Morning Headlines

Big shoes to fill

After 20 years, long-serving deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop yesterday announced she was quitting Federal Parliament. The West

Quigley acts on subbies’ pay

There is a light at the end of the tunnel for tens of thousands of dudded subcontractors after Attorney-General John Quigley pledged to introduce legislation to protect their pay before the end of the year. The West

Wesfarmers CEO says policy changes could dent spending

Wesfarmers chief executive Rob Scott says Labor’s plan to end cash refunds for excess franking credits and other changes to taxation policies could crimp household budgets and dent already fragile consumer spending. The Fin

Big farmer defends Saudi sale

WA’s biggest broadacre farmer John Nicoletti has hit back at criticism for selling his massive 200,000ha Wheatbelt farm to a foreign buyer. The West

Westpac tips two interest rate cuts this year

Westpac has brushed aside a spurt in jobs growth, arguing a weakening economy including a dollar potentially below US68c will compel the Reserve Bank to slash the official interest rate to a new historic low of 1 per cent before the end of the year. The Aus

Super fund targets dirty dozen firms

The nation’s biggest superannuation fund, $140 billion AustralianSuper, has a leadership role with Climate Action 100+, the investor group that forced Glencore to yield on coal production which is now spearheading a similar campaign against 12 other Australian companies over carbon emissions. The Fin

Qantas CEO sparks airline dogfight

Alan Joyce has delivered his most scathing criticism yet of Virgin Australia’s outgoing chief executive John Borghetti, suggesting there was no comparison between Qantas and its smaller rival. The Aus

You pay defence legal bill

WA taxpayers are footing a $1400-a-day bill for accused Claremont serial killer Bradley Robert Edwards to be defended by a top-shelf barrister. The West

Labor to lift bank victim compo

Labor will outbid the Coalition on banks today by promising a vastly more generous compensation scheme for victims of financial service wrongdoing, including payments of up to $2 million for individuals and small businesses. The Fin

China slaps ban on exports

China has banned Australian thermal coal exports from entering five ports, in a provocative strike at the nation’s top export earner, sending the dollar into a dive. The Aus

The Australian Financial Review

P1: The nation’s biggest superannuation fund, $140 billion AustralianSuper, has a leadership role with Climate Action 100+, the investor group that forced Glencore to yield on coal production which is now spearheading a similar campaign against 12 other Australian companies over carbon emissions.

P1: Labor will outbid the Coalition on banks today by promising a vastly more generous compensation scheme for victims of financial service wrongdoing, including payments of up to $2 million for individuals and small businesses.

P3: Wesfarmers chief executive Rob Scott says Labor’s plan to end cash refunds for excess franking credits and other changes to taxation policies could crimp household budgets and dent already fragile consumer spending.

P5: Consulting giant KPMG raised concerns about the financial position of Paladin – the little-known company contracted for $423 million to provide services to refugees on Manus Island – in a report to the Department of Home Affairs, contradicting evidence given by senior officials this week.

P8: Australia and other countries should ditch unilateral plans for local taxes on digital giants including Facebook and Google as the OECD begins an ambitious ‘‘knockdown and rebuild’’ of the international rulebook.

P10: Australian Prudential Regulation Authority chairman Wayne Byres has signalled the regulator is reluctant to be given powers proposed by Labor and superannuation funds for the regulator to select which funds would be allowed to continue providing default life insurance.

P17: Nine chief executive Hugh Marks says the merger with Fairfax Media has created a diverse media business with increasing digital earnings and less reliance on television and print advertising.

P20: Profits at David Jones plunged 39 per cent to $36 million in the December half after its South African owner, Woolworths Holdings, cut prices and spent another $56 million improving stores and building a new food business.

P31: Cheap money has pushed companies such as US co-working space provider WeWork and ride-sharing firm Uber into bubble territory, but the conditions that fuelled their ascent are now reversing.

The Australian

P1: China has banned Australian thermal coal exports from entering five ports, in a provocative strike at the nation’s top export earner, sending the dollar into a dive.

P2: The Coalition is returning to Tony Abbott’s climate change playbook, attacking Labor’s 45 per cent emissions reduction target as a “great big new tax” on wages and power prices, as it puts the finishing touches on a new direct action plan to fund tree-planting and soil carbon improvements by farmers.

P4: Westpac has brushed aside a spurt in jobs growth, arguing a weakening economy including a dollar potentially below US68c will compel the Reserve Bank to slash the official interest rate to a new historic low of 1 per cent before the end of the year.

P6: Helloworld Travel CEO Andrew Burnes has denied ever having said Joe Hockey “owes me” and has cast doubt on key evidence given to a parliamentary committee as Labor questions whether Australia’s ambassador to the US used his position to help a company for his personal benefit.

P7: Julie Bishop is backing a woman to succeed her in the Liberal Party’s blue-ribbon seat of Curtin as Attorney-General Christian Porter again fends off speculation that he will seek to save his political career by switching from his marginal seat of Pearce.

P19: Alan Joyce has delivered his most scathing criticism yet of Virgin Australia’s outgoing chief executive John Borghetti, suggesting there was no comparison between Qantas and its smaller rival.

P20: Nine expects to wrap up the sale of its regional and community newspapers and its New Zealand and events businesses, inherited from Fairfax, by the end of June.

P21: Australia’s biggest electricity and gas retailer, Origin Energy, has struck a note of caution on the federal government’s expectations of cuts to power prices and says a range of factors, including upcoming rulings on network costs, will influence the direction of household tariffs.

P25: Port logistics player Qube Holdings says a slowdown in container volumes growth since January may just be a hiccup after surprisingly strong increases last year had helped fuel another special dividend from its half-owned Patrick stevedoring business.

The West Australian

P1: After 20 years, long-serving deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop yesterday announced she was quitting Federal Parliament.

P1: WA taxpayers are footing a $1400-a-day bill for accused Claremont serial killer Bradley Robert Edwards to be defended by a top-shelf barrister.

P9: Julie Bishop is believed to be courting board roles, with speculation ANZ and Qantas have been in talks with the former foreign minister.

Business: WA’s biggest broadacre farmer John Nicoletti has hit back at criticism for selling his massive 200,000ha Wheatbelt farm to a foreign buyer.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel for tens of thousands of dudded subcontractors after Attorney-General John Quigley pledged to introduce legislation to protect their pay before the end of the year.

Mineral Resources will today turn on the crushing plant at its $610 million Wodgina lithium project in the Pilbara ahead of commissioning of its three-train spodumene plant over the remainder of the half.

Santos is set to spend about $US400 million ($562 million) developing assets in WA, now the oil and gas producer’s biggest business unit after buying Quadrant Energy for $US2.15 billion last year.

Ausdrill’s underlying profit rose 33 per cent to $40 million in the first half, when it completed the acquisition of Barminco to become Australia’s second-biggest mining services company.