Oil plunge hammers shares
Oil plunge hammers shares
Ten weeks of a falling oil price have hit Australian oil and gas producers hard, but the engineering contractors that rely on new investment from the producers have been smashed. The West
Super funds risk posting loss for 2018
Super funds are at risk of posting a negative result for 2018 for the first time since 2011 due to ongoing market volatility, according to figures from research houses Chant West and SuperRatings. The Fin
Wodgina plant to cost $2.2b
Mineral Resources’ new US partner at the Wodgina lithium project has dramatically reset the estimated cost of their value-adding processing plant to more than $2 billion. The West
Labor’s boost to union power alarms business
Employer and business groups are demanding federal Labor resist industrial relations changes after the party endorsed a new policy platform that includes a return to pattern bargaining and other increases in union power, including new laws making it easier to strike and giving easier access to the workplace. The Fin
Home details posted online in HBF breach
WA’s biggest health insurer has admitted to a privacy breach that led to the private addresses of psychologists being published on a TripAdvisor-style healthcare website. The West
Dacian lifts Mt Morgans gold reserves
Dacian Gold has underpinned its gold production aims at its Mt Morgans gold operation near Laverton in the northern Goldfields to 2025 after upping its reserves by 16 per cent in a new update. The West
Nats MP quits over ‘sugar baby’ scandal
The sex scandal plaguing the Nationals has intensified after MP Andrew Broad decided to leave Parliament at the next election. The Fin
Aurora Labs prepares 3D rollout
A small Perth-based company is making big players in engineering, mining and oil and gas sit up and take notice with the potential of its 3D printing technology to turn metal powder into parts at scale and speed. The Fin
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: The NSW Coalition government of Gladys Berejiklian says the Morrison government is ‘‘out of touch’’ on energy and climate policy and needs to change course to plot a national path towards net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Employer and business groups are demanding federal Labor resist industrial relations changes after the party endorsed a new policy platform that includes a return to pattern bargaining and other increases in union power, including new laws making it easier to strike and giving easier access to the workplace.
National Australia Bank chairman Ken Henry will try to head off investor fury at today’s annual meeting by scrapping the bank’s controversial executive pay structure.
Page 2: The Australian Taxation Office has restated warnings to Australians trading cryptocurrency to declare profits in their annual returns, amid an increase in questions about reporting requirements.
Page 3: Super funds are at risk of posting a negative result for 2018 for the first time since 2011 due to ongoing market volatility, according to figures from research houses Chant West and SuperRatings.
Freshly emboldened regulator ASIC has threatened to use its new product intervention powers to crack down on irresponsible credit card companies, as it named American Express as the worst offender of the 10 largest credit card issuers in dealing with bad debt.
Page 4: The size of government just gets bigger in Australia no matter which party is in power, meaning taxpayers are losing more of their hard-earned money to fund public spending.
Page 7: The sex scandal plaguing the Nationals has intensified after MP Andrew Broad decided to leave Parliament at the next election.
Page 15: AGL Energy’s incoming chief executive Brett Redman will step up the focus on ‘‘social licence’’ to rebuild trust with customers as the company looks to head off the Coalition government’s ‘‘big stick’’ approach to energy and set the scene for a revival in growth.
Telstra executives have admitted they don’t yet know how 5G mobile technology, which the telco is betting its future growth on, will be used but insist unexpected uses will emerge for which consumers will be willing to pay a premium.
Page 17: Softer-than-expected profit guidance from Caltex Australia has reignited concerns about the broader outlook for petrol and diesel demand and highlighted road bumps in the fuels supplier’s convenience retailing strategy.
Page 19: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has recommended banning commissions paid to general insurance brokers in northern Australia, as part of a sweeping set of reforms to the insurance market in that part of the country.
Page 21: A small Perth-based company is making big players in engineering, mining and oil and gas sit up and take notice with the potential of its 3D printing technology to turn metal powder into parts at scale and speed.
The Australian
Page 2: Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has been put on notice over his handling of the Andrew Broad “sugar babe” scandal, with angry Nationals MPs warning that his leadership has been further damaged by the saga and he is expected to face a challenge after the election.
The Reserve Bank has backed the budget forecast of above-average economic growth over the next two years but the minutes of its last board meeting show it is increasingly concerned about the risks of a credit squeeze and a weaker world economy.
Page 13: Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe is understood to have met the big four bank chiefs in recent weeks to caution them against an overzealous tightening of credit supply in response to lending rules and the Hayne royal commission.
The competition watchdog will turn up its scrutiny of AGL Energy, Origin Energy and EnergyAustralia over concerns the trio are reaping excessive margins from their gas retailing businesses.
Page 15: The corporate regulator has lashed out at credit card issuers — including American Express, National Australia Bank and Westpac — that are laggards in making improvements to benefit debtladen customers.
The West Australian
Page 3: WA’s biggest health insurer has admitted to a privacy breach that led to the private addresses of psychologists being published on a TripAdvisor-style healthcare website.
Page 4: Gold Fields Australia boss Stuart Mathews is confident a family-friendly roster, quality camp facilities and a direct 75-minute flight to site from Perth will enable the company to attract the staff needed to run its new $621 million Gruyere gold project.
Page 14: Fears the banking royal commission could filter through to the WA economy appear to be justified, with consumer confidence falling amid a crackdown by banks on lending standards.
Page 18: Transport Minister Rita Saffioti has labelled the latest dispute between Perth Airport and Qantas “deeply concerning” and indicated she and Premier Mark McGowan may intervene to broker a deal.
Business: Ten weeks of a falling oil price have hit Australian oil and gas producers hard, but the engineering contractors that rely on new investment from the producers have been smashed.
Australia’s besieged financial advice industry has made a push towards self-regulation, with six professional associations uniting to develop an ethics monitoring and enforcement system.
WA pastoralists have secured a major stake in the latest round of the Federal Government’s $2.55 billion fund to underpin the nation’s carbon farming opportunity, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the awarded contracts.
Kidman Resources believes a monster maiden ore reserve at its Earl Gray lithium deposit near Southern Cross will support a near 50-year business with its Chilean partner Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile after clearing a Warden’s Court dispute that threatened to derail the project.
Mineral Resources’ new US partner at the Wodgina lithium project has dramatically reset the estimated cost of their value-adding processing plant to more than $2 billion.
Dacian Gold has underpinned its gold production aims at its Mt Morgans gold operation near Laverton in the northern Goldfields to 2025 after upping its reserves by 16 per cent in a new update.
Property: A blanket approach to national policies governing commercial bank investor lending restrictions unfairly undermines already weak property markets and does not work, according to industry analyst RiskWise Property Research.
Perth-based Sheffield Property is preparing for an upswing in the Perth office market by setting up an asset management division, to be led by former Savills head of asset management Jason Ridge.
After a 15-year slump in activity during the first six months of this year, Perth’s industrial sector will go into the new year with some positive signs of a minor improvement.
