I t’s that time of the year – the annual World Economic Forum confab held in the picturesque town of Davos in the Swiss Alps. But does anyone care any more? Is it time for Davos to be committed to the earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust?

I’m happy to fess up to the fact that I did attend Davos one year. Like Julia, I could make the excuse that I was young and immature. But the truth is I didn’t really know what I was doing. I had just taken a job with the Australian. And the editors in the corner offices thought someone should go to hear what Klaus Schwab and his sycophantic buddies had to say. So, I scored the gig.

It’s not that easy getting to Davos from Australia. I flew to Bangkok and then to Zurich. A picturesque train trip took me to the very smart resort of Davos in the Swiss Alps. I had been booked into a hotel the daily rate of which was the same size as the GDP of most African nations, but there wasn’t much choice of accommodation. I wasn’t about to stay in one of the nearby towns or share accommodation with inebriated hacks who were only there for the free food and booze as well as to slide down the slopes on skis.

Bear in mind here that I’m no journalist. I have no real skills in collecting quotes from people, prominent or otherwise. And bear in mind also that, while I have the skills to write strong opinion pieces, I have a very bad working knowledge of popular culture.

I wouldn’t recognise Bono if I walked into him, which I nearly did. Who is Charlize Theron? Ditto Matt Damon? All those celebs who regularly attend Davos at the invitation of Herr Klaus were just faces in a snowy fog to me.

My strongest recollection of the few days I spent at Davos was the stench of hypocrisy. For all the carry-on about rooting out inequality, and compassion for the disadvantaged, the event is conducted on strict hierarchical lines. Passes are coloured-coded, with strict access limits to areas of the main hall and to some sessions. The journalists, PR types and other hangers-on are plopped in a separate building altogether – it had all the charm of a cow barn although it was heated.

Massively overpaid company executives, African dictators, grasping politicians from advanced economies and showbiz types arrived in private jets. They mainly stayed at the conference for a few hours, tops. There was a fleet of high-end black limousines parked outside the main entrance, engines on to allow for a quick escape for the person paying, albeit indirectly in most cases.

This year’s Davos gala has the title: Collaboration for the Intelligent Age. Klaus and his confreres would have thought long and hard about this. Having a less controversial, less partisan theme was critical this year, given the changing political complexion of so many governments around the world.

The blurb reads: ‘As we emerge from the disruptions of democracy’s record year and look to 2025, the shifts away from incumbent parties suggest the end of an era. The sense of urgency for leaders to regroup shows that collaboration is ever critical, but increasingly challenging.’

Reading between the lines, the message is clear. The WEF is really pissed off about the election of centre-right governments around the world but they will pretend to accept the changing vibe – at least, until it can return to Davos-normal.

Davos-normal is all about unfettered globalisation, climate action and global governance. It’s top-down paternalism at its worst with a side of concern for income inequality. Embracing communist thugs isn’t a problem as long as they are on board with the Davos point of view.

Weirdly this year, the WEF has collaborated with Time magazine to publish an entire issue devoted to Davos. (Presumably, the WEF paid Time to do this, so I forgive the editors.) It’s only slightly more interesting than reading the Yellow Pages. (Do we still have the Yellow Pages?)

Even though overall attendance at Davos is likely to be down on previous years – this sort of information is kept close to the chests of the WEF cabal – it is still expected that 3,000 persons will rock up, although not at the same time. Justin and Jacinda will probably give it a wide berth even though they were Davos darlings in the past.

Ursula – Ursula von der Leyen, President of the EC – will be there with her ears pinned back. She is Davos through and through; it is her home away from home. UK Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has stupidly accepted an invitation to speak, even though the UK economy is in a sort of death throe with yields on long-dated government securities shooting up alarmingly. Readers will be pleased to know that Chinese Deputy Premier, Ding XueXiang, will be there. (Who?, you say. How should I know?)

There is a possibility that newly inaugurated President Donald Trump will deliver a video speech, although this hasn’t been confirmed. Were his theme along the lines ‘I told you so’ and ‘Get with the Trump program’, I think I could quite enjoy it.

I am happy to announce that there will be very few Aussies there, a contrast with previous years. To be sure, Twiggy will be there – no one should be surprised at that – as well as a couple of chief executives. But the Ruddster, a perennial attender, is being kept busy in Washington.

Matthias Cormann, now Secretary-General of the OECD, based in Paris, will be there. He was a regular when he was the finance minister in the Coalition government, even though it’s hard to know what Australia got from his attendance. But I guess he made some very useful contacts for his post-political career.

Another Davos darling, Julie Bishop, will be there in her capacity as UN Special Envoy on Myanmar – readers, stop that sniggering. In the past, the Australian National University, of which she is Chancellor, sent an annual contingent of attendees and even threw a party serving Australian wine to all Aussies hanging out on the slopes. Can I tell you this would have cost a pretty penny given the cost of everything in Switzerland, in general, and in Davos, in particular. The ANU won’t be represented this year.

It’s surely time to pull the plug on Davos altogether. When it started off several decades ago, it perhaps made some sense to get people from different countries together to talk about the challenges of economic management and trends for business.

It was quickly overrun by self-serving woke types intent on pushing agendas that suited them but impoverished ordinary folk. Thankfully, the days of bossy authoritarianism, fake compassion and rent-seekers running amok may be coming an end. It won’t be before time.