Welcome to the audio edition of Unmade, in today's conversation with demographer Bernard Salt about what really motivates Australians, and further down the line, the Unmade Index takes a breather after Nine's financial results were less bad than expected.
We've upgraded our Unmade membership. Annual membership gives you free tickets to all our events, including REmade – Retail Media Unmade on the 1st of October, Unlock on the 31st of October, the Compass Series in November and HumAIn next year.
Membership also includes exclusive member-only content, access to paid archives, and a personal copy of Media Unmade. Upgrade now.
Salt: “All Australians welcome the pursuit of quality of life.”
As the coronavirus lockdown fades from people's memories, some of the shifts in trajectory will be permanent, says demographer and columnist Bernard Salt. The adoption of technology and the creation of spaces for working from home continues. Zoom rooms are now preferred over billiard rooms.
But the pursuit of quality of life is a more long-term, fundamental Australian characteristic, perhaps driven by enjoying a warmer climate than European settlers had known.
“We are free, open, easy-going, sporty, family-oriented, quality-of-life-oriented people,” Salt says, “and that's not going to go away. It was there in the 1950s. It's going to be there in the 2050s.”
Another factor that sealed Australia's fate was geology, Salt said in conversation with Unmade's Tim Burrows: While the populous United States developed through agriculture, much of central Australia lacks the fertile soil needed to be settled by intensive agriculture.
The conversation will also cover how consumer mindsets change depending on life stage.
And in a question posed before this week's controversial news that the Government had closed the door on new topics for the next census, Mr Salt explained why he wanted to know more about the rise in pet ownership, alongside the epidemic of loneliness.
BotW: Half-awake in Boomtown; Labour's TV gambling mess
The Unmade Index was flat on Wednesday as the market breathed a sigh of relief that Nine's full-year results were not as bad as expected. The index was down just 0.1 point to 456.5 points.
Nine rose 0.75% on the day to close with a market cap of $2.1 billion. Seven West Media rose 2.94%.
The Market Limited, which owns Hot Copper, Gumtree and Carsguide, saw its shares rise by nearly 30% despite reporting a significant drop in profitability.
Today's podcast was edited by Abe's Audio.
We'll come back to you soon with a deeper dive into the nine numbers.
If you're interested in retail media, remember that the call for submissions for the REmade Awards is only open until the end of the weekend.
Toodlepip…
Tim Burrows
Publisher – Unmade
email address
