Today's News - Wednesday 16 December 2020
Today's News - Wednesday 16 December 2020
Our Backyard
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the Government is still treating news that China has blocked Australian coal imports as media speculation, while adding that if it is true, it would be a bad outcome for both countries' economies.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-15/scott-morrison-china-trade-tension-coal-bans/12984322
China and Australia's trade dispute over coal threatens to escalate into a wider spat over climate change and net-zero emissions targets.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday said that coal imports from other countries "have 50 per cent higher emissions" than Australian coal. "As a result, that would be a bad outcome for the environment," he said.
Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said China would have to increase its local production and imports from other countries including, Indonesia, Russia and Mongolia, whose thermal coal produces emissions higher than Australia's.
The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) says a $552 million acquisition by Woolworths of privately owned PFD Food Services could give the supermarket giant too much bargaining power and reduce consumer choice.
Woolworths has been trying to acquire a 65 per cent stake in PFD, and its 26 distribution centres, since August.
The Australian Small Business ombudsman Kate Carnell said allowing the merger to go ahead would make Woolworths too powerful against smaller supermarkets.
Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci said there was "no reduction in competition in any relevant markets" from the proposal.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-15/wooloworths-merger-pfd-concerns-from-accc/12984506
Australia will beat its 2030 emission reduction targets through several energy projects without drawing on its carbon credits, Scott Morrison says.
Speaking in Tasmania on Tuesday, Mr Morrison announced that the federal and state governments had signed a new deal that will give the green light to two energy projects.
They include a 1500MW capacity Marinus Link interconnector between Tasmania and Victoria, and a pumped hydro site.
Australia’s homeless rate will surge by 9 per cent next year when cuts to the JobSeeker payment’s coronavirus supplement heap more misery on those living below the poverty line, a new report predicts.
On January 1, the coronavirus supplement for JobSeeker – which rose to $550 a fortnight during the pandemic – will be slashed from $250 to $150.
During the three-month period after New Year’s Day, a single person with no children will be paid $357.85 a week.
The supplement will then scrapped altogether on March 31, leaving a single person with no children on $282.5 a week – or $40 a day.
The Australian Council of Social Service defines the national poverty line as $457 a week for a single adult.
Weekly payrolls figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the number of workers paid through the Taxation Office’s one-touch payroll system lifted by 0.4 per cent between mid and late November, against a 0.3 per cent rise over the previous two weeks.
Businesses took back on 100,000 employees over the two weeks to November 28, further evidence that the powerful post-COVID economic and associated labour market recovery has extended through to the end of the year.
The prudential regulator has scrapped its guidance restricting bank dividends at 50 per cent of earnings, but cautioned lenders to moderate payout ratios to ensure they are sustainable.
From the start of calendar 2021, banks will be released from the dividend constraints that were put in place earlier this year as a means of bolstering balance street strength through the COVID-19 pandemic.
The onus will be on boards to moderate dividend payout ratios to ensure they are sustainable, taking into account the outlook for profitability, capital and the broader environment, the prudential regulator cautioned.
ASIC’s report into school finance programs offered by banks found they were providing little to no long-term education in teaching children responsible saving habits.
It also found schools were incentivised by banks by additional funding if the respective primary or high school offered the bank’s savings program.
According to the regulator, schools received $1.3 million in commission payments for using school banking programs.
ASIC’s report found 63 per cent of schools in Australia offered banking programs, with more than 90 per cent of those signed up to CBA’s Dollarmites program.
Despite the negative findings, ASIC’s survey noted the programs remained popular among parents, with 61 per cent of respondents saying they would be furious if school banking programs stopped.
Almost $500 million in unclaimed money is up for grabs, and NSW residents are being urged to check if they are entitled to a share.
Revenue NSW has revealed the state is entitled to $461 million sitting with the department, and it is ready to be returned to its rightful owners.
Greater Sydney makes up a large percentage of the pool with more than $130 million in unclaimed money, with $70.5 million of that from within inner-city suburbs.
More than $34 million sits unclaimed from the northern Sydney area, while $16 million is from western Sydney and almost $14 million from southern and southwest Sydney.
More than $37 million is unclaimed from regional areas in NSW.
The most common examples where a person is entitled to unclaimed money include refunds and overpayments from a purchase, sale of property, goods or services. deposits and premiums, principal and interest, share dividends, cheques that have not been cashed or deposited and NSW public sector superannuation.
The NSW public health order requiring employers to allow people to work from home will be repealed on Monday but bosses are grappling with the post-pandemic balance between home and office-based work.
Australia ranks at the bottom of 26 global markets for investment portfolio disclosure, leaving fund members in the dark over how their retirement savings are being used.
Australia is in the "bottom" category – on its own – in the study by investment researcher Morningstar because super funds and managed funds are not compelled to reveal their investments and there is poor disclosure of environmental, social and governance issues.
Compulsory disclosure of fund portfolio holdings is in the works but the regulation that is needed to spell out how the disclosure would work has yet to be drawn up by the federal government.
However, the start date for super funds to list their investments has been repeatedly delayed. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said last week that the launch date had again been pushed back from December 31 until December 31, 2021. The regulator says the delay is needed because "regulations supporting the requirements have not yet been made".
The most comprehensive review of the Medicare Benefits Schedule ever conducted found the system has failed to keep pace with advances in surgical techniques, medical discoveries and new treatments.
The finding comes from the final report from the MBS taskforce. The five-year review is the largest examination of Medicare since the system was introduced in 1984.
The "fee-for-service" MBS model provided "inappropriate incentives" in some instances and can perpetuate inefficiency, the report said. While that model was still appropriate for some services, the taskforce said the public healthcare system needs to evolve as health needs continue to become more complex.
The Retail Food Group (RFG) is accused of engaging in unconscionable conduct and making false or misleading representations, according to a Federal Court case launched by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
The company is behind Michel's Patisserie, Brumby's Bakery, Donut King and Gloria Jean's Coffee is getting sued for allegedly ripping off its franchisees.
Australia's consumer watchdog will argue that RFG broke the law when it sold or licensed 42 loss-making stores to incoming franchisees between 2015 and 2019.
Michel's Patisserie allegedly shifted $22m from its "marketing fund" for ulterior purposes.
RFG also owns Crust Pizza, Pizza Capers and The Coffee Guy (which are not involved in the case).
RFG's stock plunged (-23.1pc) on Tuesday morning, before being placed in a trading halt for about 90 minutes.
NSW, Queensland weather: Evacuation warning as heavy rainfall smashes coast
An evacuation order is now in place for 1000 properties in northern NSW as floodwaters rise and wild weather wreaks havoc.
Coles will follow Woolworths’ lead in imposing a purchase limit on its half-price rock lobsters after the luxurious seafood began flying off shelves.
A limit of four lobsters per customer per transaction has now come into effect at Woolworths supermarkets nationally while Coles will bring in the same limit on Wednesday.
A Coles spokesperson said it was great to see so many customers wanting to support the local seafood industry.
New changes to renting laws in the Northern Territory could see an influx of wild animals as pets, with only one thing standing between them and moving a croc into the pool.
As of January 1 2021, renters will be allowed to have whatever pet they like, as long as it is “reasonable”.
The Territory’s Residential Tenancies Act 2019, now presumes tenants have the right to keep pets on a landlord’s property.
All tenants need to do is provide written notice to their landlord describing the proposed pet they want to keep.
If the landlord rejects that application, tenants can then apply to the NT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NT CAT) which will decide if having the pet on premises is reasonable or not.
Possessing small amounts of hard drugs, including heroin, ecstasy and ice, would be decriminalised in ACT under a new push to tackle the public health crisis.
Labor MLA Michael Pettersson unveiled a draft private members bill on Monday, saying the territory should no longer “arrest our way out” of the drug problem.
The move comes after the ACT government in January removed penalties for adults who possessed or used small amounts of cannabis.
Under Mr Pettersson’s proposal, cocaine, heroin, crystal meth, magic mushrooms and amphetamine would be subject to possession limits of 2 grams.
A health clinic in Sydney's east has been shut down by the medical watchdog after two patients were admitted to hospital following alleged botched intravenous therapy (IV) infusions.
The Health Care Complaints Commission released a public warning on Monday about DETOXologie in Bondi Junction, which provided IV drip therapy and colonic irrigation.
The HCCC made the warning about the colonic clinic and its practitioner Fay Fain after it found the adverse reactions were allegedly caused by contaminated infusions.
World News
Joe Biden been elected as the 46th president of the United States, with the electoral college confirming the president-elect's 306-232 win over Donald Trump.
The president-elect delivered a televised victory speech shortly after Hawaii reported its electoral vote, the last state to do so.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday congratulated Joe Biden on his victory in the US presidential election, after Biden won the state-by-state Electoral College vote that officially determines the US presidency, the Kremlin said.
The Kremlin had said it would wait for the "official results" of the election before commenting on its outcome, even as other nations congratulated Biden on the win in the days after the November 3 vote.
South Korea's parliament has passed a bill to ban the launching of propaganda leaflets into North Korea, a move that was condemned by rights activists as a violation of freedom of speech.
Groups run by North Korean defectors and other campaigners have for decades sent anti-Pyongyang leaflets — alongside food, medicine, US$1 bills, mini radios and USB sticks containing South Korean news and dramas — into the North, usually by balloon or in bottles on border rivers.
The new law carries a three-year prison term and fines of 30 million won ($36,000) for anyone found guilty.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-15/south-korea-bans-propaganda-leaflets-to-north-korea/12983452
Covid-19
London will move into Tier 3 (the strictest tier of England's regional lockdown system) on Wednesday after coronavirus rates in the capital soared to among the highest in the nation.
All pubs and restaurants will shut unless they offer takeaway services when Greater London moves into Tier 3, or Very High Alert, but shops, schools and gyms will remain open.
It was also announced a new strain of coronavirus had been identified in England.
The United States has begun inoculating citizens, marking what it is hoped will be a turning point in the effort to control the deadly virus just as the country's death toll tops 300,000.
An ICU nurse is the first person in New York to receive the Pfizer vaccine, her jab was livestreamed.
Healthcare workers and aged care residents will be first in line for the two-dose inoculation.
More than 60 residents at a care home tested positive for coronavirus after a Christmas visit from a "super-spreader" dressed as St Nicholas.
St Nicholas is a figure similar to Santa Claus and is a much-loved festive fixture in Belgium, where he hands out gifts to children on December 5.
At least 75 people, 61 of them residents and 14 staff, were infected by the man, who is the son of one of the residents and volunteers at the care home in Mol, near Antwerp.
Property
National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation research report revealed following:
- Australian housing is tipped to be in ‘oversupply’ in coming years which will have an impact on rent costs in some parts of the country.
- one million fewer people than previously expected are predicted to be living in Australia.
- But at the same time, low interest rates and government stimulus have caused a recovery in construction activity, and new supply is expected to exceed new demand by around 127,000 dwellings next year.
Lendlease will spend $600m buying up a sinking Sydney suburb in a massive compensation scheme offered to 841 homeowners.
The buyback of houses near Penrith in Sydney’s west has seen Lendlease offer to repurchase every home in Jordan Springs East, after the development, allegedly built on landfill, began to sink, causing significant damage to homes.
While Lendlease disputes that the damage is across the entire suburb, instead claiming it is limited to about 90 homes, Penrith City Council slapped 195 more notices on homes in the fresh development in September, increasing the number of notices to 841.
Homeowners were given an option to receive compensation and company-backed repairs until 2035, five years after council notifications are removed.
Grocon’s creditors must wait until next year for property scion Daniel Grollo to put forward a rescue plan for the company after a court agreed to give administrators KordaMentha more time to report into the builder’s collapse.
Creditor APN Property Group is also pushing for a liquidation and an in-depth examination of Mr Grollo’s financial position, including his new built-to-rent empire, as it seeks to claw back funds on a soured Melbourne development deal.
Money owing to external creditors is relatively small with about 70 third party trade creditors seeking $8.5m-$10m and the Australian Taxation Office chasing about $14m.
There are also other claims of about $10m, although there is a separate dispute with Impact Investment Group.The collapse has been complicated by 35 Grocon entities in administration having claims against other collapsed subsidiaries totalling about $723m. Thirty-one Grocon entities not in administration also have $318m in claims against collapsed entities.
Markets
Coal and iron ore miners have dragged the Australian market lower, while Wall Street drifted into the red as the United States began its nationwide rollout of coronavirus vaccines.
By the close, the benchmark ASX 200 had slipped (-0.4pc) to 6,631. The broader All Ordinaries index was down by half a per cent to 6,866 points.
Despite the small losses, the share market is still trading near a nine-month high.
Coal stocks were the worst performers, including Coronado Global Resources (-10pc), Yancoal Australia (-8.4pc), New Hope Corporation (-2.7pc) and Whitehaven Coal (-5.9pc).
Mining giants BHP (-2.3pc), Fortescue Metals (-3pc) and Rio Tinto (-1.3pc) also dragged the market lower.
The iron ore miners were weighed down by iron ore prices, which dropped (-3.9pc) to $US154.50 a tonne.
Meanwhile, some of the best performing stocks were KFC-franchise owner Collins Foods (+2.2pc), Xero (+2.5pc), Skycity (+2.3pc) and Shopping Centres Australasia (+3pc).
The Australian dollar was steady against the greenback, at 75.2 US cents.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq index lifted (+0.5pc) to 12,440 points.
But the S&P 500 finished modestly lower (-0.4pc) at 3,648, while the Dow Jones index slipped (-0.6pc) to 29,860 points.
European markets closed with mixed results, as Britain's FTSE fell (-0.2pc) to 6,532 and Germany's DAX lifted (+.8pc) to 13,223.
Oil prices rose for six consecutive weeks as investors bet on a global economic recovery next year.
Brent crude futures rose (+0.6pc) to $US50.25 a barrel.