Morning Headlines

Britain in worst crisis since WWII

Britain’s political crisis has deepened, with Prime Minister Theresa May’s humiliating Brexit defeat heightening the prospect of no deal with the EU as rival political factions threaten to tear the Conservative government apart. The Aus

Fake ewes

Major doubts have been cast over the leaked cruelty videos used to clamp down on the live export trade out of WA after revelations that animal activists offered workers on ships massive payments for vision that showed “dead or dying animals”. The West

FIRB gets tougher on China firms

Australia’s foreign investment regulator no longer believes private companies in China are free of Communist Party control, a move which has ensured all mainland takeovers are now subject to enhanced screening on national security grounds. The Fin

West-east gas pipe dream fails to add up

A gas pipeline from WA to ease the east coast gas crisis is only viable if supplied by cheap gas that WA consumers are barred from buying, a report commissioned by the Federal Government says. The West

Hayne gets blame for retail spending squeeze

First it was home loans, now retail spending appears to have fallen victim to the crackdown on credit in the wake of the financial services royal commission. The Fin

WA Meat abattoirs sold to UAE buyer

The Iranian businessman who recently bought five WA abattoirs has sold the full portfolio to a company in the United Arab Emirates, a move which will create more demand for local livestock. The West

Accountants struck off in industry blitz

The Tax Practitioners Board, which has the power to deregister tax agents, has embarked on its most ambitious compliance program yet, targeting a 78,000-strong membership base to enforce professional and ethical codes of conduct. The Fin

Unions draw strength from ‘spectacular victory’ at coalmine

The mining union has claimed a “spectacular victory” for striking labour hire workers, winning their conversion from casual to permanent employment, better conditions and pay rises under a two-year deal that will embolden the national union movement ahead of the federal election. The Aus

The Australian Financial Review

P1: Australia’s foreign investment regulator no longer believes private companies in China are free of Communist Party control, a move which has ensured all mainland takeovers are now subject to enhanced screening on national security grounds.

P1: First it was home loans, now retail spending appears to have fallen victim to the crackdown on credit in the wake of the financial services royal commission.

P4: Bill Shorten has indicated a willingness to cut loose underperforming elements of the industry superannuation fraternity as part of Labor’s full response to recommendations by the Productivity Commission.

P4: The Tax Practitioners Board, which has the power to deregister tax agents, has embarked on its most ambitious compliance program yet, targeting a 78,000-strong membership base to enforce professional and ethical codes of conduct.

P8: The Business Council of Australia has called for action to encourage business investment after the first Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development comparative study of over 100 countries showed Australia was being left behind as other jurisdictions cut taxes and increase competitiveness.

P12: The corporate regulator is worried about car dealers pushing loans on to consumers who can’t afford to repay them and is investigating a legal loophole that allows them to do so without a credit licence.

P14: The $2.1 billion pursuit of Navitas by BGH Capital has been centred on getting control of the education company’s lucrative university pathways business, which industry watchers say has strong growth prospects stemming from global demographic trends.

P15: Renewable energy project developers in Australia will see a bigger range of debt funding sources entering the local market this year despite uncertainty about overarching federal policy on energy and climate, according to the country’s biggest lender to the wind and solar sector.

P28: Leading investment bankers in Australia’s commercial property market have admitted new floats and other corporate M&A activity will be softer this year due to volatile conditions and heated valuations.

The Australian

P1: Britain’s political crisis has deepened, with Prime Minister Theresa May’s humiliating Brexit defeat heightening the prospect of no deal with the EU as rival political factions threaten to tear the Conservative government apart.

P1: The mining union has claimed a “spectacular victory” for striking labour hire workers, winning their conversion from casual to permanent employment, better conditions and pay rises under a two-year deal that will embolden the national union movement ahead of the federal election.

P4: Malcolm Turnbull’s government approved a $443.3 million grant to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation after receiving flawed advice from bureaucrats who provided “insufficient scrutiny” of the charity in an assessment that lasted just three days.

P5: Scott Morrison has accused Bill Shorten of failing to “stand up” for Australia Day, as the government threatens to rewrite key rules and ban Greens MPs from conducting citizenship ceremonies in councils that boycott the national day.

P13: The prospect of a federal election in May is tempering the appetite of foreign companies looking to carry out an Australian transaction while the nation’s political future remains uncertain.

P14: Australia isn’t alone in facing falling property values, but prices here are tipped to fall further than anywhere else.

P15: Power giant AGL expects the addition of supply from planned hydro, solar, wind and battery generation projects will lead to lower electricity prices amid pressure from the federal government for the nation’s largest retailers to cut household bills.

The West Australian

P1: Activists sent emails to live animal export workers appealing for them to leak vision of cruelty on ships with promises of lucrative payments which would be the equivalent of three months’ wages.

P1: A former Labor fisheries minister and powerbroker has urged the McGowan Government to rethink its proposed changes to the crayfishing industry — saying it risked losing the argument in the wake of a growing backlash.

Business: A gas pipeline from WA to ease the east coast gas crisis is only viable if supplied by cheap gas that WA consumers are barred from buying, a report commissioned by the Federal Government says.

The Iranian businessman who recently bought five WA abattoirs has sold the full portfolio to a company in the United Arab Emirates, a move which will create more demand for local livestock.

The McGowan Government has banked its $185 million windfall from the sale of national online settlements business Property Exchange Australia.

The collapse of a WA concrete and form work subcontractor working on Pindan and ADCO projects underlined the urgency of the State Government’s building pay reforms, according to Subcontractors WA.

For 25 years, trained seamstress and fashion designer Jenny Knight perfected the craft of haute couture and bridal gowns.