Latest updates on Key Economic Indicators:

Australian Dollar: $0.7290 USD (up $0.0002 USD)

Iron Ore Nov Spot Price (SGX): $116.95 USD (up $0.20 USD)

Oil Price (WTI): $79.17 USD (up $1.59 USD)

Gold Price: $1,760.23 USD (down $8.20 USD)

Copper Price (CME): $4.1870 USD (down 0.0475 USD)

Bit-coin: $51,744.95 (up 4.86% in last 24 hours)

Dow Jones: 34,314.67 (up 311.75 on yesterday's close)

All changes compared to 7am yesterday.

Tony Abbott arrives in Taiwan

Mr Abbott is in Taiwan to deliver a keynote speech at the Yushan forum – an Asian regional dialogue conference organised by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation.

The Australian government said Abbott was travelling to Taiwan in a 'Private capacity'.

Mr Abbott arrived on Tuesday and was greeted at Taoyuan airport by Taiwan’s deputy minister of foreign affairs, Tien Chung-kwang. Taiwan’s ministry of foreign affairs said it “Warmly welcomed” Mr Abbott.

Mr Abbott will be received by Taiwan’s most senior figures including the president, Tsai Ing-wen, the foreign minister, Joseph Wu, and the secretary general of the national security council.

The arrival of a former head of government in Taiwan and Abbott’s meetings with Taiwan’s leaders come at a sensitive time.

Cross-strait tensions between Taiwan and China are at their highest in decades with China sending record numbers of warplanes into the island’s air defence zone over the past few days.

Mr Abbott last week spoke in support of Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for a Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The 11-member trade group is assessing applications from both China and Taiwan.

Beijing, which claims Taiwan as a province of China, is resolutely opposed to Taiwan’s inclusion in any multilateral bodies and is hypersensitive to any act by a foreign government suggesting support for Taiwanese sovereignty.

Abbott told an Australian parliamentary inquiry into expanding membership of the trade pact that Australia should not allow a fear of inflaming tensions with China to get in the way of accepting Taiwan’s bid and that he was “Strongly in favour” of Taiwan’s inclusion.

“The only argument [against] that occurs to me is that it might upset China,” Abbott said. “But given that China is not a member of the TPP, is unlikely to become a member of the TPP, and is already in a state of high dudgeon against Australia and many other countries, I don’t see that China is going to be any more upset than it already is.”

Facebook 'Operating in the shadows' says whistle-blower

U.S. lawmakers pounded Facebook on Tuesday, accusing CEO Mark Zuckerberg of pushing for higher profits while being cavalier about user safety and they demanded regulators investigate whistle-blower accusations that the social media company harms children and stokes divisions.

During a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing, whistle-blower Frances Haugen called for transparency about how Facebook entices users to extend their stay on the site, giving them ample opportunity to advertise to them.

"As long as Facebook is operating in the shadows, hiding its research from public scrutiny, it is unaccountable," said Haugen, a former employee of the nearly $1 trillion company who turned whistleblower.

IBAC scrutiny on Andrews over firefighters’ union deal

Victoria’s anti-corruption body has been examining the conduct of Premier Daniel Andrews and a senior public servant over their role in controversial deals that benefited the firefighters’ union and its boss, Peter Marshall.

While it has been known since 2019 that the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) has been investigating dealings involving the United Firefighters Union (UFU), the fact that its investigators have been scrutinising the Premier’s conduct has not before been confirmed.

Sources with knowledge of the investigation who are not authorised to comment publicly have confirmed that one aspect of the IBAC investigation involved scrutiny of the Premier’s actions.

The commission has also questioned whether Mr Andrews was transparent in advising the Victorian public or his cabinet or caucus colleagues about his interventions in dealings with the UFU.

Fortescue, ANZ link to bribes tycoon

The Australian Financial Review - Page 1 & 2 : 6 October 2021 - Original article by Liam Walsh, Neil Chenoweth - PortMac.News Summary

The Pandora Papers have revealed that several prominent Australian companies have links to Chinese businessman Du Shuanghua, who had testified in 2010 that he had paid bribes to secure Australian iron ore.

The documents released by the International Confederation of Investigative Journalists show that Fortescue Metals Group had sold iron ore to Bright Ruby Resources, a commodities trading hub that is controlled by Du.

Fortescue has stated that it has a "Zero tolerance" approach to bribery and corruption.

The Pandora Papers also show that the ANZ Bank has been providing banking services to Bright Ruby Resources since 2013, via its office in Singapore.

Du was not prosecuted for his role in the alleged bribery scandal that involved former Rio Tinto executive Wang Yong.

Perrottet switches focus to recovery

The Australian - Page 1 & 6 : 6 October 2021 - Original article by Yoni Bashan - PortMac.News Summary

New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet will chair his first meeting of the state's crisis cabinet on 6 October, following his landslide win in a leadership ballot.

Perrottet gained 39 votes in the partyroom meeting, compared with just five votes for Planning Minister Rob Stokes.

Perrottet has flagged plans to shift the crisis cabinet's focus to economy recovery and community wellbeing, rather than day-to-day emergency management.

He has also expressed support for the existing reopening roadmap, but signalled that some changes could be made.

NSW recorded 608 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases and seven additional deaths on Tuesday.

Perrottet vows to get the gender balance right

The Daily Telegraph - Page 8 : 6 October 2021 - Original article by James O'Doherty - PortMac.News Summary

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet will consider a cabinet reshuffle during the coming summer, with any changes to take effect in early 2022.

Perrottet has indicated that his eventual aim will be equal representation of women in cabinet portfolios; he acknowledges that action is needed on this issue, given that just two cabinet ministers at present are women.

Matt Kean will replace Perrottet as the Treasurer, and Jobs Minister Stuart Ayres has become Deputy Leader of the NSW Liberals.

Meanwhile, Paul Toole is expected to become Deputy Premier and state Nationals leader at a party room meeting on 6 October, following the resignation of John Barilaro.

Qld borders will 'Not necessarily' open at 80%

Brisbane Times - Page Online : 6 October 2021 - Original article by Felicity Caldwell - PortMac.News Summary

Queensland recorded two new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, including a fully-vaccinated woman who had flown home from Melbourne.

There are currently 27 active cases state-wide. Meanwhile, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has warned that the state may not reopen its borders when 80% of the eligible population is vaccinated, as per the nationally agreed plan.

She says this will depend on the "Situation on the day" and case numbers in New South Wales and Victoria.

Some 67.58% of eligible Queenslanders have received one vaccine dose and 48.67% are fully vaccinated.

Modelling shows that the state is on track to achieve the 80% fully vaccinated target in early December.

US 'won't share nuclear subs' says expert

The Australian - Page 2 : 6 October 2021 - Original article by Ben Packham - PortMac.News Summary

Former US submariner and navy commander Bryan Clark believes that Australia is likely to buy Britain's Astute-class nuclear-powered submarine.

Clark doubts that the US will make its Virginia-class submarine available to Australia under the recently-announced three-nation AUKUS alliance.

He adds that the Astute-class vessel is smaller and significantly less expensive, and is designed for a range of different missions.

Clark adds that the US is also highly unlikely to lease refurbished nuclear submarines to Australia.

PNG solution ends after eight years of keeping boats at bay

The Australian - Page 1 & 2 : 6 October 2021 - Original article by Geoff Chambers - PortMac.News Summary

The federal government's agreement with Papua New Guinea for the offshore processing of asylum-seekers will end on 31 December.

The PNG government will assume responsibility for regional processing services on 1 January, as well as the remaining asylum-seekers in PNG.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews has reiterated that Australia will maintain its strong border protection policies, and all illegal immigrants who attempt to enter Australia by boat will be returned to their country of origin or sent to Nauru.

Tale of two central banks: NZ takes one giant step

The Australian - Page 13 & 19 : 6 October 2021 - Original article by Ticky Fullerton - PortMac.News Summary

The Reserve Bank of Australia left the cash rate on hold at the historic low of 0.1% on 5 October, and signalled that it is unlikely to tighten monetary policy for some time.

In contrast, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand is widely tipped to increase interest rates from 0.25% to 0.5% at its board meeting on 6 October.

Paul Bloxham of HSBC attributes the widening interest gap between the two nations to factors such as the inflation outlook and the closure of international borders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The RBNZ has not adjusted monetary policy since March 2020, when the official interest rate was slashed from 1% to just 0.25%.

Lessons to learn from UK's electricity failures

The Australian - Page 20 : 6 October 2021 - Original article by Robert Gottliebsen - PortMac.News Summary

Electricity retailing has traditionally been a stable business, with good long-term returns.

However, it is rapidly becoming a low-margin and high-risk industry in Australia and abroad.

The recent collapse of nine smaller power distribution companies in the UK has implications for Australia.

A sharp rise in the price of gas triggered the collapse of these companies, but the underlying problem of electricity retailers in both the UK and Australia is the use of forward hedge contracts with major power generators, which can leave smaller retailers extremely vulnerable in the event of a price shock.

News Corp acquires Visual Domain stake

The Australian - Page 15 : 6 October 2021 - Original article by Sophie Elsworth - PortMac.News Summary

News Corp Australasia's executive chairman Michael Miller says that video production is a "Significant and growing component" of the media group's content.

He adds that a deal to acquire a majority stake in Visual Domain will boost this content.

Visual Domain is Australia's largest full-service video production company, producing about 300 videos each week.

Corporates 'Too reliant on Facebook'

The Australian - Page 13 & 17 : 6 October 2021 - Original article by David Swan - PortMac.News Summary

Marcus Thompson says Facebook's global outage highlights the fact that Australian businesses rely too much on the social media giant and many lack an alternative platform to engage with customers.

Thompson, the former head of information warfare at the Australian Defence Force, says local companies need to become more self-sufficient and less dependent on offshore-based digital platforms.

Localsearch co-founder Daniel Stoten says small businesses must have a presence on all social media sites that are used by their customers, rather than being reliant on one platform.

The Facebook outage lasted for nearly six hours, and has been attributed to a faulty configuration change; it also affected WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger, and had to be announced on rival platform Twitter.

Miners in the cold as China vows to fund warm winter

The Australian Financial Review - Page 18 : 6 October 2021 - Original article by Peter Ker - PortMac.News Summary

Some media reports have suggested that a small volume of Australian coal has been permitted to be unloaded at Chinese ports in recent weeks.

However, Australian miners and commodity traders say there are no indications that China is relaxing the ban on Australian coal imports, which has been in place for a year.

Meanwhile, data from S&P Global Platts shows that coking coal is fetching around $US603 per tonne in China; Australian coking coal is currently trading at $US390 per tonne.

Pandora Papers show mystery foreign investors buying property

abc.net.au - Page Online : 6 October 2021 - Original article by Matthew Doran - PortMac.News Summary

Transparency International Australia CEO Serena Lillywhite says local property buyers are competing with cashed-up overseas companies whose ultimate ownership is often unknown.

The so-called 'Pandora Papers' show that some Australian property transactions in recent years have been made using a complex web of companies and trusts based in tax havens, making it difficult to determine the actual buyer.

Lillywhite notes that unlike banks, there is no requirement for real estate agents, accountants and lawyers to report a suspicious transaction.

ASX Offshore losses weigh on ASX

The Australian - Page 19 : 6 October 2021 - Original article by Rebecca Le May - PortMac.News Summary

The Australian sharemarket retreated on 5 October, with the S&P/ASX 200 shedding 0.41% to close at 7,248.4 points.

Fortescue Metals Group was down 1.25% at $14.22, Qantas fell 1.2% to $5.74 and Afterpay was 5% lower at $113.60.

However, the Commonwealth Bank added 0.32% to finish at $105.50 and gold miner St Barbara jumped 5.19% to $1.42.