Morning Headlines

Chinese owner restarts work on Australia-first lithium plant

IGO Limited says work is about to restart in earnest on completing Australia’s first lithium hydroxide plant after a troubled history of delays, cost blowouts and legal battles involving the Chinese owner. The Fin

Rinehart soothes steelmakers’ pain with $1.35b dividend

Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, has agreed to soothe the pain that record iron ore prices are inflicting on the Asian steel mills of her partners in the Roy Hill mine, by declaring a monster $1.35 billion dividend for the first three months of the year. The Fin

15 months & $20m to build hub

A purpose-built 1000-bed quarantine hub located just outside Perth could be completed within 15 months at a cost of about $20 million, according to Master Builders WA president David Crothers. The West

Industry support for cancel fund

WA’s ravaged events industry has added to the growing calls for the McGowan Government to introduce a COVID-19 cancellation fund after the three-day snap lockdown cost the sector millions of dollars. The West

Airport pushes for incentives for vaccinated locals

Vaccinated Australians would be allowed to travel freely around the country and be exempt from state-imposed snap lockdown restrictions in a bid to get more people immunised against COVID-19, under a plan being pitched by Canberra Airport. The Aus

Apple and Google told to open up app stores, or else

Australia’s competition watchdog has given Apple and Google a year to open up their app stores to competition or face strong measures that could include legislation forcing them to stop self-preferencing their apps and payments platforms. The Fin

Spending more to fix jobs, deficit

The Morrison government has given itself licence for a big spending budget focused on job creation, saying an unemployment rate with a four in front of it was needed to lift wages and inflation, as well as drive down debt and deficit. The Fin

Export records tumble as iron leads the charge

The global economic recovery, a rush to make renewable energy and insatiable appetite from China has sent Australian mineral exports to a record high, including iron ore, which now accounts for 39 per cent of all goods exported. The Fin

Indigenous studies in, humanities cut in curriculum cull

The study of the humanities will be scaled back significantly, while Indigenous histories, cultures and perspectives will be given greater prominence in a new national school curriculum that seeks to improve declining student performance. The Aus

Nifty Nev thought to be behind mining SPAC

Former Fortescue boss Nev Power could be looking to the US for the next leg of his life after iron ore, with the federal government’s COVID commissioner said to be putting together investors to launch special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in the US. The Aus

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: The Morrison government has given itself licence for a big spending budget focused on job creation, saying an unemployment rate with a four in front of it was needed to lift wages and inflation, as well as drive down debt and deficit.

Page 3: Australia’s competition watchdog has given Apple and Google a year to open up their app stores to competition or face strong measures that could include legislation forcing them to stop self-preferencing their apps and payments platforms.

Page 6: Government housing subsidies have kept inflation lower than economists expected and have given the Reserve Bank a reason to keep low interest rates nailed to 0.1 per cent until 2024.

The global economic recovery, a rush to make renewable energy and insatiable appetite from China has sent Australian mineral exports to a record high, including iron ore, which now accounts for 39 per cent of all goods exported.

Page 10: Australia’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic should include moves to lock in improvements to the tax system, including changes to R&D incentives and employee share schemes, according to PwC.

Page 14: Premier Investments shareholders have backed chairman Solomon Lew’s ‘‘captain’s pick’’ decision to poach JB Hi-Fi chief executive Richard Murray as his retail chief without running a formal internal or external search.

Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, has agreed to soothe the pain that record iron ore prices are inflicting on the Asian steel mills of her partners in the Roy Hill mine, by declaring a monster $1.35 billion dividend for the first three months of the year.

Page 16: The prudential regulator has doubled down on its warning to financial institutions to prepare for the impact of climate change, saying the biggest risk they face is being unprepared.

Page 17: A gold sample testing company aiming to disrupt the $1 billion industry with x-ray technology that dramatically cuts the time taken to analyse samples onsite is eyeing an ASX listing as it wins a string of new contracts.

Page 19: IGO Limited says work is about to restart in earnest on completing Australia’s first lithium hydroxide plant after a troubled history of delays, cost blowouts and legal battles involving the Chinese owner.

Woodside Petroleum’s epic journey to buy out minority partner Far Ltd from its $5.9 billion oil project in Senegal is finally wrapping up after shareholders in the cash-strapped explorer voted overwhelmingly to approve the deal.

Page 21: TPG Telecom and Optus may score an advantage at an upcoming spectrum auction due to draft rules for the sale that include set-aside slots for the pair and competitive limits that would severely restrict Telstra’s influence on the sale.

The Australian

Page 1: The study of the humanities will be scaled back significantly, while Indigenous histories, cultures and perspectives will be given greater prominence in a new national school curriculum that seeks to improve declining student performance.

Page 2: The role of the ABC needs to be “reimagined” in the digital age to allow the national broadcaster to challenge Facebook’s stranglehold on online community hubs, according to a radical proposal by a leading left-wing think tank.

Page 3: Australian scientists have proved the link between stress and falling ill, after discovering that nerve signals caused by stress can paralyse immune cells and stop them from fighting pathogens and even cancerous tumours.

Page 5: Two former high commissioners to India have called on the Morrison government to urgently help Australians stranded in the country to escape its unprecedented COVID crisis.

Vaccinated Australians would be allowed to travel freely around the country and be exempt from state-imposed snap lockdown restrictions in a bid to get more people immunised against COVID-19, under a plan being pitched by Canberra Airport.

Page 6: Nationals senator Matt Canavan will urge the corporate sector to back “Team Australia” and bolster the country’s industrial strength through investment and buying back Chinese-owned infrastructure amid growing tension with Beijing.

Page 14: The corporate shake-up engulfing AGL Energy has deal-makers sharpening their pencils, looking to pounce on a rare opportunity to make a play for the power giant as it explores a demerger.

Former Fortescue boss Nev Power could be looking to the US for the next leg of his life after iron ore, with the federal government’s COVID commissioner said to be putting together investors to launch special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in the US.

The West Australian

Page 3: A primary school in the Perth Hills ditched plans for students to carry guns as props in their Anzac Day ceremony after parents complained.

Page 4: Nearly a third of WA’s 27 active COVID-19 cases were last night still housed in hotels that will be “retired” from the quarantine system next month following leakage of the deadly virus into the community from two of the facilities.

Page 5: A purpose-built 1000-bed quarantine hub located just outside Perth could be completed within 15 months at a cost of about $20 million, according to Master Builders WA president David Crothers.

Australians competing in the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics will not be allowed to return home with their teammates if they contract COVID.

Page 10: Baby-faced betting boffin Chris Brown now faces claims potentially exceeding $200 million as friends, business associates and other backers demand their cut of his reported winnings.

Page 12: Anglicare WA Rental Affordability Snapshot 2021 has revealed availability and affordability of WA’s private rental market is now worse than during the mining boom a decade ago.

Business: WA’s ravaged events industry has added to the growing calls for the McGowan Government to introduce a COVID-19 cancellation fund after the three-day snap lockdown cost the sector millions of dollars.

Bunnings has gone shopping in South Australia for the second time in two years, striking a deal to buy Australia’s biggest tile retailer, the 61-year-old family-owned Beaumont Tiles.

CIMIC Group has won a contract to deliver the expansion of WA’s Casuarina maximum security prison south of Perth.

Amazon Australia has launched its parcel pick-up centres in WA as online shopping continues to surge.