Morning Headlines

Friday, 21 September, 2018 - 06:57
Category: 

Morrison green lights $4.6b in schools funding

The Morrison government has removed one of the ‘‘barnacles’’ holding the Coalition back, by injecting $4.57 billion of new money into the Catholic and independent schools sector – ridding itself of an angry voter backlash. But already public school teacher unions are threatening to retaliate. The Fin

$1bn debt waiver for ripped-off students

The federal government will waive an estimated $1 billion debt owed by students ripped off by dodgy college loan rorts in a bid to settle one of Australia’s major public administration scandals. The Aus

ASIC’s meaningless penalties exposed

The corporate regulator’s failure to issue major companies with fines of any consequence was again highlighted at the Hayne royal commission yesterday in evidence that showed insurance giant Suncorp was fined just $43,200 when it was liable for a $7.2 million penalty, for the false and misleading promotions. The Fin

Hillary fun park plans in trouble

Links between a wealthy Perth businessman and Britain's most infamous paedophile are threatening a multimillion dollar amusement park development at Hillarys Boat Harbour. The West

Andrew gets nod to beef up UBS WA office

UBS has hired former Standard Chartered banker Tim Andrew to spearhead a Western Australia push and capitalise on any upturn in deal activity, after challenging conditions saw other firms reduce their presence. The Fin

Rio Tinto goes off market for share buyback

Investors have cheered Rio Tinto’s decision to return $US1.9 billion ($2.6 billion) of divestment proceeds through a tax-friendly, off-market buyback of its Australian stock, with one shareholder saying other companies should consider a similar liberation of their franking credits before federal Labor’s likely rise to power. The Fin

PM ups the ante on small biz tax cuts

The Morrison government could legislate the fast-tracking of small business company tax cuts before the federal election to increase the pressure on Labor going into the campaign. The Fin

 

 

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: Hong Kong’s CK Group has rejected suggestions it answers to China’s ruling Communist Party as fictitious and labelled claims by some Coalition backbenchers that its $13 billion bid for APA Group will give it the power to switch off Australia’s gas supply as naïve.

The Morrison government could legislate the fast-tracking of small business company tax cuts before the federal election to increase the pressure on Labor going into the campaign.

The corporate regulator’s failure to issue major companies with fines of any consequence was again highlighted at the Hayne royal commission yesterday in evidence that showed insurance giant Suncorp was fined just $43,200 when it was liable for a $7.2 million penalty, for the false and misleading promotions.

Page 3: Australia’s household debt to income has climbed rapidly ahead of other developed countries, leaving the country exposed to the next potential crisis, one of the world’s largest investors warns.

One in five interest-only loan borrowers could default on mortgage repayments when their interest-only loan expires, the latest UBS housing and banking survey reveals.

Page 4: The Morrison government has removed one of the ‘‘barnacles’’ holding the Coalition back, by injecting $4.57 billion of new money into the Catholic and independent schools sector – ridding itself of an angry voter backlash. But already public school teacher unions are threatening to retaliate.

Page 5: Labor will move to end travel allowances for known overseas tax havens and stop citizenship shopping by requiring Australians with foreign residency to report to the Tax Office.

Page 6: Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has narrowly avoided a no-confidence motion in Parliament, as government MPs defended his intervention to stop the deportation of two foreign au pairs.

Page 13: The Australian economy may lose its currency safety valve if an extreme trade war erupts, leaving the central bank with little alternative but to cut interest rates, internal Reserve Bank modelling suggests.

Page 17: Investors have cheered Rio Tinto’s decision to return $US1.9 billion ($2.6 billion) of divestment proceeds through a tax-friendly, off-market buyback of its Australian stock, with one shareholder saying other companies should consider a similar liberation of their franking credits before federal Labor’s likely rise to power.

Page 19: Fortescue Metals Group’s new higher grade iron ore product will hit markets sooner than expected and will make up almost 6 per cent of its export volumes this year and 23.5 per cent of export volumes in the future, under new details published by the miner on Thursday.

Page 20: UBS has hired former Standard Chartered banker Tim Andrew to spearhead a Western Australia push and capitalise on any upturn in deal activity, after challenging conditions saw other firms reduce their presence.

 

 

The Australian                                                                                                                          

Page 1: The federal government will waive an estimated $1 billion debt owed by students ripped off by dodgy college loan rorts in a bid to settle one of Australia’s major public administration scandals.

Australia is in talks with Papua New Guinea to finance its domestic internet cable network, in a bid to shut out Chinese company Huawei from building the infrastructure amid warnings its involvement would pose an unacceptable cybersecurity risk.

Page 5: Labor has sounded the alarm over the outsourcing of Australia’s visa processing arrangements, citing concerns over national security, staffing and privacy implications.

Page 18: The next week is expected to prove a major test of Australia’s equity capital markets, with Coronado Coal’s prospectus due to be published and a deadline looming for the future of the troubled Latitude float.

Page 20: Blue-chip law firm King & Wood Mallesons has been slapped down for a second time over its bungled responses to requests for information from the financial services royal commission.

 

 

The West Australian

Page 1: Links between a wealthy Perth businessman and Britain's most infamous paedophile are threatening a multimillion dollar amusement park development at Hillarys Boat Harbour.

Page 3: WA’s Opposition has claimed the bosses of two State-owned power utilities have taken home combined extra pay packets amounting to more than $50,000 despite the McGowan Government’s wage freeze on senior public officials.

Page 14: WA’s legal aid authorities have reported a 22 per cent jump in services given to family violence victims last year — prompted in part by the rash of high-profile cases across the State.

Page 24: A major report on the future of Australia’s mining sector has backed industry calls for State and Federal governments to help invest in downstream processing of battery minerals and provide the next generation of high-tech jobs in WA and across the nation.

Page 66: A WA Health probe has found doctors and bureaucrats accepted almost $11 million in “sponsored travel” over three years as questions continue over the tracking and administering of gifts from pharmaceutical companies and contractors.

Business: The Reserve Bank has warned the nation’s commercial banks could be hit by the changing shopping habits of Australians with major malls at risk of being left with vast empty spaces.

Soaring uptake of rooftop solar panels and subdued demand for electricity have put a massive dent in the output of Stateowned power provider Synergy’s ageing generation fleet.

An asset-rich Pilbara Aboriginal community organisation $5.5 million in debt has been saved from liquidation under a restructuring plan.