Latest updates on Key Economic Indicators

Australian Dollar: $0.7660 USD (up $0.0012 USD)

Iron Ore May Spot Price (SGX): $161.15 USD (up $1.15 USD)

Oil Price (WTI): $59.20 USD (up $0.42 USD)

Gold Price: $1,743.21 (up $14.66 USD)

Bitcoin: $58,338.78 USD (down 1.28% in last 24 hours)

Dow Jones: 33,430.24 at 3.12 pm NY time (down 96.95 points on yesterday's close)

All changes compared to 7am yesterday.

NZ bubble sparks rush on holidays

The Australian - Page 1 & 5 : 7 April 2021 - Original article by Robyn Ironside, Rosie Lewis - PortMac.News Summary

Tourism operators and airlines have reported a surge in bookings following official confirmation that Australians will be able travel to New Zealand without quarantining from 19 April.

The tourism industry has described the trans-Tasman travel bubble as a 'Game changer', while Australian Federation of Travel Agents chair Tom Manwaring has urged the governments of both nations to ensure that the travel corridor remains open.

NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern cautions that any new COVID-19 outbreaks could result in flights being suspended or travellers being required to quarantine.

Morrison blames international supply issues for slow Covid vaccine rollout

The Guardian Australia - Page Online : 7 April 2021 - Original article by Paul Karp - PortMac.News Summary

About 855,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered nationally since the federal government's rollout began in late February.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the rollout has fallen well behind schedule because the government has not received 3.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from Europe.

It had contracted to buy 3.5 million doses from Europe in total, and a government source doubts that the remaining 400,000 doses will be delivered.

Meanwhile, some 2.5 million doses that have been produced by CSL in Melbourne have yet to be distributed; Morrison says they must first undergo batch testing to ensure that they are safe.

Whyalla : Gupta to fight OneSteel wind-up

The Australian - Page 13 & 16 : 7 April 2021 - Original article by Nick Evans, Perry Williams - PortMac.News Summary

The future of the Whyalla steelworks in South Australia is in doubt after Citibank filed a 'Winding-up in insolvency' application for the plant's operator, OneSteel Manufacturing.

The application also includes Tahmoor Coal, which operates an associated coal mine in New South Wales.

McGrathNicol will become liquidator of the two companies if the Supreme Court of NSW approves the application. British businessman Sanjeev Gupta is trying to secure $500m in new funding for the Whyalla steelworks following the collapse of Greensill Capital, which is the major creditor of his GFG Alliance.

Facebook hack hits 7.3m Aussies

The Australian Financial Review - Page 7 : 7 April 2021 - Original article by Max Mason - PortMac.News Summary

Facebook has reiterated that its latest massive data leak arose from a problem that it had identified and fixed in 2019. The personal information of more than 533 million Facebook users in 106 countries, including about 7.3 million users in Australia, were recently posted on a hacking forum. Cyber security experts warn that Facebook users may be at risk of phishing and other scams as a result of the leak. Facebook was previously embroiled in a leaked data scandal involving Cambridge Analytica in 2018.

(See main story on PortMac.News today)

Mass jab facilities 'Must be used now'

The Australian - Page 5 : 7 April 2021 - Original article by Natasha Robinson, Richard Ferguson - PortMac.News Summary

Shadow health minister Mark Butler has urged the federal government to speed up the COVID-19 vaccine rollout by using mass vaccination centres.

University of New South Wales epidemiologist Mary-Louise McLaw agrees that mass vaccination hubs are needed, contending that about 132,000 people will have to be vaccinated each day if the government is to achieve its target of October for all adults to have received at least one dose.

Immunisation Coalition chair Rod Pearce believes that GP clinics have the capacity to provide the majority of vaccine doses, given that they delivered 17 million flu shots in 2020.

One in two report vaccines side effects

The Age - Page Online : 7 April 2021 - Original article by Kate Aubusson - PortMac.News Summary

Data from AusVaxSafety shows that 49.7% of Australians who had received the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccine by the end of March had experienced at least one mild side effect.

Some 1.2%t were sufficiently concerned to see a doctor or go to a hospital's emergency department.

More than two-thirds of people who received their first dose of AstraZeneca's vaccine reported an adverse event, and 25.4%t said they had to take some time off from work, study or their daily duties.

Meanwhile, 36.3% of people reported an adverse event after receiving their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine; some 4.3% had to miss work, study or routine duties.

PNG man dies virus in Qld hospital

Brisbane Times - Page Online : 7 April 2021 - Original article by Stuart Layt, Lydia Lynch - PortMac.News Summary

Queensland Health has advised that a 77-year-old man has died of COVID-19 complications in intensive care at a hospital near Brisbane.

The man had been flown from Papua New Guinea to Redcliffe Hospital on 28 March after his condition deteriorated. It is the first COVID-19 death in Queensland since early April 2020.

However, the man will not be included in the state's official death toll as he had been diagnosed in PNG, and he had dual citizenship of PNG and the UK.

Queensland has recorded no new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, and there are 70 active cases in the state.

New COVID variants - 'Maximum suppression' needed

The Conversation - Page Online : 7 April 2021 - Original article by Susan Michie, Chris Bullen, Jeffrey V Lazarus, John N Lavis, John Thwaites, Liam Smith, - Salim Abdool Karim, Yanis Ben Amor - PortMac.News Summary

The recent emergence of new COVID-19 strains threatens to derail the global effort to combat the respiratory illness.

Global transmission rates must be reduced to a sufficiently low level to prevent the emergence and spread of new variants.

The aim must be to achieve maximum suppression of COVID-19 globally, which will require both the continued use of strong public health measures to reduce the risk from new variants and making sure that all countries have fast and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Australia's growth to beats forecast

The Australian - Page 1 & 4 : 7 April 2021 - Original article by Adam Creighton - PortMac.News Summary

The International Monetary Fund has upgraded its economic growth forecast for Australia in 2021 to 4.5%.

Its previous forecast in January was for growth of 3.5%. The IMF now expects the global economy to grow by 6% in 2021 and 4.4% in 2022.

However, the IMF's chief economist Gita Gopinath says the COVID-19 pandemic will require governments to continue to provide economic support measures.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe expects the domestic economy to record above-trend growth in both 2021 and 2022.

Holgate brands AusPost chairman a liar

The Australian Financial Review - Page 1 & 2 : 7 April 2021 - Original article by Tom McIlroy - PortMac.News Summary

Australia Post's former CEO Christine Holgate has commented publicly for the first time about the Cartier watches scandal that led to her departure.

Holgate has used a submission to a Senate inquiry to claim that she was "Thrown under the bus" over the controversy.

She has also claimed that Australia Post chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo had treated her like a criminal and lied to federal parliament about the watches scandal.

Holgate resigned in November over the purchase of expensive watches as gifts for managers who had secured a big deal with three major banks.

The Finance Department subsequently found no evidence of dishonesty, fraud, corruption or intentional misuse of taxpayers' funds.

Inflation Alert : Retailers set to lift prices as shipping costs soar

The Australian Financial Review - Page 11 & 14 : 7 April 2021 - Original article by Sue Mitchell - PortMac.News Summary

Australian retailers note that shipping costs have tripled in the last 12-15 months, and they will inevitably have to pass some of these costs on to consumers.

The cost of shipping goods from China has surged since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, while The Reject Shop's CEO Andre Reich says spot shipping rates have blown out to about $2,500; this compares with $US450 to $US500 for contracted rates.

Some retailers have indicated that they intend to absorb the increased freight costs.

Packer taps Moelis to weigh up Crown sale

The Australian - Page 13 & 17 : 7 April 2021 - Original article by Lachlan Moffet Gray - PortMac.News Summary

Consolidated Press Holdings has appointed investment bank Moelis Australia to advise on a possible sale of its 37% stake in Crown Resorts.

The private investment vehicle of businessman James Packer has stated that it is open to any "Suitable transaction" for Crown shares, including the $8bn indicative bid from US private equity firm Blackstone.

The offer of $11.85 per share values Packer's stake in Crown at around $2.95bn. The casino group's shares fell 0.84% to $11.81 on 6 April.

Mining's women outpace men up corporate ladder

The Australian Financial Review - Page 8 : 7 April 2021 - Original article by Peter Ker - PortMac.News Summary

BDO believes that women in the mining sector can narrow the gender pay gap more quickly than in other industries because they tend to be appointed to managerial positions earlier in their career.

The advisory firm's analysis shows that the average age of women taking on their first managerial role in the mining industry is 42, compared with 51 for their male peers.

Charmaine Reay of BDO says this 8-9 year age gap should enable female managers to earn more than men over the course of their executive career.

BDO's research shows that women hold about 16 per cent of managerial or technical specialist roles in Australia's mining industry.

Tech surge leads rise in stocks

The Australian - Page 19 : 7 April 2021 - Original article by Lachlan Moffet Gray - PortMac.News Summary

The Australian sharemarket posted a strong gain on 6 April, with the S&P/ASX 200 adding 0.84% to close at 6,885.9 points.

Fortescue Metals Group was up 1.38% at $20.53, Woodside Petroleum rose 0.5% to $24.12 and Westpac finished 0.65% higher at $24.70.

However, AMP shed 4.9% to end the session at $1.26 and Incitec Pivot was down 8.2% at $2.68.