WA plays hardball with the AFL
Western Australia has upped the ante on the Australian Football League, throwing out the tantalising option of hosting matches in front of a 60,000-capacity crowd within three weeks. The Fin
Chinese hatch rival plan to refinance failed miner Gascoyne
Hanking Australia has put a rival recapitalisation plan to the administrators of Gascoyne Resources in an arrangement which could see the Chinese-backed goldminer take a 30 per cent stake in the company. The West
Outbreak: PM says push ahead
A fresh outbreak of coronavirus in Victoria should not stop moves to reopen the economy, Scott Morrison says, as one state delayed plans to reopen its borders and others contemplated new travel restrictions. The Fin
Deloitte staff warned to expect 700 job losses
Deloitte will cut 7 per cent of its workforce, or at least 700 professionals, despite the firm increasing its annual revenue by 10 per cent to $2.5 billion amid the COVID-19 downturn. The Fin
Doubts raised on big miners’ climate pledge
A group of major investors has demanded that the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) provide more information on how its members will reach net zero carbon emissions, saying the lobby group’s climate action plan is too vague. The Fin
New mineral sands mine in WA gets $150m funding
The federal government will provide $150 million in financial backing for a new mineral sands mine in Western Australia that includes secondary rare earths capacity, as it continues to focus on developing critical minerals supply chains. The Fin
Shell’s Prelude FLNG project exec to depart
The Shell executive tasked with delivering its $US12bn ($17.5bn)- plus Prelude floating LNG project is set to quit the energy giant with the gas facility still offline following onboard safety issues. The Aus
Boost to min wage ‘onerous’
Unions and welfare groups are pushing for a $30 weekly pay bump for WA’s lowest paid workers but Industrial Relations Minister Bill Johnston wants a “more modest” increase to the State’s minimum wage. The West
Nuclear in mix for miners on emissions
Small nuclear reactors, advanced battery technology and more gas-fired power generation must be part of the government’s blueprint to lower emissions, according to the nation’s largest miners and resources companies. The Aus
Virgin bidding war enters final stage
The race to rescue Virgin Australia has entered the home straight with Bain Capital and Cyrus Capital Partners submitting their binding offers for the bankrupt airline to administrators at Deloitte. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: A fresh outbreak of coronavirus in Victoria should not stop moves to reopen the economy, Scott Morrison says, as one state delayed plans to reopen its borders and others contemplated new travel restrictions.
Former Dow Chemical executive chairman Andrew Liveris says the optimism that has sent global sharemarkets soaring should be ignored, and warns that the COVID-19 crisis will not bottom out until 2023 and a recovery is unlikely before 2024-25.
Page 2: Australia and the US need to step up cooperation to safeguard their health and research computer networks and counter disinformation as China goes on the cyber offensive during the coronavirus pandemic, a think tank says.
Page 3: About two-thirds of employees to be paid the minimum wage increase following the biggest downturn since the 1930s are not low-paid, with some earning almost $90,000 a year.
Deloitte will cut 7 per cent of its workforce, or at least 700 professionals, despite the firm increasing its annual revenue by 10 per cent to $2.5 billion amid the COVID-19 downturn.
Page 4: Western Australia has upped the ante on the Australian Football League, throwing out the tantalising option of hosting matches in front of a 60,000-capacity crowd within three weeks.
The Morrison government’s plan to use higher education fees to steer university students towards science and maths, and away from the arts is not guaranteed passage through the Senate.
Page 8: Australians reported losing $2.5 billion to scammers over the past decade but actual losses were far larger because one-third of people who were ripped off did not report it, the competition watchdog says.
Page 10: A group of major investors has demanded that the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) provide more information on how its members will reach net zero carbon emissions, saying the lobby group’s climate action plan is too vague.
Germany’s coronavirus infection rate rose for a third day, lifted by local outbreaks including in the region of North Rhine-Westphalia, where more than 1300 people working at a slaughterhouse tested positive.
Page 12: Behind the boom in China’s steel production since March – and hopes for a quick economic recovery – is a tale of two diverging sectors: construction demand for infrastructure projects has been strong, while manufacturing has been slower to bounce back.
Page 13: Annuities provider Challenger will wade back into the corporate bond market after it boosts its capital buffers with a newly launched $300 million equity raise as the company looks to take advantage of heightened risk premiums in the rattled fixed-income sector.
Page 15: It has taken a deadly pandemic but consumers are shifting their spending back to smaller retailers and neighbourhood stores, a trend that is helping wholesaler Metcash post record sales growth.
Page 17: Australian-born trading platform Stake has seen a surge of sign-ups and trading volumes increase by 167 per cent, as local investors yearn for a taste of the volatile US sharemarket during the coronavirus pandemic.
Page 18: The Pentagon will pump tens of millions of dollars into Australia’s biggest defence exporter in a move that will help the Perth-headquartered company develop capacity to build steel-hulled warships for the US Navy.
The federal government will provide $150 million in financial backing for a new mineral sands mine in Western Australia that includes secondary rare earths capacity, as it continues to focus on developing critical minerals supply chains.
Page 19: Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has joined the board of fast-growing cyber protection firm Kasada and invested $1 million in the start-up, saying the increasing foreign threat revealed by Scott Morrison on Friday highlighted the wisdom of his decision to ban Huawei from Australia’s 5G network.
The chief information officer of ING Australia, the country’s fifth-largest bank in mortgages and retail savings, has said it will combat a shortage of technology skills by targeting workers from all across the country, after seeing its operations thrive with remote teams during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The Australian
Page 1: More than a million people in six Melbourne local government districts face renewed lockdowns from a coronavirus spike as Scott Morrison urges nervous premiers to keep opening up their economies despite higher Victorian infection rates.
More students could be enrolled in humanities courses under a landmark shake-up of university funding despite the government’s aim of reducing the take-up of arts and law degrees, two of the nation’s most high-profile chancellors have said.
Page 2: Small nuclear reactors, advanced battery technology and more gas-fired power generation must be part of the government’s blueprint to lower emissions, according to the nation’s largest miners and resources companies.
Welfare sector leaders have attacked the Morrison government’s plan for a 113 per cent fee hike for social work degrees, saying the increase will turn young people away from a critical profession where pay is low but quality workers are in high demand.
Page 7: Senior Labor figures will move to change the rules around electing a federal Labor leader in light of the branch-stacking allegations engulfing the Victorian division.
Page 13: Virgin Australia will retain its headquarters in Brisbane regardless of which bidder succeeds, with the Queensland government committing to pay some $200m as part of deals negotiated with Queensland Investment Corporation chief executive Damien Frawley.
The prudential regulator and the banking industry are in deep discussions about cushioning the impact of the nation’s looming financial “cliff” by trading a longer period of loan deferrals for extended capital relief.
Page 15: Trans-Tasman dairy company A2 Milk says it is holding “various discussions with a number of parties” about transforming itself from brand owner to manufacturer.
Page 16: The Shell executive tasked with delivering its $US12bn ($17.5bn)- plus Prelude floating LNG project is set to quit the energy giant with the gas facility still offline following onboard safety issues.
The West Australian
Page 3: A woman has been appointed to the Government’s powerful expenditure review committee for the first time since Scott Morrison became Prime Minister.
Page 4: WA is to stay cut off from the rest of Australia indefinitely to stop coronavirus wreaking “havoc” — but Mark McGowan says the State will be “the envy of the world” as all other restrictions are lifted over the next four weeks.
Page 5: High rollers and high heels will return to the Crown Casino gaming floor for the first time in three months on Saturday as WA’s biggest hospitality employer springs back to life after a coronavirus-enforced hiatus.
West Australians need to get used to wearing masks in public and “living alongside the virus”, according to one of the State’s top doctors.
Page 6: More than 1000 Perth properties changed hands last week in the metropolitan area’s best week for sales in seven years, with vacant land the star performer.
Page 10: The nation’s legal fraternity has been rocked by revelations that former High Court judge Dyson Heydon sexually harassed six female associates while he was on the bench, according to an independent investigation of allegations made by staff.
Vaping nicotine in Australia is set to end as the Federal Government moves to ban the importation of e-cigarettes.
Page 14: WA Governor Kim Beazley says a national Indigenous Australians museum “really needs to happen” and Perth is ideally placed for it.
Shellfish could be wiped out as the Arctic Ocean acidifies because of climate change.
Business: The race to rescue Virgin Australia has entered the home straight with Bain Capital and Cyrus Capital Partners submitting their binding offers for the bankrupt airline to administrators at Deloitte.
Hanking Australia has put a rival recapitalisation plan to the administrators of Gascoyne Resources in an arrangement which could see the Chinese-backed goldminer take a 30 per cent stake in the company.
Woodside chief executive Peter Coleman has announced another reshuffle of senior management at the WA LNG producer with two veterans of the company set to leave.
Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe wants to see the Australian dollar lowered as a mechanism to get more people back into jobs and says interest rates will remain at historic lows for many years to come.
Proponents of impact investment are calling on the State Government to support the emerging sector, saying a lack of leadership is hindering progress despite a huge appetite for investments that have positive environmental or social outcomes.
Unions and welfare groups are pushing for a $30 weekly pay bump for WA’s lowest paid workers but Industrial Relations Minister Bill Johnston wants a “more modest” increase to the State’s minimum wage.
