Morning Headlines

Pay rises to cost jobs

Hundreds of WA businesses would be forced to lay off workers, reduce hours for staff or delay hiring new workers if they had to lift wages by 5 per cent, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA has found. The West

Wealth of talent: Eagles richest in land

The move by the West Coast Eagles to a new stadium has been a financial bonanza for the defending AFL premiers, making them the most profitable sports club in Australia. The Aus

Price rise for milk as chains end war

Coles and German discounter Aldi, the nation’s second and third biggest supermarket chains, will from this morning ratchet up the price of their private-label milk to match the shift in pricing by Woolworths last month as the supermarket heavyweights come under increasing pressure from politicians and the farming community to divert stronger returns to dairy farmers. The Aus

Delay in Tsvetnenko hearing

Jailed multimillionaire Zhenya Tsvetnenko could be facing an extra four months behind bars before his extradition hearing is held, after it was delayed by consent yesterday. The West

New visas will force migrants to the bush

The Morrison government will try to lure skilled migrants away from the nation’s choked cities with a new visa requiring them to spend at least three years in regional Australia as a condition of seeking permanent residency. The Fin

Shorten slaps down union super bosses

Labor leader Bill Shorten has slapped down union bosses for seeking to use their influence on industry superannuation fund boards to coerce employers into offering better wages and conditions. The Fin

Pratt calls for Minister for Food

Packaging magnate Anthony Pratt has warned Australia against becoming too reliant on China as the market for its agribusiness exports amid global trade tensions and the rising influence of ASEAN countries, led by Indonesia. The Aus

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: Labor leader Bill Shorten has slapped down union bosses for seeking to use their influence on industry superannuation fund boards to coerce employers into offering better wages and conditions.

Page 3: Bank of America Merrill Lynch sought to refinance a contentious $1.2 billion loan provided by rival UBS to the Papua New Guinea government, but was blocked due to concerns over reputation damage. The 2014 loan, the subject of a Swiss investigation, is a potential headache for the Australian arm of UBS, which reaped at least $120 million in fees and interest from the deal while Port Moresby suffered heavy losses.

Page 4: The Morrison government will try to lure skilled migrants away from the nation’s choked cities with a new visa requiring them to spend at least three years in regional Australia as a condition of seeking permanent residency.

Page 5: Social media giants Facebook and YouTube face calls for tougher congressional and regulatory scrutiny over the role their streaming technology played in live broadcasting last week’s massacre in Christchurch.

Page 9: Federal Labor has opened the door to the use of cheap international carbon permits as part of its climate change policy, as it fends off government claims that its 45 per cent target will inflict widespread economic damage.

Page 13: China’s powerful State Development & Investment Corp (SDIC), which has more than 1 trillion yuan ($203 billion) in assets under management, confirmed on Tuesday it would no longer invest in thermal power plants and had quit coal altogether to focus on new energy sources such as wind power.

Page 14: TPG Telecom has called on the government to intervene to lower the price of NBN Co’s cheapest broadband plan, warning if nothing changes the internet provider would have to scrap its signature $60-a-month plan.

Page 16: Westpac says shifting its fast-growing Panorama investment platform into its business bank shows it is doubling down on support for financial advisers across the market, as it is increasingly confident of fending off competition in the platform market.

The Australian

Page 2: Public servants could be given freer rein to implement policy and wield greater power in ministerial offices as part of a plan that also floats greater protections for high ranking mandarins against politically motivated sackings.

Page 3: Coles and German discounter Aldi, the nation’s second and third biggest supermarket chains, will from this morning ratchet up the price of their private-label milk to match the shift in pricing by Woolworths last month as the supermarket heavyweights come under increasing pressure from politicians and the farming community to divert stronger returns to dairy farmers.

The move by the West Coast Eagles to a new stadium has been a financial bonanza for the defending AFL premiers, making them the most profitable sports club in Australia.

Page 4: The wealthy businesswoman running as an independent in the Western Australian seat of Curtin, Louise Stewart, will make climate change a key part of her campaign after her Liberal rival claimed humanity’s contribution to global warming was “very minimal”.

Page 19: Packaging magnate Anthony Pratt has warned Australia against becoming too reliant on China as the market for its agribusiness exports amid global trade tensions and the rising influence of ASEAN countries, led by Indonesia.

The West Australian

Page 3: The Australia-first project, the Conceptual PlayLab, is a five-year investigation into how play-based education can deliver essential cognitive and learning outcomes for infants, toddlers and preschoolers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Page 6: Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has anointed Premier Mark McGowan as his frontman to barnstorm WA at the Federal election amid concerns of a lack of high-profile Labor figures to lead the local campaign.

Page 7: Hundreds of WA businesses would be forced to lay off workers, reduce hours for staff or delay hiring new workers if they had to lift wages by 5 per cent, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA has found.

Page 17: Jailed multimillionaire Zhenya Tsvetnenko could be facing an extra four months behind bars before his extradition hearing is held, after it was delayed by consent yesterday.

Business: The company behind a proposed lithium refinery in Kalgoorlie has delayed a study into the project, citing higher-than-expected capital costs and weak market conditions. Neometals was expected to make an investment decision by midyear on the proposal to base the 10,000 tonne-a-year lithium hydroxide processing plant in the gold-mining hub.