1. Scott Morrison’s approval rating slides to black summer levels

On his return from the G20 Summit in Rome and the Cop26 climate council in Glasgow, a trip mired by further fallout with the French President and criticism of Australia’s climate policies, Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s voter approval rating has dropped by 6% according to a survey of over a thousand people. The drop takes Morrison’s approval from voters to its lowest point since the outbreak of the pandemic and to levels not seen since Australia’s black summer bushfires of 2019-20. As for the Opposition leader, approval rating for Anthony Albanese went from 41% to 40% nationally – which is within the poll’s 3.1% margin of error – while one in four voters are still unsure about his performance.

2. More subsidies for EVs as Morrison government sees the light

As the Morrison government continues to address the merits of electric vehicles, it has announced a further $178 million to be injected into the field to “encourage the shift away from petrol and diesel-powered cars and have 30 per cent of all new cars sold by 2030 either electric or hybrid,” the AFR reports. The project is now valued at about $250 million and aims to focus on four key areas including producing capable charging facilities and working with states and territories to ensure energy grid capacity; said to reduce electricity prices to encourage charging behaviour. “To lower the price of electric cars, Labor has already promised to exempt them from the 5 per cent import tariffs on some cars, and the 47 per cent Fringe Benefits Tax on company cars provided as part of a salary package.”

3. Australian superannuation sector looking to diversify portfolios

Spurred on by AustralianSuper’s purchase of Sydney Airport this week, as well as the continuation of low interest rates, the $3 trillion superannuation industry in Australia is looking to expand its investment horizons. According to heads of infrastructure in the space, key targets include the telecommunications and renewable energy sectors. “Matina Papathanasiou, founding partner of QIC’s global infrastructure team, said the shift to working from home was among the trends driving investment in telecommunications, which had also been exacerbated by people moving out of big cities to regional areas,” the AFR reports.

4. Elon Musk proves his sheer influence once again via Twitter

In a Twitter poll launched Saturday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted: “Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock. Do you support this?” The billionaire gave people the option to vote “Yes” or “No” and pledged to abide by the results of the poll, whichever way it went. Over 3.5 million people responded, and 57.9% of them voted for “Yes.” Tesla shares fell more than 3% in the wake of the poll.

5. US market continues its tear
US stocks extended records once more, with the S&P 500 on its longest winning streak since 2017, after corporate earnings, strong hiring data and a Covid treatment breakthrough bolstered optimism in the world’s largest economy. The USD and Treasuries fell. The Dow is up 0.3%, the S&P 500 +0.2% and the Nasdaq +0.2%. The AUD climbed 0.3% to 74.19 US cents.