Latest updates on Key Economic Indicators

Australian Dollar: $0.7923 USD (up $0.0056 USD)

Iron Ore Mar Spot Price (SGX): $171.25 USD (up $2.75 USD)

Oil Price (WTI): $61.69 USD (up $2.45 USD)

Gold Price: $1,808.28 (up $24.00 USD)

Bitcoin: $53,781.48 USD (down 7.73 % in last 24 hours)

Dow Jones: 31,617.68 at 3.05pm NY time (up 123.36 points on Friday's close)

All changes compared to 7am yesterday.

Myanmar coup: Protesters defy military warning in mass strike

Hundreds of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Myanmar in one of the largest demonstrations yet against the country's military coup.

Businesses closed as employees joined a general strike, despite a military statement that said protesters were risking their lives by turning out.

The statement prompted fears the protests could turn violent, but they remained peaceful throughout Monday.

Myanmar has seen weeks of protest following the coup on 1 February.

Military leaders overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government and have placed her under house arrest, charging her with possessing illegal walkie-talkies and violating the country's Natural Disaster Law.

Protesters are demanding an end to the military's rule and want Ms San Suu Kyi released, along with senior members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

"We don't want the junta, we want democracy. We want to create our own future".

A statement from the military carried on state-run broadcaster MRTV said that protesters were "now inciting the people, especially emotional teenagers and youths, to a confrontation path where they will suffer the loss of life".

It cautioned people against "riot and anarchy". The warning prompted Facebook to remove the broadcaster's pages for violating its "violence and incitement" policies.

Report into rape claims may stay secret

The Australian Financial Review - Page 4 : 23 February 2021 - Original article by Andrew Tillett - PortMac.News Summary

Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet secretary Phil Gaetjen is conducting a review into what the office of Prime Minister Scott Morrison knew about rape allegations made by former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins.

Higgins has suggested that at least four members of Morrison's office knew about the alleged rape, but Morrison has maintained that his office only become aware of the allegations on 12 February.

Morrison will not guarantee that he will make Gaetjen's findings public. Meanwhile, a fourth woman has come forward and stated that she was touched on the thigh by the ex-government staffer who allegedly raped Higgins in 2019.

Inquiry into casino's links to crime gangs

The Australian - Page 1 & 6 : 23 February 2021 - Original article by Rachel Baxendale, Damon Kitney - PortMac.News Summary

The Victorian government has announced that a royal commission will assess Crown Resorts' suitability to retain the licence for its flagship Melbourne casino.

The inquiry, to be headed by former judge Raymond Finkelstein, will investigate issues raised by the Bergin inquiry in New South Wales; it found amongst other things that Crown had links to organised crime gangs and had facilitated money-laundering at its Melbourne casino.

The Western Australian government also recently announced an inquiry into Crown's Perth casino. Meanwhile, advertising industry veteran Harold Mitchell has become the fourth Crown director to resign in the wake of the Bergin report.

JobSeeker to be raised by $50 a fortnight when coronavirus supplement scrapped

The Guardian Australia - Page Online : 23 February 2021 - Original article by Luke Henriques-Gomes - PortMac.News Summary

The federal government is believed to have agreed to permanently increase the base rate of the JobSeeker payment to $615 per fortnight.

The increase of $25 per week will take effect from 1 April, and is slated to cost around $9bn over four years.

The proposed increase in the unemployment benefit is expected to be put before the Coalition's party room on 23 February, after it was discussed at a cabinet meeting on the previous evening.

The COVID-19 supplement of $150 per fortnight for JobSeeker recipients will end in late March; it has been progressively reduced from $550 at the peak of the pandemic.

'Very encouraging' AstraZeneca vaccine slashes UK hospital admissions

The New Daily - Page Online : 23 February 2021 - Original article by Ella Pickover, Lucinda Cameron, Nina Massey - PortMac.News Summary

Research undertaken by the Usher Institute in Scotland suggests that COVID-19 vaccines can significantly reduce the risk of hospitalisation.

The research team found that people had an 85% reduced risk of hospital admission four weeks after receiving the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

Likewise, people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine had a 94 per cent reduced risk of hospitalisation four weeks after their initial dose. Professor Aziz Sheikh from the Usher Institute says the research demonstrates the need to rapidly roll out the vaccines globally.

Workplace rules 'A win for anti-vaxxers'

The Australian - Page 5 : 23 February 2021 - Original article by Ewin Hannan, Stephen Lunn - PortMac.News Summary

Safe Work Australia guidance on workplace COVID-19 vaccinations has come under attack from small business groups.

Council of Small Business ­Organisations of Australia chief executive Peter Strong claims the guidance favours 'anti-vaxxers' and is likely to cause legal uncertainty for employers and employees.

Meanwhile the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has claimed that the current guidance materials "Are not fit for purpose for small businesses". Meanwhile, the ACTU wants workers at high risk of exposure to COVID-19 to be given priority when it comes to getting the vaccine.

Coal boom stokes $2bn budget boost

The Australian - Page 4 : 23 February 2021 - Original article by Patrick Commins, Geoff Chambers - PortMac.News Summary

Released in December, the federal government's mid-year economic and fiscal outlook assumed that thermal coal prices would remain at $US61 per tonne, $US10 higher than was forecast in the October budget.

Coal out of Newcastle recently commanded $US90 a tonne, while exports of thermal coal have held up in spite of China's ban on Australian coal.

Chris Richardson from Deloitte Access Economics says the extra revenue from higher than forecast coal prices would amount to an additional $6 billion in export earnings if prices stabilise at current levels.

Richardson says this would translate to an increase of around $2 billion in the federal government's budget bottom line.

Tech stars want gig economy reform but no minimum wage

The Australian Financial Review - Page 19 & 21 : 23 February 2021 - Original article by Natasha Gillezeau - PortMac.News Summary

Labor recently announced plans to implement a minimum wage for gig economy workers, along with other basic terms and conditions.

Freelancer.com's founder and CEO Matt Barrie says he is against Labor's idea of a minimum wage for gig economy workers, a sentiment echoed by Snap Send Solve CEO and founder Danny Gorog.

Deputy's co-founder and CEO Ashik Ahmed says the focus should be on proper guidelines for an on-demand workforce, rather than on a minimum wage.

UK Uber ruling used against Deliveroo

The Australian Financial Review - Page 3 : 23 February 2021 - Original article by David Marin-Guzman - PortMac.News Summary

The Transport Workers' Union has referenced a recent British Supreme Court ruling that Uber drivers are workers as it seeks to demonstrate that Deliveroo riders are employees.

The TWU is representing Deliveroo rider Diego Franco in a case before the Fair Work Commission, with Franco having been terminated by Deliveroo in 2020 for taking too long to make deliveries.

Commissioner Ian Cambridge has directed the TWU and Deliveroo to make submissions on the British ruling in the week beginning 1 March; the FWC's full bench has previously ruled that UberEats drivers are not employees.

Unions support huge wage cut

The Australian Financial Review - Page 38 : 22 February 2021 - Original article by Innes Willox - PortMac.News Summary

Labor's recent call for a national portable leave scheme for casual workers would see 2.5 million workers take home 25% less pay.

It would also impose a 15% levy on business, and there is absolutely no merit in what Labor is proposing and which the ACTU has come out in support of.

However, changes are needed to casual employment laws in Australia, and the federal government's industrial relations omnibus bill addresses these required changes in a fair and sensible manner.

The bill should be passed without delay.

Treasury warns JobMaker could encourage firms to lay off older workers

The New Daily - Page Online : 23 February 2021 - Original article by Euan Black - PortMac.News Summary

Labour market analysts warned after the October budget that the federal government's JobMaker scheme could encourage employers to replace older full-time workers with younger part-time ones.

Treasury documents obtained under freedom of information laws would appear to confirm their concerns, with a table indicating a firm could sack a full-time worker earning $75,000 a year and replace the worker with three part-time staff on wages of between $27,500 and $30,000 at no additional cost to the employer.

Emma Dawson from think tank Per Capita says she is not surprised by the Treasury documents, while she contends the JobMaker scheme entrenches casual and insecure work.

Automation to eliminate 1.5m jobs in 10 years

The Australian Financial Review - Page 21 : 23 February 2021 - Original article by Paul Smith - PortMac.News Summary

Technology research firm Forrester estimates that increased automation will reduce Australia's workforce by 11% by 2030, putting 1.5 million people out of work.

Jobs most under threat are what Forrester calls 'cubicle workers', which includes office clerks and bookkeepers, with 58% of jobs in this category expected to be gone by 2030.

Categories of workers where Forrester tips employment to increase include 'cross-domain knowledge workers', such as lawyers, construction managers and emergency room physicians.

It may be too late to save manufacturing

The Australian - Page 11 : 23 February 2021 - Original article by Judith Sloan - PortMac.News Summary

The number of workers employed in manufacturing has declined by 1.7% in the past five years, compared to an increase of 12% in total employment in the same period.

There is every reason to think that manufacturing will continue to decline in Australia, despite the federal government having announced a $1.5 billion Modern Manufacturing Strategy in October.

Many manufacturing plants were set up when the cost of electricity and feeder stocks were low, but this is no longer the case, while the cost of importing goods is much lower than it used to be.

The Australian economy is likely to become increasingly services-dominated, while the size of the public service will probably grow.

ASX dips but travel stocks jump

The Australian - Page 20 : 23 February 2021 - Original article by Rebecca Le May - PortMac.News Summary

The Australian sharemarket lost ground on 22 February, with the S&P/ASX 200 easing 0.19% to close at 6,780.9 points.

Fortescue Metals Group added 3.21% to end the session at $24.74, Flight Centre rose 7.15% to $15.59 and Costa Group was up 12.97% at $4.53. However, National Australia Bank was down 2.15% at $24.57 and Regional Express shed 3.68% to finish at $1.70.

A year's wait for banking cartel trial

The Australian Financial Review - Page 7 : 23 February 2021 - Original article by Hannah Wootton - PortMac.News Summary

A criminal cartel case against the ANZ Bank, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup will not go to trial until April 2022.

The case against the banks and six of their executives is being brought by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions; they allege that anti-cartel laws were breached during an ANZ capital raising in 2015.

Barrister Peter Wood, appearing for one of the executives in the Federal Court on 22 February, described the DPP's indictment as "Almost incomprehensible".

Covid demand lets Booktopia read it and reap

The Australian - Page 18 : 23 February 2021 - Original article by Eli Greenblat - PortMac.News Summary

Booktopia advised on 22 February that it had earned revenue of $112.6 million for the December half, up 51.1%.

It upgraded its full-year revenue guidance from its prospectus forecast of $204.5 million to $217.6 million, while its full-year underlying EBITDA prospectus forecast of $9.4 million was increased to $12.9 million.

Booktopia CEO Tony Nash says the increased willingness of consumers to order books online is a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and Australians catching up with overseas markets in terms of a shift to online retail sales.

ABC journalism to appear on Google's Showcase

The Guardian Australia - Page Online : 23 February 2021- Original article by Amanda Meade - PortMac.News Summary

The ABC is poised to sign a 'lucrative' deal with Google that will see its journalism appear on Google's News Showcase product.

Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has undertaken not to use the extra revenue that the ABC will get from Google as an excuse to cut its budget, while the ABC has rejected concerns from former staff that the deal puts it on a path to privatisation.

Meanwhile, the federal government has put pressure on Facebook to accept its proposed media bargaining code by withdrawing all of its advertising from the social media company.

Fed's ready to pursue Facebook & Twitter over misinformation

The Guardian Australia - Page Online : 23 February 2021 - Original article by Josh Taylor - PortMac.News Summary

Twitter, Google and Facebook are among the companies to have adopted an industry-developed code of practice aimed at reducing the spread of misinformation and disinformation on digital platforms.

Reset Australia, an organisation that is lobbying for regulation of technology companies, has labelled the code "Shameless and pointless", while Communications Minister Paul Fletcher says the federal government will see how the code works in practice.

Fletcher has not ruled out taking action against social media companies if the code does not achieve its aims. 

Rio's heritage row can't stop big pay days

The Australian Financial Review - Page 16 : 23 February 2021 - Original article by Peter Ker - PortMac.News Summary

Rio Tinto's annual report shows that former CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques received total remuneration of Stg7.2m ($12.85m) in 2020, which is 20% higher than in 2019.

Jacques, who stepped down in the wake of the Juukan Gorge scandal, will also receive some Stg519,000 for the remaining five months of his unworked notice period.

Rio Tinto's review of its decision to destroy ancient indigenous rock shelters in the Pilbara was led by board member Michael L'Estrange; his directors' fees for the year were increased by 46% because the review was deemed to be outside of his usual role.

More Grocon firms put in administration

The Australian Financial Review - Page 34 : 23 February 2021 - Original article by Nick Lenaghan, Larry Schlesinger - PortMac.News Summary

The number of Grocon companies under administration has increased to 87, with the latest batch of 45 companies including parent entity Grocon Group Holdings.

It is one of three Grocon companies involved in litigation with the New South Wales government, with Grocon suing the government for the $270 million it alleges it lost when it disposed of its stake in the bungled Barangaroo Central project to Aqualand for $73 million in 2020.

Daniel Grollo says the latest round of administrations was required to prepare for what he says will be a "protracted court battle" with Infrastructure NSW.

WeWork cuts US rent prices an average 10%

The Australian Financial Review - Page 36 : 23 February 2021 - Original article by Ellen Huet - PortMac.News Summary

WeWork has reduced the price of its rental units in the US by an average of 10%, according to research prepared for Bloomberg.

Office rental prices in the US have fallen significantly, due to the lack of office workers in its larger cities, with real estate research firm Green Street stating that New York and San Francisco have been among the markets most impacted.

WeWork CEO Sandeep Mathrani says it re-negotiated many of its leases with landlords during the pandemic, and that it is aiming to return to profitability by the end of 2021.