Morning Headlines

WA slaps EPA, but no promise on carbon fix

West Australian Energy Minister Bill Johnston has slapped down the state’s environment watchdog over its carbon-neutral directive for large resources projects and backed Adani’s coal mine in Queensland as Australia’s biggest oil and gas conference becomes the latest battleground over emissions reduction policy. The Fin

Native title ‘spirit’ compo

State and territory governments and mining companies are expected to be liable for billions of dollars in native title payments after the High Court upheld a landmark decision to compensate Indigenous groups for spiritual and cultural loss from public works such as schools and public housing on their ancestral lands. The Fin

Aboriginals eye BHP stations

The Karlka Nyiyaparli Aboriginal Corporation is negotiating with BHP over the sublease of BHP’s Ethel Creek and Marillana cattle stations that operate as one entity. The West

Call to freeze wages for low-paid

Restaurant and cafe owners have called for a minimum wage freeze, declaring that the Fair Work Commission should impose a real wage cut on low-paid workers by not granting any increase this year. The Aus

Mother Nature thrives in land that state forgot

A forgotten network of government-owned properties has been revealed as biodiversity hotspots containing plants and animals found nowhere else on earth. The Aus

Aussie exports face UK tariff hit

Australia’s hopes of a greatly enhanced agricultural trade with Britain in a no-deal Brexit world have been tempered by imposition of surprise tariffs on agricultural goods such as beef, pork and lamb. The Aus

‘Green tax’ legal chaos

Controversial new emissions curbs by WA’s environment watchdog will tie up major projects in endless court disputes and imperil developments worth tens of billions of dollars, a legal expert says. The West

Grower to convert waste fruit to juice

A major WA apple grower is about to make its own cider and juice from imperfect apples, in the hope it can help the 80-year-old family-owned company survive tough times. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: State and territory governments and mining companies are expected to be liable for billions of dollars in native title payments after the High Court upheld a landmark decision to compensate Indigenous groups for spiritual and cultural loss from public works such as schools and public housing on their ancestral lands.

A growing number of Australians are worried about losing their jobs following soft economic growth numbers, as a slide in consumer sentiment matches the loss in business confidence and conditions.

Page 4: Labor has distanced itself from the ACTU’s push for a living wage that would mandate a $73-a-week increase to the minimum wage, and is proposing a different method that would leave the final determination to the Fair Work Commission.

Page 5: The Department of Home Affairs will investigate how the little-known Paladin Group came to win $423 million in refugee service contracts on Manus Island, the first official acknowledgement of potential problems during the closed tender process.

Page 8: Australian Ferrari buyers are showing ‘‘unprecedented levels of confidence’’, with the Italian car marker selling a record 245 vehicles in 2018 – up 17 per cent on the previous year.

Page 9: The United States’ newly appointed ambassador to Australia hopes that the interests of allies can be accommodated in any trade peace deal between America and China, but concedes the details will ultimately be up to President Donald Trump.

Page 10: US aviation regulators are under growing pressure to ground Boeing’s 737 Max 8 jet after a wave of carriers and authorities from around the world ordered the aircraft out of the sky.

Page 13: West Australian Energy Minister Bill Johnston has slapped down the state’s environment watchdog over its carbon-neutral directive for large resources projects and backed Adani’s coal mine in Queensland as Australia’s biggest oil and gas conference becomes the latest battleground over emissions reduction policy.

Page 15: Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes has revealed his company receives 25 per cent more applications for remote working positions than for those based in an office, saying the software giant will decentralise in response to constraints on talent and infrastructure at its Sydney headquarters.

Page 17: Digital-only bank ING has recorded a surge in customer numbers following the banking royal commission, as 400,000 new customers signed on to the local subsidiary of the Dutch giant.

The Australian

Page 1: Restaurant and cafe owners have called for a minimum wage freeze, declaring that the Fair Work Commission should impose a real wage cut on low-paid workers by not granting any increase this year.

Page 3: Australia’s beloved Kookaburra is an endangered species. The ball, not the bird, has been subject to criticism from local cricket legends for some time, but now Shane Warne is leading a campaign that could lead to the extinction of the local product.

Page 5: An injury suffered in jail by the alleged Claremont serial killer appears to have been self-inflicted after police said they found no evidence of a criminal act.

A forgotten network of government-owned properties has been revealed as biodiversity hotspots containing plants and animals found nowhere else on earth.

Page 8: Australia’s hopes of a greatly enhanced agricultural trade with Britain in a no-deal Brexit world have been tempered by imposition of surprise tariffs on agricultural goods such as beef, pork and lamb.

Page 17: Australia’s oil and gas heavyweights will intensify their push for the West Australian government to legislate against the new carbon offset measures put forward by the state’s environmental regulator, amid fresh forecasts that the proposals will kill off projects worth tens of billions of dollars.

The federal government hopes China will not take action against Australian barley producers as it works through its anti-dumping investigation, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham says.

Page 18: Debate is raging in the Woolworths boardroom over plans for its $3.5 billion hotel and liquor operations ALH Group. ALH Group owns over 300 licensed venues and more than 550 retail liquor outlets across Australia with brands such as Dan Murphy’s and BWS, and publican Bruce Mathieson owns 25 per cent of the business, while Woolworths the remainder.

Page 20: The proposed merger of gold miners Doray Minerals and Silver Lake Resources is looking closer to fruition after Doray’s largest shareholder said it intended to vote in favour of the scheme, ahead of a ballot later this month.

The West Australian

Page 3: The City of Swan has bowed to community pressure and delayed a recommendation to ban future places of worship.

Page 7: Controversial new emissions curbs by WA’s environment watchdog will tie up major projects in endless court disputes and imperil developments worth tens of billions of dollars, a legal expert says.

Page 14: West Australians will get a 10¢ refund on returning eligible empty drinks containers to points across the State after laws to establish a container deposit scheme passed Parliament last night. The scheme, which will start in 2020, is projected to result in 706 million fewer containers ending up as litter by 2037.

Business: The Karlka Nyiyaparli Aboriginal Corporation is negotiating with BHP over the sublease of BHP’s Ethel Creek and Marillana cattle stations that operate as one entity.

A major WA apple grower is about to make its own cider and juice from imperfect apples, in the hope it can help the 80-year-old family-owned company survive tough times.

A new report to be released today will throw weight behind the State Government’s recently announced plans to create millions of hectares of new national and marine parks and reserves across WA.

The new board of Capricorn Metals has wasted no time in declaring its intentions to shop the company around, flagging plans to run a sales process with help from Macquarie Capital.

Western Gas, the small player in the big game of LNG, is convinced partnering with two international engineering heavyweights will get its Equus gas field developed.