Latest updates on Key Economic Indicators:

Australian Dollar: $0.6976 USD (up $0.0047 USD)

Iron Ore Aug Spot Price (SGX): $97.65 USD (up $0.65 USD)

Oil Price (WTI): $40.61 USD (up $0.29 USD)

Gold Price: $1,784.29 (up $8.99 USD)

Dow Jones: 26,287.03 (up 459.67 points)

All changes compared to 7am yesterday.

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Shut border risk to jobs

The Australian Financial Review - Page 1 & 4 : 7 July 2020 - Original article by Andrew Tillett, Tom McIlroy

PortMac.News Summary

A record 127 new coronavirus cases were reported in Victoria on 6 July, including 16 at the nine public housing estates that are in a hard lockdown.

Another two people in Victoria have died from the virus, lifting the national death toll to 106. Meanwhile, Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox has described the decision to close Victoria's border with New South Wales as a "sledgehammer approach" which will result in immense economic disruption.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian argues that the border closure is necessary because the coronavirus is now being spread in Melbourne via community transmission. She maintains that borders between other states should be re-opened.

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Overcrowded towers are virus incubators

The Australian - Page 3 : 7 July 2020 - Original article by Natasha Robinson

PortMac.News Summary

Fifty-three residents of Melbourne's nine locked-down public housing towers have tested positive to the coronavirus to date.

Victoria's Housing Minister Richard Wynne says that about 400 residents were tested on 6 July, and four per cent tested positive.

The Victorian Public Tenants Association' executive officer Mark Feenane says there is chronic overcrowding in the towers, adding that it is time to consider scrapping the high-rise buildings in favour of low-density accommodation.

Australia's acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has likened the public housing towers to 'vertical cruise ships'.

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Work visa sweetener for uni students

The Australian - Page 1 & 6 : 7 July 2020 - Original article by Tim Dodd, Richard Ferguson

PortMac.News Summary

Australian universities and state governments had been hoping to start bringing international students back into the country from the end of July.

However, the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in Victoria has put these plans on hold. In an attempt to help Australian universities to remain competitive with rivals in Canada and Britain, it is believed that the federal government will grant post-study visas to foreign students who are enrolled in Australian universities but have had to return to their home countries and study online.

Currently, only overseas students who study in Australia are awarded graduate work rights.

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Cash-in-hand security

Herald Sun - Page 8 : 7 July 2020 - Original article by James Campbell, Matt Johnston

PortMac.News Summary

The scandal over Victoria's troubled hotel quarantine program continues to deepen. Written statements from several security guards allege that they were paid $22 cash per hour and no superannuation to work at the Crown Promenade Hotel when it was being used to quarantine returned travellers.

They also allege that they were not provided with pay slips or asked to supply tax file numbers.

They claim to have been hired by a security firm that was subcontracted by Unified Security.

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Cash splash for Covid consultants

The Australian - Page 3 : 7 July 2020 - Original article by Rachel Baxendale

PortMac.News Summary

It has been revealed that the Victorian government spent almost $3.5 million in less than four months on consultants from KPMG to assist with its response to COVID-19.

Other expenditure by the Victorian government in relation to the coronavirus includes almost $3 million on mental health nurses for returned travellers in hotel quarantine.

A government spokesperson has declined to say if any KPMG consultant played a role in setting up Victoria's botched hotel quarantine system.

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Lying interstate travellers face 'three years in a prison cell' in the NT

The New Daily - Page Online : 7 July 2020 - Original article by Lauren Roberts

PortMac.News Summary

The Northern Territory government will allow people from interstate to travel freely through it as from 17 July, provided they have not come from a COVID-19 'hotspot'.

People who come from a 'hotspot' will have to go into supervised quarantine for two weeks at their own expense. NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner says any interstate visitor found to be lying about where they had come from could find themselves facing three years in jail. [Click to view full article here]

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Women twice as likely as men to be 'discouraged workers' after Covid-19 job loss

The Guardian Australia - Page Online : 7 July 2020 - Original article by Paul Karp

PortMac.News Summary

A report by the Australian National University has noted an increase in the number of people who are unemployed but not actively looking for work.

The report was based on a survey by the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods, and report co-author Nicholas Biddle says the increase fits in with the notion of the 'discouraged' worker, namely someone who would like to work but does not believe there are any suitable jobs available.

The ANU found that women who have lost their job because of COVID-19 are much more likely to be 'discouraged workers' than men. [Click to view full article here]

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Coronavirus means Australia won't meet migration forecasts for a decade

The Guardian Australia - Page Online : 7 July 2020 - Original article by Hannah Ryan

PortMac.News Summary

Net overseas migration was around 210,700 in 2019, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in June.

The federal government had forecast average net migration of around 270,000 per year between 2019 and 2022 in its 2019 Budget, but former immigration department deputy secretary, Abul Rizvi, says there is no chance of getting anywhere near those forecasts now because of COVID-19.

Rizvi suggests it may take another decade before net overseas migration reaches those predictions. [Click to view full article here]

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'Don't tear the guts out of tourism': push for NZ travel for 'safe' states

The Australian Financial Review - Page 3 : 7 July 2020 - Original article by Fiona Carruthers, Lucas Baird

PortMac.News Summary

To date, Australia has preferred opening the whole country to New Zealand travellers if the proposed trans-Tasman tourism "bubble" proceeds. However, the fresh coronavirus outbreak in Victoria has raised doubts about this strategy.

NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern believes that the bubble can still go ahead in September, provided it is initially restricted to Australian states and territories that are deemed to be 'safe'.

The tourist trade between the two nation is a major contributor to both economies.

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Coronavirus: world treating symptoms, not cause of pandemics, says UN

The Guardian - Page Online : 7 July 2020 - Original article by Damien Carrington

PortMac.News Summary

Zoonotic diseases are ones that pass from animals to humans, and around two million people die from them each year. A report from the United Nations notes although COVID-19 may be the worst zoonotic disease, it is certainly not the first.

The report contends that the world is trying to treat the health and economic symptoms of COVID-19, but not the environmental cause.

UN environment chief Inger Andersen says the world can expect to see more zoonotic diseases in the future if wildlife continues to be exploited and ecosystems continue to be destroyed. [Click to view full article here]

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Virus may not have originated in China: Oxford Uni expert

The Australian Financial Review - Page 11 : 7 July 2020 - Original article by Sarah Knapton

PortMac.News Summary

Tom Jefferson says viruses tend to lie dormant until conditions are favourable, and he says this may have been what happened with COVID-19.

Jefferson is a senior associate tutor at the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at Oxford University, and he says there is increasing evidence that COVID-19 was present in other countries before it emerged in Asia.

Spanish virologists recently reported they detected traces of COVID-19 in waste water collected in March 2019, which is nine months before it was first observed in China.

Traces of the virus have been found in Brazil from November, and in sewage samples in the Italian cities of Milan and Turin from mid-December.

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Hong Kong's loss provides opportunity

The Australian Financial Review - Page 8 : 7 July 2020 - Original article by Ronald Mizen

PortMac.News Summary

Atlas Advisers' executive chairman Guy Hedley has urged the federal government to look at ways of attracting skill labour and capital from Hong Kong.

Hedley says the government should rethink migrant limits and its Significant Investment Visa program in regard to enticing people with skills and money from Hong Kong.

Jenny Lambert from the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry says the SIV scheme would be a good mechanism to lure investment away from Hong Kong.

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Sensitive data to remain in Australia

The Australian Financial Review - Page Online : 7 July 2020 - Original article by Tom Burton

PortMac.News Summary

The federal government will introduce new rules that require agencies which collect sensitive data to house it on Australian cloud services.

Details of the regulations are due to be announced by Government Services Minister Stuart Robert on 7 July. Robert will also unveil a plan to reduce technology duplication across the three levels of government, as well as an overhaul of the $10 billion that governments spend on technology each year.

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Barilaro draws anger after vote 'sabotage'

The Australian Financial Review - Page 8 : 7 July 2020 - Original article by Andrew Tillett

PortMac.News Summary

New South Wales Deputy Premier and Nationals leader John Barilaro is being accused of sabotaging the Liberal Party's campaign to win the Eden-Monaro by-election.

Although 6,000 postal votes remain to be counted, the Liberal party is privately conceding its candidate Fiona Kotvojs is unlikely to close the 749 vote gap that Labor candidate Kristy McBain had on her as of 4pm on 6 July.

There are claims that Barilaro, who had toyed with the idea of running for the seat himself, encouraged National voters to preference McBain ahead of Kotvojs, although the party's head office claims its how-to-vote card clearly indicated it wanted its preferences to go to Kotvojs.

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'Let ALP candidates speak mind on mining'

The Australian - Page 4 : 7 July 2020 - Original article by Greg Brown

PortMac.News Summary

Townsville Labor mayor Jenny Hill has urged federal Labor to use COVID-19 as an opportunity to re-engage with regional Australia and to stop chasing Greens' preferences in inner-city seats.

Hill says Labor needs to select candidates in regional Queensland that reflect the local community, and to give them the freedom to voice their support for mining projects.

Labor holds just six of the 30 federal seats in Queensland, while its primary vote in Queensland at the 2019 federal election was just 26.68 per cent.

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Bounce in ads sees applicant rush as calls for job flexibility grow

The Australian Financial Review - Page 6 : 7 July 2020 - Original article by Matthew Cranston

PortMac.News Summary

ANZ job ads data released on 6 July revealed a record 42 per cent increase jump in ads for June, beating the previous record of 17.7 per cent set back in February 2010.

The ANZ's data accords with SEEK data that showed a 21.9 per cent increase in job ads for the last two weeks in June. Susan Park, business manager at retailer Fjallraven, says that the minimum hours per shift rule creates challenges for retailers and it would be good to have more flexibility in this area.

Park says Fjallraven had over 730 applications for one casual retail position at its "flagship Sydney store".

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JobKeeper powers to cut work hours curbed by ruling

The Australian Financial Review - Page 2 : 7 July 2020 - Original article by David Marin-Guzman

PortMac.News Summary

A broadcast engineer has challenged his employer's use of stand-down powers available to it under the JobKeeper scheme in the Fair Work Commission.

The engineer filmed horseracing events in Western Australia for Mediatec through a subsidiary, and his hours of work had not been impacted by COVID-19 because horse racing continued in that state.

Mediatec had sought to cut his guaranteed hours from 80 hours minimum a fortnight to just 48, thereby reducing any "top-up pay" it would be liable for if work became unavailable for the employee.

However, the FWC reduced what was a 40 per cent cut in the employee's guaranteed hours to just 20 per cent, claiming that Mediatec was being "overly precautionary".

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CFMEU man 'offensive'

The Australian Financial Review - Page 10 : 7 July 2020 - Original article by David Marin-Guzman

PortMac.News Summary

The Australian Building & Construction Commission has launched legal action against three construction union organisers over their allegedly "aggressive and highly offensive behaviour" on Queensland's Cross River Rail project.

Amongst other things, the ABCC alleges that they illegally entered the project site and one of them made offensive comments to a site manager.

The ABCC is seeking orders that would prevent the union paying any penalties on behalf of the organisers.

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A 12.5pc GST, broader base would raise $40b

The Australian Financial Review - Page 3 : 7 July 2020 - Original article by Tom McIlroy

PortMac.News Summary

An analysis by PwC has concluded that expanding the scope of the 10 per cent goods and services tax would lift government revenue by $21bn.

The firm estimates that lifting the GST to 12.5 per cent and retaining existing exemptions would increase revenue by $14bn, while the expected revenue boost would be about $40bn if the tax was increased and current exemptions such as food, healthcare and education were scrapped.

PwC contends that people on low incomes could be fully compensated to offset the increase in the GST.

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GST won't be changing: Let's work on our spending

The Australian - Page 10 : 7 July 2020 - Original article by Judith Sloan

PortMac.News Summary

The latest debate on increasing the GST or expanding its scope is meaningless because such reform is not going to happen.

The federal government would not risk a voter backlash given that the increased revenue would go to the states and territories, while any proposed changes would be likely to face resistance in the Senate.

Phasing out state-based stamp duty with a land tax is also popular among advocates of tax reform. However, despite all the government-funded reports on tax reform proposals, the issue of expenditure reform has not received much attention.

Billions could be saved by simply reducing wasted government spending.

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Tax tyranny must be fixed

The Australian - Page 21 : 7 July 2020 - Original article by Robert Gottliebsen

PortMac.News Summary

A growing number of federal government ministers have become acutely aware of problems within the Australian Taxation Office.

The decision to withdraw many of the charges against whistleblower Richard Boyle has reinforced the need to rein in the ATO.

The tax office's actions have previously decimated Australia's research and development industry and destroyed the gold refining industry.

Meanwhile, the ATO should have been held accountable for the robodebt scandal, while its handling of the JobKeeper scheme is now also under scrutiny.

The perception that the ATO is above the law must be addressed as part of the nation's recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

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Investigation found 'sleazy' Melbourne lord mayor behaved inappropriately

The New Daily - Page Online : 7 July 2020 - Original article by Georgie Moore

PortMac.News Summary

The results of an investigation conducted in 2018 into allegations against then Melbourne lord mayor and Melbourne Health chairman Robert Doyle were released by the City of Melbourne on 6 July.

The report upholds claims by Kharla Williams that Doyle acted in an offensive manner towards her at a Melbourne Health awards ceremony in 2016.

The investigation found that Doyle was "sleazy" and sexually inappropriate to Williams, and that there was absolutely no justification for his behaviour.

Doyle quit as both lord mayor and Melbourne Health chairman after Williams' allegations against him were aired. 

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Stocks fall on virus uncertainty

The Australian - Page 20 : 7 July 2020 - Original article by Samantha Bailey

PortMac.News Summary

The Australian sharemarket lost ground on 6 July, with the S&P/ASX 200 easing 0.7 per cent to close at 6,014.6 points.

BHP shed 1.7 per cent to end the session at $35.65, Westpac was down 0.5 per cent at $18.45 and Crown Resorts fell three per cent to $9.49.

However, The Reject Shop rallied 13.9 per cent to finish at $8.12 and Afterpay was up 0.7 per cent at $68.

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'Totally irrational' global rally defies second wave

The Australian Financial Review - Page 29 : 7 July 2020 - Original article by William McInnes

PortMac.News Summary

The S&P 500 has gained 39 per cent since reaching its 2020 low in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Global sharemarkets have rebounded from the virus-induced sell-off, but private investor James Spenceley has questioned whether this is a good time to hold shares given the growing evidence of a second wave of infections worldwide.

The Australian sharemarket eased on 6 July, although Asian markets posted strong gains.