ANZ Bluenotes

In a world where Uber Eats remembers your favourite order, Netflix seems to know exactly what you'll want to watch next, and Google Maps can predict the fastest route home before you even start driving, personalised experiences have become an everyday expectation.

Walk into a pub in a town of just over 1,000 people and it doesn't take long to strike up a conversation. I had barely settled into a seat at Charlton's main watering hole, weighing up the merits of a parma versus a steak, when the publican stopped by for a chat. “Since becoming community-owned in 2006, the theatre has been run entirely by volunteers.” When I mentioned I was a journalist from ANZ, visiting to write a story about the Rex Theatre, his face immediately lit up.

ANZ’s inaugural Australian First Nations Strategy marked a new chapter in our relationship with First Nations peoples, shifting from a primarily social endeavour to a clear commercial and strategic priority for the bank. One year on, that shift is evident. The work delivered to date has demonstrated the scale of opportunity and surfaced clear win-win opportunities for ANZ and First Nations people together.

There are not many organisations that could take you from the bottom of New Zealand’s South Island to the top of Park Avenue, New York City. But that’s the experience of Matthew Mason, ANZ Associate Director, Transaction Banking, and 2026 Sibos STAR scholarship recipient. “When I joined ANZ a decade ago, I never imagined the range of opportunities it would open up.” he told bluenotes from the financial capital of the world.

ANZ staff head to Sibos 2026 in Miami, USA with one thing in mind, ANZ’s Jenny Hutchings says: customers. The Sibos Financial Services conference kicks off in late September, bringing the best payments experts in the world together in one place. With $US2 quadrillion in value flowing across 3.6 trillion transactions, according to McKinsey, the payments sector is big and, thanks to the rate of evolution in technology, always changing.

I proudly describe myself as a career banker. I love banking because it is fundamentally about connecting people, businesses and solutions, and helping individuals and businesses achieve what they need to do. That, in turn, helps make the economy and the world work. Across my career, I have had the opportunity to work in institutional, business and retail banking, as well as across product, operations, strategy, finance and human resources.

If you're lucky enough to visit Gurruwiling (Arafura Swamp) in Central Arnhem Land, you'll find a landscape unlike any other. Vast paperbark forests give way to networks of lagoons and grassy plains, while magpie geese and other waterbirds gather in internationally significant numbers across one of Australia's most important wetlands. Rich in bush foods, stories and cultural knowledge, Gurruwiling has sustained Yolngu and Bi Traditional Owners for countless generations.

For decades, Asia has been the world's growth engine. It has lifted hundreds of millions of people into the middle class, created wealth on an extraordinary scale and transformed societies across the region. What I am convinced will not change is Asia's central role in the global economy. It will remain the world's most important growth region for decades to come. What is changing is not whether Asia will grow, but how it will grow.

A few years ago, getting extra protein in your diet seemed relatively straightforward. You ate a steak or cooked some eggs and got on with your day. These days, protein seems to have gone from its traditional sources and spread right across the supermarket. It turns up in everything from iced coffee, breakfast cereal, snack bars, desserts to pancake mixes.

As the Australia India Business Council celebrates its 40th anniversary, it is worth reflecting on what sustained economic partnerships look like. Strong relationships are built over decades, not years. ANZ has had a presence in India for more than 40 years and, over that time, we have helped build strong connections between our two countries. For me, the relationship between Australia and India is also personal.