Latest updates on Key Economic Indicators

Australian Dollar: $0.7683 USD (down $0.0022 USD)

Iron Ore Feb Spot Price (SGX): $170.44 USD (up $1.22 USD)

Oil Price (WTI): $52.09 USD (down $0.27 USD)

Gold Price: $1,837.39 (up $9.76 USD)

Dow Jones: 30,814.26 (unchanged - public holiday)

All changes compared to 7am yesterday.

2021 Australian of the Year Award finalists

On January 26, four Australians will be named as this year's recipients of the Senior, Young, Community and Australian of the Year awards.

The awards are to honour each person's work to-date, but past recipients say award day is far from the end of a journey, but more the start of a whole new opportunity to help their fellow Australians.

In a year when the nation was tested by devastating bushfires, a global pandemic and economic hardship, Australians rose to these unprecedented challenges with determination and resilience.

Whether it was during a bushfire emergency, at the forefront of a national coronavirus response or from a remote region, the 2021 Australian of the Year Award finalists strove to better the lives of their countrymen and women.

They gave a voice to the survivors of sexual assault, improved the health outcomes for vulnerable and First Nation's people, broke new ground for people with a disability and brought greater inclusivity to a national sporting body.

'Cheap political stunt' says Bridget 'Sports rorts'  McKenzie

The Guardian - Page Online : 19 January 2021 - Original article by Paul Karp - PortMac.News Summary

A Senate committee chaired by Labor is conducting an investigation into the $100m community sport infrastructure grant program; the investigation has been dubbed the 'sports rort inquiry'.

Former federal sports minister Bridget McKenzie made a submission to the inquiry in April 2020, but the committee has asked her to provide it with further information.

McKenzie has stated she will appear before it for just one hour on 12 February, while saying her appearance will amount to nothing more than a "Cheap political stunt". 

Workforce hits a new high in December with more jobs and more people looking for work as Australia opens up

Market Research Update - Page Online : 19 January 2021 - Original article by Roy Morgan - PortMac.News Summary

Latest Roy Morgan employment data shows over 12.6 million Australians were employed in December (up 210,000 since November) and 1.72 million (up 44,000) were unemployed (up 0.1% to 12.0% of the workforce).

There were increases in full-time employment, up 53,000 to 8,151,000, and part-time employment, up 157,000 to a record high of 4,498,000 and the increases in employment were driven by increases in NSW (up 103,000) and Queensland (up 168,000) while other States were little changed.

Under-employment was also up slightly in December as part-time employment hit a record high, increasing 73,000 to 1.36 million Australians (9.4% of the workforce).

Analysis by State shows unemployment dropped 1.8% to 8.6% in NSW and is now clearly the lowest in the nation, compared to 13.2% in both Victoria and Queensland and 13.6% in WA.

No 'Special treatment' for tennis stars

The Australian Financial Review - Page 4 : 19 January 2021 - Original article by Hannah Wootton - PortMac.News Summary

Victorian Premier Andrew Daniels has rejected criticism of the lockdown rules for Australian Open participants, arguing that the players were given advance notice of the quarantine requirements.

A tennis player is believed to be among the people on three inbound charter flights that have tested positive for COVID-19, and 72 players who were on these flights are in hard lockdown.

Andrews has ruled out granting any concessions to these players, who will not be allowed to commence training until shortly before the Australian Open begins. Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton says many Victorians have endured a hard lockdown without asking for special treatment.

International travel is likely off the cards until 2022

Business Insider Australia - Page Online : 18 January 2021 - Original article by David Adams - PortMac.News Summary

Australia's former Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy expects significant border restrictions to be in place for most of 2021, despite the imminent arrival of COVID-19 vaccines.

Murphy, who is now the head of the federal health department, says it is likely that quarantine arrangements for international arrivals are likely to remain in place for some time, with no significant level of international travel likely until at least 2022.

Murphy says that although Australia may be able to get a significant percentage of its population vaccinated, it is not certain whether that will prevent transmission of the coronavirus. 

Calls for more help as international border stays closed due to COVID threat

abc.net au - Page Online : 19 January 2021 - Original article by Jade McMillan - PortMac.News Summary

Tourism and Transport Forum CEO Margy Osmond says it is not possible for domestic tourism to fill the gap left by the loss of overseas visitors due to COVID-19.

She notes that the average visitor from China spends around $8,500 while in Australia, whereas the average Australian going on a domestic holiday will probably spend around $1,500.

She says a uniform system of state border restrictions is needed, and that the federal governments needs to provide further "pay cheque" support for the tourism sector when the JobKeeper wage subsidy ends in March.

'It's quite exciting': Trickle of office workers return to CBD

The Age - Page Online : 19 January 2021 - Original article by David Estcourt, Craig Butt - PortMac.News Summary

Melbourne's CBD has experienced its biggest pedestrian numbers for the start of any working week since the first COVID-19 lockdown in March, according to data from the City of Melbourne.

The increase in pedestrian numbers on 18 January came as the relaxation of work-at-home measures meant that up to 50% of private-sector office workers are now allowed to commute to the CBD.

A Roy Morgan survey of 503 people working in the CBD found that three-quarters of them were reluctant to go back to working in the office full-time; prior to the pandemic, just 17% of CBD workers routinely worked from home.

Super Retail returns $1.7 million JobKeeper handout

The New Daily - Page Online : 19 January 2021 - Original article by Matthew Elmas - PortMac.News Summary

Federal Labor MP Andrew Leigh has praised Super Retail Group for announcing plans to repay its JobKeeper payments due to a surge in its half-year profit.

Leigh says the listed retailer made a "principled decision" to refund the $1.7m it has received from taxpayers via the wage subsidy scheme.

He adds that rival retailers such as Premier Investments should follow its example.

Toyota also recently advised that it will repay some $18m worth of JobKeeper payments due to a rebound in sales.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says large companies have no obligation to repay JobKeeper payments.

Double vaccine rollout in plan to defeat Covid

The Australian - Page 1 & 4 : 19 January 2021 - Original article by Natasha Robinson - PortMac.News Summary

Monash University epidemiologist Professor Allen Cheng says that achieving herd immunity is a long-term goal of Australia's COVID-19 vaccination program.

He has flagged the possibility that Australians could be given more than one of the vaccines if this helps to achieve herd immunity. Professor Cheng, who is also the joint chair of the federal government's Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, adds that it is not yet known whether any of the vaccines will prevent transmission of the coronavirus and how long any immunity will last.

Norway finds no direct link between elderly deaths and vaccine

The Age - Page Online : 19 January 2021 - Original article by Lars Erik Taraldsen - PortMac.News Summary

The Norwegian Medicines Agency has sought to allay concerns that elderly people who have died since being vaccinated against COVID-19 did so as a result of receiving the vaccine.

Initial reports of the deaths attracted a lot of publicity, as the world looks to find out if the new vaccines have possible side effects.

Steinar Madsen from the Norwegian Medicines Agency says that all the elderly people in question had serious underlying illnesses, and that it would be hard to prove that the vaccine was the direct cause of their death.

Up until 15 January, Norway had only used the Pfizer-BioNTech; the first Europe-wide safety report on that vaccine is due to be published at the end of January.

China GDP to help drive local growth

The Australian Financial Review - Page 1 & 26 : 19 January 2021 - Original article by Sarah Turner - PortMac.News Summary

China has reported GDP growth of 2.3 per cent for calendar 2020, with the domestic economy expanding by a higher-than-expected 6.5% in the fourth quarter.

The Chinese economy had contracted by 6.8%t in the first quarter in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Market economists expect China to record economic growth of at least eight per cent in 2021.

The economic rebound in China has prompted UBS to upgrade its forecast for Australia's economic growth in 2021 from 3.8% to 4.2%; the firm expects the domestic economy to recover to pre-coronavirus levels by the end of June.

2020 is over but troubles aren't behind us

The Australian - Page 9 : 19 January 2021 - Original article by Adam Creighton - PortMac.News Summary

The Economist has estimated that the global cost of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of forgone income will top $US10.3 trillion by the end of 2021.

Sectors of the economy that have been hardest hit by the pandemic, such as tourism and hospitality, can be expected to continue to feel the impact of the global health crisis for some time, particularly if there are fresh outbreaks and new lockdowns.

Younger Australians in particular have borne the brunt of COVID-19's impact; they typically work in high-risk sectors such as tourism and hospitality, while expectations that the pandemic would make housing more affordable have not eventuated.

Banking royal commission: most recommendations have been abandoned or delayed

The Guardian Australia - Page Online : 19 January 2021 - Original article by Ben Butler - PortMac.News Summary

The federal government is under scrutiny over its lack of action in implementing the recommendations of the Hayne royal commission.

Analysis shows that 27 of the inquiry's recommendations have been fully implemented to date; another 44 are yet to be implemented, while the government has formally abandoned five of them.

Some of Kenneth Hayne's recommendations were put on hold at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, while others will take effect in 2021 after enabling legislation was passed in December.

The government had committed to all 78 recommendation when it received Hayne's final report almost two years ago. [Click to view full article here]

ATO says it has found $143m in undeclared tax

The Australian Financial Review - Page 3 : 19 January 2021 - Original article by Ronald Mizen, Tom McIlroy - PortMac.News Summary

Described as one of the largest ever leaks of confidential financial information, the Panama Papers leak took place in April 2015.

The leak included 11.5 million files from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, and around 1,400 Australians were named in the leak.

An Australian Tax Office investigation prompted by the leak has resulted in cash collections in excess of $37 million and over $143 million in additional tax liabilities raised as of the end of 2020.

The ATO is predicting that major data leaks will become more frequent in the future.

Banks, resources weigh on bourse

The Australian - Page 19 : 19 January 2021 - Original article by Rebecca Le May - PortMac.News Summary

The Australian sharemarket lost ground on 18 January, with the S&P/ASX 200 shedding 0.78% to close at 6,663 points.

BHP was down 2.93% at $45.45, Oil Search retreated 2.27% to $4.31 and National Australia Bank fell 2.03% to end the session at $23.65. However, Lithium Australia was up 36.36% to $0.135 and JB Hi-Fi rose 3.8% to $52.70.

JB Hi-Fi profit soars in shock retail bonanza

The Australian - Page 13 & 16 : 19 January 2021 - Original article by Eli Greenblat - PortMac.News Summary

Home electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi has advised that its 2020-21 interim profit is expected to be 86.2% higher at $317m.

The unaudited financial results show that sales rose by 23.7% to $4.94bn.

CEO Richard Murray says sales have been strong across all product categories, as consumers opted to spend money on goods for their homes due to coronavirus-induced restrictions on international travel.

Meanwhile, Super Retail has flagged a half-year net profit of $170m to $173m, an increase of up to 201%.

Cancer therapy start-up soars 50%

The Australian Financial Review - Page 13 & 16 : 19 January 2021 - Original article by Yolanda Redrup - PortMac.News Summary

Cancer therapy company Chimeric Therapeutics debuted on the Australian sharemarket on 18 January, with its shares rising over 60% in opening trade.

Chimeric Therapeutics has commenced a phase one clinical trial in the US of its CAR-T therapy for recurrent glioblastoma.

CAR-T is a new technique for combatting this brain cancer, which teaches a person's immune system to recognise and attack cancer cells that have resisted traditional treatments such as radiation or chemotherapy.

The CAR-T therapy that Chimeric Therapeutics is trialling has been licensed from the Los Angeles-based City of Hope cancer treatment and research centre.

Google 'Using CCP's bullying playbook'

The Australian - Page 2 : 19 January 2021 - Original article by James Madden - PortMac.News Summary

Independent senator Rex Patrick and five other crossbenchers will examine the merits of the federal government's media code legislation at a Senate committee hearing on 22 January.

Google has threatened to quit Australia if the code is passed into law, and Patrick has referred to Google's behaviour as 'Straight out of the Chinese Communist Party's playbook'.

Liberal senator Andrew Bragg, who is also part of the Senate committee hearing, has referred to the big technology firms as 'The oil companies of the 21st century'; he says there is growing evidence that regulation is needed to ensure that Australia retains a viable media industry.

Sounds Better Together concerts to restart Victorian music industry

The New Daily - Page Online : 19 January 2021 - Original article by Callum Goodie - PortMac.News Summary

Geelong, Rutherglen and Mallacoota are among the Victorian locations that will stage concerts as part of the Sounds Better Together series.

The state government will partner with Mushroom Records to put on a number of COVID-safe concerts between 23 and 30 January, with acts to include Jimmy Barnes, Tones and I, Daryl Braithwaite and Something for Kate. Martin Pakula,

Victoria's Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, says the concerts will help the music industry and Victorian communities to recover from the impact of COVID-19.

Forrest's ordeal: caught COVID-19 in Uzbekistan, treated in Swiss hospital

The Australian Financial Review - Page 1 & 2 : 19 January 2021 - Original article by Brad Thompson - PortMac.News Summary

Mining magnate Andrew Forrest says he has fully recovered from COVID-19, after contracting the respiratory illness from a Russian interpreter during a trip to Uzbekistan.

Forrest had been on an international tour to pursue opportunities in the renewable energy sector.

He was transferred to a hospital in Sweden, where he continued to work while receiving medical treatment.

The travel tour was part of Fortescue Metals Group's push to expand into renewable energy, and Forrest signed agreements for renewable and green energy projects with seven countries.

The rise in the iron ore price has seen Forrest's wealth top $28bn.

'Caught in a political war': First sailors set free after months stuck at sea

The Age - Page Online : 19 January 2021 - Original article by Eryk Bagshaw - PortMac.News Summary

Bulk carrier 'Jag Anand' and its 23 Indian crew have been granted passage to Japan, having been stuck off the Chinese port of Caofeidian since June.

The ship and its cargo of Australian coal had been caught up in the trade dispute between China and Australia that has resulted in $4 billion worth of Australian coal being blocked from Chinese ports.

Over 70 ships carrying Australian coal still remain off the Chinese coast, with some crew members having been on board for over 20 months.