Good morning all.

1. Australia will not buy the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, the Nine papers report today. We won’t be adding the single-shot vaccine to our arsenal because it is “too similar to the AstraZeneca drug”, apparently. “The Janssen vaccine is an adenovirus vaccine, the same type of vaccine as the AstraZeneca vaccine,” a spokesperson said. “The government does not intend to purchase any further adenovirus vaccines at this time.”

2. Food delivery platform Menulog will consider its Sydney CBD riders as full employees under a new trial, CEO Morten Belling told a Senate Committee hearing. The company says it will temporarily provide a minimum wage, sick leave, superannuation, and other entitlements not usually offered to contractors in the gig economy. The move cuts across competitors Uber Eats and Deliveroo, who are fully invested in what they say is the flexibility and earning potential of the current system.

3. Qantas’ plans to restart most of its international network later in the year are looking pretty shaky right now, as you might imagine. The airline said yesterday that it was “closely monitoring the recent developments in the rollout of vaccines in Australia” and was talking to the government about how it might affect its plans. “At this stage there’s no change to the planned restart of our international flights, we’ll continue to have dialogue with the government,” a Qantas spokesman said. We’ll see about that!

4. Paul Graham, the supply chain boss at Woolworths, will become Australia Post CEO in September. The announcement comes as his predecessor Christine Holgate is set to testify to a Senate Inquiry examining the circumstances surrounding her dismissal back in November. Australia Post is looking to put some distance between it and that particular controversy, after Holgate slammed chair Lucio Di Bartolomeo in a 151-page submission just last week.

5. New Treasury analysis shows the economy grew by $7.5 billion in the December quarter, driven by people holidaying at home and spending money locally. The boost, equivalent to about 1.5 per cent of GDP for the quarter, is a bright sign that domestic spending may be able to cover for the economic sledgehammer of closed borders.

6. New modelling by the Grattan Institute shows renewables could satisfy most of the country’s energy needs, with minimal to no need for coal. The think tank says 70% of energy could be supplied by renewables and two in three coal-fired plants could be closed. In another scenario, 90% could be produced by renewables with the remainder covered by gas, enabling Australia to achieve zero-net carbon emissions with minimal cost.

7. Australia’s leading industry group has pitted itself against the Victorian government’s proposed electric vehicle tax. Victoria’s policy could lead to EVs having a 25% lower share of new sales in 2050 than projected, some experts say. “Our slow uptake of clean vehicles is holding back national progress,” chief executive of Australian Industry Group Innes Willox told Guardian Australia.

8. For the past few months, Netflix has been piloting a pre-programmed channel of their content to French users, which plays in a linear fashion like free-to-air TV. It sounds counterintuitive, but it could be key to capturing a valuable older demographic, who are still accustomed to older ways of consuming content. It raises questions about whether the streaming giant could try the same thing here, challenging local free-to-air and capturing our less tech savvy demos.

9. The AstraZeneca dramas – overstated as they may be – do seem to be causing uptake problems globally. For example: up to 80% of Sicilians are rejecting the AstraZeneca jab, the leader of the region has said. Italy is using the shot, but has advised that it be avoided in younger age groups, which is a little further than Australia’s advisory. Fears, based on rare blood clots, are “understandable, but unjustified,” a top health official said.

10. Microsoft will buy AI firm Nuance for a massive $19.7 billion. Microsoft intends to integrate Nuance’s technology into its healthcare-specific cloud strategy. The acquisition is Microsoft’s second-largest after the $24 billion purchase of LinkedIn.

BONUS ITEM

Why not listen to Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek on the GameStop short squeeze on the Bloomberg “Odd Lots” podcast? A very interesting perspective on the “revolutionary” character of the event.

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