Latest updates on Key Economic Indicators

Australian Dollar: $0.7191 USD (up $0.0011 USD)

Iron Ore Sep Spot Price (SGX): $123.10 USD (down $1.00 USD)

Oil Price (WTI): $42.62 USD (down $0.17 USD)

Gold Price: $1,946.16 (up $17.26 USD)

Dow Jones: 27,739.73 (up 46.85 points)

All changes compared to 7am yesterday.

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Judge rules against Trump in tax records subpoena fight

A federal judge on Thursday said New York state prosecutors could have access to President Donald Trump's accounting records for a criminal investigation, siding harshly against the President.

The ruling by US District Judge Victor Marrero follows a landmark Supreme Court decision this summer that appeared to set up potentially lengthy delays on subpoenas for Trump's records.

Yet the ruling on Thursday snaps attention back to the ongoing criminal probe of Trump's business dealings, and revives the possibility that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance could reach the records before the presidential election.

"Justice requires an end to this controversy," Marrero wrote.

Trump has already appealed.

He's asking the Second Circuit Court of Appeals for emergency help as he tries to stop the subpoena from being enforced next week.

Vance's office has been examining whether Trump or the Trump Organization violated state laws in connection with hush money payments made to women alleging affairs with Trump.

The investigation has also looked into whether business records filed with the state were falsified and if any tax laws were violated, CNN has reported.

Trump had sued Vance to stop the grand jury subpoena of his longtime accounting firm Mazars USA for years of his records. But the judge said the case was no longer valid and should be tossed from court.

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PM appeals to premiers on border closures

The Australian - Page 1 & 4 : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Simon Benson, Rosie Lewis - PortMac.News Summary

The issue of state border closures will be on the agenda for the national cabinet meeting on 21 August.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will urge the states and territories to reach agreement on the easing of border controls.

Of particular concern is the impact of the travel restrictions on people in border communities who require emergency medical treatment.

Queensland Premier Annastacia contends that her government's hard border closure is necessary to prevent COVID-19 being imported into the state.

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VIC Labor ready to shoot itself in the foot over Dan Andrews

The Australian - Page 5 : 21 August 2020 - Original article by John Ferguson - PortMac.News Summary

There is growing speculation from the gutter press, especially Fox  News, about the future of Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews in the wake of the state government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

'Sources' have indicated that Andrews will be permitted to choose the timing of his exit; Andrews is expected to step down well before the 2022 election to give his successor time to settle into the role.

Jacinta Who ?

Left faction member Jacinta Allan is seen as a possibility replacement for Iconic & highly popular Premier Dan Andrews.

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Victoria's strict lockdown could last until late September

The Australian Financial Review - Page 6 : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Patrick Durkin - PortMac.News Summary

Victoria recorded 240 new coronavirus cases on 20 August, while the state's death toll from the respiratory illness rose by 13 to 376.

The number of active cases across the state has fallen from 7,155 to just 4,864 in the last day.

The state government is said to be looking at easing the stage-four lockdown in Melbourne when the number of new cases recorded each day falls to no more than 25.

Epidemiologists say the rate of infection is unlikely to slow to this level before the stage-four restrictions are slated to end on 13 September, raising the prospect that the lockdown may be extended.

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Quarantine hell: mould, bed bugs

The Australian - Page 1 & 5 : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Remy Varga, Tessa Akerman - PortMac.News Summary

A nurse who worked at Melbourne's Park Royal hotel has told the inquiry into Victoria's hotel quarantine program that security staff were clearly not given proper training.

The nurse, identified only as Jen, said guards often wore the same face mask and gloves for an entire shift before throwing them into a general waste bin.

Human Rights Law Centre executive director Hugh de Kretser and his family were quarantined at the Rydges on Swanston after arriving from the US in late June, and de Kretser says the rooms they were given were filthy.

He said this was despite comments by Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton that the hotel was to be "deep cleaned" following a bed bug infestation.

The inquiry was also shown pictures of dirty hotel rooms with mould in the bathroom and a leak in the ceiling.

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St Basil's faces class action suit for allegedly breaching duty of care amid Covid crisis

The Guardian Australia - Page Online : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Josh Taylor - PortMac.News Summary

St Basil's aged care home in Melbourne is facing a class action for allegedly breaching its duty of care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There have been 193 Covid-19 cases linked to St Basil's, and 31 of its residents have died from the virus.

A writ filed by Carbone Lawyers lists Effie Fotiadis as the first applicant in the potential class action; her 79-year old father died on 25 July after contracting COVID-19 in the home.

The writ alleges St Basil's breached its duty of care over a range of issues, including allowing staff and residents not to wear protective personal equipment, and allowing staff from other homes to enter St Basil's without self-isolating or obtaining an up-to-date vaccination against the flu.

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International travel cap keeping out 18,000 Australians who want to come home

The Guardian Australia - Page Online : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Paul Karp - PortMac.News Summary

The cap on international arrivals is a "significant challenge" for the 18,800 Australians who are currently overseas and are seeking to return home.

This is according to the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade, which has told the Senate's COVID-19 inquiry that almost 3,000 of those people are deemed 'vulnerable' for medical or financial reasons.

The inquiry was told by the Australian Tourism Industry Council that closed interstate borders are costing the sector an estimated $84 million a day, with CEO Simon Westaway suggesting that state premiers should not be "dictated by public polls".

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Premier goes viral for poll

The Australian - Page 4 : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Sarah Elks - PortMac.News Summary

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has indicated that the state's hard-line stance on coronavirus-induced border closures will be a key issue in campaigning for the election on 31 October.

Palaszczuk has defended the border closure, arguing that lives and the state economy's recovery would be at risk if its borders were opened prematurely.

Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington has responded by arguing that a Labor government with no economic plan or budget is the biggest risk to the state's economy.

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Could the coronavirus vaccine be mandatory in Australia? Experts say it's possible

abc.net au - Page Online : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Catherine Taylor, Leigh Tonkin = PortMac.News Summary

News that Australia could have 25 million doses of Oxford University's COVID-19 vaccine candidate by early 2021 has prompted the question as whether vaccination should be mandatory.

Mirko Bagaric, the Dean of the Swinburne University Law School, says the federal government can compel people to have a vaccine even if they do not want to.

However, he suggests that a legal defence could be used that enforcing vaccination amounts to torture.

It has been suggested that an alternative to mandatory vaccination would be a 'vaccination passport', which would give people who have been vaccinated more freedoms as COVID-19 restrictions are eased.

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What we can expect from a Covid vaccine

The Australian - Page 21 : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Robert Gottliebsen - PortMac.News Summary

US National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci warns the chances of developing a highly effective vaccine for COVID-19 are slim.

'Highly effective' is considered one that provides 98 per cent or more guaranteed protection, while the US Food & Drug Administration has stated it will approve a COVID-19 provided it is safe and at least 50 per cent effective.

Commenting on the AZD1222 vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca, Fauci says it is possible that it may not be all that good at preventing infection from COVID-19, but that it could be very good at helping people not get sick from the virus.

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FIRB pushes 'fast pass' for friendly buyers

The Australian Financial Review - Page 3 : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Jemima Whyte, John Kehoe - PortMac.News Summary

The federal government announced in March that the Foreign Investment Review Board must approve all foreign investment deals, no matter their size.

This has triggered concern among bankers and lawyers about the time it is taking to get deals endorsed. FIRB chairman David Irvine has put forward a "fast-pass" proposal that would cover approved foreign buyers, with the proposal essentially formalising a process that has evolved over the years.

However, some corporate advisers have expressed concern that it could create a two-tier system that could put bidders from mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore at a disadvantage.

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KPMG retirement clause could threaten government work

The Australian Financial Review - Page 3 : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Edmund Tadros, Hannah Wootton - PortMac.News Summary

Consultancy firm KPMG has a policy that its partners must retire at 58, even though legal experts state that the policy is likely a breach of discrimination law.

KPMG secures upwards of $200 million a year in contracts from the federal government; these contracts could be at risk as commonwealth procurement rules forbid contracting to companies that engage in unethical or illegal employment practices.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says age-based restrictions are a "thing of the past", while Labor MP Julian Hill states that age-based retirement clauses are "archaic" and are essentially illegal under age discrimination law.

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Sydney university asks staff to 'suggest' how to cut costs & up to 30% of jobs in some faculties

The Guardian Australia - Page Online : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Naaman Zhou - PortMac.News Summary

The answer: Switch to non-vintage Chardonnay & sack all the admin staff ! (Editor)

The National Tertiary Education Union says it has received information that the University of Sydney intends to cut staff budgets by up to 30 per cent.

The NTEU states that this would amount to 3,000 redundancies if applied "across the board", making them the biggest job cuts imposed on any university thus far.

Usyd Casuals Network claims that staff and students should not be penalised for a crisis that has been caused by the federal government's refusal to properly fund the university sector, and that the University has billions of dollars in assets and extensive borrowing power that it should be drawing on.

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Watchdog rejects Setka's new pay deal with builders

The Australian - Page 6 : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Ewin Hannan - PortMac.News Summary

The Australian Building & Construction Commission has refused to approve a pay deal between John Setka's Victorian CFMEU branch and major Victorian builders.

The ABCC contends a number of clauses in the agreement are in breach of the national building code, while other clauses could result in conduct that could breach the code.

Non-compliance with the code means that companies are ineligible to bid for federal government contracts.

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Din Tai Fung restaurants allegedly underpaid workers and used fake timesheets, Australian court told

The Guardian Australia - Page Online : 21 August 2020 - PortMac.News Summary

The Fair Work Ombudsman is pursuing legal action against the operator of dumpling restaurant chain Din Tai Fung over alleged breaches of the Fair Work Act.

Amongst other things, it has been alleged that DTF World Square had underpaid its employees and failed to pay them for overtime work. The company has also been accused of falsifying the payroll records of 17 employees who had been underpaid. [Click to view full article here]

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Palmer sues WA premier for defamation

The Australian Financial Review - Page 4 : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Michael Pelly, Brad Thompson - PortMac.News Summary

Businessman and former federal MP Clive Palmer has launched a defamation lawsuit against Western Australian premier Mark McGowan.

His legal action centres on comments that McGowan has made about him during a separate legal dispute over the Balmoral South iron ore project.

Amongst other things, McGowan has described Palmer as 'reckless and selfish' and a 'menace to Australia'.

Palmer has also challenged the state's coronavirus-induced border closure in court.

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Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny, a Vladimir Putin critic, may have been poisoned

abc.net au - Page Online : 21 August 2020 - PortMac.News Summary

Russia's Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny is currently in a coma in a Siberian hospital, with spokesperson Kira Yarmysh saying he may have been poisoned.

Yarmysh says something may have been mixed into the tea he drank at a cafe at Tomska airport before leaving to fly back to Moscow; the cafe's owners are said to be checking their security cameras to see what might have happened.

Navalny has been in jail on a number of occasions in recent years for organising anti-Kremlin protests; he is a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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CSL and banks weigh on bourse

The Australian - Page 20 : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Melissa Yeo - PortMac.News Summary

The Australian sharemarket lost ground on 20 August, with the S&P/ASX 200 shedding 0.77 per cent to close at 6,120 points.

Fortescue Metals Group fell 1.7 per cent to $17.86, Santos was down 5.3 per cent at $5.57 and the ANZ Bank finished 1.2 per cent lower at $18.46. However, IDP Education rose 28.5 per cent to $19.17 and Coca-Cola Amatil was up 4.6 per cent at $9.28.

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Former boss 'gutted' at state of AMP

The Australian Financial Review - Page 18 : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Michael Roddan - PortMac.News Summary

Wealth manager AMP is preparing to release an independent investigation's report into sexual harassment claims lodged against AMP Capital CEO Boe Pahari in 2017.

The release of the report comes as former AMP CEO Andrew Mohl says he is "gutted" about the current state of the company, as are many other long-serving AMP staff.

As well as the revelations regarding Pahari, former AMP Australia CEO Alex Wade recently quit following a series of complaints regarding his conduct.

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Medibank doubles down on premiums

The Australian - Page 15 : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Jared Lynch - PortMac.News Summary

Medibank Private has booked a net profit of $315m for 2019-20, which is 31.3 per cent lower than previously.

Revenue rose by 1.3 per cent to $6.56bn. Medibank recorded 0.6 per cent growth in policyholders during the financial year, while 18,200 customers suspended their policies due to the coronavirus pandemic.

CEO Craig Drummond has ruled out any further deferral of premium increases, which were put on hold for six months.

However, customers who receive JobKeeper or JobSeeker payments will be entitled to a 50 per cent discount when premiums rise in October.

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Perpetual boss foresees a 'stockpicker's world'

The Australian - Page 16 : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Cliona O'Dowd - PortMac.News Summary

Listed wealth manager Perpetual has posted a 2019-20 net profit of $82m, which is 29 per cent lower than previously.

Revenue was down five per cent at $489.2m and net outflows for the financial year totalled $2.6bn.

CEO Rob Adams forecasts a shift to active managers in the next several years as the COVID-19 pandemic weighs on economic growth.

He also expects the economy to rebound quickly once a COVID-19 vaccine is available. Adams has flagged more acquisitions for Perpetual following several recent deals.

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'There are risks ahead': Wesfarmers keeps its powder dry

The Australian Financial Review - Page 15 & 24 : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Sue Mitchell - PortMac.News Summary

Perth-based conglomerate Wesfarmers has posted a 2019-20 net profit of $1.6bn, which is 69 per cent lower than previously.

The result was marred by write-downs in the value of its Target chain and its industrials and safety business.

Group revenue was up 10.5 per cent at $30.85bn, driven by solid growth in the earnings of Bunnings and Officeworks.

Wesfarmers has also recorded 60 per cent growth in online sales across its businesses. Shareholders will receive a final dividend of $0.77 per share and a special dividend of $0.18.

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Coca-Cola Amatil slashes dividend as profit plunges

The Australian Financial Review - Page 17 : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Sue Mitchell - PortMac.News Summary

Coca-Cola Amatil has posted a 2020 interim net loss of $8.7m, compared with a net profit of $168m previously.

The result was marred by writedowns and one-off costs, while its underlying net profit was down 35 per cent at $112.1m.

CCA aims to reduce its costs by at least $80m in the second half of 2020, after slashing costs by $60m in the first half.

CEO Alison Watkins has called for state border restrictions to be relaxed and an permanent increase in the JobSeeker allowance in the wake of the pandemic.

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Hundreds of insolvency firms accessing JobKeeper

The Australian Financial Review - Page 3 : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Matthew Cranston, Ronald Mizen - PortMac.News Summary

The federal government previously imposed a moratorium on insolvent trading laws to help companies to cope with the impact of COVID-19 and to stall a surge in business failures.

The policy has led to the revenues of insolvency firms tumbling, and many are now accessing the government's JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has indicated that the moratorium may be extended, even though JobKeeper payments will soon be reduced. The insolvency sector is worried that this will lead to many insolvency experts leaving the sector.

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'Share the risk': Santos fights back as gas spat with manufacturers escalates

The Australian - Page 18 : 21 August 2020 - Original article by Perry Williams - PortMac.News Summary

Oil and gas producer Santos has reported a 2020 first-half loss of $US289 million ($402 million), compared to a profit of $US388 million previously.

The loss resulted from writedowns on its GLNG gas export project in Queensland.

Sales were down 16 per cent to $US1.668 billion, while underlying profit declined 48 per cent to $US212 million.

In announcing its latest results, Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher suggested that manufacturers unhappy about gas prices could share some its risk by helping it to develop new sources of supply.