10 things you need to know this morning in Australia

Good morning.

1. The big news this morning is the enormous cock-up that was the Iowa Democratic caucus over in the US yesterday. Results should have come in yesterday afternoon Australian time, but they haven't – mostly because an app used to count voters failed. You know, the task which can be achieved efficiently with a pen and paper. People are understandably peeved. Just before I ran this post, the Iowa Democratic Party came out with preliminary results – with just over 60% of precincts reporting – which put Pete Buttigieg at a very narrow lead over Bernie Sanders.

https://twitter.com/Nate_Cohn/status/1224816239803092992

2. The RBA kept the cash rate steady at its February meeting yesterday, which is what was generally expected. The market had been pricing in a 20% chance of a rate cut to 0.5%, with economists refusing to rule it out completely. However, there's a heightened expectation we may see a cut from the current 0.75% rate in April or May.

3. A couple of bits of political leadership news for you. Barnaby Joyce mounted a challenge for Nationals leader – and deputy prime minister – yesterday, but failed. It's highly unlikely he'll stop trying, though. On the other side of the political divide, the Greens announced their new leader: Melbourne MP Adam Bandt.

4. Another one bites the dust. Women’s fashion retailer Colette by Colette Hayman has gone into administration, putting 140 stores and 300 jobs at risk. It's one of several retail collapses in the past months, including Bardot and Jeanswest – both of which went under in January.

5. The fastest growing job in Australia right now, according to data from Indeed provided exclusively to Business Insider Australia, is pharmacist. In fact, the healthcare sector in general is demonstrating significant wage growth. Read on to find out the top 15 fastest growing jobs.

6. An eight-year-old boy is Australia's 13th case of coronavirus. The boy, who is the youngest infected in Australia so far, is a Chinese citizen who came to Australia with a tour group from Wuhan. He's currently being treated in isolation at Gold Coast University hospital.

7. From the world of technology and privacy: University of Newcastle students are up in arms right now over a new app which tracks their location. All of us who went to uni remembered the halcyon days of simply not going to lectures, and the UoN is attempting to destroy that golden era with a new app which uses geolocation to make sure students are actually showing up. Speaking to Business Insider Australia, some students argued it was an "invasion of privacy".

8. Britain will ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035, five years earlier than previously planned. PM Boris Johnson announced the measure on Tuesday, along with a commitment to bring forward the end of coal-fired power in the UK by a year to 2024. Kind of unimaginable that a conservative party in Australia would make remotely the same pitch.

9. Tesla's stock surge added $13.5 billion to Elon Musk's fortune, the biggest increase for anyone this year. Shares in the electric carmaker have soared more than 100% since the start of January. Tesla’s market capitalisation is approaching $US150 billion, the second of 12 valuation milestones Musk needs to hit to unlock his $US50 billion compensation package.

10. Disney says its Disney Plus streaming service has picked up 28.6 million subscribers since launching in November. By comparison, Netflix said in its most recent earnings report it had 167 million subscribers worldwide. So a decent start for Disney. Back in April, Disney said it set a goal of 60 million to 90 million subscribers by 2024.

BONUS ITEM
If you ever found yourself wondering.

https://twitter.com/techinsider/status/1224760087719350272