Morning Headlines

States get $9b top-up in GST fix

In 2019-20 and 2020-21, the Commonwealth will spend $1.47 billion in total to bring WA’s share of the GST, which is currently about 47¢, back above 70¢ for each dollar of GST revenue it raises. The Fin

Kambo’s creditors in wipe-out

Administrators from Hall Chadwick have recommended the company behind Kambo’s, Peter Kambouris’ Kamb Investments, be liquidated, given there is little interest in the group’s assets from potential buyers and the prohibitive cost of reopening the retailer’s stores. The West

Canberra inks $1b IBM deal in world first

Taxpayers will enjoy an estimated $100 million in savings after the Turnbull government struck a $1 billion deal with IBM to supply computer equipment and software across the entire Commonwealth bureaucracy. The Fin

Surprise rise in retail sales but headwinds remain for consumers

The latest retail sales figures underline the risks to the Australian economy from a lacklustre consumer, with spending data for May showing shoppers remain relatively cautious as house prices soften and wages remain stubbornly stagnant. The Fin

Ichthys LNG delay ‘but shipments on track’

Japan’s Inpex Corporation has delayed gas production from its giant $54 billion Ichthys project off the north of WA just weeks after giving assurances that output would start imminently. The West

ANZ bracing for fallout over AmBank stake as $4.5bn 1MDB scandal erupts

ANZ and its executives could be drawn into Malaysia’s $4.5 billion 1MDB scandal following the arrest of the country’s former prime minister, Najib Razak, on corruption charges, a leading bank analyst says. The Aus

Former Rio exec Stern Hu released in China

Former Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu has been reunited with his family in Shanghai after being released in secret on completing a nine-year prison sentence in China on bribery charges, closing a dark chapter in Australia’s tumultuous relationship with its largest trading partner. The Fin

Clawing back concessions to save $1.7bn

Tax concessions for housing investors should be reduced gradually over a decade to avoid political roadblocks, eventually saving taxpayers more than $1.7 billion a year, the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute says. The Aus

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: In 2019-20 and 2020-21, the Commonwealth will spend $1.47 billion in total to bring WA’s share of the GST, which is currently about 47¢, back above 70¢ for each dollar of GST revenue it raises.

Page 3: Taxpayers will enjoy an estimated $100 million in savings after the Turnbull government struck a $1 billion deal with IBM to supply computer equipment and software across the entire Commonwealth bureaucracy.

The latest retail sales figures underline the risks to the Australian economy from a lacklustre consumer, with spending data for May showing shoppers remain relatively cautious as house prices soften and wages remain stubbornly stagnant.

The Tax Office and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission have forged a five-country alliance with the US, the UK, Canada and the Netherlands to run joint operations targeting cyber-crime, crypto currency fraud and money laundering.

Page 4: National Australia Bank chief executive Andrew Thorburn says staff bonuses are overrated and need to be overhauled but doesn’t believe they should be scrapped.

Page 5: Business is urging the Turnbull government go further with the protection of trade secrets and intellectual property after foreign interference laws passed by Parliament last week made the theft of trade secrets a crime for the first time in Australia.

Page 8: Tax experts say the Coalition hasn’t provided enough clarity about proposed changes to R&D tax incentives, risking resources and agriculture businesses fundamental to the economy.

Page 9: A key business group has questioned the merits of a proposed ban on cash transactions over $10,000, insisting there is no ‘‘hard evidence’’ of a widespread problem.

Page 11: Former Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu has been reunited with his family in Shanghai after being released in secret on completing a nine-year prison sentence in China on bribery charges, closing a dark chapter in Australia’s tumultuous relationship with its largest trading partner.

Page 15: Relationships between Bendigo Bank’s top executives will be under renewed pressure following the publication of a cache of documents that reveals weaknesses in its systems and led a senior executive to contradict her former boss and criticise the bank’s most senior risk officer in public.

Page 17: Mrs Rinehart is introducing a performance-based profit-sharing scheme as the privately owned company pursues more ‘‘effective use’’ of berth facilities in Port Hedland’s inner harbour to boost exports to 60 million tonnes a year, which will require state government support.

Page 19: The chairman of struggling grocery wholesaler Metcash says a $125 million off-market buyback will benefit all of the company’s shareholders whether they choose to be part of it or not, as fund managers warned that the supermarkets business is facing serious strife over the next five years.

The chief executive of $1.8 billion automotive parts group Bapcor says one of the company’s strengths is that it doesn’t get ‘‘romantically involved’’ in any potential transactions and maintains strict financial discipline, as speculation mounts that it is one of the frontrunners to buy the Kmart Tyre & Auto business from Wesfarmers.

Page 29: Construction contractor WestStar Industrial has won a contract scope extension at the Talison lithium mine in WA worth $1.5 million.

Page 35: Bankwest, which is owned by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation’s largest lender, is reducing long-term trailing commissions, reintroducing a first-year commission and tightening payments on other commissions.

Page 37: Private hospitals were the best performing real estate assets in 2017, delivering a total average return of 25 per cent and outperforming traditional assets such as offices, malls and sheds, according to a new report.

The Australian

Page 2: The managers of the $22 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme have been excoriated for being “slow”, lacking transparency and being potentially “bloody-minded” in the way they seek to quash appeals by people with disabilities.

Page 3: Google has given hundreds of outside software companies access to Gmail users’ emails.

Page 4: Senior cabinet ministers have rejected Tony Abbott’s call to leave the Paris Agreement despite several backbenchers lending their support to the former prime minister’s plan to abandon the international climate treaty.

Australia’s biggest users of energy face a $10 billion bill over the next decade to satisfy emission cuts under the Paris climate agreement with heavy industry set to shoulder the bulk of the country’s reduction effort.

Page 6: The nation’s biggest bank has announced it will permanently stop offering the nation’s shonkiest home-lending product — the subprime-style low-doc loan — and change how it pays mortgage brokers in a bid to stamp out fraud and poor lending practices.

Centre Alliance crossbencher Rex Patrick says Scott Morrison should block Hong Kong-based CK Infrastructure’s $13 billion bid for APA Group, the nation’s biggest gas pipeline operator, on the grounds it would expand Chinese control of vital energy infrastructure.

Page 17: ANZ and its executives could be drawn into Malaysia’s $4.5 billion 1MDB scandal following the arrest of the country’s former prime minister, Najib Razak, on corruption charges, a leading bank analyst says.

Page 19: Apartment developers are struggling to sell inferior stock as demand from Chinese buyers slows, and the off-the-plan market is instead seeing a flight to quality, a new survey has found.

Page 20: Toll Holdings — bought by Japan Post in 2015 for a top-of-the-market $6.5 billion — has returned to profitability after a painful three-year run of losses and massive writedowns, squeezing out a skinny net profit of $11.2 million.

Page 24: Tax concessions for housing investors should be reduced gradually over a decade to avoid political roadblocks, eventually saving taxpayers more than $1.7 billion a year, the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute says.

The West Australian

Page 1: The Federal Government is offering WA a $4.7 billion GST breakthrough it says will end the State’s battle with the Commonwealth Grants Commission and deliver financial certainty to taxpayers.

Page 11: The families of two fatal shark attack victims have urged the Premier not to dismiss the Commonwealth’s smart drum-line strategy, with one relative warning the State Government “will have blood on its hands” if the plan is rejected.

Page 14: Virgin Australia is promising cheaper, quicker flights between Perth and Hobart when it launches direct flights from September 17.

Business: Administrators from Hall Chadwick have recommended the company behind Kambo’s, Peter Kambouris’ Kamb Investments, be liquidated, given there is little interest in the group’s assets from potential buyers and the prohibitive cost of reopening the retailer’s stores.

Japan’s Inpex Corporation has delayed gas production from its giant $54 billion Ichthys project off the north of WA just weeks after giving assurances that output would start imminently.

Thermomix has laid bare a savage sales slump suffered as it battled a wave of negative publicity over faulty machines that culminated in a $4.6 million fine in April.

Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths look set to rake in about $71 million in gross profit from selling their 15¢ heavy-duty plastic carriers after the ban on single-use plastic bags.

South West cattle farmers could be selling stock through a new privately owned saleyard by 2022 if State Government plans are successful.

Birimian yesterday boosted the case for the development of its $196 million Goulamina hard rock lithium project in southern Mali with an updated feasibility study.