Alan Kohler on The Budget, Trillionare Musk & the Economic Patterns Most Australians Never See
6/21/202650 min
Alan Kohler has spent more than 50 years at the centre of Australian financial journalism — and few people alive have watched this country's booms, busts, and policy shifts with more clarity.
In this conversation, Mark and Alan trace the arc of Australian capitalism from the Poseidon nickel boom of 1969 through to the rise of Elon Musk and the AI era. Alan draws striking parallels between the charismatic deal-makers of the 1980s — Bond, Elliott, Skase — and the story-sellers of today, and explains why irrational exuberance always takes longer to unravel than anyone expects. He also gives a frank assessment of what Australian housing policy has got wrong, why superannuation remains the country's greatest economic achievement, and what capital gains tax reform should actually look like.
We speak about:
• The Poseidon nickel boom and what it taught a 17-year-old copy boy about markets
• Why every major financial boom has a charismatic figure selling an irresistible story
• Elon Musk, SpaceX, and whether a loss-making $2 trillion company makes any sense
• How Basel banking rules quietly turned Australian banks into mortgage lenders
• The 1999 capital gains tax change that accidentally supercharged the housing market
• Paul Keating, superannuation, and the policy Alan considers Australia's greatest achievement
• Lang Hancock, iron ore, and what real Australian entrepreneurialism looks like
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMark Bouris· Host0:00
Every boom in history had a charismatic figure selling a story nobody could resist. Alan Kohler has been watching Australia's economy for over 50 years, from the Poseidon mining boom to the GFC, and the rise of Kerry Packer and now Elon Musk. He told me today what those events had in common and why governments over decades have failed to solve the housing market. He hosts That's Business on the ABC Daily Feed. Alan Kohler, welcome to Straight Talk.
Alan Kohler· Guest0:28
Thanks, Mark. Great to be here.
Mark Bouris· Host0:30
Can we go back to a young Alan Kohler? What was your role when you started thinking about or listening and reading about Poseidon? What was your role at The Australian?
Alan Kohler· Guest0:41
Uh, well, I started in 1970, which, uh, happened to be, uh, when Poseidon was at its peak. Um, and I think from memory it was $235.
Mark Bouris· Host0:52
A share?
Alan Kohler· Guest0:53
Per share, yeah.
Mark Bouris· Host0:54
Wow.
Alan Kohler· Guest0:54
And it was... And it'd gone from like 18 cents or something, uh, not long before, like a year before. Um, so it was the nickel boom, 1969, uh, Western Mining. Um, and uh, uh, nickel was obviously the, the metal that's used in stainless steel. So it was kind of s- it was a new thing, and it was really exciting, and everyone's excited about nickel. And Poseidon, uh, announced that it had found a lot of nickel at Wyndarra in Western Australia, so its shares took off. And it was kind of, um,