Morning Headlines

Health cost pain after rules glitch

Private health insurance premiums will climb and thousands of members will need legal protection from unexpected tax debts, after an extraordinary 11-year misinterpretation of insurance rules. The Aus

Rio almost debt-free after divestment

Rio Tinto’s long-awaited exit from coal has generated better-than-expected sales prices and left the miner within striking distance of being debt-free less than a decade after a debt crisis forced the company to conduct one of the biggest equity raisings in corporate history. The Fin

Hostplus tops fund returns

Australia’s industry super funds have come out on top in the benchmark annual superannuation fund survey from regulator APRA, with the hospitality workers fund Hostplus taking top place with a return of 12.2 per cent in the year to June 2017 against an industry average of 9.1 per cent. The Aus

Pastoralists petition for diversity in land tenure

WA pastoralists are keeping the State Government on its toes over promises to rewrite outdated laws governing land use in the rangelands, by yesterday delivering a 7000-strong petition on horseback to Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan. The West

Govt pins tax hopes on budget

The Turnbull government hopes income tax cuts and other measures in next month’s budget will convince South Australian Senator Tim Storer to support company tax cuts because they are part of a broader reform package. The Fin

Qantas plea for foreign pilots

Australia’s largest regional airline, QantasLink, is urging the government to extend the time foreign pilots can stay in Australia on work visas to deal with an “acute” pilot shortage and allow it to restore flights to regional communities. The Aus

CITIC flags Sino Iron royalty fear

China’s biggest conglomerate has renewed its warnings about the threat posed by a royalty battle with Clive Palmer after confirming another billion-dollar hit on the Sino Iron magnetite mine. The West

US signals quota relief for Australian steel

The Trump administration has signalled that any cap imposed on Australian steel shipments to the United States will be more generous than import limits placed on major metal producers in South Korea and some other countries. The Fin

RFDS mental health boost

The Royal Flying Doctor Service will establish a new mental health outreach service for regional and remote WA with an $84 million funding boost to be revealed by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull today. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 3: The Turnbull government hopes income tax cuts and other measures in next month’s budget will convince South Australian Senator Tim Storer to support company tax cuts because they are part of a broader reform package.

Page 4: Former ABC director of television Sandra Levy, former Free TV chief executive Julie Flynn and former Productivity Commission head of office Robert Kerr will headline the Turnbull government’s competitive neutrality inquiry into public broadcasting.

Page 5: As streaming services globalise music like never before, Australia’s music industry is trying to make Spotify and its competitors commit to 25 per cent local content quotas, amid fears domestic sounds could be drowned out.

Page 7: Australian Prudential Regulation Authority chairman Wayne Byres has denied his organisation was unable to keep the banks in line and said there was little evidence of a lending free-for-all.

Page 10: Leading political and business figures have paid tribute to Sir Eric McClintock, a prominent businessman and public servant, who died in Sydney on Tuesday at the age of 99.

Page 12: The Trump administration has signalled that any cap imposed on Australian steel shipments to the United States will be more generous than import limits placed on major metal producers in South Korea and some other countries.

Page 46: Nick Scali managing director Anthony Scali has flagged a future capital raising to fund expansion after selling half his 27 per cent stake to a major Chinese supplier for $77 million.

Wesfarmers may be selling its Coles supermarket division, but the conglomerate is retaining control over what is potentially a far more lucrative retail asset – data on the shopping habits of 10 million Australians.

Page 47: Australian surf brand Billabong International has been swallowed by the US hedge fund that owns its rival Quiksilver, but only after a last-minute bid increase and a hard-fought campaign by chairman Ian Pollard to convince shareholders to support the $200 million deal.

Page 51: Rio Tinto’s long-awaited exit from coal has generated better-than-expected sales prices and left the miner within striking distance of being debt-free less than a decade after a debt crisis forced the company to conduct one of the biggest equity raisings in corporate history.

Page 53: Watpac chief executive Martin Monro says Belgian construction giant BESIX remains committed to its proposal to take almost two-thirds ownership of the company after Watpac issued a major earnings downgrade on Wednesday.

Page 54: Former CBRE industrial leasing and sales agent Matt Sampson is looking to cut out his former colleagues from future commissions after launching a Tinder-style online platform that directly connects tenants with suitable warehouse space.

The Australian

Page 1: Private health insurance premiums will climb and thousands of members will need legal protection from unexpected tax debts, after an extraordinary 11-year misinterpretation of insurance rules.

Page 2: Russian ambassador Grigory Logvinov has warned the world was moving towards a new Cold War, and stared down Julie Bishop during a tense meeting in her Parliament House office yesterday.

Australia’s largest regional airline, QantasLink, is urging the government to extend the time foreign pilots can stay in Australia on work visas to deal with an “acute” pilot shortage and allow it to restore flights to regional communities.

Page 3: The electric vehicle industry wants an extra $3.2 billion spent on infrastructure to increase the number of such cars on Australian roads to three million by 2030.

Page 17: Australia’s industry super funds have come out on top in the benchmark annual superannuation fund survey from regulator APRA, with the hospitality workers fund Hostplus taking top place with a return of 12.2 per cent in the year to June 2017 against an industry average of 9.1 per cent.

The new owner of one of the nation’s biggest underground coalmines believes there is a “bright future” for coking coal, despite the energy source being unfashionable among some sections of society, as emerging economies and global powers such as China and Japan need the commodity to fuel steel production.

Page 19: As Uber races towards an IPO it is doubling down on its commitment to Australia, launching its heavily discounted carpool service, Uber Pool.

The West Australian

Page 11: The Royal Flying Doctor Service will establish a new mental health outreach service for regional and remote WA with an $84 million funding boost to be revealed by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull today.

Page 22: Cabinet minister Michael Keenan has admitted the Federal Government’s $65 billion company tax package may not be a priority for voters, as Labor dares the coalition to make the next election a referendum on its plan to reduce business taxes to 25 per cent.

Page 26: Shaken by the worldwide backlash to its data-harvesting scandal, Facebook has revealed it will help users delete their information from the social network, including phone call logs and photographs, in a major revamp of its privacy settings.

Page 65: A new residential college designed to rival the best in the world has been built on the banks of the Swan River with a $27.5 million donation from mining magnate Andrew Forrest and his wife Nicola.

Jail terms for unpaid fines would be abolished, mandatory sentencing repealed and bail made more accessible for Aboriginal people under a blueprint to address massive indigenous over-representation in WA’s jails.

Business: WA pastoralists are keeping the State Government on its toes over promises to rewrite outdated laws governing land use in the rangelands, by yesterday delivering a 7000-strong petition on horseback to Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan.

Federal Resources Minister Matt Canavan says he is worried the rise of autonomous mining equipment is driving jobs out of regional centres, and has hinted he would support action to curb job losses.

Australian investors’ diminishing appetite for risk contributed to WA mining junior Metalicity deciding to spin off its huge Admiral Bay zinc deposit into a new Canadian float.

China’s biggest conglomerate has renewed its warnings about the threat posed by a royalty battle with Clive Palmer after confirming another billion-dollar hit on the Sino Iron magnetite mine.