Latest updates on Key Economic Indicators:

A$: $0.6530 USD (unchanged)

Iron (SGX): $101.15 USD (down $2.90 USD)

Oil (WTI): $81.71 USD (up $0.25 USD)

Gold: $2,195.03 USD (up $19.44 USD)

Copper (CME): $4.0115 USD (up $0.0060)

Bit-coin: $68,897.07 (down 1.34%)

Dow Jones: 39,760.08 (up 477.75 pts)

All changes compared to 7am yesterday.

The Three Presidents Tsunami:

The boys are back in town ! Ex- presidemt Obama’s biggest embrace of Biden’s reelection effort comes Thursday at a star-studded Manhattan fundraiser featuring Biden, Obama and former President Bill Clinton. 

The three presidents will sit for a rare conversation, moderated by Stephen Colbert.

It will hardly be a routine meeting of the Presidents Club, and when Clinton and Obama take the stage at Radio City Music Hall, their appearance will underscore the extraordinary moment in American history as a sitting president is locked in a bitter fight to keep his predecessor from returning to the White House.

“No one can speak to disillusioned Democrats better than President Obama,” a senior strategist who has worked closely with Obama and Biden said, speaking on condition of anonymity to be candid about the campaign. “But there are limits to what Obama can do. The burden to win this race is still on President Biden.”

The evening will be overseen by high-profile producers Jordan Roth and Alex Timbers, and tickets will range from $225 to $500,000.

Capitalizing the rare joint appearance of Biden and two of his predecessors, the campaign is offering some of the high-dollar guests the opportunity to get their photographs taken with all three presidents by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Queensland premier Steven Miles backs return of Molly the magpie

Queensland premier backs return of Instagram-hit bird to couple after being seized

Steven Miles urges authorities to enable magpie to be reunited with ‘devastated’ Gold Coast carers and its ‘best friend’, their Staffy Queensland’s premier has thrown his support for a campaign to return an Instagram-famous magpie to its former carers and its dogie best friend Peggy, after it was seized by the environment department.

Gold Coast couple Juliette Wells and Reece Mortensen adopted Molly the magpie in 2020 after it fell from the nest.

Molly went viral after she struck up a friendship with their Staffordshire bull terrier Peggy, and the Gold Coast couple created an Instagram page to celebrate what Wells called a “Real-life Winnie the Pooh and Piglet story”. A backlog of years of Instagram videos show the pair playing together, sleeping together and spending time together.

They now have more than 719,000 followers on their page, Peggy and Molly, and even published a book in November.

But fame proved no protection from the authorities.

The couple described themselves as “Grieving” and “Devastated” to lose Molly the magpie, which they surrendered to authorities on 1 March.

“We are devastated to give you this news and of course these beautiful girls [dogs Peggy and Ruby]; they’ve lost their best friend,” Wells said.

In an Instagram message posted on Tuesday, Wells and Mortensen said the department turned initially up on their doorstep in June.

“We did everything in our power to work with the department, including training and also me obtaining my wildlife permit, which, after a period of time, I had to retract my application, as it was a bit of a conflict to our page,” Mortensen said.

They called for an investigation into the handling of the situation by the Queensland Department of Environment, Science and Innovation and asked followers to email their support to the state government.

Nearly 10,000 people have signed a petition calling on the department to reunite Peggy and Molly.

Deportation law hits road block

The Australian Financial Review - Page 1 & 5 : 28 March 2024 - Original article by Rosie Lewis - Portmac.News Summary

The federal government has failed to secure the Senate's support for legislation to increase its powers to deport non-citizens who refuse to co-operate with immigration authorities regarding their removal from Australia.

The government had aimed to have the bill passed before parliament rises for a six-week break, but the Coalition voted to refer the legislation to a parliamentary inquiry.

The Greens and a majority of crossbenchers sided with the Coalition.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil has acknowledged that the rushed legislation is linked to a pending court challenge to the ongoing detention of a failed Iranian asylum seeker.

Meanwhile, immigration officials have advised that just 59 of the 152 people who were released from indefinite immigration detention in late 2023 are currently subject to electronic monitoring.

Inflation steady as rates pain persists

The Australian - Page 2 : 28 March 2024 - Original article by Patrick Commins - Portmac.News Summary

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the nation's headline inflation rate was steady at 3.4% in the year to February.

This was below the expectations of most economists, although the Reserve Bank's preferred measure of trimmed mean inflation rose to 3.9%.

The data also shows that services inflation rose to 4.2% in the year to February, up from 3.7% in the 12 months to January; amongst other things, the cost of rental housing, petrol, education and insurance rose.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the focus of the May budget is set to shift away from inflation, with a slowing economy, global uncertainty and cost-of-living pressures to be the priorities.

Mineral exports reveal energy shift

The Australian - Page 4 : 28 March 2024 - Original article by Geoff Chambers - Portmac.News Summary

The Department of Industry, Science & Resources has forecast in its quarterly report that the value of Australia's mining and energy will fall to $417bn in 2023-24, which is 10% lower than previously.

The nation's commodities exports are project to fall to about $300bn by 2028-29.

The value of iron ore exports is forecast to top $136bn in 2023-24, before falling to $111bn in 2024-25 and just $83bn by 2028-29.

Meanwhile, the value of lithium exports is slated to fall from $20.1bn in 2022-23 to just $11.3bn in the current financial year, with nickel exports set to fall from $5bn to $2.4bn amid lower prices and a global oversupply.

Sustainable NDIS scheme in five years

The Australian Financial Review - Page 8 : 28 March 2024 - Original article by Phillip Coorey - Portmac.News Summary

The federal government has introduced legislation to overhaul the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

The proposed reforms are based on the recommendations of a review of the NDIS in 2023.

The scheme currently has 646,000 participants, and they will be assessed according their needs rather than eligibility for the NDIS.

Amongst other things, children with mild autism and development issues will be transferred to state-based programs, although this will require the co-operation of state and territory governments.

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten expects the overhaul to be completed within five years.

Teals brand proposed $3m super policy 'moment-in-time' cash grab

The Australian Financial Review - Page 6 : 28 March 2024 - Original article by Hannah Wootton - Portmac.News Summary

Teal MPs are pushing for amendments to the federal government's superannuation reforms, which are currently before the lower house.

They want to the government to abandon plans to tax unrealised gains on large super accounts, while they want the government's proposed $3m cap to be indexed to inflation.

Some of the Teal MPs have also expressed concern about a separate bill to create a legislated purpose for super.

The MP for Warringah, Zali Steggall has accused the government of wanting to "Get its hands on superannuation funds" in order to finance its own priorities.

'Value-based capitalism' may curb profit bonanza

The Australian - Page 20 : 28 March 2024 - Original article by Robert Gottliebsen - Portmac.News Summary

Treasurer Jim Chalmers stated in early 2023 that the nation will adopt a form of socialism that he described as 'values-based capitalism'.

Chalmers' speech at a recent Business Council of Australia dinner takes on a new dimension in light of this.

He called on Australian companies to invest, but investing in Australia under Labor's new industrial relations rules means sharing management with unions, which lifts costs and lowers productivity.

Chalmers also envisions government co-investment as part of this values-based capitalism model.

Labor has already agreed to invest in Arafura Rare Earths' Nolans project, partly because the private sector was unwilling to do so.

This could set a precedent for many other minerals, agricultural, residential and social projects where private capital is not available.

MinRes to auction lithium in quest for 'real price transparency'

The Australian Financial Review - Page Online : 28 March 2024 - Original article by Brad Thompson - Portmac.News Summary

Mineral Resources recently sold a 20,000-tonne cargo of spodumene concentrate from its Mt Martha lithium mine for $US1,300 a tonne; this compares with a spot price of around $US1,075 at the time.

Mineral Resources' head of lithium Joshua Thurlow says the company intends to offer some of its spodumene concentrate for sale via a digital auction platform, in order to generate "Real price transparency".

Pilbara Minerals and Albemarle have also opted to sell part of their lithium output via an auction process.

US and Australia get cosy over critical metals

Forbes - Page Online : 26 March 2024 - Original article by Tim Treadgold - Portmac.News Summary

Two recent deals underline the fact that the global hunt for critical minerals is drawing the US and Australia closer, while opening a gap with China.

Pilbara Minerals hopes to secure funding via the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act for its proposed lithium conversion plant, which will be built in partnership with China's Ganfeng Lithium.

The IRA is part of the US government's strategy for reducing dependence on China for the processing of critical minerals.

Pilbara Minerals has stated that it is open to building the plant in any country but China.

Meanwhile, Australian Strategic Minerals may receive funding from the US government's Export-Import Bank for its Dubbo rare earths project in NSW.

Gold stock inside trader jailed for nine months

The Australian Financial Review - Page 13 : 27 March 2024 - Original article by Brad Thompson - Portmac.News Summary

The Supreme Court of Western Australia has given Cameron Waugh a two-year jail term for insider trading offences.

However, Waugh will spend just nine months in prison after 15 months of the sentence was suspended.

The court had found that Waugh used inside information about Genesis Minerals to buy shares in the listed gold producer in September 2021; he subsequently sold the stock for a profit of more than $57,000.

Waugh had been hired by Omnia Company to work on a Genesis share placement.

Omnia was founded by Fortescue Metals Group's former CEO Nev Power and his son.

ASX Shares advance on steady CPI

The Australian Financial Review - Page 19 : 28 March 2024 - Original article by Jack Quail - Portmac.News Summary

The Australian sharemarket posted a solid gain on Wednesday, after lower-than-expected CPI growth in February strengthened the case for monetary policy easing later in 2024.

The S&P/ASX 200 rose by 0.5% to close at 7,819.6 points.

Woolworths ended the session 1.9% higher at $33.01 and Southern Cross Media Group added 1.1% to finish at $0.95. However, Platinum Assets Management fell 21.1% to $1.03 and WiseTech Global was down 1.1% at $93.28.