Good morning all.

1. New restrictions now apply in Greater Sydney and several other nearby metropolitan areas of New South Wales. They include a 5 person limit on visitors to homes, and compulsory masks in all non-residential indoor settings. “We don’t take these steps lightly and we never want to impose restrictions unless we absolutely have to,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said in a statement.

2. A total of 16 new local COVID-19 infections were announced yesterday. The way New South Wales announces the numbers is a wee bit jumbled – they tend to announce new cases ahead of their ‘offical’ tally the following day – so some of those will be included in today’s figures. NSW Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall has tested positive to COVID-19.

3. Is Sydney or the rest of the state likely to face tougher restrictions, or a lockdown? NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard, who is currently isolating, said he doesn’t think so. “I don’t believe that we will go into a lockdown,” he told ABC TV earlier this morning, while advising that people should remain “extremely cautious”. One expert said that a lockdown will likely occur if the number of unknown cases gets out of hand.

4. The Commonwealth Bank economics team is now forecasting interest rates to rise as soon as next year, two years earlier than the RBA. Australia’s central bank has repeatedly stated the official cash rate will remain at 0.10% until 2024 “at the earliest” as it tries to give unprecedented forward guidance. However, as unemployment falls and the economy grows faster than expected, the RBA may not have much choice but to hike rates sooner than anticipated.

5. The NSW government’s Budget, released on Tuesday, suggests it does not expect regulators to step in to manage the state’s hot property market. While last week the RBA voiced concerns about unsustainable price growth, experts say it’s unlikely it will take action this year. “Annual house price growth is expected to peak around late 2021,” the Budget papers state.

6. The overwhelming majority of tax return dollars are unlikely to make it into the real economy, according to the latest survey by Finder. Responses indicates that just 7% of Australians actually intend to spend their return this year, with half of all recipients already planning to save it. Australia’s economic recovery is partly reliant on a prolonged spending spree but the data indicates this might be muted due to concerns over household debt.

7. Virgin Australia says it will award a million Velocity Frequent Flyer points to a vaccinated Australian in an attempt to boost the COVID-19 vaccination rate. The VA-X & Win scheme will allow one lucky traveler the ability to fly around the world on the company’s tab — when Australia’s border reopens. But the contest will only open once every Australian is eligible for the jab, meaning there’s no guarantee of the contest opening this year.

8. Kmart ‘hack’ pages and influencers devoted to the discount department store brand have become a major force online, helping to rehabilitate its image and bottom line. Read our deep dive into the weird and wacky world – and just how vital they’ve become to Kmart’s ongoing success.

9. John McAfee, the founder of the antivirus software McAfee, has died by suicide. McAfee, 75, was found dead in his jail cell on Wednesday, Reuters confirmed. Earlier on Wednesday, Spain’s National Court approved McAfee’s extradition to the US on tax evasion charges.

10. Microsoft became the second US-listed company to hit a $2 trillion market valuation after Apple. Investors expect its lead in cloud computing to keep its success going, amid remote working. Amazon’s market cap reached $1.77 trillion on Tuesday, while Alphabet logged $1.67 trillion.

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