Good morning all.

1. Support is coming for business and workers in New South Wales, courtesy of the state and federal government. Workers across the state who have lost hours due to the Greater Sydney lockdown will be eligible for up to $600 a week, while shuttered businesses will be flushed with payments of up to $10,000 a week. The combined measures are expected to cost the federal and state government a combined $500 million each week they’re in effect.

2. NSW recorded 89 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 yesterday. It was less than Monday, but Premier Gladys Berejiklian has warned the numbers are likely to swing around over the coming days. The Nine papers report the state has laid the foundations for the lockdown to continue for another four weeks. We’ll likely have a clearer picture after today’s presser.

3. A political squabble is developing over whether NSW is being given support that was not provided to Victoria. Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers says Victorians have every right to be “filthy” about it, while also saying that Australia’s economy recovery was being held “hostage to the Prime Minister’s twin failures on vaccines and quarantine”. Scott Morrison meanwhile said it was “just nonsense” that NSW was being favoured. “The numbers don’t bear it out,” the PM said.

4. The Australian property market has rebounded strongly as a result of the fiscal and monetary responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. In other words, prices are rising because of COVID-19 and not despite it. KPMG calculates that homes in each capital city will continue selling higher as a consequence, with Sydney buyers paying $120,000 more than had no pandemic occurred. The price difference is expected to temper as interest rates rise and a reversion begins to take place.

5. Australia’s economists are disputing links between high immigration and stagnant wages, after RBA Governor Philip Lowe reintroduced the theme in a recent speech. While Lowe wasn’t advocating for low immigration, he did conclude that foreign labour had been used to relieve wage pressure that may have otherwise led to higher wages. CEDA senior economist Gabriela D’Souza hit back this week, arguing that immigration has helped grow Australia and that, if anything, research points to immigration having “a small-to-negligible positive effect” on aggregate wages.

6. PayPal’s Australian war with Afterpay begins today. The payments giant is switching on its “Pay in 4” instalment option for its 9 million Australian customers. This could be the biggest shakeup of the BNPL market – especially given PayPal is sweetening the deal with no late fees.

7. The Greater Sydney lockdown could erase GDP gains projected for the September quarter, economists warn. Australia has staged a remarkable economic recovery from the shutdowns of 2020, and the RBA in May projected GDP growth of 4.75% over 2021. But the Greater Sydney lockdown is estimated to cost as much as $1 billion in lost economic activity each week, with no clear end date in sight.

8. In the past nine months, cult alcohol brands White Claw and Japanese RTD Strong Zero have launched in Australia, betting young Aussies will flock to their products. Branding around health and wellness in the alcohol space is driving demand for hard seltzer, Lion’s consumer and brand director Anubha Sahasrabuddhe told Business Insider Australia. Forecasts indicate hard seltzer sales in Australia could be as high as $300 million by 2025.

9. TikTok has banned creators from publishing sponsored content related to cryptocurrencies and investing services. The social media app’s branded content policy also bans the promotion of weapons, alcohol, and gambling. TikTok said the policy is “designed to ensure a safe and positive environment” for users.

10. The latest entrant into the world of buy now pay later is… Apple? Bloomberg reports the tech giant is teaming up with Goldman Sachs to offer payments in instalments for products purchased with Apple Pay. It’ll likely be US-only, but in competition with homegrown competitors like Afterpay.

BONUS ITEM

Yowza.

Follow Business Insider Australia on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.