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Holidays at home boosts economy | Jab or we lose economic war | ScoMo warms on net-zero | US budget deficit record $2.2 trillion | UK Shoppers queue as lockdown eased | $A & Iron Up, Gold Down.

Source : PortMac.News | Independent :

Source : PortMac.News | Independent | News Story:

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13-04-21 | Holidays boost economy | ScoMo 'Warming' | $A Up
Holidays at home boosts economy | Jab or we lose economic war | ScoMo warms on net-zero | US budget deficit record $2.2 trillion | UK Shoppers queue as lockdown eased | $A & Iron Up, Gold Down.

News Story Summary:

Updates on Key Economic Indicators

Australian Dollar: $0.7623 USD (up $0.0011 USD)

Iron Ore May Spot Price (SGX): $166.30 USD (up $1.05 USD)

Oil Price (WTI): $59.63 USD (up $0.31 USD)

Gold Price: $1,732.81 (down $11.39 USD)

Bitcoin: $60,102.56 USD (up 0.44 % in last 24 hours)

Dow Jones: 33,745.40 (down 55.20 points on Friday's close)

All changes compared to 7am yesterday.


Holidays at home boost economy

The Australian Financial Review - Page 1 & 2 : 13 April 2021 - Original article by Phillip Coorey, Matthew Cranston - PortMac.News Summary

Data from the Treasury shows that the coronavirus-induced restrictions on international travel have boosted the Australian economy.

The domestic economy grew by $7.5bn in the December quarter, the equivalent of around 1.5% of GDP, as Australians holidayed at home and spent their money locally.

Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank has suggested that the economic rebound could result in the Budget deficit for 2020-21 falling to around $100bn, compared with the federal government's most recent forecast of $198bn.

Deutsche also says the Budget could potentially be in surplus within four years.


'Act on jab or we'll lose the economic war'

The Australian - Page 4 : 13 April 2021 - Original article by Rosie Lewis, Natasha Robinson - PortMac.News Summary

Business leaders have urged the federal government to reset its target date for all Australians who want to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to receive their first dose.

Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox has warned that other countries will gain an economic advantage if the domestic economy does not re-open soon, noting that the UK and the US expect to open their international borders in June and October respectively.

He adds that overseas students, tourists and skilled labour will shun Australia in favour of countries that are open.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry in turn argues that the lack of a target date makes it difficult for businesses to plan.


No Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for Australia

The Age - Page Online : 13 April 2021 - Original article by Rachel Clun - PortMac.News Summary

The federal government has ruled out buying Johnson & Johnson's one-dose coronavirus vaccine, after recently stating that it was in talks regarding a supply deal.

A spokesman for Health Minister Greg Hunt says there are no plans to secure supplies of the vaccine, given that it is the same type of vaccine as the AstraZeneca jab, which is being manufactured by CSL in Melbourne.

Meanwhile, medical professionals have urged the federal government to introduce a no-fault compensation scheme for the vaccination program.

Johnson & Johnson has advised that it would not supply its vaccine to Australia unless such a scheme were in place.


Fair Work adopts deadline for wage deals

The Australian Financial Review - Page 3 : 13 April 2021- Original article by David Marin-Guzman - PortMac.News Summary

The Fair Work Commission's president Iain Ross has advised that it will seek to approve 95% of enterprise agreements within 20 working days, and 50% within 10 days.

The FWC currently aims to approve compliant workplace agreements within eight weeks.

The federal government had pushed for most agreements to be approved within 21 days in the industrial relations omnibus bill that has been shelved.

The FWC will aim to approve 95% of workplace agreements that are complex or the subject of a dispute within 45 days, rather than four months at present.


Menulog looks at dumping gig model

The Australian Financial Review - Page 6 : 13 April 2021 - Original article by David Marin-Guzman - PortMac.News Summary

Menulog has told a Senate inquiry into job security that it plans to conduct a trial of employing its delivery riders on minimum wages and entitlements in Sydney later in 2021.

It intends to use the lessons learned from this trial to look at establishing a new award with the Fair Work Commission, and MD Morten Belling says he would like to see a situation within the next few years where all the workers that are on its platform are employed.

Uber told the inquiry that it has no problem with the concept of minimum rates, so long as they only cover ride or delivery periods, not wait times.


Kathy Jackson from union fraudster to bankrupt to millionaire

The Australian - Page 1 & 6 : 13 April 2021 - Original article by Brad Norington - PortMac.News Summary

New South Wales ­Supreme Court judge Geoff Lindsay ruled on 12 April that the final will of Sydney barrister David Rofe was valid.

Rofe's estate was valued at $30 million when he died aged 85 in 2017, while he signed his last will in 2014 at a time when his health was in serious decline after he was diagnosed with dementia in 2010.

Rofe, who had no children, divided his estate among 10 beneficiaries, each of whom stand to receive up to $3 million.

One of the 10 is Kathy Jackson, the former Health Ser­vices Union official, who received a 30 month suspended jail sentence in 2020 after being found guilty of defrauding the HSU of $102,892 between 2003 and 2010


PM getting warmer on net-zero target with new climate tsar

The Australian - Page 1 & 6 : 13 April 2021 - Original article by Greg Brown, Perry Williams - PortMac.News Summary

It has been revealed that the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet recently appointed James Larsen to the role of deputy secretary and climate co-ordinator.

Larsen will co-ordinate the work of several government departments regarding the Coalition's climate policy.

His appointment may heighten speculation that the government is set to formally adopt a net-zero carbon emissions target of 2050.

Some Liberal MPs believe that Prime Minister Scott Morrison will commit to such a target ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in November.


Aged care sector calls for uncapped home care packages

The Sydney Morning Herald - Page Online : 13 April 2021 - Original article by Rachel Clun - PortMac.News Summary

The federal government has been urged to commit to a complete overhaul of the aged care system by two coalitions of peak aged care bodies in their response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

When it comes to its response to the Royal Commission, some of the measures that the two groups want to see the federal government implementing include uncapped home care packages and a registration scheme for aged care workers.

Council on the Ageing CEO Ian Yates says the aged care system is not far off from being a "Train wreck", while Aged and Community Services Australia CEO Patricia Sparrow says the huge waiting list for home care services needs to be deal with.


National data-sharing agreement on way

The Australian Financial Review - Page 4 : 13 April 2021 - Original article by Tom Burton - PortMac.News Summary

The national cabinet agreed on 9 April to work to develop a national data-sharing agreement.

The agreement comes as governments express a desire to build on the effective data sharing between the Commonwealth, states and territories that has been evident during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The federal government and the states will be seeking advice from their data and digital ministers on how public information can be securely and safely shared across jurisdictions.

Meanwhile the agreement to share data comes at a time when the federal government is under pressure from privacy groups to bolster protections for its federal data-sharing legislation, which is currently being assessed by a Senate review committee.


Mathias Cormann 'Will have Australia's back'

The Australian Financial Review - Page 7 : 13 April 2021 - Original article by Tom McIlroy - PortMac.News Summary

Former federal finance minister Mathias Cormann will join the OECD as its new secretary-general on 1 June.

Cormann joins the 36-member body at a time when it has flagged plans for a tax crackdown, and as US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen calls for a global minimum tax on multinationals.

The energy and natural resources sector is currently exempted from the crackdown, while KPMG tax partner Grant Wardell-Johnson contends that Cormann will have "Australia's interests at heart" when it comes to implementing the crackdown.


Government planning a return to high immigration

The Australian - Page 11 : 13 April 2021 - Original article by Judith Sloan - PortMac.News Summary

Australia's population was growing at around 1.5% a year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, with net overseas migration accounting for about two-thirds of this growth.

The closure of the nation's international borders due to the pandemic has dramatically slowed the population growth rate, but there have been strong indications from the Treasury that net overseas migration will ramp up again when the health crisis abates.

However, the federal government must take into consideration the costs of immigration as well as the benefits when revising its population policy.


Taxing our tolerance: System falling apart

The Australian - Page 21 : 13 April 2021 - Original article by Robert Gottliebsen - PortMac.News Summary

Critics of the Australian Taxation Office contend that it has too much power, with that power sitting in the hand of the Tax Commissioner.

They argue the Commissioner has been given dictatorial powers that are not available to anyone else, and that this power is being abused across a wide range of areas.

Recent examples of the ATO's 'power abuse cases' include its bankrupting of most of the gold refining industry over stolen GST money, even though the refiners were not the thieves, and its recouping of research grants after the grants had already been spent.

Action needs to be taken against the ATO to stop its abuse of power, because once confidence in the tax system erodes, so does its revenue.


How China's WeChat and Alipay slip past Austrac's net

The Australian - Page 13 & 17 : 13 April 2021 - Original article by David Ross - PortMac.News Summary

Chinese payment providers WeChat Pay and Alipay do not come under the 'reach' of Austrac, meaning that payments made on their platforms bypass Australia's anti-money laundering laws.

With some exceptions, WeChat Pay and Alipay are generally available only to Chinese residents and passport holders, and westerners living in or visiting China.

They can be used to transfer money out of China into Australia, but Austrac does not have access to such transactions.

A spokesperson for Alipay stated that it complies with all regulations in the markets in which it operates, including Australia; Tencent, the owner of WeChat, declined to comment.


'Nice little earner' - Covid worth $10bn to business

The Australian - Page 4 : 13 April 2021 - Original article by Tom Dusevic - PortMac.News Summary

Australian companies have won in excess of $10 billion in pandemic-related contracts, covering areas such as coronavirus testing, medical supplies and IT support.

Crisis medical provider Aspen Medical has alone won $1.3 billion in COVID-related contracts, while other companies that have secured contracts have included ResMed, CSL, Healthcare Australia and Sonic Clinical Services.

The federal government's COVID-19 vaccination program is valued at over $7 billion, while the Department of Health had committed to contracts worth over $3 billion by August 2020 to replenish the National Medical Stockpile.


'We make no money' says regional TV

The Australian - Page 13 & 20 : 13 April 2021 - Original article by Sophie Elsworth - PortMac.News Summary

The CEOs of regional television broadcasters have told the Senate inquiry into media diversity that the downturn in advertising revenue means the viability of local news services is at risk.

Prime Media Group CEO Ian Audsley said it provides local news coverage as a public service rather than to make a profit, and he warned that news services in regional Australia are at risk due to the closure of regional newsrooms.

The media industry has called for further changes to cross-media ownership laws.


Revealed: Facebook loophole that lets world leaders deceive citizens

The Guardian - Page Online : 13 April 2021 - Original article by Julie Carrie Wong - PortMac.News Summary

Facebook made a commitment to combat state-backed political manipulation of its platform in the wake of the 2016 US presidential election, when it emerged Russia used fake Facebook accounts to divide US voters.

However, documents have been presented that show it has failed to live up to its word, as it has repeatedly permitted world leaders and politicians to use its platform to dupe voters and harass opponents, despite being presented with evidence from staff of wrongdoing.

Facebook's algorithms and features are able to be manipulated to misrepresent political debate by the use of strategies such as the creation of "false engagement".


JobKeeper end may double home sales

The Australian Financial Review - Page 3 : 13 April 2021 - Original article by Matthew Cranston - PortMac.News Summary

UBS has reported that just over 40% of JobKeeper recipients own a home, with 68% of homeowners on JobKeeper stating they plan to sell their home in the next 12 months.

Around 300,000 homes are sold in Australia each year, while based on Treasury estimates on the number of people getting JobKeeper, the UBS survey would mean 300,000 people currently on JobKeeper plan to sell their home in the next year.

This would result in a doubling of the number of homes being sold in the next 12 months, and Pieter Stoltz from UBS says this would take some of the heat out of the property market.


Inflation Expectations increase to 3.8% in March

Market Research Update - Page Online : 13 April 2021 - Original article by Roy Morgan - PortMac.News Summary

In March, Australians expected inflation of 3.8% annually over the next two years, up 0.1% points on February, and the highest since March 2020 (4.0%).

Inflation Expectations are now 0.9% points below their long-term average of 4.7%, but have increased by 0.6% points since reaching a record low of 3.2% in August 2020.

Women's Inflation Expectations are now at 4.3%, up by 0.5% points since the low-point in August, and remain far higher than men's at 3.4% which are up by 0.8% points during the same period.

The Inflation Expectations of women are significantly higher than men across the age spectrum, with the largest gap of 1.5% points for people aged 50-64: Women 4.8% cf. men 3.3%.

On a State-based level, Inflation Expectations are highest in Tasmania at 4.6%, an increase of 1.2% points since the low-point of August.

Inflation Expectations in Queensland are also significantly higher than the national average at 4.3% (up 0.9% points since August) and are 4% (up 1.3% points) in Western Australia.

There has been less movement in other States since the low-point in August, with Inflation Expectations now at 3.8% (up 0.6% points) in Victoria and 3.6% (up 0.3% points) in New South Wales.

South Australia has the lowest Inflation Expectations at 3.3%, up by only 0.1% points since August.


ASX loses momentum after rise

The Australian - Page 20 : 13 April 2021 - Original article by Rebecca Le May - PortMac.News Summary

The Australian sharemarket lost ground on 12 April, with the S&P/ASX 200 shedding 0.3% to close at 6,974 points.

Fortescue Metals Group was down 1.63% at $20.55, the Commonwealth Bank fell 0.47% to end the session at $86.72 and Crown Resorts eased 0.9% to $12.09.

However, Cochlear rose 2.42% to $221.76 and Delorean Corporation was up 110% at $0.42 on its first day of trading.


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