Morning Headlines

Investors would cheer BHP exit from fossil fuels

BHP investors would welcome reduced exposure to oil and gas particularly if the company could find a buyer for its Australian assets, reigniting the decade-old speculation about a deal with Woodside. The Fin

Fund to fast-track approvals a boost for miners

A $120 million injection in the September State Budget to fast-track major project approvals will relieve pressure on WA’s booming resources sector and ensure the flow of business investment, industry leaders say. The West

Wine sales to China crash on tariff hit

Australia’s wine exports to China plunged to just $13 million in the six months ended June 30, compared with $490 million a year earlier, as the full impact of the punishing wine tariffs imposed by Beijing washed through. The Fin

IPOs sure to remain hot items

The surging market for initial public offerings is expected to remain red hot in the second half of the year after 61 companies raised $2.9 billion ahead of their ASX listing in the six months to the end of June. The West

Stop sex sleaze of uni staff

Calls for university staff to have more job protection have been raised after reports of academics and tutors copping sexualised comments online from their students. The West

Latest lockdowns to take heavy toll

The economy will suffer a heavy blow as a consequence of the lockdowns afflicting three states but Treasury and the Reserve Bank believe a second recession in as many years will be avoided, Scott Morrison says. The Fin

Qantas ramps up rewards for trips

After a grim month of capital city lockdowns and border closures, Qantas is hoping to reinvigorate interest in air travel with one of its biggest frequent-flyer offers ever. The Aus

Small business ‘will need help post-lockdown’

Small businesses need government support to get them through the liquidity crunch in the immediate post-lockdown period, according to peak accounting group CPA Australia. The Fin

South32’s $1b hit casts doubt on 2000 jobs

South32 has taken a near $1 billion hit on its Illawarra metallurgical coal business and cast more doubt on the future of more than 2000 jobs as it butts heads with NSW regulators over extension plans. The Fin

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: The economy will suffer a heavy blow as a consequence of the lockdowns afflicting three states but Treasury and the Reserve Bank believe a second recession in as many years will be avoided, Scott Morrison says.

Brisbane will become the test case for the new-look, lower-budget Olympic Games after a full meeting of the International Olympic Committee voted for the city to host the 2032 summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Page 2: Chairman John Mullen says Telstra would never have considered buying Pacific telecommunications provider Digicel without a government offer of taxpayer support, and it would sign a deal only if it was in the interests of shareholders.

Page 3: Retirees can afford to take more money out of their superannuation, say experts, but critics argue generous tax concessions from the Commonwealth government are discouraging them from doing so.

Page 4: Leading businesswoman Diane Smith-Gander says the government needs an urgent plan for living with COVID-19 that would allow borders to stay open and ‘‘keep our economy moving’’.

A failure to contain the coronavirus Delta variant could reset the economy to pre-pandemic levels and spark a ‘‘W-shaped’’ recovery, economists say, as virus case numbers continue to rise.

Page 6: Small businesses need government support to get them through the liquidity crunch in the immediate post-lockdown period, according to peak accounting group CPA Australia.

Drivers and logistics companies face a patchwork of surveillance testing requirements across the country as half of Australia enters lockdown and states shut borders.

Page 9: Vaccination experts have questioned Scott Morrison’s criticism of the nation’s top immunisation advisers, saying the government has ultimate responsibility for the messy rollout of the AstraZeneca jab.

Page 14: Australia’s wine exports to China plunged to just $13 million in the six months ended June 30, compared with $490 million a year earlier, as the full impact of the punishing wine tariffs imposed by Beijing washed through.

Page 16: Netflix’s subscriber growth slowed dramatically in the second quarter as the surge in streaming subscriptions from the COVID-19 pandemic petered out, competition increased and the company considered novel ways to grow its business.

Page 17: BHP investors would welcome reduced exposure to oil and gas particularly if the company could find a buyer for its Australian assets, reigniting the decade-old speculation about a deal with Woodside.

A loss of confidence in Oil Search’s board and top management may take some pressure off Santos to improve the terms of its $23 billion merger proposal but its offer for the Papua New Guinea oil and gas producer looks too cheap, investors and analysts say.

Page 21: South32 has taken a near $1 billion hit on its Illawarra metallurgical coal business and cast more doubt on the future of more than 2000 jobs as it butts heads with NSW regulators over extension plans.

Australia’s biggest construction group is ‘‘bouncing back’’ from a difficult 2020 but will need to reassess the impact of project shutdowns in NSW if they are extended into next month, CIMIC chief executive Juan Santamaria said.

Beach Energy failed to meet market expectations in its fourth-quarter market update, sending the stock lower, after telling investors production had fallen 1 per cent.

Page 23: Commonwealth Bank of Australia will offer discounted broadband to its banking app users, as the nation’s largest bank uses its scale to add services and push towards a platform business.

The Australian

Page 1: Australia has been elevated into the storied ranks of nations to host three Olympics with the announcement that Brisbane will anchor a new-look Games in 2032 to make the world’s greatest sporting event affordable.

Page 3: Two founding fathers of the National Disability Insurance Scheme have lashed the federal government and the scheme’s agency for their mishandling of the $25bn a year scheme, which they say has left hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities insecure about their coverage and millions more out in the cold in terms of support.

Page 4: Scott Morrison has assured Australians that the economy will bounce back from the “heavy blow” dealt by the latest round of restrictions, as he again fended off suggestions the government should reinstate JobKeeper.

Page 13: Australia’s oil and gas industry faces its biggest shake-up in a generation with a wave of M&A activity poised to reshape the sector, with BHP considering selling its $18bn petroleum division just days after Santos’s $23bn Oil Search merger pitch.

Page 15: Tennis Australia has formed a venture capital fund targeting technology and health start-ups, and has clinched a multi-million dollar deal for its first investment.

Multi-billionaire Gina Rinehart is believed to be behind the $34m purchase of a beach house in Noosa, marking one of the highest prices paid for a residential property in Queensland.

After a grim month of capital city lockdowns and border closures, Qantas is hoping to reinvigorate interest in air travel with one of its biggest frequent-flyer offers ever.

The West Australian

Page 5: The long-term roadmap for WA’s future infrastructure priorities recommends punting major projects — including hospital redevelopments and the WA Government’s flagship outer harbour — further down the track, with Mark McGowan lauding the strategy’s focus on “does something need to be built at all?”

Page 6: Scott Morrison says he “takes responsibility” for the nation’s troubled vaccination rollout, admitting the delays in offering all Australians COVID jabs are “regrettable”.

Page 12: Calls for university staff to have more job protection have been raised after reports of academics and tutors copping sexualised comments online from their students.

Business: The surging market for initial public offerings is expected to remain red hot in the second half of the year after 61 companies raised $2.9 billion ahead of their ASX listing in the six months to the end of June.

Rumours the Big Australian is moving away from fossil fuels could result in a clear path for Woodside and the Scarborough LNG project

A $120 million injection in the September State Budget to fast-track major project approvals will relieve pressure on WA’s booming resources sector and ensure the flow of business investment, industry leaders say.

Woodside has partnered with a group of government-owned and private Japanese businesses to develop a clean fuel ammonia supply chain between the two nations.

Making Christmas Island detention centre available for skilled grain harvest workers to quarantine when they enter Australia is one proposal WA Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan wants the Federal Government to consider to address labour shortages.

Dividend payouts from Australia’s biggest companies are expected to bounce back to pre-pandemic amounts in 2021, even as the nation grapples with a recent coronavirus resurgence.