It was a high profile trial, the most senior Catholic clergy was brought before the court on historic sex offense charges. In the trial by media spectacle, he had already been tried, was found guilty and was awaiting sentencing. Did this influence the jury? It is my belief that this precisely occurred, George Pell was found guilty and sentenced to 6 years imprisonment. Pell’s legal team sought to appeal the sentence, this was initially unsuccessful so then applied to the High Court of Australia.

I have no doubt Pell covered up abuse in the Catholic Church in Australia; however, this is not what he was on trial for. The onus is on the prosecution to prove their case, instead of tendering evidence, they put their case forward on emotional grounds and not based on facts. Did George Pell commit sexual offenses? I was not there so I will never know; however, through reconstructions, it was determined to be highly unlikely he could have committed the offenses he was on trial for.

So, there was no way Pell could be guilty of what he was accused of, the jury was swayed on less than credible testimony and media reports. When viewed on appeal, the High Court upheld the appeal arguing a rational jury must entertain doubt with respect to each of the offenses where Pell was found guilty. Therefore, George Pell cannot be held legally responsible for what he was accused of. But now George Pell is dead, his legacy is interesting, He more than likely covered up and protected pedophile priests but was not guilty of what he was convicted of. Pell was certainly divisive in life and in death.

In what must be one of the more extraordinary tariff decisions, Australian protectorates Heard and McDonald Islands have had 10% tariffs slapped on them, but Russian President Vladamir Putin has escaped with no additional tariffs. Ok, Russia already has sanctions applied, the pretext of a negotiated ceasefire really undermines Donald Trump who claimed he could end the war in 24 hours, that hasn’t happened, Trump’s claims fall apart quickly to all but his adoring MAGA fanclub. 

Situated deep in the southern Indian Ocean about halfway between Australia and Madagascar, the Heard and McDonald Islands are closer to Antarctica than Australia and form part of Australia’s external territories. The islands are unpopulated, this is where this tariff decision becomes remarkable, the islands have no economic output, they are neither exporters or importers. 

Not that a free trade agreement with the United States is worth anything anyway, the Trump Administration does not honour ratified and legally agreements. So after a rollercoaster financial week where all our retirement accounts were devalued for no reason, American worker’s 401(k) are tanking too, their exchange traded funds are tanking too. But American workers are less concerned about equity and bond markets, jobs and inflation are all they care about and they are not being fixed either.

It looks like Beijing will not be backing down on tariffs, whilst Trump brinked in front of the world after bond markets and equity markets melted down, Beijing looks solid. Xi Jinping has reassured the Chinese population that they will not be bullied, this is not a legitimate negotiating tactic and I suggest China holds a greater leverage than the US. Only if the EU and most of Asia fall into line against China would the US have greater leverage, the Trump Administration has burned those countries now. 

Trump has come out and said his phones are constantly ringing, countries are calling him to make deals and people are kissing his arse, “Please Mr President, can we make a deal” he claims in the media. Yes, Trump is really that crass and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt comes across as a card carrying MAGA simpleton fully immersed in conspiracy theories. Everyone can see that Karoline Leavitt is a lackey, she is not taken seriously and is in the job as part of a misinformation campaign. 

Whilst Trump bragged to his MAGA supporters that it will be easy to force China into submission by applying tariffs, this claim has been a little more than mildly misleading. China has contacted Australia to join forces against the Trump Administration on tariffs, this is not going to happen. President Xi seems to forget China imposed tariffs on Australia just recently to pull them into line, this strategy failed and Australia found other markets for its exports. Sometimes, what is not said in diplomatic circles is stronger than what is actually said, there is no value for Australia to join China against the US, it is just not going to happen. 

The Vacheron Constantin Overseas Automatic is an iconic timepiece design, although highly underrated design by Jörg Hysek. The Overseas Automatic is a 1970s design stainless steel sports watch that incorporates an integrated bracelet. Vacheron Constantin is the oldest of the holy trinity of watchmakers founded in 1755 along with Audermars Piguet in 1875 and Patek Philippe in 1839. Yet until recently Vacheron Constantin is considered the poor cousin of the holy trinity of watchmaking.

The Overseas Automatic was released in 1977, the reference 222 Overseas Automatic featured a 37 mm tonneau-shaped case with saw blade bezel. The reference 42040 remained at 37 mm and still featured a tonneau-shaped case, integrated bracelet and now integrated the Maltese cross fluted bezel. The reference 42050 had a 35 mm case with the references 42041 and 42051 receiving calibre upgrades.

The steel sports watch style was inspired by Gérald Genta with the Royal Oak in 1972 and the Nautilus in 1976. Vacheron Constantin, the oldest of the holy trinity of watchmakers turned to Jörg Hysek famous for the Breguet Marine, Tiffany & Co Streamerica and TAG Heuer Kirium. Hysek built a reputation based on the Vacheron Constantin 222, but was really instrumental in more than dozens of designs.

For a very long time, the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Automatic was the forgotten steel sports watch from the holy trinity of watchmakers. Now just about every major watchmaker has an integrated bracelet stainless steel sports watch. I can’t say I really like the Reference 222, the current models are more my tastes. Whilst the watch collecting community went silly for the Royal Oak, I never understood why. Gérald then repeated his success with the Nautilus ensuring Patek Philippe remained at the top of the watchmakers pedigree. The Overseas Automatic was really the forgotten steel sports watch until the demand from the unattainable Nautilus and Royal Oak pushed prices up. and the Overseas Automatic suddenly became attainable again.

I absolutely love the petite second hand with no date, this is my winter watch as I wear a long sleeved shirt to work. The Petite Seconde fits well under my sleeve, the only issue is it spends most of the day under my shirt, I also wear a jacket as it is winter so my Petite Seconde is under two sleeves during the winter months.

The dial is minimalist, the heritage Tissot logo is the only text on the dial, the fine leaf hands add some elegance to the dial. The sub-dial at the lower section ensures a symmetric dial, I am typically dismissive of too much text on a dial, this is perfect. The largish printed Arabic numerals work well, the numerals do not cut through the seconds sub-dial, I have never liked that look. The fine vertical brushing on the dial that has a slightly tanned colour.

I am a big fan of the hand-wound movement, the Calibre ETA 6498-1 is a pretty movement to view from the exhibition caseback, the movement is from a pocket watch and fills the case. The movement is decorated with Côtes de Genève finishing and blued screws, this micro-scratch style machining removes the base machining marks during the manufacturing process and provides an aesthetic finish viewed without hindrance of a winding rotor.

The superannuation industry is undergoing change, the Royal Commission into banking is accelerating that process along with the uptake of people fed up with high fees and low returns starting personal Self Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSF).

Whilst I do have a SMSF and a state government superannuation fund, this was because when I began employment in the state government it was a requirement to join this fund. I’m glad I did, I was in the final year of intake where no contributions tax was deducted allowing the retirement balance to grow quicker before the fund closed to new members. The tax is deducted when member withdraws their retirement benefit.

Naturally, a prudent person would not retire from this fund as it is governed by special conditions that were specifically reserved for government employees that were not open to the general public. In order to attract talent to work for state government organisations that were unable to match private sector salaries, reward systems were devised to increase benefits and conditions.

What industry funds offer the general public that for-profit funds offer is low fees that result in higher returns for members. The outrageous commissions paid to financial advisors, aka known as salespeople generating personal income streams that benefit themselves and not the people investing their retirement savings.

The Citizen Watch Company offers an extremely affordable integrated bracelet 1970s inspired watch in bright colours. Clearly the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak is the design standard for this style of watch. So along comes Citizen with a brightly coloured offering that looks great in summer and I’m in.

Shiels Jewellers was running a major promotion nationwide, so for $449 I have myself a Citizen Tsuoya to wear around. Whilst I have plenty of high quality watches in my collection, the Tsuoya is a cheaper integrated bracelet version of a highly popular reincarnation of a winning design formula. As I selected the yellow dial NJ0150-81Z, this version is surprisingly similar to the Rolex 124300 Oyster Perpetual. So, the Tsuoya will be a casual daytime summer watch for wearing out.

So the Miyota Calibre 8210 is a simple automatic movement, this is viewed through the exhibition caseback, this is somewhat unusual as this is an unfinished movement. Still, this is what designers are delivering these days and it does make sense if this is the only watch in your collection, or the only automatic you own. If you have some other automatic watches, then this display caseback will be a bit underwhelming.

The power reserve is approximately 40 hours, this is sufficient as I do not comprehend the obsession with extended power reserves at the sacrifice of accuracy. The movement has a +/- 20 second accuracy, sufficient for a watch in this price bracket. The Calibre 8210 beats at 21,600 vph, so this is pretty much what you would expect. This will appeal to budget minded collectors who cannot afford an Oyster Perpetual, Seamaster or Carrera and want a racy contemporary styled watch.

The dial is remarkably similar to the Oyster Perpetual with baton hands, single index markers and double index markers at the 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock positions. There is a small date window at the 3 o’clock position that does not have a date frame in an attempt to make the date window look larger. There is a cyclops over the date window, not sold on this feature, but I see why they included it. The crown at the 4 o’clock position is a little difficult for me to set as it is recessed in the 40 mm case, still, I like the different design here. What is interesting in a watch of this price range is the sapphire crystal, I did not really expect that.

Citizen Watch Company is one of the biggest watch manufacturers in the world, they own a number of watch manufacturers from Bulova, Alpina, Accutron, Frederique Constant, and Arnold & Son and are an excellent budget choice. There is discussion that Citizen will take the mantle of affordable Japanese quality away from Seiko, especially since Seiko has raised their prices without the quality control improvements and movement accuracy.

I already have a Citizen Promaster in my collection, so I changed out the rubber strap for a TAG Heuer S/el style bracelet. I also have a quartz chronograph with a really rattly bracelet. What is interesting is the President style bracelet, this was made famous on the Rolex Day/Date, I have never been a fan of the fluted bezel design of the DateJust and the Day/Date models, so I am interested in the wearability of the Citizen bracelet.

I watch with interest what is happening at not only Australian universities but internationally as well. There is really an anti-semetic movement gaining a fair degree of traction. My view is very simple, if you want to end the Gaza war, then put pressure on Hamas to release the hostages abducted on October 7 – it is not that difficult.

The Queers for Palestine movement is the most interesting development. Hezbollah is clear here, homosexuality is a sin and homosexuals must be killed. Hezbollah has form, they target gays in Lebanon, their rights are under threat and they really back up their hatred of homosexuals by killing them. I guess the gay community somehow identifies with this cause, they believe they are downtrodden and misaligned in a free society. They are right, they are misaligned, they are supporting a terrorist organisation that rapes women and engages in sex crimes, what reasonable person supports sex crimes?

Technology – not tax is the key to meeting emissions targets. A tax is such a blunt instrument that generally has the opposite effect of what governments are trying to achieve. This is such a negative policy, innovation and technology is the key here.

I believe in meeting emissions targets, this will require the development of new technology and should be instigated with tax incentives for business enterprises willing to invest in technologies and processes to reduce emissions output. We all live on this planet, we all have a duty to employ environmentally sound actions that benefit the community as a whole.

The idea is to create an environment that is conducive to long-term investment in emissions reduction. What businesses do not want is government policy constantly changing causing disruption to their long-term planning and implementation.

The purpose of governments is to create policies that reward investment that leads to long-term goals. We need to move away from the short-term policies that are not in the best interests of any parties. The role of government is to create the conditions for investment and monitor compliance, the role of the private sector is to seek opportunities and apply scarce capital to projects that earn superior returns.

I am appalled at the rhetoric coming from US president Donald Trump, there is no art of the deal coming from this bloke, we are seeing a Putin aligned Trump trying to carve up Ukraine with the aid of Putin. Trump is attempting to gain access to rare earths in Eastern Ukraine and is willing to sell the Ukrainian people out in a transactional deal with Russia.

We all know thin skinned Trump has a fragile ego, so it is not in the interests of Zelensky to engage in tit-for-tat accusations as this would make Trump even more hostile to both Zelensky and Ukraine. Trump attacked Zelensky stating he had failed to make a deal. Seriously, how could Ukraine make a deal when Russia massed troops in Belarus under the guise of war games to invade Ukraine.

The failure of Russian forces to gain control of Hostomel Airport in the early days of the war really led to the failure of the Special Military Operation. Had Russian forces secured Hostomel Airport and used that as the staging point for the siege of Kiev, then this 10 day special military operation would have been successful. Then, the convoy to Kiev was thwarted by a determined and desperate Ukrainian military fighting for their lives.

I am no Trump supporter, that is for sure, what I do try to do is analyse multiple viewpoints to see if Trump is trying to play both Putin and Europe. Firstly, Western and Central Europe has had the opportunity to increase military spending in the post-Soviet collapse and this has been an abject failure. With the exception of Poland, European nations have not invested in defence, instead allowing their militaries and military base to deteriorate to such a state that they are now inept.

Furthermore, Europe has had three years of the Russian and Ukrainian war to ramp up production. Once again, with the exception of Poland, there has been no action to build up military capacity. Is Trump’s rhetoric designed to force Europe and NATO to take greater responsibility for European security. The possibility always exists, however I am not seeing the level of sophistication from the US president.

Trump has begun a tariff dispute with neighbours Canada and Mexico expanding the tariff dispute with allies including Europe, Japan and Australia. Where should tariffs be targeted? That is clearly China, this is the nation that has undercut American manufacturing. So what Trump is doing is antagonising the country’s allies. One suspects this is going to be four long years of the Trump Administration. We will also see if this government is characterised by the dysfunction of the previous Trump term.