The founder and CEO of WiseTech Global, Richard White, and the founder and CEO of Mineral Resources, Chris Ellison, must be suspended from their jobs. Two very different stories but both involve serious governance issues. The boards of both companies must act immediately. In the WiseTech case, Mr White has been hit with a bunch of allegations of inappropriate conduct in personal and professional settings. They include allegations that he offered professional support to a wellness entrepreneur and wanted sex in return, that he used social media to find female entrepreneurs and then used suggestive language with them, and that he bought a $7m residence for an employee after a lengthy relationship. The board is said to be uneasy. Please - uneasy? These are allegations, but there’s a bunch of them and the board needs to act. The case of Mr Ellison is more clear-cut. He conceded that he ran an offshore tax scheme for ten years – something the Australian Financial Review uncovered this week. The mastheads claims that Mr Ellison, former MinRes chair Peter Wade and three others made about $7 million in profit. Mr Ellison said it was a “serious lapse of judgement” on his behalf. Once again. Please. He was breaking the rules, and he admits it. Neither Mr White nor Mr Ellison should be in their jobs by the end of this week.
2. Does anyone care about Charles and Camilla?
I’m a King Charles III fan. Seriously. I’m also a Republican, but if we have to have a king then I’m pleased he’s one that stands for something. I don’t care about the next generation. I’m all for Kate and William having whole and healthy lives but they are of no interest, and almost of no consequence, to me. I thought Queen Elizabeth II was all class, and it is a shame we didn’t end our association with the monarchy when she died. What has surprised me about the Royal visit currently underway is the lack of crowds. Hundreds (and in the case of Sydney, thousands when you include school kids) have turned up to see the Royals. But not the tens of thousands seen during previous visits. The traditional media have covered the Royals but the lack of interest on social media is telling. King Charles and Queen Camilla tossed sausages, spoke to semi-celebrities, greeted schoolchildren and were given an “I Love Dubbo” T-shirt. Anyone else think this is slightly cringeworthy?
3. How much did the supermarkets rip off customers?
A bottle of Dettol foam hand wash refill at Coles was discounted but was still on the shelves for 35 per cent more than its original price. A bottle of Sprite lemonade at Woolworths had a 'discount' price of $3.15, which was 34 per cent higher than the original shelf price. Welcome to supermarket retailing in Australia, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer and Commission. The competition watchdog has accused the big two grocery chains of offering discounted prices on goods that had been previously marked up from their original shelf price. The examples above come from documents filed to the Federal Court this week, and there are hundreds more products on the lists provided to the Court, according to the AFR. Coles and Woolworths deny the claims and have tried to shift the blame to the large multi-national suppliers, saying they’ve been pushing price increases on thousands of products. All the claims are untested, but the wealth of examples across product lines is damning. At the very best, the supermarkets have suffered a public relations disaster. At the very worst, they’ve been ripping off customers for years.
4. Interest rates won't fall until the middle of 2025
Apologies if this next item seems a little familiar – I’ve been banging on about interest rates not falling for quite some time. (They’re not going to rise either.) A few weeks ago, bond markets had priced in a better than 50 per cent chance of a rate cut in 2024. Today, markets have priced in a rate cut by next May. And there hasn’t been any significant new data to cause the shift. It really is the 'vibe'. Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser gave a speech where he said he just didn’t know what would happen next on rates. In the United States, rates have started falling but analysts now think they will only decline slowly. In Australia, the labour market is hot – it’s better than strong after six months of big jobs rises – and that will keep pressure on inflation. But it isn’t overheating, meaning inflation is still trending lower. While it is disappointing that rates won’t fall sooner, it is good news. The Australian economy isn’t falling into a heap. People have jobs and while cost-of-living pressures are real, most people are OK. Interest rates at their current levels are relatively low, if you exclude the post-global financial crisis years (after 2007). Those years in the very long term might prove the outlier. Rates will fall but maybe not by much. And it won’t happen until the middle of next year. The economy is doing okay.
5. Trump v Harris: the world is laughing
It is a sad indictment of US politics that the Presidential poll, due on November 5, has turned into a Hollywood drama, or maybe a sitcom. Policy has taken a back seat. It is right to blame Donald Trump for the name-calling and trivialisation of what’s at stake. But the Democrats, ever since Kamala Harris got the call-up, have been in full attack mode, playing the man (Donald Trump) rather than the game (what’s best for the USA). No doubt in a social media world, the identity of the individual running for President is more important when it comes to winning office. But once President, you need substance. If I was voting, I’d have to do a lot of work to find out which candidate is best for me. The polls at the moment suggest the tightest election in many decades. Perhaps all those undecided voters, particularly the anti-Trump Republicans and independents, will make up their minds over the coming week and the outcome will be clear-cut. If so, Harris could benefit. What a debacle the US Presidential race has become.
BEST OF THE WEEK
IF YOU MISSED THIS ONE, CATCH UP NOW
Some homebuyers will go to extraordinary lengths to secure the keys: sending beer and wine to agents, even writing letters to the vendor. The new episode of The Property Pendulum presented by Domain and Fear & Greed looks at the strategies that work, and the ones you should definitely avoid.
"You’ve said Australia is about six months behind the US on interest rates. With so many other countries including the US now having cut rates - shouldn’t the RBA be thinking about the same thing?"
AND ONE LAST THING...
Just when you think the supermarkets couldn't generate any more headlines - enter Mickey the cockatoo.
