Latest updates on Key Economic Indicators

Australian Dollar: $0.7590 USD (down $0.0030 USD)

Iron Ore Apr Spot Price (SGX): $155.75 USD (up $1.05 USD

Oil Price (WTI): $60.81 USD (up $3.29 USD)

Gold Price: $1,734.28 (up $6.69 USD)

Bitcoin: $54,524.26 USD (down 1.75% in last 24 hours)

Dow Jones: 32,420.06 at 3.12 pm NY time (down 3.09 points on yesterday's close)

All changes compared to 7am yesterday.

EU expected to tighten vaccine controls on Australia

The European Union has moved towards further tightening export controls for coronavirus vaccines, weeks after Italy blocked the export of a quarter of a million AstraZeneca doses to Australia.

In a move seemingly targeted more at the UK than Australia, the EU is seeking to make sure there are more COVID-19 shots to boost the bloc's flagging vaccine campaign as new infections surge.

On Wednesday (early Thursday AEDT), its executive body said it had a plan to guarantee more vaccines produced in the bloc were available for its own citizens even if it came at the cost of helping other nations.

The move is expected to be a blow to Britain, whose speedy vaccination rollout has been eyed with envy by many EU nations, especially since it came as the UK formally completed its Brexit divorce from the bloc.

The plan doesn't go before EU leaders until Thursday and reportedly stops short of a complete export ban, but it's hard to estimate the impact it could have on Australia.

Though reliant on imports for almost four million AstraZeneca doses, many of which were expected to arrive early this year to kickstart the rollout, Melbourne company CSL will make 50 million doses locally.

NSW 'Mask of respect'

The Australian - Page 2 : 25 March 2021 - Original article by Matthew Westwood, Max Maddison - PortMac.News Summary

The New South Wales government will further ease the state's COVID-19 restrictions on 29 March.

Amongst other things, wearing a face mask will no longer be mandatory, although the government recommends that people continue to do so in enclosed spaces such as public transport and entertainment venues.

There will also be no restrictions on the number of visitors to households, while sports stadiums and theatres will be able to operate at full capacity. NSW has reported three new COVID-19 cases in hotel quarantine in the last 24 hours, while there have been 10 new cases nationally.

Porter, Reynolds force PM into cabinet shuffle

The Australian - Page 1 & 5 : 25 March 2021 - Original article by Simon Benson, Dennis Shanahan - PortMac.News Summary

The federal government is expected to announce changes to its frontbench team within days.

There is speculation that Industrial Relations Minister and Christian Porter may replace Michaelia Cash as Employment Minister, with Cash to take on Porter's portfolio.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is in turn tipped to succeed Linda Reynolds as Defence Minister.

Reynolds is expected to remain in cabinet, potentially taking over the government services portfolio from Stuart Robert, who may be shifted to Home Affairs.

The move to shift Porter follows legal advice that his defamation case against the ABC could create the perception of a conflict of interests.

(See full story on PortMac.News today)

Liberal women line up to back quotas

The Australian - Page 1 & 5 : 25 March 2021 - Original article by Rosie Lewis, Richard Ferguson, Adeshola Ore - PortMac.News Summary

There is widespread support among Liberal MPs for the party to increase female representation via the introduction of gender quotas.

They include Lucy Wicks, who says the party should aim to adopt a gender quota system for the next federal election; she adds that the Liberals should also consider female quotas for safe seats and the Senate.

Liberal senator Sarah Henderson supports quotas for safe seats, noting that woman hold just six of the party's 39 safe or reasonably safe seats in federal parliament.

Meanwhile, the Coalition's workplace culture has come under further scrutiny after former senior public service Peta Credlin alleged that Liberal staffers had held orgies at Parliament House.

Charges against whistleblower may be dropped

The Australian Financial Review - Page 8 : 25 March 2021 - Original article by Tom McIlroy - PortMac.News Summary

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions has signalled that a decision on whether to proceed with more than 20 criminal charges against Richard Boyle could be made within days.

The former Australian Taxation Office employee went public in 2018 about its aggressive use of garnishee notices to recover tax debts from individuals and business.

Crossbench senator Rex Patrick has praised Boyle's 'courageous' actions and says he should be protected from prosecution under Australia's whistleblower laws.

First NSW fatality confirmed as flood strike force begins recovery

The Sydney Morning Herald - Page Online : 25 March 2021 - Original article by Lucy Cormack, Sarah McPhee, Laura Chung - PortMac.News Summary

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has warned that the state's flood crisis is not yet over, but she says the clean-up and recovery process must begin.

Deputy Premier John Barilaro will head a flood recovery strike force that will include the Australian Defence Force, the state's Rural Fire Service and Fire & Rescue NSW.

Barilaro says the strike force will utilise the lessons that were learnt in the recovery from the Black Summer bushfires.

Meanwhile, a 25-year-old man has been confirmed as the state's first official fatality in the floods. A 38-year-old has also died in floodwaters on Queensland's Gold Coast.

QLD tests for PNG variant

The Australian - Page 2 : 25 March 2021 - Original article by Ben Packham, Michael McKenna - PortMac.News Summary

Queensland has reported four new COVID-19 cases in hotel quarantine in the last 24 hours.

Some 42 of the active cases in the state are travellers who have returned from Papua New Guinea, and Queensland health authorities are undertaking genomic testing to determine if a new strain of the coronavirus has emerged in PNG.

The federal government has shipped more than 8,000 doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine to PNG to date, and it has urged European Union authorities to allow more doses to be supplied to Australia so they can be redirected to PNG.

'JobKeeper' morphs into 'JobLoser'

The Australian - Page 4 : 25 March 2021 - Original article by Adam Creighton, Matthew Westwood - PortMac.News Summary

Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy has conceded that the imminent end of the JobKeeper scheme could result in job losses and businesses closing, while the unemployment rate may rise slightly in coming months.

About 1.1 million people are still receiving the wage subsidy, and it has been estimated that up to 150,000 jobs and 110,000 small businesses will be at risk when the scheme ends on 28 March.

Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers says the federal government should provide targeted support when JobKeeper ends.

Meanwhile, Kennedy has forecast that wage growth is unlikely until the official unemployment rate falls to around 4.5%.

'JobMaker' is creating just 10 jobs a week. 

The New Daily - Page Online : 25 March 2021 - Original article by Brendan Coates, Tom Crowley - PortMac.News Summary

Treasury officials have advised that only 609 jobs have been created in the first six weeks of the federal government's JobMaker hiring credit scheme.

Initial expectations were for some 450,000 jobs to be created by the end of 2021.

The government must now take action to address JobMaker's flaws.

Eligibility for the scheme needs to be broadened to include Australians over the age of 35, as well as people who are not currently receiving unemployment benefits.

The government should also ensure that more businesses are eligible for the scheme, while the subsidy itself is too low and has a bias toward part-time and low-wage jobs.

Ore leads decline in China sales

The Australian Financial Review - Page 9 : 25 March 2021 - Original article by Matthew Cranston - PortMac.News Summary

Preliminary trade figures from the Australia Bureau of Statistics suggest that the nation's overall goods exports increased by 2% to $32.1bn in February.

However, goods exports to China were 2.1% lower year-on-year, at $11.3bn. This includes a 12% decline in iron exports.

Vivek Dhar of the Commonwealth Bank says iron ore exports probably fell by around 0.9% when factors such as Lunar New Year and Australia's cyclone season are taken into account.

'Housing Bubble' lending curbs 'Likely'

The Australian Financial Review - Page 3 : 25 March 2021 - Original article by Nila Sweeney - PortMac.News Summary

A leading bank economist has suggested that rising house prices could prompt the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority to intervene with new restrictions on lenders.

Felicity Emmett from the ANZ Bank has flagged the possibility of macroprudential controls later in 2021 in a bid to cool down the property market.

ANZ has upgraded its house price growth forecasts for 2021 due to the strong price gains of recent months.

Emmett has also forecast a rise in fixed-rate mortgage interest rates in the second half of the calendar year.

Arts sector in line for $135m bailout

The Australian Financial Review - Page 9 : 25 March 2021 - Original article by Tom McIlroy - PortMac.News Summary

The federal government will provide additional funding for the arts and entertainment sector, which has been particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand scheme, which was established in 2020 with funding of $75m, will receive a further $125m.

The extra funding is expected to support about 230 projects and 90,000 jobs in the sector.

An additional $10m has also been allocated to crisis support services for people who work in the creative sector.

China's new 5 year plan bad for Iron

MacroBusiness - Page Online : 25 March 2021 - Original article by David Llewellyn-Smith - PortMac.News Summary

The Chinese government's latest five-year plan has significant implications for Australia's iron ore producers.

The new five-year plan for 2021-2025 largely represents a continuation of the reforms that are already underway.

However, investment in transport infrastructure such as railway lines and airports will be lower than previously, while there will be a focus on increasing household income rather than investing in housing.

These measures will reduce China's demand for steel, which could result in the iron ore price falling to around $40 per tonne by 2025.

European wave: Travel stocks sinking

The Australian - Page 20 : 25 March 2021 - Original article by David Rogers - PortMac.News Summary

Shares in Australian-listed travel companies and energy producers were sold down on 24 March, in response to the reintroduction of COVID-19 lockdowns in some European countries.

The renewed concerns about the timing of the resumption of international travel also weighed on the crude oil price, with West Texas Intermediate reaching a six-week low.

There is a risk that the bearish sentiment toward travel and energy stocks will spread to the broader sharemarket in the near-term.

Bourse rises despite energy woes

The Australian - Page 20 : 25 March 2021 - Original article by Rebecca Le May - PortMac.News Summary

The Australian sharemarket posted a modest gain on 24 March, with the S&P/ASX 200 adding 0.5% to close at 6,778.8 points.

Oil Search was down 3.05% at $4.13 and Origin Energy fell 0.84% to end the session at $4.74. However, REA Group advanced 4.89% to $140.61, Premier Investments was up 2.67% at $23.84 and Airtasker rose 66.6% to $1.75.