Why you shouldn't be a consultant when the world is on fire
So, you're a consultant. Really? Rutger Bregman has a clear message to consultants, corporate lawyers and finance types: you could – and should – be doing more. And now, with the world on fire as postwar norms crumble, your talent is needed more than ever.
In his new book Moral Ambition, Bregman – the Dutch historian who went viral in 2019 by telling off wealthy people at Davos for not paying more tax – lays out why and how the world needs entrepreneurial types to be fixing problems, be they malaria, unchecked growth of AI or the climate crisis.
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West Australian
5 days ago
- West Australian
City's Reijnders deal spells trouble for Grealish
Manchester City have agreed a fee with AC Milan for Dutch midfielder Tijjani Reijnders, while Jack Grealish looks set to be left out of the Club World Cup squad,. City are set to pay £46 million (A$96 million) for the 26-year-old Reijnders, who has agreed a five-year contract to move to the Premier League. The formalities of the deal are still to be completed but it appears City have landed their first major summer signing. Reijnders was a bright spark in a disappointing season for Milan, who finished eighth in Serie A, missing out on qualification for Europe. Reijnders, who joined the Italian giants from AZ Alkmaar in 2023, scored 15 goals in 2024-25 and will bolster Pep Guardiola's midfield options following the departure of Kevin De Bruyne. City will play their first match of the Club World Cup against Morocco's Wydad AC on June 18 and the arrival of Reijnders could have big implications for Grealish's future at City. The England international looks set to miss out on City's final 35-man squad for the Club World Cup in the United States. Last month, the 29-year-old was left on the bench in the FA Cup final defeat to Crystal Palace, and omitted from the squad for the final league game of the season at Fulham altogether. Grealish, a record signing from Aston Villa four years ago, has fallen down the pecking order since playing a starring role in the 2023 treble-winning campaign and made just seven Premier League starts in 2024-25. Another midfielder who will not feature in the US is Mateo Kovacic, who has been ruled out following Achilles surgery.
Perth Now
5 days ago
- Perth Now
City's Reijnders deal spells trouble for Grealish
Manchester City have agreed a fee with AC Milan for Dutch midfielder Tijjani Reijnders, while Jack Grealish looks set to be left out of the Club World Cup squad,. City are set to pay £46 million (A$96 million) for the 26-year-old Reijnders, who has agreed a five-year contract to move to the Premier League. The formalities of the deal are still to be completed but it appears City have landed their first major summer signing. Reijnders was a bright spark in a disappointing season for Milan, who finished eighth in Serie A, missing out on qualification for Europe. Reijnders, who joined the Italian giants from AZ Alkmaar in 2023, scored 15 goals in 2024-25 and will bolster Pep Guardiola's midfield options following the departure of Kevin De Bruyne. City will play their first match of the Club World Cup against Morocco's Wydad AC on June 18 and the arrival of Reijnders could have big implications for Grealish's future at City. The England international looks set to miss out on City's final 35-man squad for the Club World Cup in the United States. Last month, the 29-year-old was left on the bench in the FA Cup final defeat to Crystal Palace, and omitted from the squad for the final league game of the season at Fulham altogether. Grealish, a record signing from Aston Villa four years ago, has fallen down the pecking order since playing a starring role in the 2023 treble-winning campaign and made just seven Premier League starts in 2024-25. Another midfielder who will not feature in the US is Mateo Kovacic, who has been ruled out following Achilles surgery.
Sydney Morning Herald
5 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Australia news LIVE: Economy grows by 0.2 per cent; Tasmania debates no-confidence motion of Rockliff; Ley urges US to grant Australia an exemption to Trump's metal tariffs
Key posts 11.58am Boele wins Bradfield, Liberals consider court challenge 11.42am Economy grows - just - as disasters and Christmas leave their impact 11.09am Mushroom cook returns to witness box for a third day 10.44am Tasmanian premier on thin ice amid no-confidence threat 9.37am Virgin Australia gets $685m IPO ready for lift-off 9.28am Ley urges US to grant Australia an exemption to Trump's steel, aluminium tariffs 9.08am Dutch government collapses after far-right leader pulls party out of coalition 8.51am Westpac-owned RAMS admits to home loan misconduct Hide key posts Latest posts Latest posts 11.58am Boele wins Bradfield, Liberals consider court challenge By Alexandra Smith Loading In breaking news this hour, Teal candidate Nicolette Boele has seized the once blue-ribbon seat of Bradfield after a recount of the north shore seat, beating Liberal hopeful Gisele Kapterian by just 27 votes in one of the tightest elections in history. While the Australia Electoral Commission has not yet publicly confirmed the result, several Liberal sources closely involved in Bradfield campaign confirmed that Boele was victorious. Boele won the seat on her second attempt, after almost unseating former Liberal frontbencher Paul Fletcher in 2022. She continued campaigning fulltime for three years, styling herself as the shadow MP for Bradfield. She will join fellow NSW teals Allegra Spender (Wentworth), Sophie Scamps (Mackellar) and Zali Steggall (Warringah) on the crossbench. 11.42am Economy grows - just - as disasters and Christmas leave their impact By Alexander Darling and Millie Muroi The Australian economy rose 0.2 per cent in the March quarter, according to new figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday. That's the slowest pace since the three months to June last year - and below consensus expectations for 0.3 per cent growth. At the same time, the amount of income Australians have been saving compared to spending has increased from 3.9 per cent to 5.2. In the past 12 months, the growth has been 1.3 per cent. 'The private sector recovery we have planned and prepared for is gradually taking hold,' said treasurer Jim Chalmers in a statement. Extreme weather events dampened demand and weighed down exports, although household spending - which accounts for more than half of the country's economic growth - continued to grow at 0.4 per cent. This was driven by an uptick in spending on essentials including utilities during the warmer than average summer and food as Queensland households stockpiled in preparation for Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. However, data yesterday revealed government spending and net trade - other key components of GDP - also slipped, detracting from economic growth. ' Household spending on discretionary items was also relatively slow following a stronger than usual retail sale period during the Christmas season. 11.33am Tasmanian party leaders trade barbs as no-confidence motion debated By Alexander Darling Under-siege Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff has unloaded on Opposition Leader Dean Winter – accusing him of selfish and reckless behaviour, and of bullying the crossbench – after Winter successfully moved a no-confidence motion against him. Rockliff won re-election with a minority government last year, but today's motion has been backed by crossbench MPs. The Labor opposition moved the motion in response to what it called budget mismanagement and plans to privatise state assets. Responding to the motion in state parliament, Rockliff called Winter 'a weak leader'. Loading 'I hand on heart, can say to you that I have fought more for vulnerable people in this place than the Labor Party could ever dream of, and particularly the person that resumes his seat, the leader of the opposition, who has demonstrated in the last 24 hours that you are not ready to govern, that you are a weak leader, that you are prepared to jeopardise Tasmania's future and the stability of this parliament,' he said. Earlier, Winter said the instability was Rockliff's fault alone.'The debate is very important today,' he said. 'The broken promises are galling. But the situation the state arrives in goes back to one thing, and that's the state of the Tasmanian budget. $1.7 billion worth of cash deficit this year, heading towards $11 billion of net debt, and a premier who won't even admit there's a problem.' Rockliff mentioned in his reply the need to open the chequebook to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 Hillcrest jumping castle tragedy in which six children died. MPs are expected to vote on the motion this afternoon. 11.09am Mushroom cook returns to witness box for a third day By Marta Pascual Juanola and Erin Pearson Erin Patterson had just stepped into the witness box for the third day when her barrister, Colin Mandy, SC, resumed his questioning by taking her to an extraction report about the contents of an SD card found by police during a search of her home in Leongatha on November 2, 2023. She has pleaded not guilty to the murder of her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, and the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, in July 2023. She claims their deaths from mushroom poisoning were a terrible accident. Among other images shown to the court today, the document contains a series of photographs of mushrooms on the kitchen bench and on the newspaper atop her dining table at her old home, as well as some snapshots from a video taken by Patterson featuring her son and daughter. 'We were on the rail trail. I believe that was coming out of the Leongatha trail head,' she said. She patted her eyes with a tissue while pointing out who her children were in the photographs and said several images showed some orange mushrooms on the kitchen bench and a newspaper atop her dining table at her old home in Shellcot Road, Korumburra. Other photographs showed wild mushrooms growing on her property at the time, which she photographed to figure out what variety of mushrooms they were, she said. Follow our live coverage of the trial here. 10.44am Tasmanian premier on thin ice amid no-confidence threat By Alexander Darling Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff is facing a no-confidence motion as the opposition increases the heat over his party's financial management and plans for a new AFL stadium in Hobart. The nascent AFL Football team in Tasmania said it was deeply concerned about the political uncertainty enveloping the state government, with the Labor opposition singling out Rockliff's alleged 'budget mismanagement'. The minority Liberal state government has pledged $375 million for a new stadium, without which the Tasmania Devils will not be able to enter the AFL as planned in 2028. The Labor opposition supports the project 'unconditionally' but Greens and several crossbench MPs are opposed. In a statement, the Devils said the 'political uncertainty... is of great concern' to them. 'We are unsure what will happen today... what we do know is that uncertainty presents a serious risk for jobs, investment and growth, and for the future of Tasmania Football Club,' it said. With AAP 10.29am Labor MP defends government's super tax By Cindy Yin Labor MP Julian Hill has defended the government's controversial plan to increase tax on super balances over $3 million, saying they were 'winning this argument with the Australian people'. Treasurer Jim Chalmers' super tax changes are one of Labor's key policy offerings, and will be put to the parliament in coming months. Currently, earnings from super are taxed at a rate of up to 15 per cent, but about one in 200 Australian taxpayers with super balances higher than $3 million will face an additional 15 per cent tax on any investment returns they earn on the amount above this threshold. Appearing on Sky News this morning, Hill said: 'Frankly, I think we're winning this argument with the Australian people'. 'No one has been able to convince me that if you've got more than three million bucks in your super account that you need all of that for your retirement. Good on you, hold that wealth, but pay tax like everyone else on it'. 'Let's be honest: If you've got five, 10, 15 million dollars in your super account it is not for your retirement. So why do you attract the full tax concessions for retirement income? You should pay a bit of tax on it, it's estate planning,' he said. 10.20am 'In one awful decision, Albanese has revealed his do-nothing plan' By Ross Gittins It didn't take long for us to discover what a triumphantly re-elected Labor government would be like, writes Ross Gittins. Would Anthony Albanese stick to the plan he outlined soon after the 2022 election of avoiding controversy during his first term so he could consolidate Labor's hold on power, then get on with the big reforms in term two? Or would he decide that his policy of giving no offence to powerful interest groups had been so rapturously received by the voters, he'd stick with it in his new term? Well, now we know. The re-elected government's first big decision is to extend the life of Woodside Energy's North West Shelf gas processing plant on the Burrup peninsula in Western Australia for a further 40 years from 2030. What was it you guys said about your sacred commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050? You remember, the commitment that showed you were fair dinkum about combating climate change whereas the Coalition, with its plan to switch to nuclear energy, wasn't? So you're happy for one of the world's biggest liquified natural gas projects still to be pumping out greenhouse gases in 2070, 20 years after it's all meant to be over? 10.00am Charity sector booms driven by soaring cost of living By Alexander Darling New data out today from the charity sector's national regulator shows Australia's 63,000 registered charities earned $222 billion in revenue last financial year, a rise of 10.7 per cent. The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) has published the 11th edition of the Australian Charities Report, which also shows charities now employ more than 10 per cent of the nation's workforce. 'The addition of more staff reflects sector growth, but it's growth that is needed to try to match greater demand for services,' said ACNC commissioner Sue Woodward. 'Many parts of the sector, including food banks and crisis accommodation services as just a couple of examples, are consistently reporting that cost of living pressures are driving higher demand, sometimes stretching capacity to the point where, sadly, people seeking help have to be turned away.' Approximately 40 per cent of revenue went to just 30 charities. Donations comprised around 40 per cent of extra small charity revenue, compared to only slightly more than 6 per cent for those deemed extra large. More than half of all charities had no paid staff; for extra small organisations that figure was nearly 90 per cent. 9.37am Virgin Australia gets $685m IPO ready for lift-off By Chris Zappone Virgin Australia has kicked off its return to the Australian sharemarket after an absence of more than four years, with bankers offering shares in the airline to investors at $2.90 apiece for its much-anticipated listing on the ASX. Private equity owner Bain Capital will sell close to 30 per cent of Qantas Airways' biggest rival, expecting to raise $685 million via the initial public offering. The $2.90 price tag for the stock represents a multiple of seven times the airline's expected earnings this financial year, the firm said in its pitch to sharemarket investors. Market sources said the joint lead managers of the offering believed demand from domestic and global anchor investors was 'well in excess of the offer size prior to opening of the bookbuild'. It's unclear when the stock will start trading on the ASX. The IPO represents the culmination of years of waiting for the listing of the airline. Bain Capital bought the then struggling airline in 2020, taking it off the sharemarket after it had been placed in administration, facing soaring costs and the impact of the COVID-19 shutdown on travel. 9.28am Ley urges US to grant Australia an exemption to Trump's steel, aluminium tariffs By Paul Sakkal Coalition leader Sussan Ley says the Albanese government should be seeking an exemption from Donald Trump's steel and aluminium tariffs, after a special carve-out for the UK was confirmed overnight. The US president signed an executive order hiking metals tariffs from 25 to 50 per cent today. The only nation left out was the UK, which will continue to be levied at 25 per cent, at least until July 9, after Prime Minister Keir Starmer struck a deal with Trump last month. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to meet with Trump this month either at a G7 meeting in Canada or a separate meeting in the US. Ley told this masthead: 'We note that the United Kingdom has been able to secure an exemption from the latest American steel tariffs, and we stand ready to work with the Albanese Government to ensure Australia can achieve the same outcome.' 'President Trump's tariffs on our steelmakers are not in the spirit of our century-old partnership, and we urge the Americans to give Australia a fair go and remove them. 'The Coalition wants the government to succeed here because that is in our national interest.'
