During the 1960s, Omega was the premium product, yes, Rolex produced some solid timepieces, yet Omega was the leading brand. As an innovative business, Omega was a well respected organisation producing a quality product that declined in the late 1970s and 1980s before reinventing itself. We know this is not the case now, Omega is trying to match Rolex, but is a long way off.

When the quartz revolution hit, the Japanese technological invention antiquated the mechanical watchmaking business, it immediately made the mechanical movement obsolete. It was aptly named the quartz crisis and bankrupted a large number of Swiss watchmakers. So, when Rolex re-engineered their products as premium products, they became the Rolls Royce of watchmaking.

Omega was in financial distress and was swallowed up as a premium brand of the Swatch Group. Whilst this saved the company, as a subsidiary of a large global business, a large degree of autonomy was ceded. A counter-argument is the Swatch Group provides stability, marketing prowess and liquidity.

Omega is now in the unenviable position of trying to catch up to Rolex. Omega has a great product line, fantastic heritage, innovative designs and the technological advantage, having their reputation tarnished in the 1970s and 1980s has proved to be a major burden though. In the luxury product world, prestige is everything and Rolex has that prestige. 

Rolex is viewed as the Rolls Royce of watchmakers, a stodgy private company that relies on their legacy range of watches to generate growth. In watchmaking, reputation is everything with Rolex reigning as the king of watchmakers. A non-watch enthusiast knows the Rolex brand, but would be hard pressed to name the holy trinity of haute horology of Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin or Audermars Piguet – that is amazing.

So Omega is on the rebound, more people are aware of Omega products and plenty of people are willing to part with a premium to own some Omega prestige. Omega is more attainable too, the waiting list for standard timepieces is not long, a customer can walk out of a boutique with a Speedmaster, Seamaster or Constellation secured to their wrist. 

This is near impossible for Rolex, with the exception of the DateJust, walking out of a Rolex boutique with a Submariner, Daytona, Explorer or GMT Master is unheard of. Instead, your name goes on a waiting list and you will be contacted when one becomes available. The mark-up by the retailer must be phenomenal as the retailer is limited by manufacturer supply. This artificial scarcity is driving the Rolex products, a two year waitlist makes this product more appealing. 

The Omega boutique is an entirely different matter, there is little artificial scarcity created. With the exception of some very special releases, supply is pretty good and if you want one of the rarer models, it will be shipped in for you. Can Omega create artificial scarcity? Sure, they can but that would not be building their customer base. Why wait two years for a Rolex when you can have an Omega now with greater styling, a high tech movement, excellent quality control and a fast improving reputation.

I have been following the Ukraine war on YouTube, in print media and specific websites. The sites that I follow show Russian propagandists belting out the Kremlin rhetoric at maximum volume. Naturally, this is expected to occur in a closed and authoritarian nation like Russia, so there is nothing unusual here. he apparently has a large fan base in Russia, his propaganda works, he does influence people’s minds.

One of the main protagonists I watch is Vladimir Solovyov, a Jewish Russian who is ready to push the Kremlin’s Nazi line. I have to give him his due, he is certainly passionate. I cannot say he argues his case well, he just speaks with some misplaced authority on the issue – he is basically a dribbler. When I say authority, I do not mean technical or insider authority, I mean he strongly argues his point of view without any quantitative data, logic or facts.

He is demanding nuclear escalation by the Russian Federation, he speaks of flattening Berlin, Paris and London, he even discusses a strike on New York. This is nothing more than Kremlin messaging to an internal audience, with modern technology we are able to view their television shows. It does make interesting viewing, surely no rational person would fall for this stupidity, yet Vladimir Solovyov is pretty popular in Russia.

Surely even Vladimir Solovyov knows this war is not going well for Russia, he cannot be that stupid, his job is to stir up the masses and put the Kremlin’s version of the truth forward. But he must know Russia is losing this war, Solovyov cannot be believing his own propaganda, surely he has enough awareness to see Russia is in big trouble.

The Brittany Higgins rape trial was a witch hunt, driven by Lisa Wilkinson’s ego, she knew what she was doing and obliterated the presumption of innocence with the distinction between an untested allegation and proven fact of guilt lost. Whilst Lisa Wilkinson and other journalists were presenting themselves for awards, this trial by media almost broke the Australian justice system.

What interested me the most is the presumption of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law, due process, and the right to cross examine evidence was all dismissed in the media coverage driven by the #MeToo movement. Britrany Higgins chose to become the face of the #MeToo movement in Australia. The rule of law was nearly thrown away in Australia with the onus of proof on the prosecution almost dismissed.

So when Lisa Wilkinson got up and gave her Brittany Higgins speech at the Logie Awards Ceremony, she not only delayed the trial by three months, she gave the Bruce Lehrmann defence team precious time to reevaluate their defence strategy. Lisa Wilkinson was so arrogant, she believed she could influence the jury through her high profile TV presenter role without prejudicing the prosecution case just a week before the trial.

However, Chief Justice Lucy McCallum thought differently and delayed the high-profile trial. In the Australian Capital Territory, there is no provision for a judge only trial where the judge purely interprets the law based on the presented evidence, Wilkinson’s speech was aimed at potential jurors. What Wilkinson did was save Lehrmann, there was a very high chance he would have been convicted at what was considered just a formality the prosecution was forced to endure.

Not that it was needed, a mistrial was declared when a jury member clearly unimpressed by Brittany Higgins’ sworn testimony brought in research material to the jury room questioning the witness allegations. A court clerk found the unauthorised materials and the case was over, they had to go through the whole process again with a new jury. The material was based on a trial witness making false allegations, the jury did not believe her story.

In what was the biggest sensation, Brittany Higgins herself gave a press conference outside the court in a clear breach of protocol. Her statement was damning, I recall listening to her statement live at work and knew straight away this was going to be big. This was a high profile case before a jury where a prejudiced effort had been made to sway the jury and then another ill advised press conference undermined the rule of law, due process and the opportunity of a fair trial.

As a Fremantle Football Club member, I attended both the 2021 and 2022 member’s meetings, the 2021 meeting at the Esplanade Hotel in Fremantle and Optus Stadium in Perth in 2022 as the Esplanade Hotel was not available.

A question that was raised during the 2021 AGM was the issue of Woodside Limited as the major Fremantle Football Club sponsor. Now, respectfully I used the term raised, it was an emotional and poorly articulated rant that was met with gasps and moans by the members. I jumped up and wandered off to the toilet as I was in no mood for this stupid discussion, she could not even put a coherent argument forward – just emotional bullshit.

There have been some high profile activists from Carmen Lawrence whom I later found out was not a member, author Tim Winton [another non-member] and former player Dale Kickett. I have no issues with the right to protest, to be fair and balanced, these people are raising their concerns in a respectful manner, so in that regard, I am ok.

What we really need is some consistency here, these same people appear to have no issues with the AGL sponsorship of the West Coast Eagles, the highest polluting company in Australia. Nor are these very same people concerned about Mineral Resources the naming rights of the West Coast Eagles home ground, Mineral Resources Park. Part of the portfolio of Mineral Resources is energy, that includes oil and gas exploration – seriously.

But let’s not stop here, fast food giant Hungry Jacks [Burger King] adds to obesity, now the number one cause of death in Australia. Obesity has now overtaken smoking, alcohol abuse and illicit drugs as the leading cause of hospitisation and death in Australia. McDonald’s is an AFL sponsor and also sponsors the Fremantle Football Club in direct competition to the West Coast Eagles.

In what could only be viewed as an extraordinary case of double standards, the sponsorship of AGL Energy of cross town rivals has not been mentioned, yet AGL Energy is Australia’s largest polluter. As a duty of disclosure, I own shares in both Woodside and AGL and although my AGL shares have underperformed, I remained committed to this company. However, I fully expect both these business enterprises to transition to renewable energy gradually. I may consider Mineral Resources in the future if they meet my investment needs, currently I do not hold any shares in Mineral Resources.

As the formalities of the meeting ended we were able to discuss topics with high ranking members of the club. I spoke with CEO Simon Garlick how we knew this line of questioning was going to be raised and how the club can better respond. My suggestion was to highlight the $5 billion investment in clean energy and renewables by Woodside Limited, a significant investment. Notwithstanding, Woodside has invested heavily in the clubs indigenous program, Fremantle Football Club has the strongest indigenous links in the league.

Simon listened, he replied that Woodside Limited are not that good at promoting their clean energy credentials and I agreed. There is no reason why the board cannot highlight Woodside major clean energy initiatives at the meeting and press conferences. That does not mean that the club should do all the work for Woodside, what they need to do is help with the narrative and how Woodside is transitioning to clean energy.

When the abuse gets personal, you know you are winning the argument. My attitude is you have to learn how to not only absorb pressure, you have to learn how to deal with conflict.

When dealing with workplace issues, there is bound to be conflict, how well you handle that conflict is the key to success. In a similar ideal to online abuse, the people who generally seek to undermine you are the under-performers, so it doesn’t concern me. I have a degree of arrogance to these people, you have to. This makes them even more hostile as I don’t even attempt to communicate with them. These people are angry individuals, angry with the world and angry with people who are more competent than they are.

My attitude is, why waste energy on losers. They are losers because they never tried to get ahead, they lack the drive and the ability. I have no issues with individuals who try, but lack the competence to achieve higher levels – they give their best. But the losers who seek to undermine you, they are targets. I love coming up against these fools, they are easy to run-over. They lack the cognitive ability to challenge you, they take personal shots, that’s all they have, they certainly don’t have the mental ability to offer solutions.

So I cracked open a bottle of 2019 Fermoy Estate merlot. I am a wine club member, so I purchase a case every three months. I had become tired of their cabernet sauvignon, switched to shiraz, didn’t like that as much so switched again to merlot. I am not normally a merlot drinker, so this is a bit of a change for me. The obvious question is, did I like the merlot? The answer is yes, I liked it. The next question is value for money, is the 2019 merlot worth $35? I would again answer yes, but I would have to say it is fully priced.

This is a 90% merlot and 10% cabernet sauvignon, the aroma is black cherry and plum, the palate is plums and cherry and the tannins do not overpower this wine. The 2019 spent 18 months on oak with a combination of new and old French barriques. This wine has 14.5% alcohol with a cellaring potential around 6 years. The Fermoy Estate winery is on Metricup Rd in Wilyabrup, this is a pretty well known sub-region within the Margaret River wine region with Moss Wood, Lenton Brae, Woodlands and Evans & Tate all close by, this is a great little sub-region surrounded by quality wineries. 

In what could be considered a highly topical issue, the persistence of the CCP to seek to build naval facilities so close to Australia raises serious concerns regarding the intentions of the Chinese government. The CCP wants to place pressure on Australia, a US partner in the Pacific in an attempt to fracture the relationship.

The Solomon Islands is the initial concern, this provides the logistical capability allowing the Chinese navy to blockade, or to launch an invasion of Australia. Surely, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Damukana Sogavare can see that this makes his country a target of Australian and allied weapons. The first target would be to shut down that logistical capability, that would likely be precision bombing by aircraft or a stand off missile strike.

Secondly, this is likely to be a spy base, so all communication hardware installed has a single purpose, to spy on Australia. This is likely to be immediately targeted by Australian military planners by ship based missiles and RAAF aircraft. This would require in air refuelling to make the distance, the F-35 is a capable jet for such a missile, although the twin engine F/A-18 Super Hornet is especially well suited for such a mission.

Then we have Timor-Leste directly to the north in the Indonesian archipelago, this provides a means for the Chinese navy to navigate through the Indonesian islands and locate themselves well within reach of Australian military facilities in the Northern Territory and the North West of Australia. Should China deploy missiles in Timor-Leste, Australian defences have reduced reaction times and military facilities are at risk. The Chinese are looking at port and naval facilities

Ok, so how would the allies counter such moves? Well, the Japanese Islands [Yonaguni, Taketomi, Ishigaki, Tarma, Irabu Island and Miyako Jima] would deter an assault on Taiwan. The islands in close proximity to Taiwan would be the ultimate bargaining tool, a dual US/Japanese military facility effectively locking the Chinese navy to the relatively shallow coastal waters of East China Sea would make Chinese military planners extremely nervous, with anti-ship missiles and anti-submarine capabilities stationed in the islands.

A Chinese base close to Australia is countered with a naval facility in the southern Japanese islands with not only anti-ship missiles and medium range missiles, this will prevent a naval blockade of Taiwan. Miyako Jima has a population of approximately 55,000 and is the most populated island in the region, Ishigaki has a population of approximately 47,000 people and Yonaguni just 108 km from Taiwan with a population of approximately 1600 people.

Lastly there is Papua New Guinea, the Chinese government is pushing hard to gain influence here. They are looking to influence government officials and seeking naval and port facilities and even seeking an island within close proximity to Australia. The island of Daru is just a short boat trip across the Torres Strait to Australia, Cape York in the north of Queensland is 194 km. Whilst this is a small island, they are after fishing rights with an industrial fishing park and seek to build a city with industrial and business centre, sea port, and residential area that may include a resort.

I prefer to purchase my meat from the butcher shop in Woolworths as the supermarket in my area still has a butcher shop attached. I can select my individual meat, and the meat is wrapped in paper [with a thin plastic film] and handed to me. I select the exact meat product I want and they wrap, weigh and attach the price for me. This is the same in their deli section and fish monger, you get relatively fresh product that has not been processed.

Over the Christmas break all the butchers were sent on summer holidays, this is great as this is the perfect holiday period. So you can imagine my surprise when I had to purchase head sealed in plastic wrapping. This is an environmental disaster, I need to cut the steak free from the plastic and throw this plastic into landfill as it is the non-recycle type of plastic, this is a real issue, these large supermarkets are increasing their plastic output and we as consumers are forced to accept these limited options.

Ok, for me this was just over the Christmas break so my waste footprint is still relatively low. What I do know is competitor Coles has closed all their butcher shops in all their supermarkets and only retail pre-packaged meat wrapped heavily in plastic. When I speak to the Woolworths butchers, they tell me they no longer train apprentices so they are seeking to phase out their in-store butcher shops and redeploy staff.

I am a pretty vocal supporter of Fermoy Estate, a smallish Margaret River winery in Western Australia’s south west wine region. Margaret River is a bit of a broad term, Fermoy Estate is located on Metricup Road in Wilyabrup, about 25 km from the Margaret River township and a leisurely 20 minute drive up Caves Road, a pretty scenic drive in the region.

The 2018 shiraz is a dark red colour, this is a deep shiraz with plenty of fruit in this medium bodied wine. There are pepper overtones with a little sourness in the aftertaste to make this shiraz interesting, but it still doesn’t do it for me. When I review the tasting notes, this is a 92 point rated wine, they reckon it can be cellared right up until 2028, so it still has some potential to soften out some more.  

This shiraz has subtle oak flavours after spending 15 months in a combination of new and one year old French barriques. I reckon the tannins are still a little strong and could do with another 2 years maturation in the bottle. I will continue to purchase this shiraz, but not for drinking now instead for putting away for a couple of years.  

At 14.5% alcohol, this is a reasonably big shiraz, it has some grunt. At $30 per bottle, I don’t think it lives up to the cost and will seek something else from this winemaker. The Fermoy wine club offers a pretty decent discount at $22.50 per bottle, I enjoy supporting this winery. The Reserve shiraz is fantastic, but at $65 per bottle [$48.75 wine club members], this isn’t a regular drink, instead reserved for special occasions. 

I really don’t see why people purchase replica watches, these infringe on intellectual property, create a black market and really offer nothing to the industry. These manufacturers steal original designs and then produce low cost and low quality watches with little to no value.

Individuals purchase replica and fake versions of established brands that represent quality, craftsmanship, success and luxury – a replica, counterfeit or fake watch conveys none of these attributes and qualities. This particular example is the Steinhart GMT (coke) that is a direct rip-off of the Rolex GMT design that will set you back €490.00 or about $770 AUD. A chronograph based on the Omega Speedmaster design will cost you €980.00 ($1540 AUD). Sure they are cheap, but that is what it is, a cheap knock-off.

I would argue that if you are willing to spend that type of money on a watch then that money would be better spent on an original timepiece created by an designer and creating their own piece of history. To be fair, a Steinhart isn’t a fake per se, it is a homage watch taking the design of an iconic timepiece such as a Rolex GMT, Omega Seamaster or Rolex Submariner. As their watches bear the Steinhart name on the watch and don’t try to pass it off as a Rolex design.

I think they are pretty much on the edge in regards to design, one would think they they would be better off designing their own watches and marketing them accordingly. Steinhart’s distribution chain is centred around internet sales with no dealers but hey now have retail premises. If you look at a brand such as TW Steel, they advertise heavily online whilst minimising traditional advertising methods. At least TW Steel is an original brand, they market well for for market and they produce ok watches for their clients.

Their niche is over-sized watches and they have retail outlets, dealers and marketing for their original designs. Whilst I’m not about to race out and purchase a TW Steel watch anytime soon, I do respect their success. Not so with Steinhart, they are just a rip-off of an iconic design. I wonder how they would react if a replica watch mob would start producing fake Steinhart watches and undercutting their sales? A company should protect their intellectual property, it was their design.

I suspect they would be less than impressed and would take action. Still, plagiarism is plagiarism and can’t be defended. I really dislike knock-off products – it offers no originality. The original Rolex GMT known as the Pepsi for its blue/red bezel was the created after Pam-Am executives approached Rolex seeking a watch design for its international travelers featuring two time zones. This is what innovation is, they came up with something that the client requested, I have to respect their design engineers and stylists.

One time zone being the office back home and the time at their destination where they were conducting business is important, you can’t be late for a meeting because you got the time wrong. The Coke version was based on the Black/Red bezel colour and thus a derivative of their original design. There are numerous watchmakers producing a GMT version of their standard watch, just an upgraded movement to account for two time zones, that is good. What I don’t find so appealing is the style of the Rolex GMT, the bezel, the jubilee bracelet and the case, just come up with your own variation.

I would suggest people do a little research and make their purchase based on an original design and support up and coming or even established businesses. Micro brands are interesting as long as they have produce original designs. For me, this has nothing to do about price, you can still make an affordable purchase than could be a Hamilton, Seiko, Citizen, Mido or Tissot. I just believe in supporting original design and not plagiarism. I would purchase a Casio over a Steinhart, they are in competing markets and the style of Casio makes for a interesting watch that is utilitarian.