Michael Thompson

Yep.

Okay.

I don't want to sound like

I don't believe you because I do.

I do.

I genuinely do believe you about the way this works.

But on the flip side to good luck and positioning yourself well and appreciating those opportunities when they come and acknowledging that, hey, not everybody gets those opportunities.

And so there is an element of luck there.

But on the flip side to that, bad luck.

And when you are someone who feels like that bad things keep happening to you, how much of that is bad luck and how much of it just comes down to a lack of planning, a lack of your financial buffers, when surely everyone gets bad things happening at times, but just some have equipped themselves better to deal with it.

Yeah, this is going to be a politically challenging time.

Yeah, yeah, indeed.

Sean, Australian banks paid $16 billion in taxes and levies in 2025.

The second highest payers behind the mining sector, the Australian Banking Association, said that over 80% of bank income goes back to the Australian economy via interest, wages and dividends.

The ABA said the taxes and levies to Australian federal, state and territory governments could fund services including...

880,000 secondary students for a year, 180,000 public hospital nurse salaries and around 85% of the PBS.

Look, this is a rare episode, this one, where it feels almost as though I'm getting more sceptical the further we go on.

But...

I think we're going to take a quick break.

On the other side of the break, my skepticism is going to get moved to one side and you are going to give me a masterclass in increasing my own financial luck.