Latest updates on Key Economic Indicators

Australian Dollar: $0.7760 USD (up $0.0010 USD)

Iron Ore Apr Spot Price (SGX): $157.65 USD (down $2.15 USD

Oil Price (WTI): $65.38 USD (down $0.23 USD)

Gold Price: $1,731.63 (up $3.48 USD)

Bitcoin: $56,754.37 USD (down 5.67% in last 24 hours)

Dow Jones: 32,953.46 at 3.12 pm NY time (up 174.82 points on Friday's close)

All changes compared to 7am Friday, except gold.

‘Won Tattslotto’: Premier Daniel Andrews home - 6 weeks off

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has returned home after he was discharged from hospital on Monday morning to begin rehabilitation for a spinal injury.

Mr Andrews released a statement on Monday afternoon saying he was pleased to return home after six days in hospital and flagging he would be off work for six weeks.

“It’s been a long, painful and difficult week. As you know, at around 6.30am last Tuesday, I fell heavily on wooden steps at the front of a rental beach house that our family had been staying at for the long weekend,” he said.

“I landed flat on my back and hit the steps hard directly below the shoulder blades, fracturing at least five ribs and sustaining an acute compression fracture of the T7 vertebra. I narrowly avoided permanent damage to my spinal cord.”

Mr Andrews said the serious injuries meant he had to wear a brace all day except when he was sleeping.

On medical advice and to allow for comprehensive 

In the meantime Deputy Premier James Merlino would act as Premier.

“Of course, I will remain in regular contact with James and my other colleagues and staff,” he said.

“It’s important that I take this rest and recovery seriously as one trauma specialist said to Cath and I last week, ‘you very narrowly avoided a life-changing injury, you should buy a Tattslotto ticket, you are very lucky to be here in one piece’.

Major European nations suspend use of AstraZeneca vaccine amid blood clotting concerns

The European Union's four largest nations have suspended the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after reports in some European countries of serious side effects in recipients.

But the World Health Organization urged calm, saying there is no proven link between the vaccine and reported side-effects.

Germany, Italy and France announced they would be pausing their rollout of the vaccine pending an assessment from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Spain suspended the use of the vaccine for at least two weeks.

Cyprus and Slovenia also announced they would be putting use of the vaccine on hold.

The moves will deepen concerns about the slow rollout of vaccines in the region, which has been plagued by shortages due to problems producing vaccines, including AstraZeneca's.

Last week Germany warned it was facing a third wave of infections, while Italy is intensifying its lockdown.

In France, hospitals in the Paris region are close to being overloaded.

French president Emmanuel Macron said his country would be suspending the use of the vaccine for 24 hours.

Boxer Caitlin Parker aims to make Australian Olympic history

From shy girl to boxing champion, Parker was going to dancing classes when her father first piqued her interest in combat sports.

Her first fight was at age 13, facing an opponent over a decade her senior — an early indication that Caitlin Parker was to become no ordinary boxer.

Today, the only Australian boxer to win at both the youth and junior world championship level, captain of the most successful Australian boxing team in history at the 2018 Commonwealth games, and having clinched a youth Olympics bronze medal, her sights are firmly on the upcoming Tokyo Olympics in July.

"I love what I do," Parker, now 24, told the ABC.

"I've been able to travel to many countries in the world that I never would have been able to without boxing."

Travelling the globe, in a pre-COVID world, was not something a pre-teen Parker ever envisaged for herself.

Growing up in Gosnells, a lower socioeconomic suburb of Perth, meant her parents Craig and Keri Parker worked multiple jobs to give their daughter the opportunities to excel in the sport.

Porter to testify in rape 'Trial'

The Australian - Page 1 & 5 : 16 March 2021 - Original article by Sharri Markson, Nicola Berkovic, Geoff Chambers - PortMac.News Summary

Attorney-General Christian Porter has launched defamation action against the ABC and journalist Louise Milligan over a 26 February report on a historical rape allegation.

The article, which was published on the ABC's website, revealed that an unnamed senior cabinet minister had been accused of raping a woman in 1988.

Porter's statement of claim contends that he would be readily identifiable as the subject of the allegations. Porter has indicated that he is prepared to give evidence under oath to deny the rape allegations.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been criticised for declining to attend a protest outside Parliament House over violence against women.

$12bn in tax cuts to help pump-prime economy

The Australian - Page 1 & 2 : 16 March 2021 - Original article by Simon Benson, Geoff Chambers - PortMac.News Summary

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the $9bn worth of income tax cuts in 2020 have boosted households' balance sheets and consumer confidence.

He adds that households will benefit from a further $12bn worth of accelerated income tax cuts by the end of September.

Meanwhile, Frydenberg will use an upcoming Business Council of Australia speech to reiterate that the federal government's COVID-19 support measures were always intended to be temporary and targeted.

He will also note that Australia's economic recovery is being led by the private sector.

NSW officials baffled by Covid-infected guard

The Australian - Page 2 : 16 March 2021 - Original article by Natasha Robinson - PortMac.News Summary

New South Wales has recorded no new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours.

However, health authorities are still investigating the case of a quarantine hotel worker who contracted the coronavirus after receiving his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on 2 March.

The security guard tested positive for the UK strain on 13 March, and Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant says that genomic sequencing has revealed a match between the guard's sample and that of an infected returned traveller.

It is uncertain as to how the virus was transmitted to the security guard, as the infected traveller had not opened his hotel room door when the guard was on duty.

Meanwhile, Queensland has recorded six new COVID-19 cases in hotel quarantine.

Singapore 'Bubble' relies on jabs delivery progress

The Australian Financial Review - Page 8 : 16 March 2021 - Original article by Tom McIlroy - PortMac.News Summary

About 165,000 Australians have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine since the rollout began in late February.

Tourism and Trade Minister Dan Tehan concedes that the federal government will need to ramp up the vaccine rollout if it is to proceed with plans for a 'travel bubble' with Singapore.

Tehan has also reiterated that the government wants two-way quarantine-free travel between Australia and New Zealand. Australians are currently required to quarantine on arrival in NZ.

Review of 17 million vaccine shots shows no increased clotting risk

The Australian Financial Review - Page 9 : 16 March 2021 - Original article by Jill Margo - PortMac.News Summary

A growing number of countries have put their rollout of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine on hold due to concerns that it could cause blood clots.

However, AstraZeneca has downplayed such concerns, noting that just 15 cases of deep vein thrombosis and 22 instances of clots in the lung have been reported among the 17 million people in the European Union and the UK who have received the vaccine to date.

Associate Professor Nick Wood from the University of Sydney says Australians can be assured that the nation has effective procedures for monitoring any adverse effects associated with COVID-19 vaccines.

Women reporting more side effects to coronavirus vaccines

The New Daily - Page Online : 16 March 2021 - Original article by John Elder - PortMac.News Summary

Analysis of data on the first 13.7 million people in the US to receive a COVID-19 vaccine shows that women accounted for 79.1% of those who reported side-effects.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention's findings are consistent with its earlier research which showed that women tended to have a higher incidence of allergic reactions to the pandemic flu vaccine in 2009.

Professor Catherine Bennett from Deakin University says women tend to have a stronger immune response than men; she adds that women may also enjoy COVID-19 immunity for longer.

One Nation wants faster path to permanent work

The Australian Financial Review - Page 10 : 16 March 2021 - Original article by David Marin-Guzman - PortMac.News Summary

ACTU secretary Sally McManus has backed One Nation's push for casual workers to have the right to become permanent employees after six months rather than a year.

It is among a dozen amendments to the federal government's industrial relations omnibus bill that One Nation will seek in return for its support.

McManus contends that arbitration and a proper definition of casual employment are also necessary.

The government needs the support of at least three Senate crossbenchers to pass the bill, which is listed for debate on 16 March.

Doctors to sue over 'rorting of wages'

The Australian - Page 7 : 16 March 2021 - Original article by John Ferguson - PortMac.News Summary

The Victorian government and more than 30 health services across the state will be the subject of a class action over wage underpayments.

Junior doctors, including interns and registrars, allege that they are often required to work up to 25 hours of overtime without pay.

More than 10,000 junior doctors will participate in the class action, which will seek to recover unpaid wages over the last six years.

The Australian Medical Association's Victoria president Julian Rait says the issue of wage underpayments in the public health system is "Well known" to the state government.

Super funds warn of housing 'Catastrophe'

The Australian - Page 17 : 16 March 2021 - Original article by Glenda Korporaal - PortMac.News Summary

Liberal MP Tim Mr Wilson contends that Australians should be able to access their superannuation to pay a housing deposit.

However, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia opposes any move to include such a measure in the federal government's May 2021 Budget, arguing that it would put upward pressure on house prices and adversely affect housing affordability.

The legislated increase in the super guarantee is also under scrutiny, with sources within the government suggesting that it could be frozen at 10 per cent when the next scheduled rise takes effect in mid-2021.

$850m Bass Strait ferries contract goes to Finland

The Australian - Page Online : 16 March 2021 - Original article by Matthew Denholm - PortMac.News Summary

The Tasmanian government has been criticised over its decision to renegotiate a shipbuilding contract with Finland-based Rauma Marine Construction rather than offer the $850m contract to local companies.

The contract to replace TT-Line's Spirit of Tasmania ferries originally provided about $16m of work for local companies, but the government aims to increase this to between $50m and $100m.

Premier Peter Gutwein says the government will issue a new tender if it cannot secure an increase in local content.

Magellan a standout in flat trade

The Australian - Page 20 : 16 March 2021 - Original article by Rebecca Le May - PortMac.News Summary

The Australian sharemarket posted a slight gain on 15 March, with the S&P/ASX 200 adding 0.09% to close at 6,773.

Santos was up 1.8% at $7.35, the ANZ Bank rose 0.57% to $28.40 and Magellan Financial Group advanced 4.9% to end the session at $45.39.

However, Fortescue Metals Group shed 4.14% to finish at $20.38 and Afterpay was down 4.49% at $108.33.

A post-Greensill backlash?

The Australian Financial Review - Page 36 & 37 : 16 March 2021 - Original article by Hans van Leeuwen - PortMac.News Summary

The supply-chain finance industry is expected to be subjected to greater regulation and oversight in the wake of Greensill's collapse.

However, experts warn that excessive regulation could be detrimental to businesses that rely on this type of financing.

Lawyer and International Trade & Forfaiting Association chairman Sean Edwards says Australia's small and medium enterprises will find it harder to secure supply-chain financing.

Finance sector could achieve 10% pay rises

The Australian Financial Review - Page 3 : 16 March 2021 - Original article by Natasha Boddy - PortMac.News Summary

A survey of employers in Australia's financial sector shows that the average salary is expected to rise by 6% in 2021.

This compares with expectations that national wage growth will be just 1.5%.

However, growing competition means that some finance professionals could enjoy pay rises of up to 10%, according to the latest salary survey from recruitment firm Robert Half.

This includes accountants, financial planners and finance managers.

Facebook cash could go to ABC regions

The Australian - Page 3 : 16 March 2021 - Original article by Sophie Elsworth - PortMac.News Summary

The ABC is in negotiations with social media giant Facebook regarding the news media bargaining code.

ABC MD David Anderson has indicated that the public broadcaster will use all revenue arising from deals with digital players to increase its funding of public interest journalism in regional and rural Australia.

He has also noted that Facebook's recent brief ban on Australian news content had prompted a surge in usage of the ABC's news website and app.

News Corp Australia and Nine Entertainment are also negotiating with Facebook.

Fortescue to produce green hydrogen from 2023

RenewEconomy - Page Online : 16 March 2021 - Original article by James Fernyhough - PortMac.News Summary

Fortescue Metals Group's chairman Andrew Forrest has flagged plans for the iron ore miner to expand into the production of 'green' hydrogen.

Forrest says the company is currently seeking the necessary government approvals, with the aim of commencing production by 2023.

Forrest has also forecast that green hydrogen will have completely replaced metallurgical coal in the steel-making process by 2050, while he says Fortescue also aims to eventually make green steel in Australia using its own iron ore.