Prime Minister of The Netherlands Mark Rutte reacts as he listens to Australian Prime Minster Tony Abbott, in Canberra.
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The Russians have started coming. On Thursday, an aircraft with about 80-90 Russians arrived in preparation for the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Brisbane. There will be four more official planes, including President…
From St Petersburg to Brisbane. The G20 leaders are expected to cover a lot of territory.
Sergei Karpukhin/EPA/AAP
Suppose that on the evening of November 16, the G20 leaders release a 25-page communique with hundreds of recommendations on global health, security, climate change, human rights etc. Would this be regarded…
For those of us who believe that international institutions are a good idea in principle, these ought to be quite exciting times. After all, we’re about to host the G20 and there will be an even bigger…
Lost amid the immediate G20 hoopla is a much bigger wave of incoming disruption.
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As world leaders gather in Brisbane this month to tackle an increasingly fractious global economy, let’s cast our mind back exactly one hundred years. In 1914, the world was about to plunge into a period…
Too big to fail, or too big to jail?
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The global financial crisis had many causes. But it was generally acknowledged at the time and since, that failures of ethics, integrity and trust were an important part of the problem. US Republican Senator…
Where are the women? Though light on female representation, the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors can’t ignore the role women could play towards boosting economic growth.
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Many Australian women will know the G20 summit is coming up in Brisbane, but they may not think it has much relevance to their daily lives. But that is not the case. Joe Hockey needs us, and he may not…
Outreach is a crucial element of the G20 leaders summit.
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The G20 is full of traps for the unwary punter, new to its byzantine ways. There are not 20 member countries in the G20, for example. There are 19 countries, plus the European Union. In November, you will…
The G20’s impressive declaratory record on energy cooperation hides serious practical shortcomings.
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With the Brisbane G20 Leaders Summit only a matter of weeks away, Australia is increasingly succumbing to G20 fever. Rarely does a self-declared middle power such as Australia get to play host to such…
Opening a mine in Queensland this week, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said coal was “good for humanity”.
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News emerging from Washington last week suggests climate change may amount to more than an FAQ in the appendices of this November’s G20 leaders’ summit agenda. President Obama’s deputy national security…
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Tony Abbott during the retreat session of the APEC Summit in 2013.
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Tony Abbott did not repeat his pledge to “shirt-front” Vladimir Putin when pressed on the subject a day after his initial threat. Now the promise is for a “very, very robust conversation” with the Russian…
Russian President Vladimir Putin has faced criticism from both sides of Australian politics.
EPA/ALEXEY NIKOLSKY / RIA NOVOSTI / KREMLIN POOL
A senior Russian diplomat says Australia-Russia relations are at a “historic low”, as Tony Abbott has pledged to “shirt-front” Vladimir Putin at the G20 next month over the downing of flight MH17. In a…
IMF managing director Christine Lagarde says the economic recovery underway in many markets is “brittle, uneven and beset by risks”.
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Last week the IMF revised its 2014 global economic growth forecast down to 3.3% from the 3.7% expected six months ago, confirming that most economies around the world, Australia included, continue to underperform…
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attendance at the G20 is awkward for Tony Abbott.
EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
The G20 is bigger than the bad behaviour of any one country, and it would be unfortunate if the controversy over Russian president Vladimir Putin’s presence – now confirmed - were to overshadow next month’s…
Global infrastructure agendas must not marginalise developing countries
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Australia’s G20 infrastructure agenda aims to increase quality investment into global projects. The agenda advocates using the private sector to develop infrastructure in order to boost global growth and…
Treasurer Joe Hockey has picked up the pace on tax information sharing, in response to a push by the OECD.
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Roman Lanis, University of Technology Sydney and Ross McClure, University of Technology Sydney
Despite Treasurer Joe Hockey’s continued statements that the government is doing “everything we can … to ensure that companies that earn profits in Australia pay tax in Australia”, the federal government…
Treasurer Joe Hockey joins a long line of leaders unable to close the gap between promise and reality.
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Governments are notorious for missing targets. Look no further than France or Spain’s recent fiscal calumny, despite the European Union’s excessive deficit procedure. Closer to home, the Association of…
Australia is pushing for the creation of a G20 infrastructure hub.
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Infrastructure investment is failing to attract the funding it needs to support global growth. As of June 2014, the managed funds industry in Australia had just over $2.4 trillion dollars under management…
Australia is striving to lead the G20 growth target - but the truth is the reform needed is hard and painful.
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In 2000 in Lisbon the European Union countries met and agreed on the “Lisbon Agenda”. Europe was already lagging in terms of growth and jobs, and it was hoped that the Agenda would “deliver stronger, lasting…
The Finance Ministers meeting in Cairns is a chance for Treasurer Joe Hockey to show leadership on OECD-recommended tax reform.
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The G20 Finance Ministers have the opportunity this weekend to endorse the initial recommendations of the OECD on how to address the global problem of multinational tax avoidance. The work of the OECD…
Google books much of its Australian profit to offshore operations.
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Public outcries over tax avoidance by multinational enterprises like Apple and Google have pushed politicians to act. The unprecedented international political will to combat base erosion profit shifting…