Morning Headlines

Retail spend stalls as house prices take hit

Retail spending growth stalled in July, an unexpectedly weak outcome that suggests consumers may have become less willing to open their wallets amid falling house prices and weak wages growth. The Fin

WA to lose in Labor GST ‘fix’

WA would be $1.7 billion worse off under a Federal Labor government unless Bill Shorten committed to adopting the coalition’s planned fix of the GST in full, the State’s peak business lobby claims. The West

Wages rise as miners battle to recruit staff

Wages in WA’s iron ore sector are within sight of boomtime highs, analysts say, as the big miners struggle to recruit workers for construction after years of slashing jobs. The West

Gas pipe firm urges WA price rise

Pipeline company ATCO is pressing ahead with a bid to lift distribution prices for the gas used by WA households by 8 per cent a year from 2020. The West

Morrison floats royal commission into energy industry

The energy sector says Scott Morrison’s threat of a royal commission is unwarranted while a ‘‘small but significant’’ group of Liberal backbenchers is warning the government to tread warily with plans to intervene in the market, especially a proposal to force companies to divest assets. The Fin

Watchdog savages IOOF chief

The prudential regulator has launched a scathing attack on the fitness of IOOF chief executive Chris Kelaher to lead the company, throwing fresh doubts over its billion-dollar takeover of ANZ’s wealth management business. The Aus

Quigley wants to extradite health bribes ‘fixer’

WA Attorney-General John Quigley wants the man at the centre of the Health Department’s bribes-for-contracts scandal, known as The Fixer, to be brought back to WA to face justice. The West

PM lays down law to CFMEU

The Coalition will seek to revive controversial plans to disqualify law-breaking union officials after Scott Morrison moved to make industrial relations an election battleground by threatening to deregister the Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union. The Aus

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: The energy sector says Scott Morrison’s threat of a royal commission is unwarranted while a ‘‘small but significant’’ group of Liberal backbenchers is warning the government to tread warily with plans to intervene in the market, especially a proposal to force companies to divest assets.

Page 3: Retail spending growth stalled in July, an unexpectedly weak outcome that suggests consumers may have become less willing to open their wallets amid falling house prices and weak wages growth.

Page 5: Manufacturing is on the cusp of two years of uninterrupted growth, but energy and commodity prices and the drought are inflating costs, the latest figures from Australian Industry Group show.

Page 9: Scott Morrison’s parliamentary majority will be tested when the Greens move a no-confidence motion against Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton over handling of visas for foreign au pairs.

Page 12: The Labor Party has asked the competition regulator to investigate the big four accounting firms Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC over allegations of cartel-like behaviour, warning of conflicts of interest between their audit functions and lucrative consulting businesses.

Page 20: Buyers have thrown their toys out of the cot when it comes to Affinity Education Group, owned by private equity firm Anchorage Capital Partners.

Page 21: Seven Group Holdings-backed iSeekplant.com.au, Australia’s biggest online hire marketplace for machinery owners, has signed an exclusive deal with Eclipx that makes it a player in second-hand sales and auctions.

Page 22: National Australia Bank has said its financial planning and ‘‘direct advice’’ businesses will no longer accept commissions from the bank’s own wealth management and investment product providers.

Gold miner Troy Resources reported a full-year net loss after tax of $9.6 million.

Page 24: Foxtel will hike the cost of its basic package for the first time in more than two years as the pay television business attempts to offset higher programming costs and heavier investment in new technology it has made to fend off rivals.

The Australian                                                                                                                          

Page 1: The Coalition will seek to revive controversial plans to disqualify law-breaking union officials after Scott Morrison moved to make industrial relations an election battleground by threatening to deregister the Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union.

The superannuation regulator has launched a raft of fresh investigations into some of Australia’s biggest financial institutions, including the nation’s biggest bank, CBA, after being embarrassed by revelations of wrongdoing exposed during bruising royal commission hearings.

Page 3: beer is being shunned by more Australians, along with the alcopops that politicians once worried about, and the hipster’s choice, cider.

Page 7: Companies are enjoying stronger profits and are paying more in salaries and wages, with tomorrow’s national accounts expected to show both rising corporate and household incomes are supporting economic growth.

Page 17: The prudential regulator has launched a scathing attack on the fitness of IOOF chief executive Chris Kelaher to lead the company, throwing fresh doubts over its billion-dollar takeover of ANZ’s wealth management business.

Saudi Arabia’s $US250 billion ($347bn) sovereign wealth fund will consider resources, technology and environmental investments in Australia, with former Dow Chemical boss Andrew Liveris set to use a newly created advisory role with the Middle East nation to boost its access to overseas markets.

The West Australian

Page 1: WA Attorney-General John Quigley wants the man at the centre of the Health Department’s bribes-for-contracts scandal, known as The Fixer, to be brought back to WA to face justice.

Page 3: WA would be $1.7 billion worse off under a Federal Labor government unless Bill Shorten committed to adopting the coalition’s planned fix of the GST in full, the State’s peak business lobby claims.

Page 4: Wages in WA’s iron ore sector are within sight of boomtime highs, analysts say, as the big miners struggle to recruit workers for construction after years of slashing jobs.

Page 10: Rural West Australians hoping to go to university will be the focus of a $174 million plan by the ALP it says will help give young country people a chance at further study.

Business: A year after a bungled US clinical study dealt a blow to its reputation and shredded its shares, telehealth hopeful ResApp is back on track to commercialise its cough diagnostic app.

Canadian utility ATCO has likened the development of a hydrogen industry in WA to the uptake of rooftop solar panels, predicting an inevitable fall in costs would ultimately make it competitive.

Pipeline company ATCO is pressing ahead with a bid to lift distribution prices for the gas used by WA households by 8 per cent a year from 2020.

Investors have wholeheartedly backed WA gold miner Northern Star Resources’ push into the US, driving the company to its highest share price on the back of its acquisition of the Pogo gold mine in Alaska.