John McDuling: “there's a lot of interesting stuff happening in Spain”
We interviewed the Editor in chief of Capital Brief, a participant in the Australian Leaders 2025 Program | View the Program Summary in PDF
John McDuling is the Editor-in-Chief of Capital Brief, a premium political and policy publication dedicated to delivering sharp, independent reporting on Australian politics, economics, and governance. With a career spanning over a decade in financial and political journalism, John is known for his clear-eyed analysis and ability to unpack complex policy debates for a broad audience.
First of all, what aspects of contemporary Spain have surprised you the most during this visit?
Well, just Madrid as a city. I didn't realize how nice and affluent and prosperous Madrid was as a city. I visited Spain before, and other parts of Spain are very different to here.
And you can just feel the economic growth, even just driving through from the airport and the trips that we've taken. The infrastructure looks very good, the roads are very advanced, the corporate facilities are impressive. And, yeah, when you think back to, you know, it's only a short time ago that Spain's political situation was very different to what it is now.
And the transformation in a relatively short period of time is pretty remarkable.
So, has your perception of the country changed?
Definitely. And I didn't know how much of it, I did not know that Spain was a world leader on renewables until I sort of knew, like I'd heard of Iberdrola, and I knew that they had wind facilities in Australia and everyone in Australia knows CIMIC has a presence and ACCIONA. But I didn't quite realize how advanced and how far ahead of us you are on renewables and did not realize the sort of industrial base and, you know, I didn't realize Indra Group had such a strong presence in defense and things like that.
And as an expert in politics and political economy, do you find many differences between the Spanish and Australian ways of being? Do you think they are irreconcilable or is it easy to maintain a fruitful dialogue and exchanges?
I think there's a lot of similarities between Spain and Australia. You can see it in the climate, you can see it in the weather and the vegetation. We have similar challenges.
The distance is a barrier but in Australia we are used to long distances, so I don't think that's a problem.
And what is the perception Spanish companies? Maybe they are not very known…
Well, we know, we know. As business journalists, we know CIMIC and we know Acciona and Iberdrola, but... And I know there are other Spanish companies that I'm aware of, but I didn't realize how interested in the Australian market they were.
That's something new and... I didn't realize how ahead of the rest of the world Spain is on... The renewable transition seems to have happened faster here than elsewhere, so that's one of the things I've learnt.
And have you found opportunities for Australian companies to invest in Spain?
Yes, certainly around... I think for us it's probably investment. We have a large pool of savings in Australia and Macquarie is already doing it. IFM are already doing it. That seems to be the opportunity for us. Maybe in minerals as well.
And what type of visit or meeting did you find most enriching during this week?
I didn't know that Spain was active in defense, so that stood out to me as well.
If, upon your return, Australian colleagues ask you about this program and how you perceive Spain and the Spanish people, what would you tell them?
I would say it's a very interesting program, a very rewarding program. If you have the opportunity, you should do it. Because you'll learn a lot. We don't focus on Spain as much in our news as we do other countries. We're very US-centric, and if not the US, maybe the UK, maybe a bit of EU and France. But there's a lot of interesting stuff happening in Spain, and you'll get a better understanding of that if you're lucky enough to go on this trip.
