Morning Headlines

Labor vetoes ASIC chair

The Turnbull government is fuming over what it says is hypocrisy by Labor for vetoing the likely appointment of banker John O’Sullivan as the next chairman of corporate watchdog, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The Fin

Rinehart faces substantial legal payout

Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting will have to make a multi million dollar payment to Wright Prospecting after the latest round in the legal battles between the billionaire descendants of two giants of the Australian iron ore industry. The Fin

Scramble to close pay freeze loophole

The State Government scrambled last night to remove a loophole in its four-year pay freeze legislation for politicians, judges and public service bosses that could have resulted in big salary increases as soon as the suspension ended. The West

$700m rail pledge for Ellenbrook

Federal Labor will spend $700m to build the stalled rail line to Ellenbrook as it sharpens its strategy to win over WA voters and unseat one of the Government’s most senior ministers. The West

Risk haters ‘deserve a tough time’

Fund managers who are unwilling to risk their brand and deviate from the index in their investing ‘‘deserve a tough time’’, Magellan Financial Group co-founder Hamish Douglass says. The Fin

Costello lobs super grenade

Peter Costello has lobbed a grenade into the Coalition’s longstalled superannuation reforms, arguing that the flow of billions of dollars in workers’ compulsory contributions had given funds controlled by banks and unions a huge advantage, and the money should instead be invested by the government. The Aus

Young targeted in health shake-up

Young people will be offered financial incentives to take out health insurance policies they are less likely to make claims on, providing insurers with extra revenue as they try to limit premium rises that have already led thousands of members to quit. The Aus

Chevron drops $400m Bight drilling plans

The prospect of uncovering a Great Australian Bight oil bonanza has been dealt another blow after Chevron abandoned its $400 million plans to drill in one of the nation’s most prospective frontier exploration regions. The Aus

Lee revives Equigold name for diamond tilt

Resources developer Simon Lee has revived the name of one of his most successful mining ventures for his first foray into diamonds, with the Singaporean investor emerging as a major backer of Lucapa Diamond Company. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: The Turnbull government is fuming over what it says is hypocrisy by Labor for vetoing the likely appointment of banker John O’Sullivan as the next chairman of corporate watchdog, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

Consumers are being promised savings of hundreds of dollars over the next three years as part of sweeping changes to private health insurance designed to take pressure off premium rises and halt an exodus of members.

P3: Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting will have to make a multimilliondollar payment to Wright Prospecting after the latest round in the legal battles between the billionaire descendants of two giants of the Australian iron ore industry.

P4: It’s no secret that private health insurance is seen by many consumers as being something of a ‘‘grudge purchase’’. As premiums continue to rise, many have begun to question the value of taking out cover at all, and that has pushed the sector to breaking point.

P5: The Turnbull government is refusing to step in and ease an increasingly tense standoff between NBN and internet providers that are standing firm on their complaints that wholesale access to super-fast broadband is too expensive and undermines their businesses.

P8: Chevron has become the second oil and gas major to pull out of a big drilling program in the environmentally sensitive waters of the Great Australian Bight but the company says the decision has been taken on purely commercial grounds.

P17: Fund managers who are unwilling to risk their brand and deviate from the index in their investing ‘‘deserve a tough time’’, Magellan Financial Group co-founder Hamish Douglass says.

The Australian

Page 1: Peter Costello has lobbed a grenade into the Coalition’s longstalled superannuation reforms, arguing that the flow of billions of dollars in workers’ compulsory contributions had given funds controlled by banks and unions a huge advantage, and the money should instead be invested by the government.

Westpac has ripped off its own banking customers by selling them overpriced life insurance products identical to cheaper policies it sells to the public through independent financial advisers, a class action legal case alleges.

P2: Julia Gillard believes we are living in an “age of anxiety” that affects not just individuals but entire communities and nations, and is partly fuelled by “political convulsions” such as Brexit, the election of Donald Trump and “fake news”.

Greg Pearce, the former finance minister who lost his job after being accused of being drunk in parliament and over a series of “jobs for the boys” accusations, will retire from parliament.

P3: Young people will be offered financial incentives to take out health insurance policies they are less likely to make claims on, providing insurers with extra revenue as they try to limit premium rises that have already led thousands of members to quit.

P7: Lenders approved a record $33.9 billion in new housing loans in August, with first-home buyers flooding back to the market, helped by NSW and Victorian government incentives.

P9: Clive Palmer is trying to delay a judge from deciding whether $200 million worth of his assets should be frozen, as he fights to rely on a controversial conspiracy-filled affidavit about Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

P19: The prospect of uncovering a Great Australian Bight oil bonanza has been dealt another blow after Chevron abandoned its $400 million plans to drill in one of the nation’s most prospective frontier exploration regions.

P21: The Australian Energy Market Operator is racing to secure another 800MW of back-up capacity for the national power market by the end of the month to avoid a repeat of price spikes, blackouts and load-shedding across the country’s southeast.

The West Australian

Page 1: The State Government scrambled last night to remove a loophole in its four-year pay freeze legislation for politicians, judges and public service bosses that could have resulted in big salary increases as soon as the suspension ended.

P3: Federal Labor will spend $700m to build the stalled rail line to Ellenbrook as it sharpens its strategy to win over WA voters and unseat one of the Government’s most senior ministers.

P6: Elements of Labor’s flagship Metronet program should be scrapped or deferred to shore up the shaky State Budget, Opposition Leader Mike Nahan believes.

P9: Three adverse events in WA hospitals last year “definitely or probably” caused the death of a surgical patient, according to an audit.
P18: The political fates of the “citizenship seven” could be determined within days after High Court Chief Justice Susan Kiefel acknowledged the urgent “need for answers” on whether they will be kicked out of Federal Parliament.

P22: Scott Morrison has declared Australian property prices “as safe as houses”, describing as nonsense suggestions that the country is facing a financial bubble that could cripple the economy.

P53: Navitas chief executive Rod Jones sees fishing and his family investments taking a higher priority after announcing plans to step back from the $1.7 billion education company he co-founded a quarter of a century ago.

P54: Resources developer Simon Lee has revived the name of one of his most successful mining ventures for his first foray into diamonds, with the Singaporean investor emerging as a major backer of Lucapa Diamond Company.

Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting must pay millions of dollars in legal costs to the heirs of Lang Hancock’s business partner, Peter Wright, after the latest court ruling in its failed fight for control of half of the Rhodes Ridge iron ore deposit in the Pilbara.