Greenbushes partners at odds over big lithium deposit
One of the owners of WA’s giant Greenbushes mine — which sits on the world’s biggest deposit of lithium — has dramatically upped the ante in a fight with its joint venture partner over mineral rights at the site. The West
Coles slips further behind Woolies: UBS
Coles has ‘‘lost its way’’ and needs to shift strategy after falling further behind Woolworths in areas such as in-store execution, strategy and morale, according to suppliers. The Fin
Shorten backing world’s highest minimum wage
Australia would jump from having the world’s second-highest minimum hourly wage – behind only France – to being a global outlier under a ‘‘living wage’’ plan being considered by Labor, according to an analysis of OECD data. The Fin
Government looks to clip crypto ticket by taxing bitcoin
The Turnbull government is investigating how it could tax digital currencies like bitcoin, as regulators around the world attempt to clamp down on the nascent technology. The Aus
Turnbull tops donations list
Australia’s political parties raked in almost $210 million in combined revenue last financial year, but the source of only $15 million of that revenue shows up in corporate and individual donation disclosures. The West
Online sales tread all over Betts kids’ shoes
Betts, the family-owned retailer that has put West Australians into school shoes for more than 100 years, will stop selling children’s shoes as part of a major revamp triggered by the growth of online shopping. The West
Roller-coaster season delivers after late rains
WA’s grain farmers have delivered an above-average 13.23 million tonne harvest to Co-operative Bulk Handling, injecting more than $4 billion into the WA economy. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Having now been twice re-elected, Abe is leading a resurgent Japan with the economy enjoying its longest period of expansion in 17 years.
Coles has ‘‘lost its way’’ and needs to shift strategy after falling further behind Woolworths in areas such as in-store execution, strategy and morale, according to suppliers.
Page 3: Snowy Hydro chief executive Paul Broad says independent analysis has confirmed that the Snowy 2.0 project is the ‘‘least cost’’ option for ensuring reliable and secure power supply in the electricity market of the future.
Page 4: The federal government has imposed tighter foreign investment restrictions on electricity assets and agricultural land, raising concerns there will be fewer buyers and lower prices for electricity assets.
Page 6: Australia would jump from having the world’s second-highest minimum hourly wage – behind only France – to being a global outlier under a ‘‘living wage’’ plan being considered by Labor, according to an analysis of OECD data.
Page 9: The new Attorney-General Christian Porter is pushing for the court system to improve its efficiency after the Productivity Commission revealed wide differences in clearance rates and costs.
Page 11: Developers have seized on December’s larger-than-expected decline in new housing approvals, saying a ‘‘perfect storm’’ of tight consumer credit and construction finance, along with higher investor taxes and foreign buyer charges has hit the supply of new apartments.
Page 14: Thousands of people with misdemeanour convictions for marijuana possession dating back 40 years will have their criminal records cleared, the San Francisco district attorney’s office said on Thursday (AEDT). San Diego is also forgiving old convictions.
Page 20: Rio Tinto says it used a Dutch subsidiary to own and fund development of Mongolia’s Oyu Tolgoi mine because of the protections afforded by an investment treaty between the Dutch and Mongolian governments, not because it wanted to avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in tax.
The Australian
Page 1: Proposed foreign interference laws “undoubtedly” broaden the current secrecy regime and could result in journalists being charged with crimes for doing their job, a retired judge says.
Page 2: More than half the country, including two-thirds of Queenslanders, believes the unemployment rate is at least double the actual level, according to new polling that suggests the government faces a hard slog convincing voters of a jobs boom.
Page 5: The Western Australia Police has less than a week to decide whether to lodge a counterclaim against an appeal by Perth barrister Lloyd Rayney, as the legal feud over multimillion-dollar damage to his reputation drags on.
Page 6: Malcolm Turnbull has vowed that 2018 will be the year of “delivery and the dividends of reform”, saying families can look forward to personal tax cuts, cheaper energy prices and lower childcare costs.
Page 8: Some of Australia’s top filmmakers, including Fred Schepisi and Red Dog’s Kriv Stenders, say a significant influx of foreign directors into the local advertising industry is robbing local talent of opportunities to kick start their careers, potentially depriving Australia of future generations of filmmakers.
Page 19: The Turnbull government is investigating how it could tax digital currencies like bitcoin, as regulators around the world attempt to clamp down on the nascent technology.
Former Treasurer Peter Costello says Australia’s sovereign wealth fund is taking advantage of a rare bout of synchronised global economic growth to lift returns, ploughing its cash pile into global equities, alternative investments and private equity as it extends its run of superior performance.
Page 21: Energy industry advisers have welcomed comments by Scott Morrison that all foreign bids for electricity assets would be examined by the Foreign Investment Review Board, saying it provides more certainty to the process.
Page 25: Aspiring to become a bigger exporter is one thing, finding buyers quite another, now that Canberra is backing a $3.8 billion export loan facility and setting up a Defence Export Office and an export advocate to keep the issue in focus.
The West Australian
Page 3: Online retailers using the dark web, a clandestine part of the internet, have reported a surge in codeine tablet sales in the wake of the ban on over-the-counter codeine products in Australia.
Page 9: The Premier has blamed unnamed public servants for this week’s lead-testing debacle at new schools, accusing them of failing the Government and Education Minister Sue Ellery.
Page 18: Australia’s political parties raked in almost $210 million in combined revenue last financial year, but the source of only $15 million of that revenue shows up in corporate and individual donation disclosures.
Business: One of the owners of WA’s giant Greenbushes mine — which sits on the world’s biggest deposit of lithium — has dramatically upped the ante in a fight with its joint venture partner over mineral rights at the site.
Betts, the family-owned retailer that has put West Australians into school shoes for more than 100 years, will stop selling children’s shoes as part of a major revamp triggered by the growth of online shopping.
The intriguing question of whether Chevron will stay on at its QV1 tower home or build Elizabeth Quay headquarters may be the single biggest determinant of whether Perth’s CBD office vacancy can continue its downward trajectory.
Barminco’s new boss Paul Muller says the mining contractor’s private equity majority owner is “playing the long game” on realising its decade-long investment.
WA’s grain farmers have delivered an above-average 13.23 million tonne harvest to Co-operative Bulk Handling, injecting more than $4 billion into the WA economy.
