Anyone for a handbag?

The unintended consequences of social changes are often far more potent than the intended ones.

In the eras when workers were paid in cash and envelopes sat alongside the hip-pocket nerve, cash was transferred to and from banks in armoured trucks which were overseen by armed guards.

Along comes electronic banking and banks are greatly diminished as targets for bandits.

But if nature abhors a vacuum, then so does organised crime.

In recent weeks the crime du jour in Melbourne has been driving heavy vehicles into the shop fronts of premier brand shops : Dior, Fendi and Burberry have kept glaziers busy in the last fortnight. Chanel has been targeted in recent years. Once shopfronts are shattered purses and handbags are snatched from display shelves.

The symmetry of this haute couture smash’n’ grab during the Australian election campaign has not been lost on me. Before the days of ‘tap’n’ go purchases, purses and handbags contained the cash that families had to budget.

The fundamental financial rule for households was not to spend more than was in the weekly purse. When purchasing my first house, the prudent bank required a 20% deposit and not to commit to a mortgage that would consume more than 30% of your gross monthly income.

So, why have we allowed our major political parties to break these rules so brazenly?  Why are they allowed to raid the public purse and never have to worry about repaying it?

The government empties an already empty Treasury by spending billions to facilitate a derisory tax cut. The government  will spend the public’s money to make them poorer.

The Opposition is promising to spend billions- tax deductibility for mortgage repayments, defence- isn’t AUKUS enough?, one-off tax cuts, fuel excise reductions- everything bar the elimination of the cane toad and rabbits, which many might argue would be a more sensible long-term policy.

Both the government and the Opposition have made extravagant spending commitments to assist Australians enter the housing market. Having spectacularly failed to construct the number of public houses it promised, the government is now willing to guarantee home purchases where only a 5% deposit is required. Great policy that one. Did not America have a banking crisis when banks loaned excessive amounts for housing to people with minimal deposits sparking an unsustainable surge in housing prices? Not to worry- the government can guarantee extra debt that the public will repay some day in the ‘never never.’

All aboard the trillion-dollar debt train!

The latest week of the campaign has done nothing to suggest that the Opposition is making a sufficient impression on the electorate to gain an unlikely victory. There have been sparring contests about who knew what about Russian overtures to establish a military base in Indonesia; however, the campaign seems to be struggling to gain pre-eminence in people’s thinking. This week, Easter holidays begin on Friday. Pre-poll voting begins next Tuesday. Next Friday ANZAC Day is commemorated.  The following Saturday most will vote.

Last Monday, many more Australians were interested in the denouement of the Masters’ Golf tournament than electoral matters. To the delight of many, Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy joined Golf’s Grand Slam club. He along, with Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen are the only players to have won each of Golf’s ‘majors’: the Masters, the British Open, the US Open and US PGA championships.

Golf provides the opportunity for rewards for persistence and sporting longevity in a way that tennis does not. Jack Nicklaus won his final Masters tournament aged 46.

In winning the title in a play-off after surrendering a five shot final round lead, McIlroy claimed his first major golf tournament in eleven years and his first Masters at his seventeenth attempt.  In tennis’ recent annals, I can only think of Goran Ivanisevic’s endurance in winning his first and only Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2001 as a wildcard. It was his fourth appearance in a final, having previously lost in 1992, 1994 and 1998.

Whilst a golfing career can be longer than that of a tennis player, it is arguable that golf presents greater challenges to Grand Slam success than tennis. In a Grand Slam tennis tournament one can play two dreadful sets of tennis and recover to win a match. At golf’s highest level, players can not have successive double or triple bogeys and expect to win. And, as many golfers remind me, golfers are always competing against the toughest adversary of all- themselves.

Nevertheless, membership of tennis’ Grand Slam club remains rarefied.

For men, only eight players have accomplished the feat: Don Budge, Fred Perry, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

For women, there are only ten members: Shirley Fry, Doris Hart, Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court, Billie-Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Maria Sharapova, Steffi Graf and Serena Williams.

Last night the second Leaders’ debate was held. The consensus seems to be that nothing was said or done to radically change voters’ perceptions or expectations.

As the election nears, there is always interest in which electorates may produce upset results. Interestingly, there a group of seats whose names are associated with former Prime Ministers that will be of particular interest.

In Victoria, we have Wannon and Wills.  Wannon, an electorate in Victoria’s Western District and bigger than Belgium, once held by Malcolm Fraser (LNP PM from 1975-1983) sees the sitting member, Dan Tehan, facing a strong challenge by independent Alex Dyson. In inner-city Melbourne, the northern suburbs electorate of Wills, once held by Bob Hawke (ALP PM from 1983-1991) sees the ALP’s sitting member facing stern competition from the Greens. The Liberals will also be keen to win back Kooyong, set in the leafy eastern suburbs, which was the electorate of Australia’s longest serving PM, Robert Menzies, from Independent Monique Ryan.  

In New South Wales, the electorate of McMahon in Sydney’s outer Western suburbs, named after the LNP PM from 1971-1972, sees the Energy Minister, Chris Bowen facing a serious challenge from Matthew Camenzuli, an IT businessman. Finally, in Sydney’s expensive inner eastern harbourside suburbs, the electorate of Wentworth once held by Malcolm Turnbull (LNP PM from 2015-2018), the Liberals will be keen to wrest the seat back from Independent Allegra Spender.

So, if you are contemplating your vote whilst ordering a turmeric latte or martini in one of Melbourne’s trendy laneway cafes or bars in the days ahead and someone offers you a luxury handbag think twice before accepting.

No matter how glamorous the handbag may be, the sad truth is that very few Australians, thanks to the irresponsible largesse of their political representatives, will be able to use it to safely store savings in the years ahead.

So many certitudes under siege; however the British Supreme Court has ruled that a woman is a ”biological female.” Who would have thought that this could ever be a contested issue?