Pre-election times are times for presents.

And for free, there are plenty in Australia right now that are calling for a choice of direction by the end of May.

Philip Lowe, the Federal Reserve Governor, kept interest rates at a record low of 0.1 percent on Tuesday.

The government, which of course does not want to go, promises aid and investment boosts.

And then those transfer more and more money who want to heat the rest of the world or drive a car.

Australian mineral resources reach record prices.

After a short Corona low, the fifth continent's wheel of fortune is turning again: It is benefiting from crises and wars.

Christopher Hein

Business correspondent for South Asia/Pacific based in Singapore.

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If the “Aussie” portends the future, the stars are in a good position.

Almost all analysts expect the Australian dollar to appreciate strongly this year.

He has gained 3 percent since the beginning of the year.

It is currently hovering around 75 cents per US dollar, soon it should be 80 cents, and by the end of the year it could well be 86 cents, according to the star readers of the investment bank JP Morgan.

This means that Australians can finally travel again and – to the regret of local retailers – shop a lot on the Internet.

On Tuesday, Lowe clearly moved away from his previous announcement that he would not dare to raise interest rates until the end of 2024 at the earliest.

Economist Prashant Newnaha of TD Securities even dares to predict the two dollars will tie in 2024: “We are a politically stable nation and a reliable supplier of commodities,

The most important reason for Australia's strength at the moment lies in Moscow and Kyiv.

The Russian incursion makes resources more important for all politicians.

This brings the treasure of the fifth continent even more into focus.

The wealth of the huge island is buried deep under red earth and at a good distance from its customers.

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But distances are melting, the pressure is increasing.

Wouldn't it be possible, not only arch-billionaire Andrew Forrest and his counterparts at Eon ask, to ship hydrogen produced from solar and wind power on tankers to Germany in just a few years?

Isn't it possible, software billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and the Singapore government ask themselves, to pump green electricity 4,500 kilometers via Indonesia via pipeline to the city-state?

It is the time of dreams, of visions.

They are nourished by gold-edged balance sheets.

They identify those whose end was still written in large letters on the walls just a few months ago: Coal celebrates a happy birth.

Asia's coal burners are overcoming Corona and - literally - heating up their economy again.

The uncertainties in the gas dispute with Moscow on the one hand, and the higher growth rates on the other hand, are supplanting climate concerns and making fossil fuels shine.

"Australian coal is sold out for this year," says the mining companies.

While the coal miners were disreputable and in the red until recently, the Chinese company Yancoal Australia is now posting a 55 percent increase in sales to 5.4 billion Australian dollars (3.7 billion euros).

Whitehaven Coal's sales have even doubled in the past six months to 1.4 billion Australian dollars.

"Coal prices have been rising throughout the past year," writes David Moult, Yancoal's chief executive officer.

"Supply bottlenecks in the international market and the energy market as a whole underline the high raw material prices, which are likely to continue to apply in the coming months." In the last quarter, the world market prices for steam coal from Australia had tripled.

Bottlenecks in Australia's mines due to flooding, the export ban in Indonesia and increasing demand on the world market helped her.

Now there is also the concern of dependencies on unreliable suppliers such as Russia.

This mixed situation should contribute to a good stock market development in Sonnenland.

No matter how the election ends, neither coal friend and Prime Minister Scott Morrison nor his Labor opposition candidate Anthony Albanese are considered a major risk.

The free trade with India sealed at the weekend also shows that Australia cannot replace its most important trading partner, the extremely difficult China, but can find alternatives.

The natural resource shares of BHP, Rio Tinto and – if you like – the coal companies remain interesting at a high level.

But the second row, such as Bank Macquarie with its large natural resource portfolio, is also interesting.

More opportunities are available to those who are well informed.

Because after the major takeovers of Sydney Airport and the payment service provider Afterpay, billions of dollars are still waiting in the market.

New Zealand's HRL Morrison is offering A$3.4 billion for Uniti Group, which Macquarie and PSP were also interested in.

CIMIC's board of directors recommends a full sale to majority shareholder Hochtief for a total value of AUD 6.8 billion.

Oil company Woodside is buying the matching portfolio from BHP, which is worth A$20 billion.

And investment advisor Perpetual wants to swallow its competitor Pendal Group for 2.4 billion Australian dollars.

In any case, prices rose.