Morning Headlines

Seven Group to raise $400m

Kerry Stokes’ Seven Group Holdings has made a snap decision to raise up to $400 million from investors in light of enthusiasm for its deal to take full ownership of Coates Hire. The West

Public service payout axed

Public service fat cats have lost their right to a so-called golden handshake after the State Government axed a long-standing deal under which senior bureaucrats walked away with payouts of up to a year’s salary. The West

Retail lobby fires up Christmas Day row

The State’s peak business lobby group wants extended Christmas shopping hours — and be able to open on Christmas Day — sparking a furious response from the retail union. The West

Sims backs power crisis heavy hand

Competition regulator Rod Sims has scolded eastern state LNG exporters for not supplying enough domestic gas and warned them the Turnbull government faces little choice but to pull the trigger to limit exports. The Fin

457 ‘screw up hurt talent pool’

MYOB chief executive Tim Reed has called on all businesses to back STEM skills programs in schools, as the company identified access to talent as the biggest risk factor going forward for the accounting software provider. The Fin

Tabcorp suffers setback in $11b Tatts pursuit

Tabcorp will have to wait at least another week to learn whether its marathon $11 billion pursuit of a merger with Tatts Group will happen, after the Federal Court upheld an appeal against the Australian Competition Tribunal’s decision to give the deal the green light. The Fin

CBA in $4bn deal to offload life insurance arm to AIA

Commonwealth Bank of Australia is expected to announce the sale of its life insurance operations to AIA today, with the pan-Asian insurer paying about $4 billion for the operation. The Aus

Arrium owners masters of Zen

The billionaire Anglo-Indian Gupta family, which last month bought Arrium and its Whyalla steelworks, has agreed to take a controlling stake in the Ross Garnaut-led Zen Energy renewable power and battery storage business. The Aus

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: Competition regulator Rod Sims has scolded eastern state LNG exporters for not supplying enough domestic gas and warned them the Turnbull government faces little choice but to pull the trigger to limit exports.

P3: The OECD says next year will produce the strongest rate of world economic growth since 2011, as the Reserve Bank of Australia says the global recovery is ‘‘no flash in the pan’’.

P4: The competition regulator will appeal the decision that found Medibank Private had not engaged in misleading members over the withdrawal of some benefits in order not to spark negative publicity ahead of its November 2014 privatisation.

P6: Tony Abbott has been labelled a power price hypocrite by senior colleagues who revealed he recently argued against imposing limits on gas exports and, as prime minister, fought calls by conservatives in cabinet to abolish the Renewable Energy Target.

P8: The government should refrain from making an ‘‘ill-thought out’’ intervention into the energy market and provide more policy stability, renewable energy company Powershop and Meridian Energy Australia boss Ed McManus has warned.

P10: MYOB chief executive Tim Reed has called on all businesses to back STEM skills programs in schools, as the company identified access to talent as the biggest risk factor going forward for the accounting software provider.

P15: Seven Group Holdings has cruelled the hopes of fellow shareholder The Carlyle Group to list the Coates Hire equipment rental business by proposing to buy the private equity group’s share for $517 million.

P17: Tabcorp will have to wait at least another week to learn whether its marathon $11 billion pursuit of a merger with Tatts Group will happen, after the Federal Court upheld an appeal against the Australian Competition Tribunal’s decision to give the deal the green light.

The Australian

Page 1: Australian factories are at risk of shutting down and sacking workers as the nation’s gas exporters starve local customers in favour of overseas clients, according to a dire warning from the competition watchdog that clears the way for a gas crackdown.

P2: Australia’s elite universities and the federal Education Department must set new standards to resist pressure from Chinese government officials to change academic content, according to a prominent think tank representing diplomats, academics and business leaders.

The global economic recovery this year is no “flash in the pan” and will boost Australia’s economic prospects, Reserve Bank assistant governor Luci Ellis said.

P6: Tony Abbott has claimed victory in influencing the government’s direction on a clean energy target and confirms he will cross the floor if the Coalition attempts to increase subsidies for renewable technologies.

P7: The Greens are a greater threat to the Queensland economy than One Nation, according to Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls, who continues to cop criticism for considering preference deals with Pauline Hanson’s party.

P17: Ryan Stokes says the broader Seven Group still has ample firepower to participate in the consolidation of the media and oil and gas industries, even after agreeing to splash out $517 million on an additional 53.3 per cent stake in Coates Hire.

P18: Commonwealth Bank of Australia is expected to announce the sale of its life insurance operations to AIA today, with the pan-Asian insurer paying about $4 billion for the operation.

P19: The billionaire Anglo-Indian Gupta family, which last month bought Arrium and its Whyalla steelworks, has agreed to take a controlling stake in the Ross Garnaut-led Zen Energy renewable power and battery storage business.

The West Australian

Page 1: Public service fat cats have lost their right to a so-called golden handshake after the State Government axed a longstanding deal under which senior bureaucrats walked away with payouts of up to a year’s salary.

P7: The State’s peak business lobby group wants extended Christmas shopping hours — and be able to open on Christmas Day — sparking a furious response from the retail union.

P12: WA’s drilling industry has piled more pressure on the McGowan Government over its gold royalty hike, arguing the tax will hit exploration and jeopardise the State’s economic engine room.

P16: The Rolex dial is famously emblazoned with a crown — and now arguably the world’s most coveted watch brand has opened its own plush boutique at Crown Towers in Perth.

The first of about 50 refugees detained on Nauru and in Papua New Guinea are expected to receive resettlement offers from the US within days.

P18: WA could become a renewable energy powerhouse while exporting more of its lucrative gas to Asia if it adopted an ambitious Federal Government-backed plan to build new dams throughout the State.

P56: A fast train finally linking Perth to Bunbury has been put on the agenda by the Turnbull Government, arguing it and several other rail projects could help make the State more liveable for commuters.

P57: Kerry Stokes’ Seven Group Holdings has made a snap decision to raise up to $400 million from investors in light of enthusiasm for its deal to take full ownership of Coates Hire.

Complex services company SRG has struck a joint-venture deal targeting the North American dam-strengthening market.

The Federal Court has given creditors of Diploma Group the opportunity to vote on a rescue plan for the collapsed builderdeveloper.