VIRUS DISEASES – AUSTRALIA

Morrison: Stay course on reopening economy

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Original article by Tom McIlroy, Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 10-Jul-20

The national cabinet meeting on 10 July will discuss issues such as Victoria’s new coronavirus outbreak, the hotel quarantine system and border controls. Prime Minister Scott Morrison will argue the need for the other states and territories to open their borders. South Australia will impose a mandatory testing and quarantine regime on all residents who are returning from Victoria, while Western Australia will ban entry to anybody who has been to Victoria in the last two weeks.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Australia’s fatality rate one of lowest, but that’s not whole story

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Original article by Natasha Robinson
The Australian – Page: 3 : 10-Jul-20

Data from Johns Hopkins University shows that Australia currently boasts a case fatality rate from COVID-19 of just 1.19 per cent. This compares with 15.44 per cent in the UK and four per cent in the US. The case fatality rate is the ratio between confirmed deaths and confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Professor Paul Glasziou of Bond University says a number of factors can contribute to a lower CFR rate, including the number of cases that are detected, the ability of a nation’s healthcare system to cope with the virus, and the age demographic of the population.

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JOHN HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, BOND UNIVERSITY LIMITED

Lockdown to trigger more loan distress

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 13 & 20 : 10-Jul-20

Data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority shows that banks have deferred 18 per cent of small business loans in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Morgan Stanley has warned that that many businesses in Melbourne that have been forced to shut down for a second time may never re-open, particularly smaller ones. The APRA figures also show that more than 10 per cent of home loan repayments have been put on hold. Loans to investors account for 34 per cent of home loan repayments that have been deferred, prompting concern that there may be a surge in distressed selling.

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AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Virus slowdown: call to waive penalty rates

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 9-Jul-20

The Master Builders Association and the Housing Industry Association want the Fair Work Commission to make temporary changes to the construction industry award in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union opposes any move to vary the award so construction workers do not receive penalty rates for working outside their regular hours. Richard Crookes Constructions is among the building firms that have expressed support for temporary changes to the award.

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MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, RICHARD CROOKES CONSTRUCTIONS PTY LTD

Banks to extend loan deferrals

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 8-Jul-20

Australian banks have agreed to extend the deferral of household and business loan repayments by up to four months. The move follows concern about a looming ‘financial cliff’ when the current six-month deferral period ends in September. However, the Australian Banking Association has stressed that customers who have the capacity to resume loan repayments when the initial deferral period ends should do so. It is estimated that nearly 800,000 bank customers have deferred their loan repayments due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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AUSTRALIAN BANKING ASSOCIATION

Funds face more outflows: APRA

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Original article by Samantha Bailey
The Australian – Page: 15 : 7-Jul-20

Data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority shows that superannuation fund members have now withdrawn some $18.1bn via the federal government’s early access scheme. APRA expects the new financial year to prompt another surge in applications to withdraw money from super funds. People who have experienced financial hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic can withdraw up to $10,000 from their super fund in both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 financial years.

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AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

Fears of Victorian outbreak acceleration amid rise in intensive care admissions

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Original article by
The New Daily – Page: Online : 3-Jul-20

Victoria recorded 77 new coronavirus cases on 2 July, including 31 that have been attributed to community transmission. A total of 86 new cases were reported nationwide, with eight in New South Wales. This includes a Woolworths employee who had returned to Sydney after leaving hotel quarantine in Melbourne; 50 workers at the Woolworths store in Balmain are now in lockdown. Meanwhile, the Northern Territory has recorded its first coronavirus case in four weeks, with another person who was in hotel quarantine in Melbourne testing positive after returning to Darwin. Australia now has 807 active coronavirus cases, with the nation’s total number of infections having risen to 8,001.

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JobSeeker’s $200 boost could cost $4 billion for six months

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Original article by Shane Wright
The Age – Page: Online : 3-Jul-20

The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre’s director, Alan Duncan, says the JobSeeker payment should be increased when the coronavirus supplement ends in September. Duncan contends that the unemployment benefit was insufficient prior to the pandemic, and he has suggested that it could be increased by $200 a fortnight; he estimates that this would cost about $3.8bn over six months. Duncan adds that the JobSeeker payment must be scaled back in order to provide people with an incentive to seek work.

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BANKWEST CURTIN ECONOMICS CENTRE

Jobs clawback sees 250,000 return to work

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 5 : 1-Jul-20

New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the number of employees on companies’ payrolls has increased by 2.7 per cent since mid-April. This equates to about 250,000 workers, and follows an 8.8 per cent fall in payrolled jobs in the four weeks from 14 March. However, there are still 670,000 fewer workers on companies’ payrolls than prior to the coronavirus pandemic. The figures are based on payrolls data from the Australian Taxation Office.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE

ACM brings back bulk of print titles

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 29-Jun-20

Regional newspaper group Australian Community Media will shortly resume publishing at least 50 of the print mastheads that were suspended in April due to the coronavirus pandemic. The move affected about 80 non-daily titles, and sources have indicated that a decision has yet to be made as to when the remaining mastheads will resume publication. ACM CEO Allen Williams has urged regional communities to support their local newspapers to ensure that they are financially sustainable.

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AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA