Today's News - Tuesday 21 April 2020
Property News:
- All the leasing and sales activity in and around Sydney.
- Mounting job losses, limits to international travel and ongoing property development are expected to leave homes in some Sydney areas empty for months, with effects on rents.
- Landlords are slashing rates and offering weeks of free rent to entice tenants after COVID-19 social restrictions and other changes drove a doubling in vacancies in some suburbs. The increasingly generous offers helped push advertised house rents down nearly 5 per cent over March, while unit rents dropped 3.1 per cent, SQM Research showed.
Other News:
NSW Parliament recalled to debate rental relief measures. The Berejiklian government will recall NSW Parliament on May 11 to pass critical rental relief legislation to help residential and commercial tenants and landlords hit by the coronavirus crisis.
Premier may delay opening stores as retailers prepare for permanent closures.
Sydney Airport borrows $850 million as traffic sinks 97%.
Oil has traded at negative prices for the first time in United States' history, with demand for energy collapsing amid the coronavirus pandemic.
NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance says a second wave of mega transport projects, and the sale of assets to reinvest in new infrastructure, will be part of a "silver bullet" to revive the economy.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced New Zealand will start to wind back its coronavirus restrictions a week from Monday.
Headlines continue surrounding Virgin Australia’s preparation for Voluntary Administration.
Key points:
- Virgin Australia is on the edge of insolvency, with about $5 billion in debt
- Pilots want the Federal Government to step in with a $1.4 billion bailout
- Credit agencies have downgraded Virgin's rating saying a 'default' is likely
Sir Richard Branson has called for Government assistance to save his Virgin airlines, while warning of the repercussions should Virgin Australia collapse.
Key points:
- Sir Richard Branson says Virgin Australia is fighting to survive, and its demise would give Qantas "a monopoly of the Australian skies"
- He suggested his private island could be used as collateral for a government loan
- Sir Richard refuted claims he should be providing more of his own finance to Virgin airlines saying his wealth "is not sitting as cash in a bank account:
The National Australia Bank has warned its first-half earnings will take a $1.14 billion hit due to rising remediation costs, troubles in its life insurance business and changes to accounting for technology projects, all compounded by the ongoing impact of the coronavirus crisis.
Neobank 86 400 has made an unsuccessful plea to the Reserve Bank for small banks to be granted more favourable access to a $90 billion emergency funding scheme, claiming the policy is helping the big four gain a "stranglehold" on new business via cheap home loans.
The Federal Government is planning to release a new app to help it track and trace coronavirus.
Key points:
- The Government's coronavirus app will track contact with other people, not your location
- It will automatically collect the phone number, name, age and postcode of a person you are physically near for more than 15 minutes
- This information is encrypted and stored locally on your phone. It will only be uploaded to a central government server if you test positive to coronavirus
Thousands of Americans have reportedly signed onto a class action lawsuit in the US state of Florida which seeks compensation from the Chinese Government for COVID-19 damages, as Western politicians increasingly call for accountability.
Key points:
- The Chinese Government is accused of covering up COVID-19 in the early stages
- But Beijing has repeatedly denied suppressing information
- Conservative law firms and think tanks in Western countries are demanding financial compensation
Headlines continue with Canadian mass shotting. The death toll from the worst mass shooting in Canadian history has risen to 19, with police saying they expect the number to grow.
Vietnam protests Beijing's expansion in disputed South China Sea as world remains occupied with coronavirus. China has bolstered its presence in the South China Sea by setting up two administrative bodies on islands in the disputed water, dubbed "its youngest city".
The Federal Government has ordered the competition watchdog to develop a mandatory code of conduct to govern commercial dealings between tech giants and news media companies.
Key points:
- Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says "it's only fair that those who generate content get paid for it"
- The ACCC believed it was "unlikely" digital giants would reach a voluntary agreement over the issue of payment
- COVID-19 has accelerated the Government's push as it has crippled media advertising revenue and enhance the need for public interest journalism
Two men were checked for COVID-19 after a massive seizure of 1000kg of ice off a yacht which sailed from New Caledonia to Lake Macquarie. Click on link to see video for bust at sea.
An Australian man has been arrested in Thailand and is expected to be extradited to his native New South Wales on charges of child sexual abuse.
William James Petrie, 63, was arrested in Thailand's Chachoengsao Province, east of Bangkok, on Easter Saturday by the country's Crime Suppression Division police.
Covid-19 Update:
- Australia's leaders will meet at a National Cabinet meeting today, with the lifting of some lockdown measures to be discussed.
- Beaches in Sydney have reopened today to allow people to exercise in an easing of social distancing restrictions.
Coogee, Maroubra and Clovelly beaches in Sydney’s south-east will be available for select activities from Monday, April 20 including sand jogging, walking, swimming and surfing.
The coronavirus crisis is devastating the economy and individual households – and sadly, heartless scammers are ready to pounce. (click on link to see the past phishing scams circulating Australia during Covid-19).
- China dismissed Australia's questioning of how Beijing handled the coronavirus pandemic as groundless, saying it had been open and transparent, despite growing scepticism about the accuracy of its official death toll.
- The head of the World Health Organisation [WHO] Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesushas warned the coronavirus pandemic could worsen and also refuted any suggestions that his organisation has hidden anything from any of its member states.
- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said it could take weeks if not months before the country's most populous city re-opens due to a lack of widespread testing, even as officials elsewhere began rolling back restrictions on daily life.
The COVID-19 death toll has passed 40,000 in the US, with the epicentre of the virus in New York appearing to pass the peak of infections.
- The mayor of an island in Estonia that's become a coronavirus hotspot has resigned for allowing a volleyball match that sparked a spread of infection.
- Germans returned to the shops on Monday, craving retail therapy after a month of lockdown, but Chancellor Angela Merkel is concerned that could increase coronavirus infections again just as the number of new cases had started to slow. Shops up to 800 square metres, as well as car and bicycle dealers and bookstores, are allowed to reopen this week.
- Around 8 per cent of adult Australians, or more than 1.6 million people, appear to have lost their incomes in the first week of the total COVID-19 lockdown, according to early official estimates.
Key points:
- The survey is based on the first week of the current tough coronavirus restrictions
- Official unemployment figures released last week which showed little change were from before strict social-distancing measures came into force
- The new survey shows an estimated 12.5 per cent of Australians in work in early March no longer were by the first week in April
- Pakistan eases restrictions on mosques for Ramadan.
- Facebook removes anti-quarantine protest events in some US states.
- WHO chief warns worst of coronavirus pandemic is still ahead.
- Caltex's $8.8b takeover talks end as virus clouds fuel sector.
In the Markets
ASX drops 2.5pc as oil prices collapse, while NAB flags $1.1b hit to earnings.
Key points:
- ASX 200 closed 2.5pc lower, weighed down by energy sector
- Australian dollar slipped to 63.5 US cents
- West Texas crude plunged 18pc below $US15/barrel, its lowest value since 1999