Latest updates on Key Economic Indicators

Australian Dollar: $0.7920 USD (down $0.0003 USD)

Iron Ore Mar Spot Price (SGX): $166.05 USD (down $5.20 USD)

Oil Price (WTI): $62.09 USD (up $0.40 USD)

Gold Price: $1,805.59 (down $2.69 USD)

Bitcoin: $46,731.48 USD (down 12.62% in last 24 hours)

Dow Jones: 31,633.97 at 3.05pm NY time (up 16.29 points on yesterday's close)

All changes compared to 7am yesterday.

Government concerned over Australia's $135 billion submarine & warship programs

ABC Online page - 24 February 2021 - Original article by Andrew Greene - PortMac.News Summary

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds has expressed "frustration" and "disappointment" with the French company building Australia's $90 billion future submarines as she prepares to confront its visiting global boss over crucial contract negotiations.

A year after Naval Group pledged to spend 60% of the massive contract value on local suppliers, the company is yet to enshrine the figure in a formal deal with the Commonwealth.

At the same time, there are fears Australia's ambitious $45 billion program to construct new anti-submarine frigates could go the way of a related Canadian warship project which is experiencing massive cost and time blowouts.

(See full story today on PortMac.News)

Facebook does deal on media bargaining code

The Australian - Page 1 & 2 : 24 February 2021 - Original article by James Madden, Greg Brown, David Swan - PortMac.News Summary

The federal government will make four 'technical' amendments to its news media bargaining code after talks with Facebook prompted the social media giant to withdraw its ban on Australian news content.

The changes have addressed the key concerns of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg; amongst other things, the media code will only apply if digital platforms cannot reach acceptable commercial deals with news publishers.

Meanwhile, Seven West Media has advised that it has signed a letter of intent with Facebook regarding payment for use of its content; the media group and several others have previously struck similar deals with Google.

(See full story today on PortMac.News)

Craig Kelly 'I'm not gonna take it any more'

The Australian - Page 1 & 6 : 24 February 2021 - Original article by Geoff Chambers, Richard Ferguson - PortMac.News Summary

Maverick MP Craig Kelly has resigned from the Liberal Party and will join the crossbench in the lower house.

Kelly has indicated that he will vote with the Coalition on policies that it took to the 2019 federal election, as well as supply and confidence bills; however, he has not ruled out voting against the government with regard to other bills.

Kelly has fallen out with the Liberal Party over his support for the use of ivermectin and hyroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19. The Coalition has now lost its working majority in the lower house.

(See full story today on PortMac.News)

US Covid death toll passes 500,000

It will be the latest grim milestone for a country that has by far the highest death toll in the world from the virus.

The US has seen more than twice as many deaths as the next hardest-hit country, Brazil.

But it is also one of the most populous countries.

In terms of deaths per 100,000 population, it ranks ninth, behind countries like the UK, Czech Republic, Italy and Portugal, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The first known US death from the virus came on 6 February 2020.

That means half a million lives have been lost in just over one year, more than the US death tolls from World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War combined.

Alleged staff rapist sacked for dishonesty

The Australian - Page 6 : 24 February 2021 - Original article by Rosie Lewis, Olivia Caisley - PortMac.News Summary

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the man who allegedly raped former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins had been sacked due to a security breach.

His Parliament House access pass was cancelled four days after the March 2019 sexual assault occurred, but before senator Linda Reynolds was informed of the assault that had taken place in her office.

Government sources have indicated that the reasons for the man's dismissal include failing to behave honestly and with integrity, and gaining access to a minister's office on false pretences.

Higgins will make a formal complaint to police on 24 February.

Gladys plugs benefits of NSW's open borders

The Australian Financial Review - Page 7 : 24 February 2021 - Original article by Finbar O'Mallon, Mark Ludlow, Tom McIlroy - PortMac.News Summary

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian contends that Australia needs to begin planning for the re-opening of its international borders.

She argues that the federal and state governments should start preparing to allow international visitors to return by October, when most Australians who want a COVID-19 vaccine should have received it.

Berejiklian has also questioned whether domestic border bans are still necessary, and suggested that NSW residents could be given incentives for being vaccinated. There have been no new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases nationwide for six days.

ScoMo won't budge on JobSeeker's $25p/w rise

The Age - Page Online : 24 February 2021 - Original article by Jennifer Duke, Shane Wright - PortMac.News Summary

Australian Council of Social Service CEO Cassandra Goldie contend that increasing the base rate of the JobSeeker allowance to $620.80 per fortnight is insufficient and will leave people in poverty.

However, sources have indicated that the federal government will adopt a 'take it or leave it' approach when the proposed increase of $50 per fortnight is put before parliament.

JobSeeker recipients will be able to earn $150 a fortnight without any impact on their payments.

Employers lukewarm on 'DobSeeker' hotline

The Age - Page Online : 24 February 2021 - Original article by Katina Curtis, Nick Bonyhady - PortMac.News Summary

The federal government has been criticised over its proposal to set up a hotline for employers to report JobSeeker recipients who are offered a job but refuse to take it.

ACTU president Michelle O'Neil is concerned that employers could exploit this to coerce vulnerable people to accept jobs with low wages.

The Greens' Rachel Siewert agrees that the hotline could be open to abuse.

However, Recruitment, Consulting & Staffing Association CEO Charles Cameron and Council of Small Business Organisations CEO Peter Strong believe that most employers would be unlikely to use the hotline.

Mining, energy lead stock gains

The Australian - Page 22 : 24 February 2021 - Original article by Gerard Cockburn - PortMac.News Summary

The Australian sharemarket posted a solid gain on 23 February, with the S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.86% to close at 6,839.2 points.

BHP was up 3.1% at $50.43, Westpac rose 1.9% to $24.16 and Flight Centre advanced 6.2% to $16.56. However, Afterpay shed 7.2% to end the session at $138.46 and Wesfarmers was down 3.3% at $50.93.

Markets bet against RBA's low rates

The Australian Financial Review - Page 1 & 2 : 24 February 2021 - Original article by John Kehoe - PortMac.News Summary

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe recently signalled that the cash rate is likely to remain on hold until at least 2024.

However, financial markets have priced in an interest rate rise in late 2022, with the cash rate forecast to rise from 0.1% to 0.25%; another 25 basis point rise is also tipped for 2023.

Philip Brown from the Commonwealth Bank says financial markets are wrong, and the RBA will not increase the cash rate until inflation is 'sustainably' within its target range of 2-3%.

Bad 'Buy now, pay later' players to be 'Named & shamed'

The Australian Financial Review - Page 14 & 18 : 24 February 2021 - Original article by James Eyers - PortMac.News Summary

Australia's rapidly growing 'buy now, pay later' sector will be subject to a new code of practice from 1 March.

Amongst other things, the code will require BNPL providers to undertake credit checks for transactions above certain thresholds, while additional purchases will not be permitted if a customer has failed to make existing repayments on time.

BNPL providers will also have to be members of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority. A Senate inquiry in 2019 had advocated self-regulation of the sector.

Winners & losers of Facebook's deal

The New Daily - Page Online : 24 February 2021 - Original article by Samantha Dick - PortMac.News Summary

Queensland University of Technology digital media researcher Axel Bruns says Facebook will be the biggest winner from the federal government's changes to its news media bargaining code.

The social media giant will be excluded from the code if it secures commercial deals with large media companies.

Dr Tama Leaver from Curtin University in turn says large media companies, and News Corp in particular, stand to gain the most from the deal.

Experts also warn that regional newspapers and independent news outlets will lose out, as larger rivals are likely to secure most of the commercial deals with Facebook.

Seven dealt blow in TV stoush with Cricket Australia

The Age - Page Online : 24 February 2021 - Original article by Andrew Wu, Jon Pierik - PortMac.News Summary

Sources have indicated that independent arbitrator Justin Jameson has decided that Seven West Media is entitled to a $5m reduction in the cost of its broadcasting rights deal with Cricket Australia.

Seven had been seeking a $70m reduction in the cost of its rights deal for the 2020-21 season; coronavirus-induced changes to the summer cricket schedule resulted in the four-match Test series against India being played after the one-day international series, which was exclusively broadcast by Foxtel.

Jameson will issue his final determination in the first week of March.

Apple to take bite out of Facebook tracking

The Australian - Page 6 : 23 February 2021 - Original article by Chris Griffith - PortMac.News Summary

Facebook's ability to serve targeted advertisements to its users will be adversely affected by a new security feature to be introduced by Apple.

The new privacy measure was announced in 2020 and is tipped to be released with an upcoming update of the iPad and iPhone operating systems.

The new feature will require users of the Apple devices to specifically give Facebook - and other apps - permission to track their activity.

A survey undertaken by 'The Wall Street Journal' in 2020 found that 85% of respondents did not want apps to track their activity.

Fortescue enlists Malcolm Turnbull as spymaster

The Australian Financial Review - Page 17 : 24 February 2021 - Original article by Brad Thompson - PortMac.News Summary

Pure-play iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group has appointed former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull as chairman of its Fortescue Future Industries subsidiary.

Nick Warner, an ex-diplomat and the former director-general of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, has in turn been hired by FFI as a special adviser on international affairs.

Fortescue recently committed to investing some 10% of its future profits in FFI projects, as part of its push into renewable energy.