Good morning, team.

1. Phase 1B of Australia’s coronavirus vaccination program is due to start today. That means about 6 million Aussies are now eligible to get the vaccine. Among those targeted are people aged over 70, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults over 55 and critical workers. You can check your eligibility here.

2. The locally-produced AstraZeneca vaccine was approved by the medical regulator late on Sunday. Health Minister Greg Hunt said that was a critical step. “It is the fundamental approval which allows Australia to proceed with our national vaccination strategy based on 50 million doses of Australian-made vaccines,” he said.

3. Crown Resorts has received a takeover bid from the private equity group Blackstone. The $11.85-per-share bid would value Crown at $8 billion. “The Crown Board has not yet formed a view on the merits of the proposal,” the company said in an ASX statement.

4. The federal government has flagged that it wants to begin bringing in foreign workers to fill job vacancies. However, with 40,000 Australians still stranded abroad and unemployment still high, Labor MPs have slammed the Morrison government’s plan as “simply outrageous” and accused it of abandoning local workers as JobKeeper expires. With the government having focused much of its recovery effort on construction, however, it may need to ramp up migration in order to absorb extra housing stock, according to property analyst Louis Christopher.

5. Commercial real estate advocates want Australia’s white-collar workers to return to the office, but new data shows many expect to stay at home. A preference for flexibility and lingering COVID-19 fears are keeping workers from the office, and broader economic factors mean businesses are downsizing their holdings. But the Australian office environment might not be obsolete, with analysts suggesting falling rents could spark a “flight-to-quality”.

6. TikTok may soon become a strong driver of retail spending in Australia, according to experts in fashion, ecommerce and influencer marketing. Globally diverse retailers from Walmart to Gucci are using the popular video sharing app to connect with consumers. “Brands have a real opportunity to reinvent themselves on TikTok and speak to the consumers of tomorrow,” said director of content at TikTok Australia, Felicity McVay.

7. Australia is among the top-spenders on pandemic recovery initiatives, but has spent very little of that on green projects, according to the Oxford University Economic Recovery Project. In a March report, researchers found Australia is “missing opportunities” and lags behind other major economies. The authors say nations that are vulnerable to climate change, like Australia, could stand to invest in ‘natural capital investment’ projects.

8. Apple and Epic Games have called their respective chief executive officers to testify as part of the upcoming “Fortnite” App Store trial, court documents show. Apple CEO Tim Cook, SVP Craig Federighi, and former marketing chief and present App Store vice-president Matt Fischer are on the list of tentative witnesses to testify live and face-to-face in the courtroom, among others. The court case, the latest in a series filed by Epic Games against Apple, is tentatively scheduled to start on May 3.

9. While we’re on that venerable Californian fruit company: Saudi Aramco lost the title of world’s most profitable company to Apple as its 2020 profits sunk to $49 billion. The world’s largest oil company said it plans to maintain its full-year dividend worth $US75 billion. “As the enormous impact of COVID-19 was felt throughout the global economy, we intensified our strong emphasis on capital and operational efficiencies,” Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said.

10. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has responded to criticism of his huge wealth by Senator Bernie Sanders, by saying he would use his money to help humankind. “I am accumulating resources to help make life multiplanetary & extend the light of consciousness to the stars,” Musk said on Twitter. He can probably stand to pay a bit more tax and still shoot rockets to Mars, but whatever.

BONUS ITEM

The rain in NSW is pretty intense.

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