The men and women worth trillions: The G20 and what it means for us explained

SAY hello to the elite club capable of spending trillions of dollars in seconds. They’ve just touched down in Australia.

THE last time G20 finance ministers met in Australia there was a small riot in downtown Melbourne with police barricades rammed by dumpsters slid along tram tracks.

Those clashes of November 2006 are unlikely to be repeated this weekend as the men and women who tend to the government budgets of some of the world’s biggest economies — caretakers of 85 per cent of the globe’s wealth — meet in Sydney.

TIME called her the “$16 trillion dollar woman”: Janet Yellen, the first female Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, is in Australia Picture: Getty Images

This will be a big deal as the nations with economic muscle send their finance ministers and central bank chiefs to a gathering which will assess what has happened since the global financial crisis of 2008, and what should happen in the immediate future.

Treasurer Joe Hockey and Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens will be the official hosts because Australia has the G20 presidency for this year. The high point will be a summit of the group of 20 government leaders in Brisbane in November.

A scene from the protests when the G20 were last here in Melbourne. It is considered unlikely there will be protests of the same scale as the political atmosphere is vastly different. Picture: Herald Sun

There will be five meetings of the group of twenty finance ministers this year, two in Washington. So this meeting, the first for the year, is expected to set the themes and possible decision on action of the others.

And the Abbott government wants those themes to include job creation and infrastructure investment, preferably investment in projects which use Australian resources.

SO WHAT’S THE G20?

Power troupe: The G20 leaders together in 2011.

Its members are: South Africa, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Russia, Turkey, the European Union, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Saudi Arabia, and Australia.

In September, 2009 it was agreed the G20 would replace the G8 as the principal summit of the globe’s richest nations Since 2011, the leaders’ summit has been an annual event.

WHO WILL BE THE BIG NAMES HERE?

British finance minister George Osborne in Sydney yesterday. He is the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Picture: AFP

The ministers of South Africa, Brazil and Mexico can’t make the weekend talks, but some big names will.

The new chief of the US Federal Reserve Janet Yellen will be making her first overseas trip in that office, and the head of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde will be another prominent figure at the talks. Others will include British Chancellor George Osborne and World Bank president Jim Yong Kim.

WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN?

This weekend Australia will tell the world’s biggest economies controlling 85 per cent of global wealth how to manage their affairs.

Joe Hockey wants to deliver some lessons to the economic powerhouses who will be his guests.

For example, he believes governments should sell off assets and encourage more private companies to finance and run major infrastructure projects which create jobs and boost our exports.

“How do we get more private sector money into infrastructure? Not just here in Australia where there’s a backlog of at least $400 billion of projects, but globally how are we going to drive it?’’ said Mr Hockey, who believes his top level audience will listen.

“Ultimately our resources will help to build a lot of that infrastructure, particularly in the Asian region”

WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR US?

Technology companies Google and Apple have paid tiny tax bills in recent years. Picture: Supplied

Mr Hockey said there would be direct consequences from the series of talks for Australian interests, such as global efforts to ensure multinational companies pay their full tax bill, and reforms which could bring our currency to a reasonable exchange rate.

“This is where the rubber hits the road for even the smallest of businesses in Australia, because the level of the Australian dollar affects everyone in Australia and it’s closely linked to the American dollar and tapering (of US stimulus spending) and a range of other factors at play,’’ the Treasurer told reporters.

“Taxation arrangements, particularly in relation to major digital companies, and transfer pricing by companies is hugely important to Australian businesses.’’

WHY WOULD THERE BE PROTESTS?

The anti-globalisation movement sees the G20 as an organisation that exploits struggling nations to help the richer governments. And there are organisations which believe the G20 has become an exclusive club which shuts out worthy members.