Morning Headlines

BHP to release a dividend smash hit

BHP is tipped to set two dividend records this week, with the miner’s best profit in five years enabling chief executive Andrew Mackenzie to make good on a six-year-old promise for ‘‘sector-leading’’ shareholder returns. The Fin

Red tape a $176b blow to economy

Excessive red tape is costing the Australian economy $176 billion and contributing to a “small business crisis”, new research to be released today reveals. The West

Consumers should get ready for higher NBN prices, Telstra warns

Consumers should prepare to pay higher prices for home broadband, as rising data consumption forces retailers to buy more and more bandwidth from NBN Co, Telstra chief executive Andy Penn has warned. The Fin

Baby Boomers put squeeze on the young

The generational bargain is at ‘‘breaking point’’ because the share of over 65s paying income tax has plunged in half to 17 per cent, leaving working-age Australians to underwrite government services much more than Baby Boomers did for their parents, a new report warns. The Fin

ASIC set for Hayne court blitz

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is planning a litigation blitz in coming months as it puts up to 50 matters into the courts, many of them arising from the Hayne royal commission.

The Fin

CSIRO spin-off aims to help build corporate trust

The CSIRO will today spin out a new business to help mining and agricultural companies tackle declining community trust and manage their social licences to operate. The West

Show set to post surplus

Royal Agricultural Society president Paul Carter is adamant the Perth Royal Show will stay in Claremont and can be sustainable into the future. The West

AEMO abandons prospect of electricity carbon price

The Australian Energy Market Operator has abandoned a potential carbon price in its future modelling for the electricity grid. The Fin

Nine’s Stan to feel heat of US heavyweights’ reunion: Ten

Network Ten chief executive Paul Anderson says the merger of Ten parent company CBS and American media player Viacom will present a huge opportunity for local streaming offerings and could further threaten Nine’s Stan. The Aus

WorkSafe intervenes as mental health workers struggle to cope

Frontline mental health workers are suffering from anxiety and depression as a result of being exposed to “psychosocial hazards” at the embattled North Metropolitan Health Service. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is planning a litigation blitz in coming months as it puts up to 50 matters into the courts, many of them arising from the Hayne royal commission.

Page 2: More small and medium-sized businesses [SMBs] expect the economy to get worse in a year’s time than those businesses who think there will be an improvement, according to the latest Sensis Business Index.

Page 8: The generational bargain is at ‘‘breaking point’’ because the share of over 65s paying income tax has plunged in half to 17 per cent, leaving working-age Australians to underwrite government services much more than Baby Boomers did for their parents, a new report warns.

The Australian Energy Market Operator has abandoned a potential carbon price in its future modelling for the electricity grid.

Page 10: Australia must scale back its military commitments in the Middle East and focus on Asia as a ‘‘crisis in US defence strategy’’ has eroded America’s edge in the Indo-Pacific and left its forces ill-prepared for a confrontation with China, according to a new report by the US Studies Centre.

Page 13: A majority of workers with university degrees say they don’t want to enrol in new training unless they get recognition for prior training and experience – even though the same people acknowledged Australia is facing a serious skills shortage.

Page 14: BHP is tipped to set two dividend records this week, with the miner’s best profit in five years enabling chief executive Andrew Mackenzie to make good on a six-year-old promise for ‘‘sector-leading’’ shareholder returns.

Page 16: Consumers should prepare to pay higher prices for home broadband, as rising data consumption forces retailers to buy more and more bandwidth from NBN Co, Telstra chief executive Andy Penn has warned.

Page 18: Australia’s high commissioner to Malaysia says the Mahathir Mohamadled nation has passed a big test in the eyes of international investors by granting Lynas Corporation a conditional six-month extension on its operating licence despite protests against the rare earths producer.

Page 20: One of Australia’s leading nickel producers has warned that a failure by the industry to find new supplies may encourage end-users to look for alternatives as the threat of an Indonesian export ban and forecast deficits propelled the stainless steel input to a near five-year high of more than $US16,000 a tonne.

The Australian

Page 2: Josh Frydenberg will fast-track “the biggest shake-up” of the financial services sector in three decades, pledging to implement the Morrison government’s reform commitments and recommendations made by Kenneth Hayne by the end of next year.

Page 3: The former doctor of the Australian men’s cricket team has joined a growing chorus calling for neck guards to become mandatory for batsmen at the sport’s top level.

Page 4: Public service mandarins have been put on notice that they will have to meet greater community expectations of service delivery, respect the government’s policy agenda and remove crippling bureaucracy if they want to keep their jobs.

Page 17: Josh Frydenberg’s ministerial office urged Treasury officials to emphasise the “scale and breadth” of state and federal infrastructure programs in a presentation to Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe after the central bank boss made a rare public appeal for more infrastructure programs to help stimulate the economy.

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims says he is prepared to get more involved in the electronic property settlement market to push for a structure that facilitates competition and lower prices as the industry reaches a “pivot point”.

Page 19: Mining giant BHP has replaced Commonwealth Bank in the list of the 100 biggest companies in the world, as the market value of the largest firm on the planet — Microsoft — nearly tripled in the past 10 years to $US905 billion ($1.33 trillion) according to a new global study by PwC.

Page 23: Network Ten chief executive Paul Anderson says the merger of Ten parent company CBS and American media player Viacom will present a huge opportunity for local streaming offerings and could further threaten Nine’s Stan.

Two of Seven West Media’s biggest programming formats have suffered years of audience decline, according to TV ratings data, as the media company braces to release the financial results that led to Tim Worner being ousted as CEO late last week.

The West Australian

Page 1: Excessive red tape is costing the Australian economy $176 billion and contributing to a “small business crisis”, new research to be released today reveals.

Page 14: Parents are risking the future health of their children by ignoring screen time recommendations, a study of Australian parenting techniques reveals.

Page 16: Resources Minister Matt Canavan says mining workers “can’t trust Labor” after Opposition frontbencher Penny Wong admitted Labor would not have agreed to demands from Pacific Island leaders to ban new Australian coal mines.

Australians will have a fairer and more secure financial industry sooner than expected with the Federal Government responding to recommendations of the banking royal commission at an “unprecedented” speed and pumping an extra $9.3 million into the public service to make it happen.

Page 22: Frontline mental health workers are suffering from anxiety and depression as a result of being exposed to “psychosocial hazards” at the embattled North Metropolitan Health Service.

Page 61: Demand for tutoring outside the school day has exploded as more parents turn to tutors to fill perceived gaps in their children’s schooling.

Business: Royal Agricultural Society president Paul Carter is adamant the Perth Royal Show will stay in Claremont and can be sustainable into the future.