Morning Headlines

Australia seeks more of lithium battery pie

Australia risks missing a once-ina-generation opportunity to develop a major manufacturing hub for the booming lithium-ion battery market to capture more than its current tiny share of the value chain, according to a report from the federal government, which is launching a strategy to turn that situation around. The Fin

Subbies’ unit a ‘game changer’

WA’s Subcontractor Support Unit — the first of its kind in Australia — will “triage” the financial casualties of the State’s construction industry, Small Business Commissioner David Eaton says. The West

ACCC hits big banks, ports, tech

The big four banks used the cover of regulatory intervention to lift rates on interest-only loans and extract an additional billion dollars in profit, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has found. The Fin

$850m bonanza as sale of 5G spectrum beats expectations

Telstra, TPG Telecom and Vodafone Hutchison Australia have ended up paying through the nose for 5G spectrum, giving the Coalition government an $853 million windfall through the sale of 3.6GHz band spectrum. The Aus

Coalition bid to end ‘double dipping’

The Coalition will introduce a regulation to stop casual workers ‘‘double dipping’’, ensuring employers are not required to pay entitlements on top of casual loadings. The Fin

Buru, Rey buy in

Mitsubishi has sold its interests in two Kimberley onshore oil prospects to partners Buru Energy and Rey Resources. The West

Coalition sinks to record pre-poll low

The Coalition government’s primary vote is at its lowest point in Newspoll history five months out from a federal election. The Aus

ALP asylum vow: you can stay

More than 10,000 asylum-seekers, who arrived in Australia under the open-border policies of the Rudd and Gillard governments and are still being processed almost a decade later, would be given permanent protection and a pathway to citizenship under a Shorten government. The Aus

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: The big four banks used the cover of regulatory intervention to lift rates on interest-only loans and extract an additional billion dollars in profit, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has found.

Page 3: Federal Labor is poised to re-embrace industry-wide bargaining, but only for low-paid industries like childcare and cleaning where the workers are not well served by enterprise bargaining.

The Coalition will introduce a regulation to stop casual workers ‘‘double dipping’’, ensuring employers are not required to pay entitlements on top of casual loadings.

Page 6: Investor mortgage lending rose for the first time in eight months in October as loan promises for investment purchases picked up in a more active spring market.

Page 10: Australians involved in money laundering, tax fraud and international crime syndicates are more likely than ever to be caught, as the Tax Office ramps up data-matching and multilateral co-operation in investigations.

Page 13: Bank stocks were the biggest casualties of another epic market rout that put the local sharemarket within 20 points of a two-year low on the expectation that US recessionary risk is rising, causing global stocks to fall.

Page 17: National Australia Bank has launched a blacklist of phrases and explanations no longer acceptable for borrowers seeking personal, household or residential investment loans as the bank tightens credit card lending and reviews minimum living expenses used for loan applications.

Page 18: Australia risks missing a once-ina-generation opportunity to develop a major manufacturing hub for the booming lithium-ion battery market to capture more than its current tiny share of the value chain, according to a report from the federal government, which is launching a strategy to turn that situation around.

Kidman Resources has paid its way out of a tenement tussle that threatened to derail its joint venture with lithium giant Sociedad Quimica Y Minera (SQM) and a binding off-take agreement with electric car maker Tesla.

The Australian                                                                                                                          

Page 1: More than 10,000 asylum-seekers, who arrived in Australia under the open-border policies of the Rudd and Gillard governments and are still being processed almost a decade later, would be given permanent protection and a pathway to citizenship under a Shorten government.

Page 2: The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s yearlong review of the $1.7 trillion mortgage market, tasked to the watchdog after the government slapped a $6.2 billion levy on the major banks, found that although the biggest banks didn’t specifically pass on the costs of the new tax to customers, borrowers were slugged a loyalty tax for not demanding lower rates.

The head of Western Australia’s Corruption and Crime Commission says a $220,000 voluntary redundancy payment to corrupt Health Department bureaucrat John Fullerton does not “pass the pub test”.

Page 4: The Coalition government’s primary vote is at its lowest point in Newspoll history five months out from a federal election.

Page 5: The federal government has stopped almost $3 billion in taxpayer money going to fraudulent and dodgy family daycare operators since 2014, with new figures showing hundreds of millions more have been saved since June.

Page 17: Telstra, TPG Telecom and Vodafone Hutchison Australia have ended up paying through the nose for 5G spectrum, giving the Coalition government an $853 million windfall through the sale of 3.6GHz band spectrum.

Page 19: Woolworths has extended a peace offering to suppliers over its initial plans to block them from essential data that tracked the sales of brands within supermarket categories.

The West Australian

Page 1: Agni Angelkovska, 50, is on trial accused of slapping the student in the face with the boy’s own hand and throwing a cup of water at him during an incident at Christ Church Grammar School in November 2014.

Page 4: Taxpayers copped a $4.5 million bill for the political assassination of Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister, with figures detailing the severance payments that came after the exodus of staff in the wake of the Liberal leadership spill in August.

Page 5: The State Government has been forced to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on security services in remote areas to protect teachers’ homes while they lie empty during the summer holidays.

Page 6: A national process is needed to monitor and strategically plan for population growth so cities are no longer “playing catch-up”, according to Australia’s key infrastructure advisory body.

Page 12: WA’s Subcontractor Support Unit — the first of its kind in Australia — will “triage” the financial casualties of the State’s construction industry, Small Business Commissioner David Eaton says.

Cobey Industries, a longstanding contractor, said Water Corporation owed it about $4 million for work it did installing a pipeline between the Stirling and Harris dams in the Harris River State Forest near Collie.

Business: The new boss of CBH Group’s Blue Lake Milling wants the industry to work together to further enhance the reputation of Australian oats, and steer clear of boom-bust scenarios of the past.

Perth-based Tape Ark, founded by local entrepreneur and former US army combat medic Guy Holmes, is partnering with NASDAQ-listed Seagate Technology in new facilities in the US and Europe capable of processing tens of thousands of tapes a day.

Australia’s largest home loan aggregator, Australian Finance Group, has launched a blitz on politicians to defend the income of mortgage brokers ahead of the banking royal commission’s final report.

Mitsubishi has sold its interests in two Kimberley onshore oil prospects to partners Buru Energy and Rey Resources.