Morning Headlines

Lithium powers Vulcan to 52-fold share gain

Wannabe lithium producer Vulcan Energy has reached fresh heights in a dizzying upward share price spiral: its one-year gain amounted to a 52-fold increase yesterday after the Perth-based start-up on Friday unveiled a prefeasibility study and a new high-profile investor.

Vale Justin Little

Gilbert and Tobin energy and resources partner Justin Little has passed away following his battle with a brain tumour. The corporate law firm announced the passing of Mr Little via social media on Monday. Business News

Forrest plans China visit, double-dose jab for travels

Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest says he will visit China again soon, after the strained relationship between Canberra and Beijing kept him away during a four-month stint overseas that included 47 other countries. The Fin

Juukan fallout slows Rio plans

The impact of Rio Tinto’s destruction of 46,000-year-old heritage sites in the Pilbara could reverberate through its operations for years, as the mining giant conceded it doesn’t know how a renewed focus on relationships with traditional owners will affect its operations.

Payrolls rebound to pre-crisis

Payroll jobs recovered to pre-COVID-19 levels in December and point to a further improvement in official employment, stronger than expected GDP and a potential curtailing of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s quantitative easing program as early as April. The Fin

PM hints at international travel this year

The federal government could seek a more ambitious timeline for reopening Australia’s international borders, promising a ‘‘week by week’’ review of medical advice and rollout of COVID-19 vaccines – conditions critical to ending travel bans and new pain for the tourism sector before 2022. The Fin

Australian barley could go into Mexico’s Corona after China ban

Australian farmers are continuing their fightback against Chinese trade sanctions, sending their first bulk shipment of malt barley to Mexico, where it could be turned into cartons of Corona. The Fin

Bankers gear up for flurry of IPOs

A frothy fourth quarter for initial public offering activity in 2020 is expected to spill into 2021 as investment bankers gear up for a flurry of floats to kick off the year, and the red-hot fintech and retail sectors are tipped to top the listing queue. The Fin

Record pre-poll turnout

Up to one million West Australians are predicted to cast their votes early at the State election because of COVID-19 safety fears. The West

Diamond price rises

De Beers has implemented its biggest price rise for diamonds in years as the industry bounces back from the pandemic shutdown. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page Payroll jobs recovered to pre-COVID-19 levels in December and point to a further improvement in official employment, stronger than expected GDP and a potential curtailing of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s quantitative easing program as early as April.

The federal government could seek a more ambitious timeline for reopening Australia’s international borders, promising a ‘‘week by week’’ review of medical advice and rollout of COVID-19 vaccines – conditions critical to ending travel bans and new pain for the tourism sector before 2022.

Page 2: Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest says he will visit China again soon, after the strained relationship between Canberra and Beijing kept him away during a four-month stint overseas that included 47 other countries.

Page 3: The reality of cash-strapped household budgets has hit private education, with fee inflation running at a historical low and leading private schools freezing fees for this year – in some cases for the first time in a decade.

Australian farmers are continuing their fightback against Chinese trade sanctions, sending their first bulk shipment of malt barley to Mexico, where it could be turned into cartons of Corona.

Page 4: A national travel permit system would enable a more calibrated and consistent approach to where and how COVID-19 restrictions are applied and would be more effective than border closures, according to epidemiological experts and political leaders.

Page 7: A frothy fourth quarter for initial public offering activity in 2020 is expected to spill into 2021 as investment bankers gear up for a flurry of floats to kick off the year, and the red-hot fintech and retail sectors are tipped to top the listing queue.

Page 9: Rich countries may seek to ‘‘jump to the front of the queue’’ for vaccines, in a jab grab that has left the world ‘‘on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure’’, warns World Health Organisation boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Page 13: The private equity consortium led by CPE Capital will need to win over the extended Tartak family and garbage entrepreneur Ian Malouf, who together hold almost 34 per cent of Bingo Industries, for its $2.6 billion buyout proposal to have a chance of succeeding.

Rio Tinto’s biggest profit in nine years could be just the start, with the miner signalling it could capitalise on stratospheric iron ore prices by shipping record volumes of the steelmaking commodity this year.

Australian banks washed $500 million for violent South American cocaine cartels in a sophisticated money laundering scheme, with the proceeds of crime moving through multiple countries before it was disrupted by Australian law enforcement.

Page 16: Neobank Xinja has completed its exit from Australian banking, handing back $252 million in deposits to customers and transferring a remaining rump of accounts to National Australia Bank.

Page 17: Wannabe lithium producer Vulcan Energy has reached fresh heights in a dizzying upward share price spiral: its one-year gain amounted to a 52-fold increase yesterday after the Perth-based start-up on Friday unveiled a prefeasibility study and a new high-profile investor.

Page 19: Optus has called for regulators to cap a mobile network operator’s total low-band spectrum slots at 70MHz, which would all but disqualify Telstra from the upcoming spectrum auction that is critical to regional 5G capabilities.

The Australian

Page 1: Homeowners have emerged as the key drivers of the nation’s COVID-19 recovery, with a stunning spike in take-up of the federal government’s HomeBuilder grants, which are estimated to underwrite more than $50bn in broader economic activity in 2021.

The Chinese Communist Party has recruited more than 300 scientists and scholars at Australian tertiary and government research institutions through its talent recruitment programs — and maybe as many as 600 — a new submission to a parliamentary inquiry has revealed.

Page 3: Luxury brand sales are soaring in the wake of the coronavirus recession, as Australians splurge on French champagne, $12,000-a-night hotels and high-end cars, spending money once set aside for international travel.

Page 5: Tech giant Facebook has called on federal parliament to direct its attention elsewhere, declaring it and Google have been “exhaustively examined” in five major policy inquiry processes over the past four years.

Page 13: The impact of Rio Tinto’s destruction of 46,000-year-old heritage sites in the Pilbara could reverberate through its operations for years, as the mining giant conceded it doesn’t know how a renewed focus on relationships with traditional owners will affect its operations.

Page 15: Online shopping and tech entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan’s company Kogan.com has once again fallen afoul of a regulator over its treatment of shoppers, this time being fined $310,000 by the Australian Communications and Media Authority for making it difficult for shoppers to unsubscribe to promotional emails.

Page 16: The mining industry should treat sexual harassment the same way it does any other health and safety issue, according to Minerals Council chief executive Tania Constable, to help combat the “alarming” levels of harassment in the industry.

The West Australian

Page 3: Community services groups have joined Premier Mark McGowan in condemning Fremantle’s tent city, describing it as a “misguided and even dangerous” response to homelessness.

Page 10: A Labor star in the making has bolted into contention to be the State’s next health minister if Roger Cook becomes treasurer, according to party sources.

Page 11: Up to one million West Australians are predicted to cast their votes early at the State election because of COVID-19 safety fears.

Business: The first WA business has put its hand up to enter the Federal Government’s simplified debt restructuring process, which forms part of major insolvency reforms pushed through Parliament late last year.

Birkenstock, the German company behind the iconic sandals worn by hippies and preppies alike, is in talks to be taken over by CVC Capital Partners, sources report.

De Beers has implemented its biggest price rise for diamonds in years as the industry bounces back from the pandemic shutdown.

WA small businesses have copped the worst of the pandemic-fuelled job losses, with data revealing big organisations have escaped virtually unscathed.

The blokey mining sector will try to stamp out sexual harassment within its ranks after a report found 40 per cent of the industry’s workforce had endured sexual harassment in the past five years.

An international transport company is toasting a landmark contract it believes will lead to a shake-up of the Goldfields’ freight sector by driving competition and creating new opportunities in the region.

The State Government hopes two renewable energy projects at Goldfields mine sites will be a beacon for WA industry to further tap into clean energy.