This year, let's do the small things right

Sipping a sundowner at a restaurant adjoining the Pavilion on Bondi Beach in Sydney brought back nostalgic memories of family holidays we used to take in the Cape when I was a schoolboy.

Bondi's promenade, pavement cafes, convenience stores and slip-slop culture reminded me of Muizenberg when it was at the height of its popularity, long before the holiday crowds moved across the Peninsula to Clifton and Camps Bay, with their luxurious apartments, fashionable restaurants and Banting bodies.

My dad would rent a house that would bring my mother to tears the minute we arrived. The rooms were musty, the cupboards mouldy, the sink rusty and our mattresses lumpy. It hardly mattered to us.

We spent our days at the beach playing bats, gulping cream soda floats and gobbling burgers. At night we'd meet friends and go to a social at a community hall where we'd spend the evening plucking up courage to ask a strange girl to dance.

I enjoyed my trip to Sydney. Apart from the joy of watching13-month-old Archie, in a Bok top, latching on to a safety bar above the rear axle of his fully-laden stroller and, with his small legs working furiously, pushing the carriage for kilometres, the best part of my trip was the nine-hour time difference with Johannesburg.

It acted as a circuit breaker, removing temptation to keep in touch with the local market. By the time the JSE opened, I was already in relaxed mode, having run to South Head, eaten breakfast in Double Bay, chilled in the park with little Arch and discussed the Australian economy with my son and brother over beer and biltong.

Both were concerned about the health of the Australian economy. Iron ore had halved in price over the past 12 months, oil was down more than 40% and coal continued its four-year slide. Lower resource revenues would translate into a drop in company and individual tax receipts and put further pressure on Liberal leader Tony Abbott's coalition government.

It was already floundering at the polls after introducing a tough budget in May, measures it considered necessary to address the economic realities of an uncompetitive manufacturing sector and slowing commodity demand from China. The Aussie dollar had also fallen sharply. Having traded at parity against the US dollar a few years ago, the Aussie was down at 0.80, a drop welcomed by the government. It was hoping the decline would aid non-mining sectors and was aiming for lower levels through additional interest rate cuts.

These anxieties did not stop housing prices rocketing skywards. Last year, home prices in Sydney rose 15%, the outcome of a boom in investment. Investor credit demand grew 10%, compared with a 5.5% increase in owner-occupier credit demand.

A home in Sydney probably costs about 10 times its equivalent in Johannesburg. Admittedly, salaries are higher there and interest rates lower. Still, it's a good place to raise children. Education and medical standards are high, people observe laws and are obsessive about keeping the country clean and recycling rubbish.

Australians work hard. My wife, Linda, often commented on their efficiency. I argued they are doing their jobs properly, something we are not used to in South Africa.

Three days before the Christmas break, my brother's coffee machine packed in. The distributor was an hour's drive away, yet despite the time of the year sent a courier to collect the machine, returning it the next day repaired.

It reinforces what mining analyst Peter Major often illuminates: that even though Australian wages are high, greater productivity levels reduce their mining costs below ours.

I returned home to find a parcel ordered from Amazon in the UK in October had still not been delivered by our postal service. I pray 2015 is when this country realises it needs to start doing small things right. Happy new year.