MRA boss vows end to secrecy
The culture of secrecy surrounding the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority is to be upended under sweeping changes proposed by new MRALandCorp chairman George McCullagh. The West
DFAT boss’s China trips deferred
Top diplomat Frances Adamson has described Australia’s relationship with China as going through a period of “some complex and difficult issues” and confirmed she had not visited the country over the past few months because her trips had been deferred. The Fin
Perth City crisis plan in place for chaos
City of Perth senior staff activated a crisis-management plan usually reserved for fire, flood or long-term loss of power hours before a meeting at which acting chief executive Robert Mianich was expected to be ousted. The West
Henry rues lost years of tax reform
The former Treasury secretary and architect of Labor’s Henry Tax Review, Ken Henry, has renewed his support for the Coalition’s company tax cuts as a reliable driver of investment and wages growth but says they fall well short of a comprehensive plan to secure future living standards. The Fin
$1.2b deal on upkeep of frigates
The Federal Government has locked in the long-term upkeep of the navy’s Anzac-class frigates at the Henderson marine complex for the next five years, handing BAE Systems’ WA facilities a boost. The West
Smear row worsens as PM backs ‘bullied’ Cash
Malcolm Turnbull has refused to sanction Michaelia Cash for smearing the integrity of female Labor staffers, claiming his Innovation Minister was ‘‘bullied and provoked’’ into making the comments. The Fin
New gas player rules out deals
Australian Industrial Energy — a consortium backed by billionaire Andrew Forrest that hopes to build a $250 million LNG import facility at Newcastle or Port Kembla — says it will not strike supply deals with incumbents like AGL Energy as it tries to contract 30 per cent of NSW gas demand to underpin its construction. The Aus
May rejects ‘unacceptable’ Brexit draft
British Prime Minister Theresa May vowed she will never accept a draft Brexit agreement published this week by the European Union, raising the prospect that the negotiations are heading for a breakdown. The Fin
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: The former Treasury secretary and architect of Labor’s Henry Tax Review, Ken Henry, has renewed his support for the Coalition’s company tax cuts as a reliable driver of investment and wages growth but says they fall well short of a comprehensive plan to secure future living standards.
KPMG chairman Alison Kitchen said it is not practical to emulate Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s sex ban between senior and junior staff, while expressing her unhappiness over the sexual harassment allegations within her own firm.
Page 4: The chairman of the prudential regulator, Wayne Byres, said the 10 per cent cap on growth in bank lending to housing investors is ‘‘probably reaching the end of its useful life’’.
Companies are steadily ramping up their investment plans, particularly in the non-mining sectors of the economy, joining a gathering global upswing spurred by tax cuts and infrastructure spending.
Page 5: Malcolm Turnbull has refused to sanction Michaelia Cash for smearing the integrity of female Labor staffers, claiming his Innovation Minister was ‘‘bullied and provoked’’ into making the comments.
Page 6: The corporate regulator will scrutinise any financial service provider with a high level of vertical integration for potential conflicts of interests, including super funds, the incoming chairman has warned.
Page 7: The chairman of the $8 billion industry superannuation fund Vision Super, Brian Parkinson, has lost his union backing after he was found to have paid union members’ money to a company secretly controlled by his wife when he was union leader.
Page 12: Top-tier male managers and executives are seeing their average pay fall as companies take action to close the gender pay gap, a new study has found.
Page 14: British Prime Minister Theresa May vowed she will never accept a draft Brexit agreement published this week by the European Union, raising the prospect that the negotiations are heading for a breakdown.
Page 17: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims says he would have ‘‘serious problems’’ with the structure of the $1.3 billion takeover offer by Montreal-based Saputo for distressed rival Murray Goulburn.
The share price of Macquarie Group’s US-listed infrastructure fund crashed 41 per cent on a single trading day last week, leaving investors fuming about the handling of the shock profit guidance downgrade.
Page 19: Shares in explosives manufacturer Orica have slumped close to a three month low amid revelations of premature cracking at a new ammonium nitrate facility in Western Australia, unplanned maintenance and plans to record close to $300 million of impairments and provisions on other parts of the business.
The widening spread between the Reserve Bank’s official cash rate and interest rates paid by borrowers since the global financial crisis provides evidence that price competition is lacking in banking, Productivity Commission chairman Peter Harris has told two major banks, as their smaller rivals plead for changes to regulatory capital levels and a stronger role for the competition regulator to level the playing field.
The Australian
Page 2: Top diplomat Frances Adamson has described Australia’s relationship with China as going through a period of “some complex and difficult issues” and confirmed she had not visited the country over the past few months because her trips had been deferred.
Page 4: Motorists with potentially deadly airbags will face no penalties under the Australian Consumer Law if they sell their cars privately without first replacing the airbags.
Page 6: Bureaucrats have bungled the numbers in two successive federal budgets so dramatically that welfare measures will affect 40,000 more age pensioners than forecast and a disability pension crackdown will end up costing taxpayers money.
Page 19: CSIRO chair and former Telstra boss David Thodey has hit out at the “flip and flop, back and forth” from government on technology policy as damaging to Australia’s innovation pursuits, and called for consistency.
British wagering major William Hill could exit the Australian market as early as next week as the two preferred bidders finalise their offer for the struggling business.
Page 21: Australian Industrial Energy — a consortium backed by billionaire Andrew Forrest that hopes to build a $250 million LNG import facility at Newcastle or Port Kembla — says it will not strike supply deals with incumbents like AGL Energy as it tries to contract 30 per cent of NSW gas demand to underpin its construction.
Page 28: The government’s ambitious new defence export strategy could prove highly beneficial to Australia’s nascent space industry sector.
The West Australian
Page 1: City of Perth senior staff activated a crisis-management plan usually reserved for fire, flood or long-term loss of power hours before a meeting at which acting chief executive Robert Mianich was expected to be ousted.
Page 3: Fake fire emergencies cost West Australians more than $2.4 million in call-out fees last year, an increase of more than half, Department of Fire and Emergency Services figures have revealed.
Page 13: A WA cancer educator is calling for a minimum $1.50 unit price on packaged alcohol — more than the $1.30 price endorsed by the Northern Territory Government this week.
Business: The culture of secrecy surrounding the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority is to be upended under sweeping changes proposed by new MRALandCorp chairman George McCullagh.
The Federal Government has locked in the long-term upkeep of the navy’s Anzac-class frigates at the Henderson marine complex for the next five years, handing BAE Systems’ WA facilities a boost.
Talison Lithium is eyeing another big expansion of its Greenbushes lithium mine in the South West in response to surging demand from battery makers and auto manufacturers