Morning Headlines

Galaxy in gigantic tie-up

Homegrown miner Galaxy Resources has become part of a top five global lithium giant to be called Allkem after the completion of its $4 billion merger with Orocobre yesterday. The West

Freedoms on national cabinet menu

Greater freedoms for vaccinated residents including access to restaurants, bars, sport, concerts and travel – and no more home school – form part of a proposal to be presented to national cabinet tomorrow, as leaders start to detail what the national plan for reopening the economy will look like. The Fin

CBH’s new rail carrier confident it can deliver

The stakes are high for Australia’s biggest rail operator Aurizon after taking on WA’s lucrative grain-on-rail freight contract months from what could be a record harvest. The West

Northern Star seeks inside passage to mine

Gold giant Northern Star is seeking an exemption to Australia’s ever-tightening rules on international travel to ensure it can continue ferrying highly skilled Australian workers to its Alaskan mine at the same time as it battles labour shortages in Western Australia. The Fin

Coal will be paid to firm up the grid

Energy Minister Angus Taylor is increasingly confident he has won the backing of state and territory counterparts for reforms that could keep coal and gas plants alive to ensure reliable electricity supply and boost investment in firming power. The Fin

Afterpay tells banks: We’re just starting

Afterpay co-founder Anthony Eisen declared that he and Nick Molnar ‘‘are not going anywhere’’ after the $39 billion Square deal is consummated, as both enthused that the mega-merger will turbocharge the growth of both companies and provide more scale to take on big banks. The Fin

As profits rise, SGH chief says plan to come out of pandemic crucial

Seven Group Holdings boss Ryan Stokes has called for a pathway to live with COVID as he rules out making the vaccine mandatory for staff after the company reported a jump in profit. The West

Rewards will get us to 80pc: Medibank

Medibank chief executive David Koczkar has called for a “more sophisticated approach” to the vaccination rollout, involving listening to people’s concerns, providing clear information and rewarding those who proceed with a jab. The Aus

Mining heir is digging in

Marginalised mining heir Julian Wright is refusing to give up his multimillion-dollar legal fight over claims he was cheated out of a chunk of one of WA’s most famous fortunes. The West

Federal loan key to Eneabba investment

Iluka Resources boss Tom O’Leary says a risk-sharing arrangement with the Federal Government will be critical to the mineral sands miner’s final investment decision on a rare earths refinery at Eneabba next year. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: Energy Minister Angus Taylor is increasingly confident he has won the backing of state and territory counterparts for reforms that could keep coal and gas plants alive to ensure reliable electricity supply and boost investment in firming power.

Page 3: Unions are targeting Ausgrid’s majority owners – AustralianSuper and the industry funds’ investment arm IFM – in a television and digital campaign to put pressure on them to intervene in stopping job cuts and pay freezes.

Page 4: Greater freedoms for vaccinated residents including access to restaurants, bars, sport, concerts and travel – and no more home school – form part of a proposal to be presented to national cabinet tomorrow, as leaders start to detail what the national plan for reopening the economy will look like.

Page 13: Afterpay co-founder Anthony Eisen declared that he and Nick Molnar ‘‘are not going anywhere’’ after the $39 billion Square deal is consummated, as both enthused that the mega-merger will turbocharge the growth of both companies and provide more scale to take on big banks.

Page 15: The cost of Zip Co’s global buy now, pay later expansion was laid bare as it reported negative earnings and a total statutory loss of more than $500 million but big increases in transaction volume, customer numbers and topline revenue over the year to June 30.

Page 16: Gold giant Northern Star is seeking an exemption to Australia’s ever-tightening rules on international travel to ensure it can continue ferrying highly skilled Australian workers to its Alaskan mine at the same time as it battles labour shortages in Western Australia.

A global shortage of semi-conductors has taken some heat out of electric vehicle manufacturers’ demand for lithium, but the only multinational lithium miner on the ASX said it was selling all of its product into rising prices.

Global engineering group Worley will invest $100 million over three years in people and technology that will help it pitch for more sustainability projects, chief executive Chris Ashton said as the global engineering group’s annual net profit halved to $86 million.

Page 20: Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure believes there should be ‘‘room for everyone’’ in Australia to produce green hydrogen, chief executive Anthony Timbrell has said, after the coal export terminal delivered a first-half net profit of $113.2 million.

Page 25: Goldman Sachs will require proof of vaccination from all staff and clients entering the bank’s offices, as vaccine mandates proliferated across the US public and private sectors after the BioNTech/Pfizer COVID-19 jab received full regulatory approval.

The Australian

Page 2: Barack Obama recruited Malcolm Turnbull to persuade Donald Trump to respect traditional alliances and adhere to international agreements that maintained America’s pre-eminent global leadership position during a secret meeting in Sydney after he left the White House.

Page 5: Scott Morrison is under increasing pressure from premiers and chief ministers to explore expanding the nation’s reopening vaccine thresholds to include teenagers, as Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk joins calls for new Doherty Institute modelling.

Page 6: Fox News will file a formal complaint with both the ABC and Australia’s media watchdog over this week’s Four Corners episode that attempted to blame Rupert Murdoch for Donald Trump’s refusal to accept electoral defeat.

Page 13: WiseTech Global chief executive and former AC/DC guitar technician Richard White is close to being among the 10 wealthiest Australians after shares in his logistics software company surged by almost 60 per cent following a positive profit announcement and strong guidance.

Page 15: Medibank chief executive David Koczkar has called for a “more sophisticated approach” to the vaccination rollout, involving listening to people’s concerns, providing clear information and rewarding those who proceed with a jab.

Page 16: Gas pipeline giant APA Group has revealed it lost out on bidding for a major deal in North America as it warned that a growing debate over the role of gas in the energy mix had contributed to uncertainty for some Australian customers to renew their contracts.

Page 17: Westpac has claimed vindication for its move a year ago to spend $45m bringing back more than 1000 loan processing jobs to Australia, saying it helped the bank navigate recent Covid lockdowns without disruption.

Page 18: Billionaire Andrew Forrest has suffered a blow after the head of his Squadron Energy unit resigned, creating uncertainty over plans to develop Australia’s first LNG import plant in NSW’s Port Kembla.

The West Australian

Page 3: WA’s public school principals are demanding a pay rise of 15 per cent over three years to bring school leaders’ wages into line with their peers on the east coast.

Page 4: Coronavirus-free WA is on the brink of hosting an historic AFL grand final after Optus Stadium was yesterday unveiled as the official back-up plan to the MCG.

The Morrison Government’s quarantine facility for WA will change location — moving to Bullsbrook near a contaminated RAAF base that has drawn the attention of famous American environmental activist Erin Brockovich.

Page 12: The upcoming State Budget will provide up to $50 million for a new Metronet operations control centre in East Perth.

Page 14: Marginalised mining heir Julian Wright is refusing to give up his multimillion-dollar legal fight over claims he was cheated out of a chunk of one of WA’s most famous fortunes.

Page 18: Australia’s law enforcement agencies now have new powers to fight crime on the dark web.

Business: Seven Group Holdings boss Ryan Stokes has called for a pathway to live with COVID as he rules out making the vaccine mandatory for staff after the company reported a jump in profit.

French catering and food services giant Sodexo will undertake a round of redundancies after announcing a restructure of its Australian business.

The stakes are high for Australia’s biggest rail operator Aurizon after taking on WA’s lucrative grain-on-rail freight contract months from what could be a record harvest.

Mining contractor Macmahon Holdings has met its profit forecasts for a fourth consecutive year and is tipping another year of growth in 2021-22, despite labour pressures.

SeaLink has called out the pandemic’s hit on its Swan River cruise business even as the group romped to a bigger profit after a sweetly timed expansion into commuter buses two years ago.

Homegrown miner Galaxy Resources has become part of a top five global lithium giant to be called Allkem after the completion of its $4 billion merger with Orocobre yesterday.

Shares in MLG Oz have jumped after the newly listed mining contractor beat full-year revenue and earnings forecasts in its prospectus.

Iluka Resources boss Tom O’Leary says a risk-sharing arrangement with the Federal Government will be critical to the mineral sands miner’s final investment decision on a rare earths refinery at Eneabba next year.