RBA's ugly message for households, inside Australia's biggest investment event & Macquarie's pay lessons

Speaker 00:00

[upbeat music] The Australian Financial Review.

James Thomson· Host0:06

[upbeat music] Hello, I'm James Thompson, senior Chanticleer columnist at the AFR. Welcome to our weekly news breakdown of all things business, finance, and markets. [upbeat music] With me today, as always, it's my Chanticleer colleague. He's stronger than the Australian dollar. It's Anthony McDonald. How are you, Anthony?

Anthony Macdonald· Co-host0:29

I wish I was at a four-year high this week, James.

James Thomson· Host0:31

Oh, you're always at a four-year high. [upbeat music] This week we look to unpack another rate rise and what Michelle Bullock said about the next six months. We take you inside the room at the biggest meeting of Australian companies and investors, and we preview the federal budget, which is only a few sleeps away.

Anthony Macdonald· Co-host0:51

[upbeat music] But first, James, let's start with a bit of news from Friday morning. We got one of the juiciest results of the year, Macquarie Group's. Juicy because the numbers are normally big. Macquarie reported a $4.85 billion profit, one of its best ever, with revenue earnings up across all of its divisions, commodities, asset management, banking, investment banking. But James, the story's always in the pay tables here, isn't it?

James Thomson· Host1:16

Oh, we're so crass, aren't we, Anthony? [laughs] We go straight to the remuneration table.

Anthony Macdonald· Co-host1:20

Yeah.

James Thomson· Host1:20

How much did Shemara Wikramanayake get paid? Oh, it's $26.5 million. That's a fair bit, isn't it?

Anthony Macdonald· Co-host1:27

Solid.

James Thomson· Host1:27

But the, the story here is actually what she