The Two Jacks - Episode 147 - Khamenei Down, Carney in Town & the AFL Kicks Off

Claude wrote these. I did not.

Jack the Insider and Hong Kong Jack are back for Episode 147, recorded on 5 March 2026. It's a massive week of news — a record Kiwi exodus to Australia, a leaked Liberal Party post-mortem, the Star Casino legal fallout, a landmark war in Iran, and a bumper AFL season preview. Settle in.

Record Kiwi Migration & Trans-Tasman Economics

[00:00:41]

The BBC reports New Zealand citizens are leaving at record levels — over 60,000 departed in a single year, the equivalent of 180 people per day. Former PM Jacinda Ardern has joined the exodus, reportedly house-hunting on Sydney's northern beaches. Jack the Insider and Hong Kong Jack debate the merits of the northern beaches vs. the eastern suburbs, and the real net migration figures behind the headlines.

Net migration loss from NZ: over 30,000 in 2024 to Australia alone

Long-term departures hit 101,932 in 2023 — remarkable for a nation of 5.3 million

NZ GDP per capita: USD 49,000 vs. Australia's USD 69,000

New Zealand has been in negative GDP growth since December 2024, but is forecasting ~4% growth in the next financial year

Australia has maintained consistent positive GDP growth post-COVID (0.8%–2.5% p.a.)

The two countries are described as being at opposite ends of the economic cycle

Brief discussion on Jacinda Ardern's post-Harvard career options and what Julia Gillard's post-PM trajectory looks like by comparison

🗳️ The Leaked Liberal Party Review

[00:07:44]

The suppressed post-mortem of the coalition's catastrophic 2025 federal election loss has been leaked — ultimately tabled in Parliament by PM Albanese himself, making it public. Jack the Insider has read the first version of the 64-page document.

The review was always going to leak; opposition leader Angus Taylor's attempt to suppress it backfired spectacularly

Key findings: breakdown in relationship between Peter Dutton's office and the federal campaign director; policy made without clear authorship

Jane Hume named for two damaging gaffes — claiming Chinese spies were handing out how-to-votes for Labor, and overstating the case against work-from-home (she later apologised to The Australian's industrial relations reporter Ewan Hannan)

The work-from-home policy has no identifiable author

Dutton still insisting he was ahead in polls in February

Discussion of Labor's own 2019 review and the broader lesson for parties about not releasing policy too early

🏢 Star Casino Federal Court Ruling

[00:19:05]

A breaking story: the Federal Court has handed down adverse findings against two former Star Entertainment executives in a landmark corporate governance case.

Former CEO Matt Bekier and former Chief Legal Officer Paula Martin found to have breached Section 180 of the Corporations Act (duties of care and diligence) between 2017–2019

Justice Michael Lee (described as "the busiest judge in the country") cleared seven other board members including former ARU chair John O'Neill

Sanctions yet to be handed down; ASIC likely to weigh in

The broader discussion covers the structural problem with casino business models: regulatory compliance around money laundering may be fundamentally incompatible with profitability

Crown Melbourne's tribulations and multiple royal commissions also referenced, including a colourful anecdote about a criminal money-laundering operation that went badly wrong

🏠 Victoria's Work-From-Home Legislation

[00:24:46]

The Allan government is moving to enshrine the right to work from home in Victorian legislation.

Jack the Insider sees echoes of the dying days of the Cain-Kirner government — a p