$25,000 dose of Labor hypocrisy
WA Labor is operating a cash-for-access Leaders’ Forum — which charges wealthy company bosses about $25,000 a year for private meetings with the Premier and his ministers and is a carbon copy of a secretive Liberal Party fundraising venture slammed by Mark McGowan when he was in Opposition. The West
Shorten won’t offer any GST joy to WA
Labor leader Bill Shorten will bow to pressure from other States and leave the GST distribution unchanged but insists he will deliver “good news” to West Australians when he visits Perth this weekend. The West
Chevron CEO’s exit a changing of guard for oil
Chevron chief executive John Watson is planning to step down as the energy giant seeks new leadership for a changing oil world. The Aus
Wage growth is economy’s Achilles heel, warns Moody’s
Australia’s combination of high household debt and weak wages growth is shaping up as the economy’s primary Achilles heel, according to Moody’s Investors Service latest update. The Fin
Maurice Blackburn weighs CBA class action
Plaintiff law firm Maurice Blackburn and ASX-listed litigation funder IMF Bentham said they were investigating a potential class action against Commonwealth Bank of Australia to be based around failures to disclose to the stockmarket details about AUSTRAC’s investigation into alleged anti-money laundering shortcomings. The Fin
Car repair costs exorbitant, says IAG
Insurance Australia Group chief executive Peter Harmer says the insurer will try to negotiate with manufacturers over the the ‘‘exorbitant’’ cost of spare parts, encourage customers to use its in-house repairer network and increase premiums as it battles to contain surging costs coming from expensive-to-fix new cars. The Fin
Row brews over push for Abbott reform
The Liberal Party is facing a new row over membership rights as another state division comes under pressure to embrace Tony Abbott’s reform plans, in a threat to factional powerbrokers who choose candidates for parliament. The Aus
Election cash feud may force PM bailout
The Liberal Party’s key source of campaigning cash has stopped writing cheques over its stoush with the Victorian branch, exposing Malcolm Turnbull’s campaign for re-election to financial risk and increasing the chances of a second personal financial bailout by the Prime Minister. The Aus
Old live export ships face ban
The Federal Government could ban old ships from being used in the live export industry to the Middle East amid growing pressure to improve conditions aboard vessels. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Grant King’s exit from the BHP Billiton board followed more than 100 meetings between chairman-elect Ken MacKenzie and investors, in which the new chairman was left in no doubt about shareholder anger with the appointment of the former Origin boss and Business Council of Australia president.
P3: ACSI would like to see vested equity make up a greater proportion of CEO pay.
Australia’s combination of high household debt and weak wages growth is shaping up as the economy’s primary Achilles heel, according to Moody’s Investors Service latest update.
P4: The Turnbull government has backed away from demanding Bill Shorten produce documents to prove he is not a dual British citizen amid fears of a campaign of mutually assured destruction by the major parties.
P8: Senior frontbencher Christopher Pyne has rekindled memories of Tony Abbott’s crusade against the republic to accuse the former prime minister of muddying the waters over same-sex marriage.
P11: Plaintiff law firm Maurice Blackburn and ASX-listed litigation funder IMF Bentham said they were investigating a potential class action against Commonwealth Bank of Australia to be based around failures to disclose to the stockmarket details about AUSTRAC’s investigation into alleged anti-money laundering shortcomings.
The 160-strong partnership of midtier accounting firm BDO are enthusiastic, and even impatient, about a plan to become a single national firm from next year, according to chairwoman Helen Argiris.
P19: New boss of Healthscope, Gordon Ballantyne, has a tough job ahead getting the key hospitals division back on track after posting a disappointing 2017 result. Healthscope said its hospitals were hurt by procedure costs increasing more than health fund prices in some areas.
P22: Insurance Australia Group chief executive Peter Harmer says the insurer will try to negotiate with manufacturers over the the ‘‘exorbitant’’ cost of spare parts, encourage customers to use its in-house repairer network and increase premiums as it battles to contain surging costs coming from expensive-to-fix new cars.
The Australian
Page 1: The head of Australia’s foreign spy agency has emerged from the shadows for a “highly unusual” meeting with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and copied his signature fist-pump gesture in a sign of solidary amid increasing concerns about Islamic State’s rise in the region.
P3: Experts warn that repeated failures by planners to predict Melbourne’s massive population growth risks causing shortages of maternity and childcare services in the city’s outer suburbs.
An Afghanistan war veteran who gained fame after appearing on The Voice has launched defamation action against the Nine Network and a secretive website that purports to expose military impostors.
P4: The Liberal Party is facing a new row over membership rights as another state division comes under pressure to embrace Tony Abbott’s reform plans, in a threat to factional powerbrokers who choose candidates for parliament.
P5: The Liberal Party’s key source of campaigning cash has stopped writing cheques over its stoush with the Victorian branch, exposing Malcolm Turnbull’s campaign for re-election to financial risk and increasing the chances of a second personal financial bailout by the Prime Minister.
P6: The nation’s peak internet consumer body has warned National Broadband Network users to place limited stock in online speed tests, after users reported widely varying speeds depending on which test sites they used.
P8: Clive Palmer could offload his north Queensland nickel refinery for $790 million, but has agreed not to sell it in the next month until a judge decides whether all of his assets should be frozen.
P17: When the world’s biggest supermarket chain, US giant Wal-Mart, built its innovation and technology lab in San Francisco, it planted in the lobby a sign that made it clear to visitors that this Silicon Valley hub was a world away from the staid and threadbare headquarters of its parent in Bentonville, Arkansas.
P20: Vocus is on the lookout for a new chairman, as the ailing telco gears up to offload assets to better combat the growing impact of the National Broadband Network on its margins.
P21: Chevron chief executive John Watson is planning to step down as the energy giant seeks new leadership for a changing oil world.
The West Australian
Page 1: WA Labor is operating a cash-for-access Leaders’ Forum — which charges wealthy company bosses about $25,000 a year for private meetings with the Premier and his ministers and is a carbon copy of a secretive Liberal Party fundraising venture slammed by Mark McGowan when he was in Opposition.
P3: Labor leader Bill Shorten will bow to pressure from other States and leave the GST distribution unchanged but insists he will deliver “good news” to West Australians when he visits Perth this weekend.
P4: Seven dodgy WA daycare providers have been shut after they were caught ripping off taxpayers by falsely claiming subsidies.
P5: Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has weighed into the political fight over inequality, lashing Labor leader Bill Shorten for his “socialist” economic plan that would “wave goodbye” to successful people and make the country less equal.
P9: Bali jail escapee Shaun Edward Davidson has revealed he tunnelled out of Kerobokan prison because he has no faith in the WA justice system.
P12: A factional stand-off is brewing ahead of this weekend’s WA Labor conference, with the Maritime Union threatening to “burn the house down” over the State Government’s plans to develop an outer harbour at Kwinana.
P45: The Federal Government could ban old ships from being used in the live export industry to the Middle East amid growing pressure to improve conditions aboard vessels.
Gold explorer Breaker Resources is expected to emerge from a trading halt tomorrow to announce a $10 million capital raising for further drilling at its prospective Lake Roe project, 100km east of Kalgoorlie.
P46: Commonwealth Bank shareholders have rushed a potential class action to recover billions of dollars lost in the share rout triggered by money-laundering allegations.