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Good morning.
1. Moderna has announced it has signed a deal with the federal government to provide 25 million doses of its mRNA-based vaccine. "We appreciate the partnership and support from the government of Australia with this first supply agreement for doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and our variant booster candidates," Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna, said. Greg Hunt is addressing the purchase this morning.
2. The news comes after a minor government backpedal on the vaccine rollout schedule. The Federal Budget's forecasts were made on the basis of vaccines being made available to the whole population by the end of the year, but both Josh Frydenberg and Scott Morrison have been more circumspect on what that actually means in practice. "There is a general assumption [in the Budget] of a vaccination program [which is] likely to be in place by the end of this year," Morrison said on "7.30" last night. "It could be many months either side of that."
3. Gender equality advocates have welcomed the $3.4 billion in Federal Budget funding for women's economic and personal security, but say the measures should go further. The Women's Budget Statement promises to expand childcare subsidies, superannuation, and housing guarantees, with the goal of increasing government support for Australian women. But at just 1% of the Federal Budget's $589 billion in spending measures, some say it is a "really significant missed opportunity" to address systemic inequality.
4. The Federal Budget revealed investment unevenly distributed across the country's higher education and vocational training sectors, with the latter winning out. The JobTrainer program has gained additional funding, with the government's apprenticeship program winning an additional $1.2 billion. Peak university bodies say they've missed out, while vocational organisations say the allocation of funds is the best way to get Australians into jobs.
5. Qantas has adjusted its timeline for restarting international flights from October to late December. The news comes after the Federal Budget predicted borders will reopen in mid-2022. As you can see, the airline's timeline is still a tad optimistic. "We will keep reviewing these plans as we move towards December and circumstances evolve," Qantas said.
6. With inbound and outbound international travel expected to remain low through to mid-2022, policy think tank the McKell Institute warns that extending border closures without certainty stands to hurt Australia's economic recovery. "A delay like this will lead to a reduction in economic activity in the tens of billions of dollars," Michael Buckland, executive director of the McKell Institute, told Business Insider Australia.
7. Big news: Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases made using Bitcoin, according to a tweet from CEO Elon Musk. "Cryptocurrency is a good idea . but this cannot come at great cost to the environment," Musk stated. It comes after Tesla reported buying $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin in February, so it'd be interesting to know exactly what has changed here.
8. Both the Bitcoin and Tesla stock price are taking a hit because of that. Bitcoin's price dropped by $2,000 and Tesla shares declined about 1% in after-hours trading following Musk's announcement.
9. Internet Computer, a cryptocurrency launched Monday by Swiss blockchain non-profit Dfinity, is already the eighth-largest digital asset with a market capitalisation of $45 billion. The decentralised token seeks to break Big Tech's shackles on entrepreneurship, or so its creators say. $45 billion in two days, sounds sensible.
10. A proper global response could have averted the COVID-19 pandemic, a WHO-backed report found. Its authors said a "fundamental transformation" was needed to prevent a future pandemic. It was critical of both national leaders and WHO, which was slow to declare an emergency. The full 86-page report can be found here.
BONUS ITEM
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