Rio chief to meet traditional owners
Under-pressure Rio Tinto chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques has emerged from two weeks in isolation in Perth before an attempt to secure a face-to-face meeting on the home turf of traditional owners devastated by the miner’s destruction of Juukan Gorge. The Fin
PM sticks to new China doctrine
Australia is dealing with China using a doctrine of ‘‘strategic patience and consistency’’ and will never trade away its sovereignty or security in the face of threats to its economy, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says. The Fin
New gold boom in pandemic
Australian gold production hit a record 328 tonnes in the year to the end of June, representing a value of almost $25 billion as the precious metal’s price stormed towards a record high. The West
Low-income earners live the high life
Low-income earners flush with COVID cash are splurging like its Christmas, propping up the WA economy and powering the State to record retail sales despite those who earn more putting their wallets away. The West
IOOF ready to swoop on MLC in $1.5b deal
IOOF’s acquisition of National Australia Bank’s superannuation and advice business, MLC Wealth, will mean Australia’s four biggest banks have finally jettisoned the financial advice businesses that damaged their reputations and cost them billions in customer remediation. The Fin
Inquiry into secretive uni deals
The Morrison government will launch an inquiry into foreign interference in Australian universities and how the Chinese government has recruited academics to a secretive program that paid lucrative salaries and allowed research to be patented in China. The Aus
No beef from ASIC on loan rules
ASIC chairman James Shipton has revealed the country’s top regulator did not appeal its defeat in the controversial ‘‘wagyu and shiraz case’’ bank lending case to the High Court because it wanted to be a ‘‘force for the recovery’’ from the pandemic-induced recession. The Fin
ATO goes after fraud linked to cash flow bonus
The Australian Taxation Office is probing recipients of the government’s $32 billion cash flow bonus scheme, warning businesses found to have inflated tax liabilities of their employees to rort the payments could face penalties. The Fin
Taxpayers repay $2bn student loan debts
More than $2bn in student loan debts under the defunct VET FEE HELP scheme have been recredited to almost 130,000 students since 2016, amid warnings that taxpayers will continue propping up Labor’s failed vocational education and training program. The Aus
ACM pays part of Waislitz loan
Australian Community Media has paid back $20m of the $70m it borrowed from part-owner Alex Waislitz to fund the $115m purchase of the rural publisher last year, despite operating in tough trading conditions and receiving money from the federal government’s JobKeeper program. The Aus
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Australia is dealing with China using a doctrine of ‘‘strategic patience and consistency’’ and will never trade away its sovereignty or security in the face of threats to its economy, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says.
ASIC chairman James Shipton has revealed the country’s top regulator did not appeal its defeat in the controversial ‘‘wagyu and shiraz case’’ bank lending case to the High Court because it wanted to be a ‘‘force for the recovery’’ from the pandemic-induced recession.
Page 3: The Andrews Labor government faces a multibillion COVID-19 bill from businesses shut down in stage four lockdown for failures in hotel quarantine in the first landmark class action which names Health Minister Jenny Mikakos, Jobs Minister Martin Pakula and their department secretaries.
Page 6: The coronavirus pandemic is reducing Australia’s emissions rapidly, with the Morrison government expecting carbon dioxide output in the 2019-20 financial year to reach its lowest level since 1998.
Page 8: The Morrison government has given the strongest indication yet it will seek to delay the legislated superannuation guarantee increase as the economy struggles to recover from the coronavirus induced recession.
Page 9: The Australian Taxation Office is probing recipients of the government’s $32 billion cash flow bonus scheme, warning businesses found to have inflated tax liabilities of their employees to rort the payments could face penalties.
Page 13: IOOF’s acquisition of National Australia Bank’s superannuation and advice business, MLC Wealth, will mean Australia’s four biggest banks have finally jettisoned the financial advice businesses that damaged their reputations and cost them billions in customer remediation.
Page 15: Under-pressure Rio Tinto chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques has emerged from two weeks in isolation in Perth before an attempt to secure a face-to-face meeting on the home turf of traditional owners devastated by the miner’s destruction of Juukan Gorge.
Spending on mineral and petroleum exploration slumped by 17 per cent in the three months to June 30, as pandemic restrictions limited explorers’ ability to spend the big wave of funding that has come their way since global stock markets bottomed in late March.
Page 16: Shorter meetings with fewer people and junking reports to use live dashboards are some of the many ways ANZ Bank is adapting to a second lockdown of Victoria and its staff.
Page 20: The head of the government’s debt agency has welcomed a proposal by a consortium of corporate financiers and professional services firms aimed at helping its $15 billion support fund reach some of the nation’s smaller business lenders.
Page 22: Britain is proving fertile ground for mid-tier ASX-listed wine group Australian Vintage, with sales momentum in July and August continuing to accelerate in a market which is delivering almost twice the profits of the Australian business.
The Australian
Page 1: The Morrison government will launch an inquiry into foreign interference in Australian universities and how the Chinese government has recruited academics to a secretive program that paid lucrative salaries and allowed research to be patented in China.
Page 3: More than $2bn in student loan debts under the defunct VET FEE HELP scheme have been recredited to almost 130,000 students since 2016, amid warnings that taxpayers will continue propping up Labor’s failed vocational education and training program.
Page 4: Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese face grassroots marginal seat campaigns unless they adopt a bipartisan approach to fix the nation’s COVID-ravaged nursing home system, including increasing the Medicare levy to fund almost 60,000 new aged-care jobs.
Page 15: Unions hoping to use their numbers to keep Jayne Hrdlicka off the new Virgin Australia board have been told in no uncertain terms that they will not get to choose the directors.
The nation’s biggest wholesaler of champagne has warned that the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic shock would likely have a negative impact on beverage sales, as well as shake its customers and suppliers.
Page 16: Keen market interest helped Australia’s resources juniors cash up in the June quarter, according to accounting firm BDO, with gold explorers raking in the cash in a financing frenzy.
Page 19: Australian Community Media has paid back $20m of the $70m it borrowed from part-owner Alex Waislitz to fund the $115m purchase of the rural publisher last year, despite operating in tough trading conditions and receiving money from the federal government’s JobKeeper program.
The West Australian
Page 5: Aspiring WA first-homeowners have been able to crack into the property market four years sooner using a scheme that requires just a 5 per cent deposit.
Page 6: Ninety-one per cent of West Australians think State premiers should have the power to close their borders and restrict entry for other Australians, according to the latest Newspoll.
Page 7: Low-income earners flush with COVID cash are splurging like its Christmas, propping up the WA economy and powering the State to record retail sales despite those who earn more putting their wallets away.
Page 10: More than 126,000 households and businesses are stuck with slow download speeds over the National Broadband Network, while others are still waiting for engineering work to let them connect to it.
Page 14: Australia could fix its aged-care system in four years by lifting the Medicare levy to 2.65 per cent and using the money to hire 59,000 extra aged-care workers.
Business: Australian gold production hit a record 328 tonnes in the year to the end of June, representing a value of almost $25 billion as the precious metal’s price stormed towards a record high.
A $50 million state-of-the-art fishing vessel has arrived in Fremantle but COVID-19 restrictions are creating doubt over when Austral Fisheries can put it to work.
The State Government is providing $100,000 to boost feral camel control in the Southern rangelands, after dry conditions forced more camels into pastoral areas in search of water.
A Perth-based company that is about to become Australia’s first commercial producer of green hydrogen is eyeing a $25 million initial public offering as part of an ASX-listing early next year.
