Good morning and good luck.

1. Australians are being told they need to go out and get the COVID-19 jab if they want international borders to open. New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said more than five million of the state’s residents would need to be fully vaccinated before the state could open up properly. It was echoed by industry with Virgin CEO Jayne Hrdlicka declaring borders needed to reopen before 2022, even if “some people may die”. It hasn’t gone down well.

2. The strong words come hot on the heels of a fresh Newspoll that found three in four Australians want to keep international borders shut, no matter the rate of vaccination. The resounding result shows that industry and voters remain divided on the issue. It shows that for many, no preventative measure feels as complete as a closed border, even if the decision hurts many on either side of the barrier.

3. The United States looks like it might finally push for a Middle East ceasefire as fighting between Israel and Palestine enters its second week. President Joe Biden had to date staunchly defended Israel and its military strikes, despite mounting casualties in the Palestinian Territories and increasing pressure from within his own party to put an end to the violence.

4. Australia wastes more public money than almost any other country when it comes to building major infrastructure projects. That’s the conclusion of a new Grattan Institute report which finds we spend more than three times as much as countries like Spain. The analysis comes right on the back of a $15.2 billion infrastructure pledge from the Morrison government, questioning just how far that money might really stretch if managed properly.

5. Apple has been caving to Chinese government demands, the New York Times reports, as the company looks to maintain supply chains within the country. Tim Cook approved using servers run by Chinese firms to store customer data, making it easier for authorities to access the information of millions of Chinese citizens, while the company censors apps at the CCP’s discretion.

6. Australians don’t trust neobanks and fintechs, according to a new whitepaper. It found that despite what the digital upstarts would claim and even after a damaging royal commission, the country’s big banks still outrank them when it comes to consumer confidence. The high-profile collapse of Xinja last year would have done little to help their image.

7. The world has entered ‘vaccine apartheid,’ the head of the World Health Organisation has declared. As the US stockpiles shots at the same time that nearly a dozen nations have no supply at all, scientists are calling for manufacturers and the developed world to share.

8. Labor has taken aim at the Coalition’s track record on jobs and training, claiming there are roughly 40% fewer apprentices today than there were eight years ago. Given successive declines across the country, the government can’t be trusted to reverse the damage with a one-off $2.7 billion outlay this year, Labor claims.

9. Working too much is probably killing you. A new WHO study linked 745,000 deaths per year to working weeks that exceed 55 hours. Time to put your feet up, for your health of course.

10. As Australians increasingly work casually and in multiple jobs, we took a look at the kind of work online freelancers are completing. New data shows Australians are earning an average of $766 selling their skills online, ahead of all other countries save Sweden and Switzerland.

BONUS ITEM

Michael Burry, the guy who called the US housing bubble and was, just as importantly, portrayed by Christian Bale in “The Big Short”, has bet almost half of his entire firm’s equity on shorting Tesla. It is one hell of a wager, pitting the famed investor against Elon Musk, a man who literally moves markets with a single tweet.

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