The G20 Summit

The G20 summit will be hosted in Australia in November; concerns of stalled world economic growth will dominate the agenda. Australian treasurer Joe Hockey will put forward an infrastructure investment platform with public and private sector funding. 

It is somewhat convenient for PM Abbott and Treasurer Hockey to outline their global ambitions mirroring domestic political aims. The Abbott government's message to G20 counterparts is to follow the Australian lead.

That is privatisation of inefficient state assets, investing the proceeds of asset sales in new public works infrastructure with public/private partnerships managing risk with commercial operators sharing the risk/return of the project.

I can't say I have ever been much of a fan of Joe Hockey, so far, he has done a lousy job of selling his first budget even though the majority of bills have eventually passed through the senate.

Chomping on cigars created an image problem for the government and ultimately, his first budget should have been tougher, second year budget a little less tough and his third budget an election year budget - let's see how this plays out.