ABSTRACT
Many US banks had become stuck with hundreds of millions of dollars of these mysterious ‘toxic assets’, as the synthetic mortgage bonds came to be known at the time. With the near collapse of American International Group, banks stopped lending to each other and international financial markets froze. Strong Chinese economic demand for commodities helped to support the Australian economy at the time, with the associated mining boom ensuring that the government was in a particularly strong budgetary position. The Rudd government moved to defeat recession through spending. As Sherry notes, the age pension provided a defined benefit, and a defined contribution superannuation system was more transparent and sustainable: ‘It was a matter of building a higher retirement income over time in a defined ccontribution system as a supplement to the age pension.’ The renewed focus on sustainability also saw Cbus’s property development business become a key advocate of setting new standards for green development in the property market.
