What consumerism really is at its worst is getting people to buy things that don't actually improve their lives. Australian retailer Jean's West is the latest casualty in the struggling Australian retail sector. The company went into voluntary administration yesterday and the future of their 146 Australian stores is in doubt. Although Jean's West was founded in Perth in 1972, it was bought out by Hong Kong company Gloria Sun in 1994, which expanded the chain into China, Russia, Vietnam, Indonesia and of course Hong Kong. However, Gloria Sun sold the Australian side of the business to a private Hong Kong company called Housey Limited in 2017. Since then, the Australian operations have been doing poorly and consequently the Australian side of the business is facing collapse. Multinational accounting firm KPMG have been appointed as administrators with a spokesperson saying, Jean's West will continue to operate as we consider all options for the restructure or sale of the business. Like many other retailers, the business has been challenged by current tough market conditions and pressure from online competition. Just last week on the 9th of January 2020, Australian fashion retailer Bardot announced that it will be closing 58 of its shops with 530 workers to lose their jobs. Administrators KPMG commented, the store closures were a very difficult decision. Subjects to ongoing trading performance and discussions with landlords, it is not our intention to close further stores at this point in time. I would like to thank Bardot's staff for their hard work and efforts during this process. Just last month, December 2019, department store chain Harris Scarf collapsed into receivership, becoming another high profile casualty in this ever increasingly severe retail downturn. 21 of its stores will be closed nationally with hundreds of jobs being lost in the process. Receivers Deloitte commented on the recent restructuring, this has been a difficult decision, but one necessary to position the Harris Scarf business for a successful sale and continued operation. Our review of the store network included a range of factors, including past and likely future profitability. Going forward, we certainly remain focused on running the broader store network and selling the business as the best outcome for remaining employees and suppliers. Earlier this week, Mosaic Brands, the parent company of clothing retailers such as NoneB, Rivers, Rockmans and KT's, announced that its sales took a battering in the second half of 2019, with the ongoing bushfire crisis and falling consumer confidence being held responsible. The company stated, sales through the second half of November and throughout December, a critical sales period for the group, were significantly impacted by the ongoing bushfire tragedy. 20% of the group's stores have been directly impacted by the fires, and some 32% of the groups, 1386 stores, are located in regional areas where consumer confidence has been particularly fragile. We can see here that over the last month, Mosaic's share price has collapsed by more than 25%. It looks like as Australia burns, so does the Australian retail sector. The Australian economy was already struggling in 2019 with businesses and consumers tightening their belts. The ongoing bushfire crisis has just added to our woes, but a bit of good news. Recent rainfall has brought some relief to bushfire affected areas. However, with all good news, as we have seen of late, seems to come the inevitable bad news. Bureau of meteorology warns of flash flooding as rain brings bushfire relief across New South Wales. Bushfire ravaged areas of Victoria to receive dangerous deluge of rain. Bushfires heavy rain to bring relief, but also threat of floods, landslides. And that's the current state of Australia. I hope this doesn't turn any of you off from visiting Australia. We really do need your tourism dollars. Please, if you can, come to Australia. Who am I kidding? Where f***ed?