Shares deliver $560bn windfall

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Original article by David Rogers
The Australian – Page: 13 & 20 : 1-Jul-21

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 capped off a stellar recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by posting a gain in all but one month during 2020-21. The benchmark index’s 24 per cent gain was the best return for a financial year since its inception, and follows a pandemic-induced loss of 11.3 per cent in 2019-20. The S&P/ASX 200 reached a record high of 7,406.2 points in May, having slumped to a low of 4,402.5 points in March 2020 as the pandemic weighed on global financial markets. Utilities is the only sector that failed to post a positive return in 2020-21.

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STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX

Lower corporate taxes vital to growth

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Original article by Tom Dusevic
The Australian – Page: 2 : 30-Jun-21

The Business Council of Australia has released a discussion paper which calls for an overhaul of the nation’s tax system. The BCA contends that tax revenue is too heavily skewed toward the largest companies and the three per cent of individuals who pay the highest personal income tax, and the tax system must evolve in line with a changing economy. BCA CEO Jennifer Westacott says the 30 per cent company tax rate in particular needs to be reviewed, given that the OECD and the Group of Seven have proposed a global minimum corporate tax rate of just 15 per cent.

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BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, GROUP OF SEVEN (G-7)

Queensland and Victoria push to slash number of international arrivals in Australia

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Original article by Yara Murray-Atfield
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 30-Jun-21

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has called for a "massive reduction" in the number of international travellers who are allowed into Australia in the wake of the latest wave of COVID-19 lockdowns across the country. Palaszczuk adds that international travellers should be quarantined in dedicated facilities such as Howard Springs in the Northern Territory, rather than hotels. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews also supports a big reduction in overseas arrivals, contending that it is preferable to locking down entire cities or states if the coronavirus leaks from the hotel quarantine system. More than 35,000 Australians remain stranded overseas, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade.

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QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Movement in the Sydney CBD plunged last week – even before the city was placed into lockdown

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-Jun-21

A special analysis of movement data in Australia’s Capital City CBDs since the COVID-19 pandemic began shows that movement in the Sydney CBD plunged to only 26% of pre-pandemic averages last week – even before the city was placed into a two-week lockdown on the weekend. The average 7-day movement level in the Sydney CBD last week was at its lowest since early January, during the COVID-19 outbreak in the Northern Beaches, and movement levels are set to fall further this week after the entire Sydney metropolitan area was placed into its first lockdown since mid-May 2020. Movement levels in the Melbourne CBD are recovering from the lockdown of the city in early June. Although restrictions on mask wearing and crowd gathering sizes remain, average movement levels in the Melbourne CBD had picked up to 18% of pre-COVID-19 averages last week, up from a low of 12% during the lockdown. The last few days have seen a flurry of new border restrictions introduced as new cases of COVID-19 have emerged in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Before the new restrictions introduced over the weekend, movement levels in other Capital City CBDs were at just under half of their pre-pandemic levels, led by the Adelaide CBD at 46% – the only mainland State yet to report a recent community case of COVID-19. In a close second place was the Perth CBD at 44% of pre-COVID-19 averages, ahead of Brisbane CBD (40%) and Hobart CBD (39%). Roy Morgan has partnered with leading technology innovator UberMedia to aggregate data from tens of thousands of mobile devices to assess the movements of Australians as we deal with the restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, UBERMEDIA

Roy Morgan Business Confidence down only slightly in June to 128.3; but new COVID-19 restrictions a clear threat to the recovery

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-Jun-21

In June 2021, Roy Morgan Business Confidence fell 1pt (-0.8%) to 128.3. Despite the fall, Business Confidence is 33.3pts (+35.1%) higher than a year ago (95.0), and it is now 14.4pts above the long-term average of 113.9. Business Confidence has now averaged 124.7 during the first six months of 2021, the best start to a year for the Index for a decade since 2011. The index also averaged 124.7 in the first half of 2011 during the middle of the ‘Mining Boom’. This is the first time in the history of the index that Business Confidence has been above 120 for seven consecutive months from December 2020 to June 2021. Some 64.8% of businesses now expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months and 58.4% say the next 12 months is a ‘good time to invest in growing the business’. The Business Confidence result for June is based on interviewing conducted before the Sydney-wide lockdown and the latest restrictions introduced in several States announced over the weekend.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Facebook beats Biden’s antitrust suit

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Original article by Cecilia Kang
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 30-Jun-21

The market capitalisation of Facebook has risen above $US1bn for the first time after a judge dismissed an antitrust case against the social media giant. The US Federal Trade Commission and more than 40 states had launched the case against Facebook, but the federal court ruled amongst other things that the prosecutors had failed to provide sufficient evidence to support claims that the company has a monopoly in the social networking sector. The lawsuit had sought to break up Facebook by forcing it to divest Instagram and WhatsApp, which it had acquired in 2012 and 2014 respectively.

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FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, UNITED STATES. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, DISTRICT COURT OF UNITED STATES, INSTAGRAM LLC, WHATSAPP INCORPORATED

Qld virus ward worker not vaccinated

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Original article by Jamie Walker, Lydia Lynch
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 30-Jun-21

The Queensland government has announced a three-day snap lockdown of south-east Queensland, Townsville, Magnetic Island and Palm Island after a female employee at Brisbane’s Prince Charles Hospital contracted the Delta variant of COVID-19. She worked as a casual receptionist outside the hospital’s COVID-19 ward and travelled to Townsville and Magnetic Island while she was infectious. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is "furious" that the woman has not been vaccinated. The woman is one of two new locally-acquired COVID-19 cases recorded in Queensland in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, New South Wales has recorded 19 new cases and there have been two new cases in the Northern Territory. Some 12 million people across Queensland, NSW, Western Australia and the NT are currently subject to lockdowns.

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QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, PRINCE CHARLES HOSPITAL

Energy giants hit with $1bn clean-up tax

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 13 & 18 : 30-Jun-21

APPEA CEO Andrew McConville warns that the federal government’s proposed levy on the nation’s offshore oil and gas industry will be a major disincentive for investment in the sector. The levy of $0.48 per barrel on offshore production would be used to help meet the cost of decommissioning the Northern Endeavour floating platform and associated oil fields in the Timor Sea. The levy would take effect on 1 July and is expected to cost about $367m a year, and potentially up to $1bn in total. A key criticism of the levy is the fact that it would apply to energy producers that had no exposure to the Northern Endeavour project.

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AUSTRALIAN PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXPLORATION ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Medibank pays back unused $105m

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Original article by Liam Walsh
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 30-Jun-21

Private health insurer Medibank expects about two million customers of its flagship and ahm brands to be eligible for a discount on their next premium payment. Medical procedures such as elective surgery were cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing policyholders from making full use of their private health coverage. HBF is among the other health funds that have previously revealed plans to return some money to its members.

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MEDIBANK PRIVATE LIMITED – ASX MPL, AHM HEALTH INSURANCE, HBF HEALTH LIMITED

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence virtually unchanged at 112.2 but down in Sydney (-4.6%) as Melbourne recovers (+2.4%)

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-Jun-21

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 112.2 on June 26/27, although there were contrasting movements in Australia’s two largest cities; Sydney was down 4.6% while Melbourne increased 2.4% on a week ago as the city continued to recover from its recent lockdown. Consumer Confidence is just above the 2021 weekly average of 111.4, and 19.2pts higher than the same week a year ago (93). Now 28% (down 2ppts) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 25% (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’ financially. In addition, 38% (down 1ppt) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, and 13% (down 3ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’ financially. Some 19% (down 2ppts) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 15% (up 2ppts) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 45% (up 3ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 24% (unchanged) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’. Interviewing this week was largely conducted before the Sydney-wide lockdown began on Saturday night and before many restrictions and border closures were announced in other States.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ