
We guess they would know the true value of an audit wouldn't they?
PricewaterhouseCoopers reported a 7 per cent lift in revenue to $1.57 billion this week and ‘‘strong profit growth’’ without troubling anyone with further unnecessary detail.
‘‘As a private partnership we are not required to lodge our results with ASIC,’’ one of their flacks reminded CBD.
Got a tip? ckruger@fairfaxmedia.com.au
