Morning Headlines

COVID-19: National lockdown looms as states close business

Key states have broken ranks and are set to shut businesses and schools within days, but have agreed to keep some schools open for the children of frontline health workers to help limit the death toll from the coronavirus. The Fin

COVID-19: WA virus cases explode to 120 in sharp rise

WA had the most number of recorded coronavirus cases in one day yesterday — with 30 more people now infected. The West

COVID-19: Border shutdowns to halt virus

WA’s borders will effectively shut to interstate travellers tomorrow as Mark McGowan declared the State was at “war” with the coronavirus and he was “not ruling anything out” in a bid to slow its spread. The West

COVID-19: FIFOs will fly on their own planes

Interstate fly-in, fly-out workers in WA’s resources sector have been scaled back by more than half and will fly almost exclusively on chartered aircraft to minimise the spread of coronavirus. The West

COVID-19: A nation in shutdown

Pubs, clubs, churches, cinemas, gyms and casinos will be closed across the country from midday on Monday as Australia moves further towards a shutdown of non-essential services after the government unleashed a second economic rescue package taking the total response to almost $200bn. The Aus

COVID-19: 4000 may need a ventilator to live

More than 4000 COVID-19 patients would require ventilation in WA hospitals at the same time if the current infection rate is not slowed by new social distancing measures — completely overwhelming a medical system that possesses less than a tenth that number of machines. The West

COVID-19: Trump’s bailout to top $3.45 trillion

The White House says emergency aid to help save the US economy against the coronavirus slowdown could now total as much as $US2 trillion ($3.45 trillion), far higher than initial estimates, as America’s hospitals began to struggle in the face of a soaring infection rate. The Aus

COVID-19: Jobless rate could hit 13.8pc despite priming of the pump

If employers in just five industries – retail, construction, hospitality, recreation and education – cut their workforce by a quarter, Australia’s jobless rate would jump to 13.8 per cent, the highest in generations. The Fin

COVID-19: Third bailout being prepared as $66b injected to help ‘first blows’

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has given notice that a third economic package is being devised in preparation for a near total shutdown of the economy, as he unveiled a $66 billion package to help workers and businesses already affected. The Fin

COVID-19: Thousands of quick tests for COVID-19 cleared

A new 15-minute test for COVID-19 has been approved for use in Australia and half a million kits are due to land in the country this week if all goes well with airfreight space, planes are able to land and they pass border control. The Fin

COVID-19: Accommodation in freefall

The accommodation industry is heading for a cliff with 70,000 direct employees, such as cleaners or hotel receptionists, expected to be laid off in the next three months. The Fin

Super funds 'still liquid' as assets switch

Australia’s smaller superannuation funds have knocked back concerns of a liquidity crisis in retirement savings vehicles despite a rise in customers switching their assets into cash and defensive options. The Aus

Telstra ‘well set’ for debt deadline

Telstra says it is well-placed to handle the clogging up of credit markets even though it has $1.5bn of bonds that need to be repaid this week. The Aus

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: Key states have broken ranks and are set to shut businesses and schools within days, but have agreed to keep some schools open for the children of frontline health workers to help limit the death toll from the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has given notice that a third economic package is being devised in preparation for a near total shutdown of the economy, as he unveiled a $66 billion package to help workers and businesses already affected.

Page 3: Australia is containing COVID-19 better than many other countries, Scott Morrison says, despite the 26 per cent jump in the number of confirmed cases to 1300 last night from Saturday’s levels.

A new 15-minute test for COVID-19 has been approved for use in Australia and half a million kits are due to land in the country this week if all goes well with airfreight space, planes are able to land and they pass border control.

Page 6: The government’s latest stimulus package promises six-figure cash payments to small business, but for many already struggling to stay afloat, that may prove to be too little, too late.

Page 8: If employers in just five industries – retail, construction, hospitality, recreation and education – cut their workforce by a quarter, Australia’s jobless rate would jump to 13.8 per cent, the highest in generations.

The accommodation industry is heading for a cliff with 70,000 direct employees, such as cleaners or hotel receptionists, expected to be laid off in the next three months.

Page 13: The coronavirus killed an Italian every two minutes at the weekend, as hospitals and morgues buckle, forcing Italy to ratchet up its two-week old lockdown to a new level.

Page 14: President Donald Trump sought to assure an anxious American public on Saturday (Sunday AEDT) that help was on the way to overwhelmed hospitals, and that private companies had agreed to provide desperately needed medical supplies to fight the coronavirus.

Page 16: Most schools around the country will close from tomorrow after independent schools in Victoria told Premier Daniel Andrews they could ‘‘not hold back the dam burst of closures’’, and the Victoria and NSW premiers informed the national cabinet last night they would ‘‘go their own way’’ on shutdowns.

Teachers who have been testing online classrooms say the coronavirus has changed the nature of their jobs ‘‘forever’’ as global collaboration and education file sharing take off.

Page 17: A second round of measures designed to build an economic bridge out of the coronavirus crisis will lead to a five percentage point cut to small business lending rates, which will be rolled out as soon as this morning.

Page 18: Private equity giant KKR is in talks to take a significant stake in online travel agent Webjet and provide it with funds to survive the coronavirus pandemic.

Page 20: An estimated 42,000 Australians regularly fly from major population centres to remote mine sites for work, and thousands more FIFO workers serve the oil and gas industry.

Page 21: Companies are underestimating the cyber security risks posed by their employees’ use of technology and are facing increasing threats as more work remotely during the coronavirus crisis, a study has found.

Page 23: Australia’s biggest construction company, CIMIC, has still ‘‘not come clean’’ on the amount of assets it is selling to bolster its balance sheet, despite other big groups such as John Holland taking hefty losses and admitting the infrastructure boom is not sustainable, say analysts at Hong Kong’s GMT Research.

The Australian

Page 1: Pubs, clubs, churches, cinemas, gyms and casinos will be closed across the country from midday on Monday as Australia moves further towards a shutdown of non-essential services after the government unleashed a second economic rescue package taking the total response to almost $200bn.

Page 2: Hospitals could face a shortage of ventilators for an anticipated surge of critically ill coronavirus patients sent to intensive care units — even if the spread of infection in Australia is limited to the best-case scenario of 20 per cent of the population.

Australia’s multi-billion-dollar English language teaching sector, which attracted 180,000 foreign tourists and international students last year, is going broke.

Page 3: The nation’s largest brewers have warned Australia is likely to run out of beer in a few weeks if their breweries are not included as an essential service under the Victorian government’s proposal to lock down the state.

Page 4: Economists have applauded the federal government’s $66bn economic rescue package as a well-crafted set of measures, while acknowledging it will take decades to pay for.

Page 7: The White House says emergency aid to help save the US economy against the coronavirus slowdown could now total as much as $US2 trillion ($3.45 trillion), far higher than initial estimates, as America’s hospitals began to struggle in the face of a soaring infection rate.

Page 15: Australia’s smaller superannuation funds have knocked back concerns of a liquidity crisis in retirement savings vehicles despite a rise in customers switching their assets into cash and defensive options.

Insolvency practitioners have welcomed the federal government’s move to provide directors with temporarily relief from trading while insolvent and companies breathing space from being wound up by their creditors in the face of the coronavirus crisis.

Page 17: The nation’s largest supermarket wholesaler, Metcash, has implored its grocery suppliers to maintain their normal level of discounting and promotions in the wake of unprecedented sales volumes at stores triggered by the COVID-19, as Metcash-backed chains such as IGA strive to remain competitive.

Page 18: Telstra says it is well-placed to handle the clogging up of credit markets even though it has $1.5bn of bonds that need to be repaid this week.

Page 21: News Corp Australia boss Michael Miller has vowed that the media company’s newspaper mastheads “will not miss an edition” as the nation looks for reliable and credible news amid the global COVID-19 outbreak.

The West Australian

Page 3: WA had the most number of recorded coronavirus cases in one day yesterday — with 30 more people now infected.

Page 4: WA’s borders will effectively shut to interstate travellers tomorrow as Mark McGowan declared the State was at “war” with the coronavirus and he was “not ruling anything out” in a bid to slow its spread.

Page 7: An education expert has called for this year’s ATAR exams to be scrapped because of the disruption and stress the COVID-19 pandemic has created for Year 12 students.

Page 11: More than 4000 COVID-19 patients would require ventilation in WA hospitals at the same time if the current infection rate is not slowed by new social distancing measures — completely overwhelming a medical system that possesses less than a tenth that number of machines.

Interstate fly-in, fly-out workers in WA’s resources sector have been scaled back by more than half and will fly almost exclusively on chartered aircraft to minimise the spread of coronavirus.

Business: About 200 Australian fly-in, fly-out workers have chosen to hunker down in Africa to keep mines operating on the continent until the global coronavirus crisis eases.

WA virtual reality companies have created software which simulates boardroom meetings, conferences, classrooms and workshops, catering to the needs of businesses trying to communicate during the coronavirus crisis.

The Federal Government yesterday installed measures to help stop cash-strapped businesses from going bust as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

The Federal Government has aimed COVID-19 financial relief measures squarely at anxious seniors, with a second $750 bonus in July and further relaxation of the loathed pension deeming rules.