Morning Headlines

Skills crunch fears rising

WA’s rebounding mining sector will need at least an extra 10,679 workers by 2024, adding to fears of a looming skills shortage, according to the Australian Mines and Metals Association. The West

Airlines unite against ‘rip off’ airport fees

Australia’s three largest airlines are cranking up pressure on the Morrison government to crack down on airport operators, highlighting research which claims reining in passenger charges would boost the economy by more $1 billion a year. The Fin

China dilemma in Bellamy’s $1.5b buyout

The deputy chairman of takeover target Bellamy’s Australia says he’s had a ‘‘very positive first chat’’ with the group’s largest shareholder, Jan Cameron, who opposed a separate buyout by a Chinese company of a Tasmanian dairy group in 2016. The Fin

Challenge to ruling on shift workers’ leave

The Morrison government will pursue High Court action to try to overturn a landmark Federal Court ruling that has major implications for leave paid to shift workers across industries including mining, construction, nursing and aged care. The Aus

Velocity buyback to boost Virgin’s fortunes

Virgin Australia’s bold move to shell out $700m to regain 100 per cent ownership of its profitable Velocity frequent flyer program could mark a turning point for the airline, say analysts. The Aus

US ‘locked and loaded’ as oil surges

President Donald Trump said the United States was prepared to respond to the devastating attacks on two oil installations in Saudi Arabia that halved the state oil company’s production output, while Iran rejected accusations that it was responsible. The Fin

Competition to rein in ‘big three’ over pricing

Competition tsar Rod Sims said he expected robust competition from smaller electricity retailers to force the country’s ‘‘big three’’ retailers to reinstate their cheaper market offers for electricity that they have scrapped since the introduction of a default market price for power. The Fin

Qantas frequent flyer plan alters course

Key changes to Qantas’s frequent flyer scheme announced as part of the biggest overhaul of the program in 32 years will take effect this week. The Aus

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: Chinese soldiers on the streets would be the ‘‘last option’’ deployed to put down the unrest in Hong Kong, a senior government adviser said yesterday, as he appealed for patience from Australian business people and other expatriates in the former British colony.

President Donald Trump said the United States was prepared to respond to the devastating attacks on two oil installations in Saudi Arabia that halved the state oil company’s production output, while Iran rejected accusations that it was responsible.

Page 3: Aspiring professional services graduates need to improve their knowledge of employers and the commercial world if they want to land a job at a prestigious firm, the firms themselves say.

Page 4: Competition tsar Rod Sims said he expected robust competition from smaller electricity retailers to force the country’s ‘‘big three’’ retailers to reinstate their cheaper market offers for electricity that they have scrapped since the introduction of a default market price for power.

Page 5: Atlassian co-founder and chief executive officer Mike Cannon-Brookes has pushed back at government demands that business should stay away from so-called activist causes, saying the absence of credible policies on climate change and energy left the corporate sector with little choice but to act.

Page 6: Australia’s three largest airlines are cranking up pressure on the Morrison government to crack down on airport operators, highlighting research which claims reining in passenger charges would boost the economy by more $1 billion a year.

Page 9: The Morrison government is close to securing passage of legislation to slash more than $2 billion in annual default life insurance fees inside superannuation for young members and low-balance accounts, after outlining concessions to crossbench senators.

Page 10: Ten Network chief executive Paul Anderson has praised the competition regulator for taking a strong stance against the market power of big tech, as Facebook upped its efforts to downplay the significance of its local influence.

Page 12: OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday (AEST), succumbing to pressure from more than 2600 lawsuits alleging the company helped fuel the deadly US opioid epidemic.

Page 14: The deputy chairman of takeover target Bellamy’s Australia says he’s had a ‘‘very positive first chat’’ with the group’s largest shareholder, Jan Cameron, who opposed a separate buyout by a Chinese company of a Tasmanian dairy group in 2016.

Oil Search chief executive Peter Botten has described the drone strikes on oil production facilities in Saudi Arabia as a ‘‘watershed’’ moment for the sector, exposing the vulnerability of key oil and gas infrastructure to these sorts of attacks and adding a new risk dynamic to the market.

Page 16: A leading fund manager has called for stricter regulation of the buy now, pay later sector, saying that as long as they are providing credit they should be regulated like any other credit provider.

Page 18: TPG Telecom was planning to target students with a super-cheap mobile product that would not have been fully functional on Apple devices, the Federal Court has heard.

Rio Tinto faces renewed political scrutiny in Mongolia this week when lawmakers in Ulaanbaatar are scheduled to debate the legal agreements that underpin the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine.

Page 22: South Korean car maker Hyundai has embraced car-sharing – the concept helping to reduce new vehicle sales in Australia – pumping $6.2 million into peer-to-peer sharing platform Car Next Door and ensuring new Hyundais can be opened remotely by its app.

The Australian

Page 1: Josh Frydenberg has urged business leaders not to “overreact” as fears of a new war in the Middle East escalated, with Donald Trump declaring the US is “locked and loaded” to take on Iran over alleged attacks on Saudi Arabian oil facilities.

Page 2: Key changes to Qantas’s frequent flyer scheme announced as part of the biggest overhaul of the program in 32 years will take effect this week.

Page 4: Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher has warned activist-backed legal cases launched against religious schools “threaten the very future of faith-based education in this country”.

Page 5: The Morrison government will pursue High Court action to try to overturn a landmark Federal Court ruling that has major implications for leave paid to shift workers across industries including mining, construction, nursing and aged care.

Young Labor has described Donald Trump as “concerningly pro-authoritarian and isolationist”, and warned Australia could become a “nuclear target” if US missiles were stationed in the north.

Page 6: Severe drought will bite deep into the economy this year, with some farming forecast to fall by more than 20 per cent, slicing into exports.

Page 17: Westpac is stepping up efforts to sell its $1.5bn-plus life insurance arm, bringing in investment bank JPMorgan to work on a potential divestment as it joins its major rivals in exiting the trouble-prone industry.

Page 19: Virgin Australia’s bold move to shell out $700m to regain 100 per cent ownership of its profitable Velocity frequent flyer program could mark a turning point for the airline, say analysts.

Australia’s mining sector needs another 21,000 full-time jobs in the next few years as a host of new mines come into production, with some skills already in short supply.

The West Australian

Page 3: Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has talked up the Australian economy and stared down attacks from Labor ahead of an expected announcement this week that the Federal Budget will break even for the first time in more than a decade.

Page 4: The City of Perth wants to give council rangers more power to tackle homelessness in the CBD.

Lisa Scaffidi says she worries for the capital’s future and the gains made during her reign as lord mayor are being lost because of “inaction”.

Page 7: The AFL should reconsider whether it continues to use an anti-doping code designed for the Olympics, according to a prominent expert in drugs in sports.

Page 8: The Federal Government has thrown its support behind the victims of Sterling First, blasting the collapsed property company for its “conman tactics”.

Page 10: Prime Minister Scott Morrison will travel to the US this week, visiting NASA and going out on the hustings with President Donald Trump in middle America to inspect a cardboard recycling factory owned by Aussie billionaire Richard Pratt.

Business: WA’s rebounding mining sector will need at least an extra 10,679 workers by 2024, adding to fears of a looming skills shortage, according to the Australian Mines and Metals Association.

WA is facing its smallest grain crop in seven years after warm, dry conditions in the State’s north and frosts in the south during the past two weeks.

Perth-based Sapien Cyber has added extra firepower to its board with the appointment of former defence and foreign affairs minister Stephen Smith and the most senior intelligence adviser in the Barack Obama administration.