Latest updates on Key Economic Indicators:

Australian Dollar: $0.7345 USD (up $0.0042 USD)

Iron Ore Nov Spot Price (SGX): $135.30 USD (up $9.55 USD)

Oil Price (WTI): $80.47 USD (up $1.12 USD)

Gold Price: $1,754.01 USD (down $3.39 USD)

Copper Price (CME): $4.3465 USD (up 0.0680 USD)

Bit-coin: $57,230.69 (up 2.96% in last 24 hours)

Dow Jones: 34,496.06 (down 250.19 on Friday's close)

All changes compared to 7am yesterday.

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Prince Charles : ' Aston runs on wine & cheese'

Prince Charles has revealed the secret recipe he uses to power his Aston Martin - and it’s rather delicious.

HRH told the BBC that he converted his beloved Aston-Martin, which has been driving for over five decades, to run on wine and cheese.

The Aston Martin now uses a fuel called E85, made from what he describes as “Surplus English white wine and whey from the cheese process”.

E85 typically refers to a fuel blend of 85% bioethanol and 15% unleaded petrol.

Bioethanol, or simply ‘Ethanol’, is a renewable energy source made by fermenting the sugar and starch components of plant byproducts.

This would usually come from sugarcane and crops like grain, using yeast, but could also be made using the Prince’s wine and cheese combination.

Prince Charles is known for being outspoken when it comes to environmental protection.

In 2020, he even ventured into sustainable fashion by collaborating with designers Vin + Omi to produce a clothing collection made out of nettles from his garden.

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Next NSW 'Freedom day' set for October 25

The Sydney Morning Herald - Page Online : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Mary Ward - PortMac.News Summary

Some 74 per cent of New South Wales residents aged 16+ are now fully vaccinated. Based on current rates of vaccination the state should reach the 80% target in just over a week.

This would allow the next easing of COVID-19 restrictions in Sydney to occur on 25 October, in line with the state's reopening roadmap.

Premier Dominic Perrottet says the government is unlikely to bring forward this date after refusing to bring forward the first 'Freedom day' despite reaching the 70% vaccination milestone ahead of schedule.

NSW today reported 360 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases and five additional deaths.

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Canberra hits 70% vaccination milestone

The Canberra Times - Page Online : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Sarah Lansdown - PortMac.News Summary

The Australian Capital Territory currently has 455 active COVID-19 cases; nine of the 32 new cases reported on Monday had been active in the community while they were infectious, while 25 have been linked to known clusters.

Meanwhile, the ACT has become the first Australian jurisdiction to full vaccinate 70 per cent of residents aged 12+; however, most states and territories are basing their reopening targets on people aged 16+, with New South Wales having reached this milestone.

Some 98% of Canberrans aged 12+ have now had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

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Fly-in fly-out mine worker tests positive

abc.net au - Page Online : 12 October 2021 - PortMac.News Summary

A hotel reception area and a Jetstar flight have been declared Tier 1 exposure sites after a female 'fly-in, fly-out' miner tested positive to COVID-19 after arriving in Adelaide from Melbourne.

A taxi driver and a reception worker at the hotel have been ordered into quarantine, while Adelaide Airport has been declared a Tier 4 exposure site.

South Australia's Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said the woman was very infectious, and is one of three new COVID-19 cases identified in South Australia on Monday.

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Big demand likely to push up price of home testing

The Australian Financial Review - Page 5 : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Tom McIlroy - PortMac.News Summary

President Joe Biden recently announced that the US will spend $1 billion on at-home COVID-19 testing, while Australians will be able to test themselves at home from 1 November.

Rapid testing kits currently cost between $5 and $20 for Australian consumers, but their cost could increase as countries around the world seek to increase their use of at-home tests and issues with supply arise.

Testing with rapid technology kits takes two minutes, and the result is available within 10 minutes.

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Migrant boost to stir recovery

The Australian Financial Review - Page 1 & 8 : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Jacob Greber - PortMac.News Summary

New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet has called for Australia's international borders to be reopened as soon as possible in order to attract the skilled migrants that the nation needs in order to address a labour shortage.

He has also advocated scrapping the 14-day hotel quarantine system for returned travellers and allowing them to self-isolate at home for a shorter period of time.

Perrottet has received advice from senior bureaucrats which proposes a big increase in Australia's migrant intake; they have suggested that the annual intake could be doubled from pre-pandemic levels to about 400,000 a year, which would increase the nation's population by two million over five years.

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Clawing back JobKeeper 'A risk to recovery'

The Australian - Page 6 : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Patrick Commins - PortMac.News Summary

The Treasury has released a new analysis of the federal government's JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme. It has estimated that businesses which did not meet JobKeeper's turnover test received some $27bn in payments during the first six months of the scheme.

However, Treasury contends that fiscal support measures such as JobKeeper prevented a significant rise in the unemployment rate, and many businesses that recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic would not have done so without this support.

The report also contends that the Australian economy's recovery from the pandemic would have been jeopardised if the JobKeeper legislation had included a clawback clause.

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Unions push return-to-office layout reforms

The Australian - Page 6 : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Ewin Hannan - PortMac.News Summary

ACTU secretary Sally McManus contends vaccination by itself is not enough to keep COVID-19 out of offices, and that good ventilation and social distancing will also be needed.

With lockdowns easing and workers returning to offices, McManus says it is important that workplaces are made as safe as possible, so as to prevent a resurgence of cases and health systems being overloaded.

Advice given to ACTU health and safety representatives suggests that many workplaces will need to reorganise office layouts or the way in which work is done to reduce the time that workers spend in proximity, particularly inside enclosed spaces.

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New parents get months more leave

The Australian Financial Review - Page 3 : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Fiona Carruthers - PortMac.News Summary

Some companies are offering staff in excess of 20 weeks paid parental leave, but not every company is quite so generous.

Of the companies that report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, only 52% offer paid leave to primary carers.

The average amount of leave offered to primary carers is 11 weeks, with just two weeks for secondary carers. WEGA's research has found that women who take time off work to have a child are more likely to return to work if their company offers paid parental leave.

Meanwhile WEGA director Mary Woolridge says that removing the distinction between primary and secondary carers in leave schemes could help alter gender stereotypes in the workplace.

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Business pushes for faster climate action

The Australian Financial Review - Page S1 & S2 : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith, Mark Ludlow - PortMac.News Summary

Business leaders have told a summit on energy and climate that they want the federal government to develop more ambitious emission reduction targets for 2030 as part of the push for net zero emissions by 2050.

The Business Council of Australia wants the number of emitters that have to offset their emissions to be expanded, although Energy Minister Angus Taylor contends that this would result in consumers paying higher energy bills.

BCA president Tim Reed responded to Taylor's argument by claiming that the cost of not doing anything would be even greater.

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Nuclear option can assist net zero: BHP

The Australian Financial Review - Page S1 & S4 : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Peter Ker - PortMac.News Summary

Fiona Wild, BHP's vice-president of sustainability and climate, has told an energy and climate summit that Australia cannot ignore nuclear energy when it comes to providing low greenhouse gas emissions power.

Wild notes that Australia has significant reserves of uranium, which is the 'raw feedstock' for nuclear power generation, while energy entrepreneur Trevor St Baker contends that Australia's recent deal to acquire nuclear-powered submarines has made the ban on domestic nuclear power generation "Redundant".

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Sorry, Bob, the time is ripe for nuclear

The Australian - Page 11 : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Judith Sloan - PortMac.News Summary

South Australia almost had a nuclear power station in the 1950s, due to the willingness of then Premier Thomas Playford to promote his state through the use of its uranium.

Another former premier, Bob Carr, recently sought to pour 'cold water' on the notion that Australia should ever have a nuclear power industry, although his comments came at the same time that a public opinion poll revealed that almost two-thirds of voters "Support a civil nuclear industry or at least agree that it should be considered".

Many would argue that it is time for a serious debate on the issue; nuclear power stations could be built on the sites of disused coal power plants with existing transmission lines, while nuclear waste can be used safely.

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'I don't care': Barnaby Joyce rejects 'pork-barrelling' claim

The Guardian Australia - Page Online : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Paul Karp - PortMac.News Summary

Labor claims that seats held by the Coalition received 72.7% of funds under the fifth round of the building better regions grants program, announced on 8 October.

When grants made to non-Coalition marginal seats are included, Labor contends that almost 90% of funds went to Coalition held or targeted seats.

Responding to claims by Labor that this amounts to 'Pork-barreling', deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce stated that "I don't care".

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Taliban 'Increasingly interested' in those trying to leave Afghanistan

abc.net au - Page Online : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Stephen Dziedzic - PortMac.News Summary

A federal parliamentary hearing has been told that over 280 Australian citizens or permanent residents remain stranded in Afghanistan, almost two months after the Taliban took power.

However, the hearing was told that not all want to leave at the present time, with some still trying to get visas for family members.

The hearing also heard that the Taliban were "Increasingly interested" in those trying to leave, and that getting out of Afghanistan remains very difficult.

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US Navy engineer charged over nuclear sub secrets

The Australian Financial Review - Page 13 : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Julian E Barnes, David E Salinger - PortMac.News Summary

A US Navy engineer and his wife are to appear in court after being charged with trying to sell information on the nuclear propulsion system of the US Navy's Virginia-class attack submarines.

It is uncertain whether Jonathan Toebbe was trying to sell the information to an adversary of the US or an ally.

The technology that he was trying to sell lies at the heart of a recent deal between the US, the UK and Australia that will see Australia equipped with nuclear-powered submarines.

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Investors pump billions into new companies

The Australian Financial Review - Page 28 : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Richard Henderson - PortMac.News Summary

Data from Refinitiv shows that 121 companies have listed on the Australian sharemarket so far in 2021, compared with just 84 new listings in 2020.

It is the highest level of listing activity since 2007, when 136 companies debuted on the local bourse.

Some $6.7bn has been raised via IPOs during 2021, while the proposed floats of Judo Bank and GQG Partners would boost this by around $2bn.

IPO activity was subdued earlier in the year, following the fallout from the ill-fated float of Nuix in late 2020.

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CBA tops complaint list for third straight year

The Australian Financial Review - Page 6 : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Michael Read - PortMac.News Summary

Data from the Australian Financial Complaints Authority shows that it received a total of 67,613 complaints from customers of financial services providers in 2020-21.

This follows a record 76,874 complaints in the previous financial year. About 25% of all complaints were about the nation's four major banks, with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia topping the list with 5,815 complaints.

A CBA spokesman says the number of complaints it received fell by 11% in 2020-21, while it resolved almost two-thirds of complaints without needing to refer them to the ACFA.

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CBA wrongly ensnares retiree in Raptis freeze order

The Australian Financial Review - Page 3 : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Liam Walsh - PortMac.News Summary

The Commonwealth Bank has apologised for freezing the bank account of a retiree who had purchased a Raptis Group apartment.

The retiree somehow got caught up in a $80 million freezing order directed against Raptis Group head Jim Raptis by the Australian Taxation Office.

The Raptis Group claims to have built more than 6,300 units across the Gold Coast, while the ATO's freezing-order judgment contends that its investigations had unearthed what appeared to be tax avoidance arrangements involving Jim Raptis, immediate family members and various entities with which he is connected.

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Insurers wary despite Covid case win

The Australian - Page 16 : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Lachlan Moffet Gray - PortMac.News Summary

A recent judgement by Federal Court Justice Jayne Jagot saw her rule in favour of insurance companies in nine out of 10 cases given to her to assess if insurers had to pay out on business interruption claims resulting from COVID-19.

Insurers Suncorp and Insurance Australia Group have cautiously welcomed Jagot's ruling, but state it is too soon to decide whether they will need to alter their business interruption claim provisions.

An appeal case due to be held in November is expected to provide more clarification on whether insurers may have to pay out billions on business interruption claims.

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'We may be investigating you' says ASIC

The Australian - Page 13 & 20 : 12 October 2021 - Original article by David Ross - PortMac.News Summary

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has joined a social media group called "ASX Pump Organisation" as part of its efforts to crack down on sharemarket manipulation.

It sent a message to members of the group on 11 October warning them that "Co-ordinated pumping of shares" is unlawful.

ASIC told them that it can see all trades and trader identities, and that they face fines of up to $1 million and time in prison for being involved in 'Stock pumping'.

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Whyalla back in business as Gupta does deal

The Australian Financial Review - Page 16 : 12 October 202 - Original article by Simon Evans - PortMac.News Summary

British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta has secured a deal to refinance the Whyalla steelworks in South Australia and the Tahmoor coal mine in New South Wales.

Both assets are held by a subsidiary of GFG Alliance called Liberty Primary Metals Australia, which had been seeking to refinance about $430m.

Gupta says GFG's refinancing deal with Credit Suisse Asset Management will ensure the future of the Whyalla steelworks.

Gupta will now seek to refinance the broader GFG group.

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Australia left behind as Asia opens to travel

The Australian Financial Review - Page 12 : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Emma Connors - PortMac.News Summary

Singapore has announced that it has struck agreements with nine countries for the operation of vaccinated 'travel lines' from 19 October; these countries include the US, Spain and the UK.

The agreement will follow a month of quarantine-free travel with Germany and Brunei, while a similar agreement with South Korea takes effect from 15 November.

However, it appears that the proposed Australia-Singapore travel bubble is not likely to take effect until early December at the earliest, meaning that Australian tourism operators are likely to miss out on much of the demand by Singaporeans for overseas travel.

Singaporeans made 18.9 million outbound trips in 2019, much of them to Asia.

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Social media's self-policing plan 'Laughable'

The Australian Financial Review - Page 21 & 23 : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Paul Smith, Miranda Ward - PortMac.News Summary

Public interest groups have dismissed DIGI's plans to establish an independent panel to oversee the voluntary code of conduct governing misinformation and disinformation that appears on the platforms of technology companies such as Facebook and Google.

Dhakshayini Sooriyakumaran of Reset Australia says DIGI's code is little more than a public relations stunt, and she contends that self-regulation of the sector does not work.

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Small businesses pick up Facebook's outage bill

The Australian Financial Review - Page 21 : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Jessica Sier - PortMac.News Summary

Digital marketing analytics agency Pathmatics that advertising expenditure on Facebook's platforms in Australia averages about $5.2m per day.

This suggests that the recent six-hour global outage that hit Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp would have cost about $1.3m in forgone advertising revenue.

Small businesses that advertise on Facebook's platforms contend that the technology giant merely shifted their allotted advertising slots to different times rather than offering a refund.

In many cases these advertising slots were at times when the customer's target audiences may not have been online.

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Snapchat positions as safe alternative to Facebook

The Australian Financial Review - Page Online : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Miranda Ward - PortMac.News Summary

Kathryn Carter, Snapchat's general manager for the Asia-Pacific region, says the social media platform has been on a "10-year journey to creating a brand-safe platform".

Her comments come a few days after a former Facebook employee leaked numerous company documents she claimed showed that the social media company had failed to protect its users.

Snapchat has 6.3 million users in Australia, according to a study by Social Media Statistics Australia in March, while Carter says Snap "Welcomed a conversation around safety".

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Star loses $1b in value as probe widens

The Australian Financial Review - Page 13 & 20 : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Lucas Baird - PortMac.News Summary

Shares in Star Entertainment fell by 22.9 per cent on 11 October, following the publication of allegations that it allowed money laundering and infiltration by organised crime figures at its Gold Coast and Sydney casinos.

NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority chairman Philip Crawford said it would investigate the allegations, but that it would do so in private, claiming that the logistical and cost challenges were too great for the Authority to facilitate a public hearing.

Shareholder and gambling-reform activist Stephen Mayne claims the allegations against Star show the need for a national casino regulator, a view shared by Independent federal MP Andrew Wilkie.

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Crown to miss opening deadline

The Australian - Page 15 : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Lachlan Moffet Gray - PortMac.News Summary

NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority chairman Philip Crawford has advised that it is still undertaking a review of Crown Resorts' suitability to hold a gaming licence in the state.

This means that Crown's new casino at Barangaroo in Sydney will not open in late October.

However, the ILGA has extended the liquor licences for the Crown complex until the end of June 2022, which has enabled restaurants and bars at the facility to reopen in line with the state government's COVID-19 recovery roadmap.

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ASX Bourse slips as casinos tumble

The Australian - Page 20 : 12 October 2021 - Original article by Rebecca Le May - PortMac.News Summary

The Australian sharemarket retreated on 11 October, with the S&P/ASX 200 shedding 0.28% to close at 7,299.8 points.

Afterpay was down 4.16% at $117.87 and The Star Entertainment Group slumped 22.9% to end the session at $3.30.

However, Fortescue Metals Group rallied 5.26% to $15, Oil Search was up 2% at $4.60 and the ANZ Bank rose 0.47% to $28.09.