Lockdown states draw on Federal aid
NSW Covid-19 aid extended
New South Wales’ prolonged Covid-19 restrictions have prompted the Federal Government to extend its support package for affected businesses and workers. Under the joint Federal-NSW package, the existing Covid-19 disaster payment has been expanded and increased for people losing more than eight hours of work a week. A business support payment will be available for eligible businesses that can demonstrate a 30 per cent decline in turnover. Ahead of Victoria announcing a fifth lockdown, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said “better arrangements” were in place to support Victorians in that scenario.
Home quarantine trials for vaccinated travellers
National Cabinet of Federal, State and Territory leaders has approved a trial for home quarantine of returning travellers who have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus. South Australia has committed to conduct the first trial, which will be eligible for travellers who had been vaccinated in Australia with an approved vaccination, arriving from low and medium-risk countries.
NZ citizens boost travel numbers
Despite ongoing travel restrictions, more than 100,000 people arrived in Australia during June, according to provisional estimates released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. A total of 103,500 arrivals and 99,500 departures were recorded for the month, with New Zealand and Australian citizens accounting for most of the out and inbound travel. Twenty thousand permanent and temporary visa holders arrived in Australia in June, led by citizens from the United Kingdom, China, India and the United States. Pre-pandemic, international arrivals and departures were peaking at more than one million per month.
Cyber security in digital economy under focus
The Federal Government has opened public consultation on a raft of reforms designed to strengthen the cyber security of Australia’s digital economy. Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews and Industry Minister Christian Porter said proposed reforms included stronger cyber security standards for the digital economy, more transparent information and reinforced legal remedies for consumers. Meanwhile the Australian Institute of Criminology has released a report that estimates the total economic impact of cybercrime on individuals in the domestic economy at $3.5 billion, including $1.9 billion lost by Australian victims.
Federal industry assistance totals $13.7 billion
Australian industry received around $13.7 billion through Federal Government tariff assistance, budgetary outlays and tax concessions in 2019-20, the Productivity Commission (PC) has found. The PC’s annual Trade and Assistance Review said that almost half of the total gross assistance was through tax concessions ($6.7 billion). If the cost of tariffs through higher inputs were considered, the net cost of assistance stood at $12.1 billion – up $0.4 billion on the previous year. Services industries received most of the industry and sectorial assistance, followed by manufacturing, primary production and mining.
Unemployment hits 10-year low
Australia’s unemployment rate has dropped to a 10-year low, falling from 5.1 per cent to 4.9 per cent in June. Seasonally adjusted figures from the ABS reveal that unemployment was below five per cent in Victoria (4.4 per cent), as well as in Tasmania (4.5 per cent), the Northern Territory (4.8 per cent) and the ACT (4.9 per cent). The rate of underemployment, however, rose from 7.4 per cent to 7.9 per cent, reflecting the desire by workers to work more hours. Last week the Reserve Bank Governor, Dr Philip Lowe, said the fall in unemployment was a “welcome surprise”, but noted the effect of the closure of international borders on the labour supply.