Ore exports at risk from marine pilot border ban
Australia’s $100bn iron ore industry is at risk of a significant slowdown as the sector’s record-breaking run hangs on the WA government’s willingness to allow a tiny group of about 20 highly specialised workers to cross state borders to work. The Aus
Cormann favourite pulls out of race
WA Liberal Party State director Sam Calabrese has shut down speculation he will enter the preselection race to replace retiring minister Mathias Cormann in the Senate. The West
Woolies ramps up online and virus safety
Woolworths will increase online shopping capacity and launch new safety measures in stores in an attempt to maintain sales momentum after pandemic-fuelled buying underpinned the best growth in revenues in more than a decade. The Fin
Gonski soon to be goneski from ANZ
ANZ Bank chairman David Gonski has announced his retirement after six years in the job and will be succeeded by ANZ director and former CEO of telecommunications company Optus Paul O’Sullivan. The Fin
Scale to profit: Afterpay, Zip plot global domination
Rapid offshore expansion propelled by the accelerating shift to e-commerce during the coronavirus pandemic, has helped buy now, pay later leaders Afterpay and Zip double their revenue over the past financial year, but kept their bottom lines in the red. The Fin
Australian law firms prove world-beaters as virus strikes
Australian law firms have fared much better than other global markets during the coronavirus pandemic, with client demand and revenue both surging as the rest of the world struggled. The Fin
Ad slump shatters Nine with $590m loss
The coronavirus has swung a wrecking ball through Nine Entertainment, with the company posting an annual net loss of more than half a billion dollars as advertising revenues plunged in the wake of the pandemic. The West
US blacklists John Holland’s Chinese owner
Chinese companies controlled by the same owner of one of Australia’s largest infrastructure builders, John Holland, have been blacklisted by the Trump administration for helping build military islands in the South China Sea. The Fin
Perth drivers out in force as other cities get mobile
Traffic in Melbourne continues to hover at all-time 2020 lows due to the stage four COVID-19 lockdown, while driving levels in Perth have surged above pre-pandemic levels. The Fin
‘Language key to cut off China influence’
An alarming increase in foreign interference now poses a threat to Australia’s social cohesion, with the Chinese Communist Party actively stoking anti-Australian views in the diaspora community, Population Minister Alan Tudge has warned. The Aus
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has slammed Commonwealth plans to terminate agreements with foreign powers, which specifically target China, saying it will further hamper his state’s economic recovery.
Rapid offshore expansion propelled by the accelerating shift to e-commerce during the coronavirus pandemic, has helped buy now, pay later leaders Afterpay and Zip double their revenue over the past financial year, but kept their bottom lines in the red.
Page 2: Australian law firms have fared much better than other global markets during the coronavirus pandemic, with client demand and revenue both surging as the rest of the world struggled.
Page 4: Chinese companies controlled by the same owner of one of Australia’s largest infrastructure builders, John Holland, have been blacklisted by the Trump administration for helping build military islands in the South China Sea.
Page 6: The union for truck drivers has criticised state governments’ different border restrictions in response to COVID-19 as the Morrison government throws its support behind a more harmonised regime.
Page 8: The mining sector has stemmed the fall in business investment over the June quarter to 5.9 per cent, less severe than economists expected but still enough of a hit to renew calls for government incentives.
Page 9: Migrants will be able to access free and unlimited language classes to learn English, with estimates 1 million citizens and residents do not have a basic proficiency.
Page 10: Traffic in Melbourne continues to hover at all-time 2020 lows due to the stage four COVID-19 lockdown, while driving levels in Perth have surged above pre-pandemic levels.
Page 11: Telstra chief executive Andy Penn has admitted he hasn’t set foot in the office for six months, as the persistent spread of COVID-19 in Melbourne has required him to run Australia’s biggest telco entirely from his home study.
Page 14: Kevin Mayer, the chief executive of the Chinese-owned video app TikTok, said on Wednesday (Thursday AEST) that he was resigning after the company came under sustained pressure from the Trump administration over its ties to China.
Page 16: Woolworths will increase online shopping capacity and launch new safety measures in stores in an attempt to maintain sales momentum after pandemic-fuelled buying underpinned the best growth in revenues in more than a decade.
The coronavirus crisis has helped iconic biscuit maker Arnott’s achieve its best sales growth in years – an unexpected bonus for global private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, which outlaid $3.2 billion for the group last December.
Ramsay Health Care chief executive Craig McNally is aiming to enter contracts with governments around the globe to help alleviate the backlog of surgical procedures built up due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Page 17: Lithium chemicals producer Orocobre is expected to launch a $100 million-plus equity raising when it hands down its full year results today.
Page 18: Afterpay will lift investment in 2021 to chase the global buy now, pay later opportunity by expanding into offshore markets – with Canada and select Asian countries next on the itinerary – as customer growth continues to accelerate.
Page 19: ANZ Bank chairman David Gonski has announced his retirement after six years in the job and will be succeeded by ANZ director and former CEO of telecommunications company Optus Paul O’Sullivan.
Australia’s largest footwear retailer, Accent Group, has not lost its appetite for new stores despite booming online sales and a testing relationship with some landlords.
Page 20: Australian cattle prices are now the highest in the world among major producers, and the steep rise is posing a headache for the export industry as it looks to hold on to key customers in Indonesia and Vietnam.
Page 23: Data centre business NextDC is expecting revenue growth of at least 20.5 per cent for 2021, as momentum builds in the business thanks to the ongoing acceleration of enterprises’ digital transformation agendas.
The Australian
Page 3: West Australian Premier Mark McGowan says if he was as rich as iron ore magnate Clive Palmer he would stay in Queensland and save the koalas or help the mentally ill instead of trying to drain WA’s coffers with a $30bn lawsuit.
Page 4: COVID-triggered cancellations of performances, exhibitions and events across the country will be the subject of a federal parliamentary inquiry into the creative industries.
Business groups are demanding further economic stimulus and new incentives to prevent an investment collapse as new estimates suggest corporate spending will plunge up to 13 per cent, or by $15bn, this financial year.
Page 6: An alarming increase in foreign interference now poses a threat to Australia’s social cohesion, with the Chinese Communist Party actively stoking anti-Australian views in the diaspora community, Population Minister Alan Tudge has warned.
Page 13: Australia’s $100bn iron ore industry is at risk of a significant slowdown as the sector’s record-breaking run hangs on the WA government’s willingness to allow a tiny group of about 20 highly specialised workers to cross state borders to work.
Page 14: Supermarket giant Coles Group is expected to line up in the contest to buy the Superior Food Services business, soon to be placed up for sale by its private equity owners.
Page 15: Toll Holdings chairman John Mullen says the company’s performance has “bottomed” after its embattled Global Express division lost as much money in the past quarter as it did in the previous year, following the impact of COVID-19 and targeted cyber attacks.
Page 16: Woolworths isn’t letting the COVID-19 global pandemic ruin its plans for a spin-off of its $10bn Endeavour Group pubs, hotels and liquor arm, with the retailer confirming plans to hive off the division next calendar year despite concerns about a protracted health crisis shutting pubs and putting a cap on social gatherings.
The West Australian
Page 1: WA Liberal Party State director Sam Calabrese has shut down speculation he will enter the preselection race to replace retiring minister Mathias Cormann in the Senate.
Page 5: Mark McGowan says a new $7 million autonomous machinery project in the South West will put the State at the “cutting edge” of world mining technology.
Page 6: A WA-China agreement to facilitate investment could be scrapped under Scott Morrison’s plan to regulate State deals with foreign nations, a proposal slammed as “complete overkill” by former premier Colin Barnett.
Page 14: More than 20 per cent of West Australian children aged under five are living in poverty, a shocking report reveals.
Page 19: A Perth childcare centre has been fined almost $15,000 after a toddler in its care suffered burns to their feet while playing outside on a hot summer day.
Business: Perth-based honey producer Eve Investments saw its sales skyrocket 758 per cent during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic as international demand surged.
Flight Centre has suffered a $510 million loss as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
WA companies are faring better than their Eastern States counterparts, with business investment only taking a slight dip in the west, compared to a bigger fall nationally.
The coronavirus has swung a wrecking ball through Nine Entertainment, with the company posting an annual net loss of more than half a billion dollars as advertising revenues plunged in the wake of the pandemic.
Sandfire Resources boss Karl Simich says the miner is well placed to take advantage of higher copper prices as the world emerges from a COVID-led recession.