AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Let’s get 1 million back to work

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 6-May-20

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the national cabinet will set a target date of July for the majority of businesses to reopen. The states and territories will decide the exact timeline for businesses to resume trading, but retailers, cafes and restaurants are expected to be amongst the first to have coronavirus restrictions lifted. Morrison argues that while Australia has been successful in ‘flattening the curve’, the focus must now be on getting people back to work. Nev Power, who chairs the National COVID-19 Coordination Commission, notes that some sectors of the economy are better placed than others to resume trading.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL COVID-19 COORDINATION COMMISSION

Ardern invited to PM’s bubble

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Original article by Graham Richardson, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 5-May-20

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will join Australia’s national cabinet meeting on 5 May via a video link. The meeting will discuss a proposal to allow people to travel between the two countries without needing to be quarantined for 14 days. Ardern says that her country would have more to gain economically from resuming trans-Tasman travel; Australia accounted for 17.1 per cent of New Zealand’s exports in 2016. New Zealand recently eased its coronavirus lockdown restrictions, and further restrictions are expected to be lifted shortly.

CORPORATES
NEW ZEALAND. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Cost of Covid: $4bn a week

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Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 5-May-20

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will use a National Press Club speech on 5 May to warn that the coronavirus pandemic will reduce GDP by about $50bn in the June quarter. However, he will contend that the GDP hit could have been around $120bn if Australia had imposed the more restrictive lockdowns of some European countries. Frydenberg will add that economic activity will be reduced by nearly $4bn for every week that lockdown restrictions remain in place, and that the economic impact of the pandemic would have been much worse without initiatives such as the JobKeeper scheme.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Covid kickstart: states fire up

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Original article by David Penberthy, Paul Garvey, Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 4-May-20

The easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions will be considered by the national cabinet earlier than expected, due to the rapid take-up of the CovidSafe app. However, the South Australian government will relax some restrictions, such as allowing children to visit playgrounds and skate parks, while travel within the state may be permitted within days. Premier Steven Marshall says the state is on track to eliminate the virus rather than simply suppressing it. Western Australia recently permitted residents to gather in groups of 10 and lifted restrictions on some recreational activities. Meanwhile, the eastern states are keeping lockdown restrictions in place for now.

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SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

Business cashflow assistance tops $6bn

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 4 : 1-May-20

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the federal government’s tax-free cashflow payments have assisted employers to remain in business during the coronavirus pandemic. New figures show that some 343,211 small businesses and non-profit organisations had collectively received $6.09bn worth of cashflow payments by 28 April. Eligible businesses are entitled to receive payments of between $20,000 and $100,000; the average amount received to date is $17,700 per business. The government estimates that about 720,000 businesses will be eligible for the payments.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Budget impact may be lessened by quicker recovery

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 29-Apr-20

The federal government is hopeful that Australia’s success in containing the coronavirus will result in the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme costing far less than the $130bn that has been budgeted. The government had expected about six million workers to access the payment; Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy has told a parliamentary inquiry that there have been 540,000 applications from employers to date, covering about 3.3 million workers. The cost of the JobSeeker package for the unemployed may also end up being less than forecast.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

L-NP support jumps as Australia responds well to COVID-19 pandemic

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Apr-20

In the last month support for the L-NP has jumped 4.5% and recovered from a poor response to the summer bushfires, according to the latest Roy Morgan Poll. L-NP 51.5% now leads the ALP 48.5% on a two-party preferred basis following Government’s successful response to COVID-19 with now only a handful of new cases being announced. L-NP support is now significantly higher than their February low of only 45% when voters were not impressed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Government’s handling of the bushfires.

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ROY MORGAN LIMITED, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Budget updates to push growth agenda

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 28-Apr-20

The federal government will release a statement on the impact of the coronavirus on the domestic economy when parliament resumes in May. Amongst other things, it will outline how much the government has spent on stimulus measures to date. The Coalition also intends to release new economic forecasts in June, which take into account the likely future impact of the pandemic. Labor and former Treasury official Greg Smith have previously urged the government to release an economic update in the near-term, arguing that it is too long to wait until the Budget in October.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Post-pandemic world a great chance to turbocharge growth

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Original article by Patrick Commins, Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 24-Apr-20

Professor Ian Harper says Australia should pursue micro-economic reforms once the coronavirus pandemic abates. He argues that the priority should be on smaller regulatory changes that will boost productivity over the long-term, rather than wholesale reform. Amongst other things, Harper has proposed an overhaul of urban planning and zoning laws to ensure consistency across jurisdictions, and greater use of road user charges to combat traffic congestion as people begin to return to work. Harper chaired the federal government’s competition review in 2015.

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PM roasts banks over Covid fail

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Original article by Simon Benson, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 24-Apr-20

Australia’s four major banks will fast-track applications for bridging finance by companies that are struggling to pay their wages bills after Prime Minister Scott Morrison intervened. He has criticised the banks for taking too long to process such applications, with employers’ groups warning that some businesses have been forced to lay off employees while they wait to receive JobKeeper payments. tax commissioner Chris Jordan raised the issue with bank executives following a telephone conference with Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, RESTAURANT AND CATERING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, COMMONWEALTH AGRICULTURAL BUREAU INTERNATIONAL, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB