O75 Public Administration

Infection rate falls below one raising hopes virus is fading

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Original article by Tom Burton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 14-Apr-20

The global death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 119,113; more than 1,917,000 people worldwide have been diagnosed with the respiratory illness. There are 6,359 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Australia, and the nation’s death toll has risen to 61. Professor James McCaw of the Doherty Institute says there is now sufficient local data on the virus to publish an ‘effective reproduction rate’, which his research team hopes to do shortly. The team estimates that Australia’s effective reproduction rate has fallen below one, as social distancing measures help to curb the virus’s spread. Meanwhile, the death toll in the US has risen to 23,485 after an additional 1,380 deaths were reported in the last day.

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PETER DOHERTY INSTITUTE FOR INFECTION AND IMMUNITY, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

Jobless rise to hit 10pc: Treasury

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, James Fernyhough
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 14-Apr-20

The Treasury estimates that the coronavirus pandemic will see unemployment peak at 10 per cent in the June quarter, compared with an official jobless rate of just 5.1 per cent in February. It would be the first time Australia has recorded double-digit unemployment since April 1994. The Treasury’s analysis also concludes that unemployment would have risen to around 15 per cent without the federal government’s JobKeeper scheme. Former AMP CEO Andrew Mohl is among the business leaders who have called for lockdown measures to be progressively wound back, noting that the restrictions are costing the economy some $550m per day in lost GDP.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP

We may be over-reacting to an unremarkable virus

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 10 : 14-Apr-20

Australia’s low death toll from the coronavirus and the nation’s comparatively low infection rate suggests that the lockdown measures may have been an over-reaction. Dire forecasts of hospitals being swamped with patients needing ventilators have not materialised, while government debt and the unemployment rate will rise sharply due to the coronavirus response. Indeed, a Roy Morgan survey for March found that the jobless rate is likely to double. Maintaining the lockdown for six months is unsustainable, and attention must soon turn to restarting the economy.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Coronavirus JobKeeper package passes Parliament after Labor amendments fail

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Original article by Matthew Doran
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 9-Apr-20

More than 730,000 businesses have registered with the Australian Taxation Office to access the federal government’s wage subsidy scheme. A special sitting of parliament has passed the JobKeeper legislation, with eligible businesses to receive $1,500 per fortnight for each worker they continue to employ during the pandemic. Labor backed the legislation despite failing in its push for the scheme to be expanded to include casual workers who have been with their employer for less than a year and temporary visa holders.

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AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Coronavirus data due within weeks to reveal Australia’s path out of health crisis

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Original article by Sophie Scott, Nick Sas
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 9-Apr-20

Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy recently said that Australia’s progress on containing the coronavirus will become clearer within a week or so, as people returning from overseas are skewing the infection data at present. Health experts state that more data on the rate of community transmission will be needed before any decisions are made about relaxing the coronavirus restrictions. Health Minister Greg Hunt says the nation will be able to commence lifting the restrictions once the rate of community transmission is under control, although he warns that the restrictions are unlikely to be eased for some time.

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AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH

Now for start of on-shoring era: Liveris

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 9-Apr-20

The coronavirus pandemic has prompted renewed scrutiny of Australia’s dependence on imports for essential goods such as medical equipment. Manufacturing now accounts for six per cent of the domestic economy, compared with about 40 per cent in the 1970s. Business leader Andrew Liveris says Australia needs to increase local manufacturing, but he stresses that the focus should be on high-end sectors such as health and technology.

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DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY

Extra leave bid for frontline staff

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 9-Apr-20

The ACTU will push for eight industry awards to be amended to provide workers in the health, aged care, pharmacy and disability sectors with paid pandemic leave. The peak union body contends that such workers should also be entitled to paid leave more than once, as they are generally at greater risk of both being exposed to the coronavirus and having to self-isolate for 14 days. The Fair Work Commission has ruled that workers who are covered by some awards are entitled to two weeks of unpaid pandemic leave. It will consider the ACTU’s proposal to provide frontline workers with paid pandemic leave.

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ACTU, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Coronavirus data shows job advertisements in freefall

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Original article by Catherine Hanrahan
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 9-Apr-20

Data from job listings group Seek shows that the number of job advertisements has declined by 65 per cent year-on-year due to the coronavirus pandemic. New South Wales has recorded a 72 per cent fall in job listings, ahead of Victoria with a 67 per cent decline. The sport and recreation sector has been the hardest hit, recording a 98 per cent decline in job advertisements. In contrast, job ads in the mining, resources and energy sector have fallen by just 30 per cent.

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SEEK LIMITED – ASX SEK

Extra 1.4 million Australians out of work in wake of COVID-19 pandemic – 3.92 million (27.4% of workforce) now unemployed or under-employed

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Apr-20

The latest Roy Morgan unemployment estimate for the second half of March jumped a staggering 1.4 million to 2.4 million (16.8%) and under-employment increased 374,000 to 1.52 million (10.6%). This means a record high 3.92 million (27.4%) of Australians were either unemployed or under-employed and looking for more work in the second half of March – far more Australians looking for work than was the case during the last recession in 1990/91. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine said: "The results from today’s Roy Morgan late March employment and unemployment estimates show the value of timely data closely tracking the employment statuses of Australian workers. In this uncertain times it is vital for Governments and policy-makers dealing with the COVID-19 ‘fallout’ to have the most up-to-date data on the state of the Labour market to make the correct decisions".

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

PM plans staggered virus exit

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 8-Apr-20

Theoretical modelling suggests that just 12 per cent of Australians would be infected by the coronavirus and less than one per cent would require hospitalisation if people comply with lockdown measures. However, failure to do so could see 89 per cent of the population become infected, while only 15 per cent of people who need an intensive care bed would get one. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned that the economy cannot afford to be shut down for too long, and he has flagged a staged winding back of lockdown restrictions. He also says Australia will need to reduce its dependence on imports in the post-virus world, particularly critical supplies such as medical equipment.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET