Morning Headlines

Premier’s warning on 70pc vax level

Deliberately allowing COVID-19 into the State once 70 per cent of West Australians are fully vaccinated would cost “hundreds of lives” and risked bringing the booming mining industry — which has underwritten billions of dollars in financial support to the locked-down eastern seaboard — to a standstill. The West

Free-living WA most vulnerable state to delta outbreak

Western Australia is the most vulnerable state to a COVID-19 outbreak, and data presented to national cabinet shows an infection could spread at almost three times the rate as that in NSW, due to WA’s low rate of vaccination and lack of social distancing. The Fin

Miners to rescue with $65.5b profit

Billionaire Andrew Forrest has warned investors they bet against the iron ore boom at their peril after it propelled Australia’s big three miners to a record $65.5 billion of cumulative profits in a year marked by unprecedented turbulence. The Fin

Use Budget to open up State: CCIWA

The State’s peak business lobby has urged the McGowan Government to use next week’s Budget to “lay the foundations for opening up to the rest of the world” — including slashing payroll tax, deregulating trading hours and accelerating the return of foreign workers. The West

Forrest’s Minderoo invests in CAR-T player Carina Biotech

On top of mounting an environmental push in his M&A battle for Huon Aquaculture and entering the fray for Western Areas, Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation has placed an early stage bet on next-generation cancer therapeutics business Carina Biotech. The Fin

Exploration spend surges

Spending on Australian mineral exploration has surged to an eight-year high, data shows, with a nearly 20 per cent increase in gold leading the way over the past quarter. The West

Innovators will leave without leadership

Lack of government leadership has left Australia’s technology sector at a ‘‘Sliding Doors’’ moment, where the country’s leading innovators will look to head offshore if federal and state governments don’t come up with better ways to commercialise the technology here, the nation’s peak technology industry body has warned. The Fin

Australians speak: save our jobs, mental health

Australians are more worried about job losses and their mental health than they are about a large breakout of Covid-19 cases and deaths, according to a landmark survey that reveals sharply changing attitudes to lockdowns and the pandemic. The Fin

Elderly, disabled can’t be blamed for bed shortages: Hunt

Mark McGowan’s concern that elderly and NDIS patients were occupying beds and putting pressure on a hospital system threatened by Covid-19 outbreaks was a “profound and deeply troubling implication”, Health Minister Greg Hunt says. The Aus

Crown Perth is flush

Crown Resorts’ Perth business has nearly returned to pre-virus trading levels after helping alleviate the financial hit from Victoria’s lockdowns by doubling profit over the past year. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: Billionaire Andrew Forrest has warned investors they bet against the iron ore boom at their peril after it propelled Australia’s big three miners to a record $65.5 billion of cumulative profits in a year marked by unprecedented turbulence.

Western Australia is the most vulnerable state to a COVID-19 outbreak, and data presented to national cabinet shows an infection could spread at almost three times the rate as that in NSW, due to WA’s low rate of vaccination and lack of social distancing.

Page 2: Non-mining profits fell 1.1 per cent in the three months to June 30 but were more than offset by an 18.4 per cent, $55 billion boom in the mining sector, stoked by the record high iron ore price during the quarter.

Page 4: The Australian Medical Association has dismissed moves by the McGowan government to postpone some elective surgery at public hospitals, saying attempts to recruit doctors and nurses to Western Australia risk being undermined by hardline border closures.

Page 9: BHP could follow Qantas, Virgin Australia and food processor SPC in making COVID-19 vaccinations compulsory for staff and visitors in 2022, as the resources giant launches workplace jabs this week.

Page 10: Australia has reduced its carbon emissions in the 12 months to March by 5.3 per cent, according to the latest figures from the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

Page 13: Fortescue Metals chairman Andrew Forrest says federal government leadership on a net zero target is ‘‘critical’’ to ensure investment is not driven from Australia, as he vowed to use record iron ore profits to carve a future in clean energy.

New Crown Resorts chief executive Steve McCann has floated the possibility of splitting the casino giant into property and casino operating companies, laying out for the first time his vision for the crisis-stricken casino giant if its licences are stripped or curbed.

Page 14: On top of mounting an environmental push in his M&A battle for Huon Aquaculture and entering the fray for Western Areas, Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation has placed an early stage bet on next-generation cancer therapeutics business Carina Biotech.

Page 16: Online bookseller Booktopia is eyeing $1 billion in sales – $500 million in Australia and $500 million overseas – as the global book market shifts from retail stores to e-commerce.

Page 19: Aussie Broadband is considering several acquisition targets to pounce on before the end of the year in an attempt to compete more fiercely against Telstra, Optus and Vocus for corporate customers.

Page 20: Lack of government leadership has left Australia’s technology sector at a ‘‘Sliding Doors’’ moment, where the country’s leading innovators will look to head offshore if federal and state governments don’t come up with better ways to commercialise the technology here, the nation’s peak technology industry body has warned.

Page 21: Earth AI, an Australian start-up that uses artificial intelligence to find rare earth and minerals for sustainable mining operations, has raised $7.5 million to further build out its prediction software and double down on its mobile field operations.

The Australian

Page 1: Australians are more worried about job losses and their mental health than they are about a large breakout of Covid-19 cases and deaths, according to a landmark survey that reveals sharply changing attitudes to lockdowns and the pandemic.

Page 4: BHP is moving to mandate vaccines for its 45,000 employees and contractors, as it launches vaccination hubs across the country to protect the mining sector and accelerate national vaccine targets.

Mark McGowan’s concern that elderly and NDIS patients were occupying beds and putting pressure on a hospital system threatened by Covid-19 outbreaks was a “profound and deeply troubling implication”, Health Minister Greg Hunt says.

Page 14: Regional Express is expected to attract scrutiny from turnaround funds, debt investors and rivals on Tuesday when it reports its full year results as the carrier continues to feel the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Page 15: Qantas has given away more frequent flyer points in the last week than at any other time in the loyalty scheme’s history, thanks to a Covid-19 vaccine reward program.

The West Australian

Page 4: Opposition Leader Mia Davies is urging the State Government to set up an eastern suburbs COVID-19 vaccination clinic to make it quicker and easier for nearby residents to get the jab.

Page 5: Deliberately allowing COVID-19 into the State once 70 per cent of West Australians are fully vaccinated would cost “hundreds of lives” and risked bringing the booming mining industry — which has underwritten billions of dollars in financial support to the locked-down eastern seaboard — to a standstill.

Josh Frydenberg has said it will be “ridiculous” if Australians can travel to Canada and Bali before Perth as the war of words over closed borders continues to heat up.

Page 11: AUSTRAC — Australia’s antimoney laundering regulator — was telling WA’s chief casino officer in 2017 that the State’s gambling regulator should be keeping a close eye on high-roller junkets.

Business: Crown Resorts’ Perth business has nearly returned to pre-virus trading levels after helping alleviate the financial hit from Victoria’s lockdowns by doubling profit over the past year.

Australia’s economy may have shrunk slightly in the three months through June, setting up the bad “optics” of a technical recession when combined with the lockdown-induced contraction expected for the current quarter, according to Citigroup and AMP Capital Investors.

Australia will fail to meet the Federal Government’s digital economy targets unless major changes are made to strategy and policy, the nation’s peak body for the IT sector has warned.

Overseas ventures breaking new ground in industries including batteries, cybersecurity and green steel will be incentivised to relocate to WA through the establishment of a $100 million WA government fund.

The State’s peak business lobby has urged the McGowan Government to use next week’s Budget to “lay the foundations for opening up to the rest of the world” — including slashing payroll tax, deregulating trading hours and accelerating the return of foreign workers.

Spending on Australian mineral exploration has surged to an eight-year high, data shows, with a nearly 20 per cent increase in gold leading the way over the past quarter.