VIRUS DISEASES – AUSTRALIA

Pandemic pressure for super mergers

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 13 & 17 : 27-Jul-20

The balanced options of Equipsuper and Catholic Super achieved positive returns in 2019-20, despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The two funds merged in 2019, and boast a combined $26bn worth of funds under management. Scott Cameron, the CEO of the Equipsuper -Catholic Super, says his target is still to have $50bn of funds under management within five years. He has flagged another merger deal within months, and expects COVID-19 to lead to further consolidation in the super sector.

CORPORATES
EQUIPSUPER PTY LTD, CATHOLIC SUPER

Taste of deflation as CPI plunges

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Original article by Sarah Turner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 27-Jul-20

The economic impact of COVID-19 will be reflected in the consumer price index data for the June quarter, which will be released on 29 July. The consensus forecast is for a two per cent fall in the quarter and an 0.5 per cent decline in the year to June. However. Westpac economists expect the CPI to have declined by 2.4 per cent for the quarter and 0.9 per cent over the year. The coronavirus lockdown reduced demand for a range of goods and services in the three months to June, including petrol and travel.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC

Subscription TV viewers soar during Aussie lockdown – Netflix, Foxtel, Stan, Disney+ & Amazon Prime all up significantly

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Original article by Roy Morgan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 22-Jul-20

New data from Roy Morgan reveals Australians were adding new subscription TV services at an astonishing rate during the lockdown period which started in late March. Now almost 15.74 million Australians have access to a subscription TV service, up 878,000 (+5.9%) in only three months. All the major subscription TV services have been big winners out of the lockdown with big increases in viewers for Netflix, Foxtel, Stan, Disney+ and Amazon Prime in the three months to May 2020 compared to the prior three month period to February 2020 (pre COVID-19 lockdown). Netflix remains by far the nation’s most watched subscription television service, with 13.28 million viewers, an increase of over 1 million in only three months (+8.8%). Foxtel has also experienced its best growth for many years with over 5.5 million viewers, up 658,000 (+13.6%) since the pre-COVID-19 period. Also growing strongly during lockdown have been third-placed Stan which grew 729,000 (+19.7%) to 4,434,000 viewers, newcomer Disney+ which was up 689,000 (+38.2%) and Amazon Prime Video now with 2,166,000 viewers – an increase of 678,000 (+45.5%) since February.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, DISNEY+, AMAZON PRIME VIDEO

Business in push to fast-track tax cuts

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-Jul-20

The Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry has used its pre-budget submission to call for comprehensive tax reform, including bringing forward legislated personal income tax cuts. The ACCI also advocates a gradual reduction in the JobSeeker allowance to pre-coronavirus levels, while it says the domestic economy will be vulnerable to further shocks for several years due to the impact of COVID-19. Meanwhile, a Menzies Research Centre paper argues that all of the national cabinet’s decisions on coronavirus lockdowns measures should be subject to a cost-benefit analysis. The report by economists Henry Ergas and Joe Branigan was written before the new virus outbreaks in Melbourne and Sydney.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, THE MENZIES RESEARCH CENTRE LIMITED

Movement data in CBDs remains far below pre-COVID-19 levels

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 15-Jul-20

A special analysis of movement data in the Sydney and Melbourne CBDs shows that neither have returned to anything like the levels of earlier in the year, even before the latest Stage 3 lockdown in Melbourne and renewed fears of an outbreak in Sydney. 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. The number of devices seen in the Sydney CBD during the first week of July averaged only 53% of the levels seen during January and February. In recent days, several new cases of COVID-19 have been discovered around Sydney and the prospect of a return to lockdown appears to be rising. Further south, the number of devices seen in the Melbourne CBD during the first week of July averaged only 39% of the levels seen earlier in the year. The Melbourne metropolitan area has had restrictions progressively tightened since mid-June and returned to a Stage 3 lockdown during the past week. Although restrictions eased in both cities during May, and early June, the movement data for both CBDs remained well below the average levels in the pre-COVID-19 period as working from home has remained the norm for many city office workers throughout this period.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, UBERMEDIA

Fair Work flags reprieve on underpayment

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 13-Jul-20

Restaurants, cafes and horticulture are among the sectors that the Fair Work Ombudsman tends to focus upon regarding wage underpayments. However, the FWO notes that businesses in these sectors are likely to be under severe financial stress because of COVID-19. As a result, it is prepared to take no legal action against businesses in these circumstances as well as considering the reduction of ‘contrition payments’, provided that their non-compliance was not "egregious or deliberate". The FWO will make large companies its 2020-21 focus so far as underpayments are concerned.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB

Aussie scientists fast-track human trials on Covid vaccine

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Original article by Jamie Walker
The Australian – Page: 5 : 13-Jul-20

The University of Queensland will commence a phase one clinical trial of a potential coronavirus vaccine on 13 July. Professor Paul Young, one of the lead researchers, says preclinical testing of the S-Spike vaccine showed that it is effective in neutralising the virus and is safe to administer to humans. More than 4,000 people volunteered to take part in the clinical trial, although the university had sought just 120. Project leader Trent Munro says a working vaccine could be available by September, although he notes that it may take longer to receive final approval and commence mass production.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND

Labor demands coronavirus supports remain as figures show 13 jobseekers per vacancy

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 13-Jul-20

Prime Minister Scott Morrison claimed on 10 July that Labor was scaremongering over the future of the $70 billion JobKeeper program. He said he had made it clear that there would be a further stage of income support, and that it was "disgraceful" and "blatantly untrue" for Labor to claim the government was going to end the program in September. Federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese responded to Morrison’s comments on 12 July by stating that businesses still had no certainty about whether the program will continue, while Labor says figures that reveal there are 13 jobseekers per job vacancy show that the government must keep COVID-19 income support programs in place beyond September.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Covid strategy clarion call

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Original article by Greg Brown, Rachel Baxendale
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 13-Jul-20

Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott says the nation cannot afford to maintain a ‘stop-start’ approach to re-opening the economy. She stresses that Australia needs to learn to live with the coronavirus, as it may be two years before a vaccine is available. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox has expressed similar sentiments, arguing that the nation’s response to the pandemic must be "proportionate and logical", rather than "hysterical and irrational". Flight Centre CEO Graham Turner has called for a nationally consistent strategy in dealing with the pandemic.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT

NSW reaches virus crossroads

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Original article by Natasha Boddy, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 13-Jul-20

Victoria recorded 455 new coronavirus cases on the weekend of 11-12 July, while the state’s death toll has risen to 24. The number of cases linked to public housing towers in North Melbourne and Flemington has risen to 237, while 142 cases have now been linked to the Al-Taqwa College. Meanwhile, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has warned that south-west Sydney could become a coronavirus hotspot after a cluster was identified at the Crossroads Hotel in the suburb of Casula. The nation’s death toll has risen to 108, while the global death toll is now 570,564. More than 13 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with the virus, although more than 7.5 million have recovered.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET