Almost 70 per cent of new Covid cases in Sydney under the age of 40

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Original article by Alexandra Smith, Lucy Cormack, Mary Ward
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 6-Aug-21

New South Wales has recorded 262 new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours; at least 72 of them were active in the community while they were infectious, while 67 per cent of the new cases are among people under the age of 40. The state’s death toll from COVID-19 has risen by five, and Premier Gladys Berejiklian notes that none of the 21 deaths so far in the current outbreak had been fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, the state government has imposed a seven-day lockdown of eight local government areas across the Hunter region after a number of cases were detected in Newcastle.

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NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Unions slam compulsory vaccine push

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal, Jared Lynch
The Australian – Page: 15 & 19 : 6-Aug-21

The question as to whether employers can mandate that staff must be vaccinated against COVID-19 has come under renewed scrutiny after SPC’s move to enforce a ‘no jab, no job’ policy. The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union’s national president Andrew Dettmer has criticised the fruit and vegetable processor’s lack of consultation, as well as its unrealistic deadline of six weeks for staff to get their first dose at a time when vaccine supplies are limited. Lawyers have also questioned the validity of mandatory staff vaccinations. Many Australian companies are actively encouraging their staff to get vaccinated, with some offering incentives such as paid leave.

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SPC AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING WORKERS’ UNION

Dodgy advice refunds hit $1.86bn

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 17 : 6-Aug-21

The fee-for-no-service scandal has now cost six of Australia’s biggest financial institutions more than $1.6bn in total. New data from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission shows that the four major banks, Macquarie Group and AMP paid out an additional $620.9m during the first six months of 2021. They have also paid out $224.6m in total to customers who received non-compliant financial advice. It has also been alleged that about 2,000 of AMP’s customers had continued to be charged fees after the institution was informed that they had died.

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COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Strike threat to parcel deliveries

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 7 : 6-Aug-21

Workers at parcel delivery firms StarTrack and FedEx may take strike action over stalled negotiations regarding a new enterprise agreement. The Transport Workers’ Union will apply to the Fair Work Commission to hold a ballot of its members at the two companies. Amongst other things, the TWU wants any pay rise in the new enterprise agreements to be backdated to 2020, in order to compensate workers for agreeing to forgo wage increases due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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STARTRACK COMMUNICATIONS (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, FEDERAL EXPRESS (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Gutted Andrews demands more vaccines, says snap lockdowns new normal

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Original article by Paul Sakkal
The Age – Page: Online : 6-Aug-21

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has defended the state’s seven-day state-wide COVID-19 lockdown, which began at 8pm on 5 August and comes just nine days after the last one ended. Andrews contends that without swift action the state would have been looking at a much longer lockdown, given that the vaccination target of 80 per cent of the population is unlikely to be reached until late in 2021. Victoria has recorded eight new locally-acquired cases in the last 24 hours, although two were reported late in the day and will be included in the case numbers for 6 August. There are now 82 COVID-19 cases in Victoria. Meanwhile, the state government will request additional doses of the Pfizer vaccine from its federal counterpart.

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VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

PNG hits Santos with log of claims over Oil Search merger

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 22 : 6-Aug-21

The proposed merger between Santos and Oil Search would have to be in Papua New Guinea’s national interest, says Prime Minister James Marape. He has outlined a number of conditions that may have to be met for his government to approve the deal. They include a commitment to retaining corporate offices in PNG and to continue to employ and train PNG nationals. Saul Kavonic of Credit Suisse says the PNG government may seek to leverage its veto power to secure a better merger deal.

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SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, OIL SEARCH LIMITED – ASX OSH, PAPUA NEW GUINEA. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

Morrison refuses to say if he saw list of marginal seats to get car park funding

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Original article by Katina Curtis, Shane Wright
The Age – Page: Online : 6-Aug-21

The federal government’s $660 million commuter car park grants program has come under severe criticism from the Auditor-General. Only three of the 47 car parks promised in early 2019 have been built, and the Auditor-General has found that there was no criteria for assessing the merit of projects and that 77 per cent of those that were initially funded were in marginal Coalition seats. The Auditor-General has claimed that a list of "top 20 marginal seats" was used as the basis for deciding which projects to finance. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has refused to say if he saw such a list.

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AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR-GENERAL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Crown casino may sell cheaply

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Original article by Lachlan Moffet Gray
The Australian – Page: 17 : 6-Aug-21

Analysis by Credit Suisse suggests that the value of James Packer’s 37 per cent stake in Crown Resorts would fall by about $300m to just $1.86bn if the group were to lose the licence for its Melbourne casino. Credit Suisse also says a ruling that Crown is unsuitable to hold the Melbourne licence could force it to sell the casino complex for less than full value, given that it is located on leased government land. However, Credit Suisse does not expect Victoria’s royal commission into Crown Resorts to recommend cancelling the licence outright.

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CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, CROWN MELBOURNE LIMITED, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

Sky News Australia to face Senate inquiry after week-long YouTube suspension

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Original article by Amanda Meade
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 6-Aug-21

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young wants to know why the Australian Communications & Media Authority has not taken action against Sky News Australia over the broadcasting of misinformation when YouTube has. Her query follows YouTube suspending Sky News content from its platform for seven days for breaching its medical misinformation policies. Hanson-Young chairs the Senate’s media diversity inquiry; she has recalled the inquiry during the week beginning 9 August in order to question executives from ACMA, YouTube and Sky News.

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SKY NEWS, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Roy Morgan Business Confidence plunges by 11.1pts (-8.7%) to 117.2 after Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide placed in lockdowns

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Aug-21

In July 2021, Roy Morgan Business Confidence plunged 11.1pts (-8.7%) to 117.2. Despite the fall, Business Confidence is 32.9pts (+39%) higher than a year ago (84.3), and it is 3.3pts above the long-term average of 113.9. Business Confidence has now averaged 123.6 during the first seven months of 2021, the best ever start to a year for the Index. The reading of 117.2 for July is also the highest level of Business Confidence in the mid-Winter month since July 2014 (119.1). Some 59.9% of businesses now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, and 52.3% say the next 12 months is a ‘good time to invest in growing the business’. The latest Roy Morgan Business Confidence results for July are based on 1,341 detailed interviews with a cross-section of Australian businesses from each State and Territory.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED