It is Thursday, the 17^th of July 2025. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his talks with China’s leadership have been “really constructive” and the treatment he is receiving is a sign of respect. The PM is in China for a six day visit, and perhaps the most notable sign of respect is that Premier Xi Jinping spent two hours with him talking through policies. Beyond the serious business of international relations, Albanese had time to stroll the Great Wall of China, alongside fiancée Jodi Haydon, and thanked the band at the previous night’s dinner for playing Midnight Oil and Paul Kelly songs.

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News in brief

The good news on the local share market didn’t last long, with the S&P/ASX200 yesterday having its worst one-day loss since May. The banks and gold companies were sold off, while technology stocks did well. It came after figures in the US show inflation rising to its highest level since February, as the impact of tariffs start to push up consumer prices.

Rio Tinto has appointed its head of iron ore, Simon Trott, as the company’s next chief executive, and he will be busy with the global miner’s first half iron ore exports falling to their lowest level in a decade, due to poor weather.

The CEO of National Australia Bank, Andrew Irvine, is under scrutiny for his management style, and drinking at client events, with media reports saying investors have raised the issue with the bank’s board.

Ken Henry, former boss of federal Treasury and former chair of National Australia Bank, and the writer of the 2010 tax reform white paper, which remains the blueprint for change, says fixing environmental laws is more important than tax, when it comes to improving productivity.

Larry Ellison is the world’s second-wealthiest person for the first time ever, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as a rally in Oracle’s share price pushes his net worth to $US251 billion, overtaking Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg. Elon Musk is still the world’s richest person with a net worth of $US358 billion.

Fear-o-meter

Former Treasury boss Ken Henry’s foray into the productivity debate is worth listening to, especially because he isn’t talking about his favourite topic, tax reform.

At the National Press Club yesterday, Henry pushed the need to cut red tape, specifically an overhaul of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

Henry, who is also chair of the Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation, says to improve productivity, which is the biggest challenge facing the Australian economy, that bureaucracy needs to get out of the way.

He says improving the Act will aid in the development of new mines and processing plants for critical minerals. It will help create more housing and associated roads and infrastructure. It can underpin solar and wind farms and the requisite thousands of kilometres of transmission lines.

According to Henry, Australia needs high-quality national laws that set clear environmental standards for major projects, and a strong national decision maker. That is how to make a difference to productivity.

Who's talking today?

"For the regions in Oz, where we don't have highways and rail and infrastructure in place, there are a lot of people that rely on aviation to connect them with what we would consider today in the city as essential services. And certainly we see that as one of the first adopter markets within that 10 year horizon."

Greed-o-meter

Oracle founder Larry Ellison has knocked off Mark Zuckerberg as the world’s second richest person. Elon Musk remains, by a long way, the wealthiest person on the planet. Only two of the top 12 – LVMH’s Bernard Arnault and Warren Buffet – did not make their money in technology.

Source: Bloomberg

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