Morning Headlines

WorkPac’s $20m convertible note reveals IPO prospects

The country’s largest recruitment and labour hire company WorkPac has raised $20 million via a convertible note, as it weighs up an IPO in the next few years. The Fin

China curbs steel output

China is stepping up cuts to steel production and ordering mills to reduce output during the winter heating season and ahead of the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February, in measures that could push down the price of Australian iron ore. The Fin

PM vows to defend State’s hard-fought GST deal

Scott Morrison has ruled out any changes to WA’s GST deal as today’s State Budget is expected to unveil a $5 billion surplus. The West

Surge in job ads requiring a jab

Job advertisements requiring new recruits to be vaccinated against the coronavirus have skyrocketed, with healthcare, administrative and financial services leading the surge. The Fin

Afterpay says $A ‘stablecoin’ would cut costs

Afterpay says shifting payments to blockchain technology will cut costs by removing intermediary banks and is urging the government and central bank to create regulation for an Australian dollar ‘‘stablecoin’’ to facilitate payments outside the existing system. The Fin

Black Friday, Cyber Monday loom large for overstocked retailers

The Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales are shaping up to be bigger than ever this year if overstocked retailers are forced to clear billions of dollars in extra inventory purchased in the hope of a consumer spending bounce after lockdowns. The Fin

BHP pays extra $1bn economy booster

BHP contributed an extra billion dollars in local government taxes, royalties and other payments in the past financial year as the mining giant rode the global surge in iron ore prices. The Aus

Easy money for Mincor as nickel race escalates

Money continues to pour in for early-stage nickel stocks, with Australian upstart Mincor securing the sort of financial support rarely offered to pre-revenue companies at a time when Andrew Forrest and BHP continue to battle over a Canadian nickel explorer. The Fin

Companies build $66bn war chest

The nation’s biggest listed companies have built up a staggering $66.4bn war chest of franking credits, adding almost $27.2bn since the beginning of the pandemic early last year. The Aus

Firms still behind in equality at top end

Women’s progress in moving into senior executive positions in the nation’s top companies has stalled and WA-based firms are not immune, though some are outperforming. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: China is stepping up cuts to steel production and ordering mills to reduce output during the winter heating season and ahead of the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February, in measures that could push down the price of Australian iron ore.

Page 3: Morrison government ministers are split over whether to tear up a Chinese company’s ownership of the Port of Darwin, amid expectations the US will press the issue in top level talks with Defence Minister Peter Dutton and Foreign Minister Marise Payne in Washington next week.

Page 4: Plans to use check-in apps as vaccine passports are unlikely to be adopted nationwide, with the ACT ruling out adopting the system and three other jurisdictions facing potential technical obstacles.

Page 5: Job advertisements requiring new recruits to be vaccinated against the coronavirus have skyrocketed, with healthcare, administrative and financial services leading the surge.

Page 8: Meat processing giant JBS shared commercial ‘‘secrets’’ with big four accountancy PwC because it believed its interactions were subject to legal professional privilege, and its lawyers say the ‘‘horse has already bolted’’ for the court to now remove that privilege.

Page 10: The Morrison government may back away from its 2016 pledge to sign up Australian mining and energy companies to a global transparency and anti-corruption standard, amid concerns that recent expansions to the reporting requirements could place a compliance burden on companies.

Page 13: Afterpay says shifting payments to blockchain technology will cut costs by removing intermediary banks and is urging the government and central bank to create regulation for an Australian dollar ‘‘stablecoin’’ to facilitate payments outside the existing system.

Page 14: The country’s largest recruitment and labour hire company WorkPac has raised $20 million via a convertible note, as it weighs up an IPO in the next few years.

Page 15: The Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales are shaping up to be bigger than ever this year if overstocked retailers are forced to clear billions of dollars in extra inventory purchased in the hope of a consumer spending bounce after lockdowns.

Page 16: Santos’ proposed merger with Oil Search will double the oil and gas producer’s portfolio of low-cost growth projects, providing strong cash flows to fund clean energy ventures that could include direct air capture as well as hydrogen, says Santos chief executive Kevin Gallagher.

Money continues to pour in for early-stage nickel stocks, with Australian upstart Mincor securing the sort of financial support rarely offered to pre-revenue companies at a time when Andrew Forrest and BHP continue to battle over a Canadian nickel explorer.

Page 19: Andrew Forrest’s public criticism of JBS, the Brazilian bidder for salmon farmer Huon Aquaculture, is the latest example of how shareholder activists – and sometimes potential rival bidders – are using the increasingly political foreign approval process to try to shape the outcomes of their deals, top bankers and lawyers say.

The Australian

Page 1: NSW Health officials advised the state’s crisis cabinet to reopen the economy when vaccination levels were closer to 85 per cent but were overruled by Premier Gladys Berejiklian and senior ministers, who said 70 per cent cover was sufficient.

Ninety-five per cent of Australia’s coal must stay in the ground by 2050 in order to have a 50/50 chance of keeping future global warming to 1.5C, new modelling published in Nature concludes.

Page 4: Scott Morrison’s bureaucrats knocked back meetings with global executives from Pfizer last year because of concerns about signing a confidentiality agreement, in a move that delayed Australia securing the crucial vaccine while supply deals were struck with other nations.

Page 6: Regulatory hurdles and the West’s determination to fight wars ethically are preventing the Australian Defence Force from obtaining the cheap autonomous and swarming drones that Defence Minister Peter Dutton has declared the nation needs, an industry leader has warned.

Page 7: Woolworths has expressed concern at claims Tasmania’s salmon industry certification “may not be fit for purpose”, in a potential blow to the controversial $1bn trade.

Page 13: The nation’s biggest listed companies have built up a staggering $66.4bn war chest of franking credits, adding almost $27.2bn since the beginning of the pandemic early last year.

Page 15: BHP contributed an extra billion dollars in local government taxes, royalties and other payments in the past financial year as the mining giant rode the global surge in iron ore prices.

Page 17: Colonial First State has been found to have misled customers in a bid to keep them in its First-Choice fund rather than have them swap to a cheaper MySuper product.

The West Australian

Page 1: At least 10,000 tickets to the AFL grand final at Optus Stadium have been set aside for WA footy lovers.

Page 3: The State Government is set to consider law reform stripping religious schools of their right to sack — or refuse to employ — gay or non-religious staff.

Page 4: A record-breaking Budget surplus super-charged by an iron ore royalties windfall looks set to bring the State Government’s tough public sector wages policy to an early end.

Page 5: Scott Morrison has ruled out any changes to WA’s GST deal as today’s State Budget is expected to unveil a $5 billion surplus.

Logging of native forests will be banned in WA from the end of 2023 — preserving an estimated two million hectares of vegetation.

Page 8: WA’s border could stay closed to COVID-infected States until as late as April next year, Mark McGowan has revealed.

Page 11: Former WA chief justice Wayne Martin will act as mediator in the defamation fight between billionaire Clive Palmer and Premier Mark McGowan in a bid to settle their disagreement before a trial in January.

Page 12: A third of Optus Stadium’s workforce will be lured from other key Perth venues for tomorrow night’s preliminary final, to avoid a repeat of last week’s disastrous fan experience.

Business: The $2 million Regal Theatre money melodrama has escalated to include a Peppermint Grove dentist and dealmaker who bought himself out of an extended bankruptcy in May.

BHP is joining forces to explore for metals crucial to the energy transition with a startup backed by a group of tycoons including Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.

Mineral Resources says it has made a significant conventional gas discovery in the Perth Basin at its Lockyer Deep 1 exploration well about 25km east of Dongara.

Engineering contractor John Holland plans to double its WA rail workforce to 240 in the next three years as projects ramp up but is bracing for a challenge to secure top talent.

Women’s progress in moving into senior executive positions in the nation’s top companies has stalled and WA-based firms are not immune, though some are outperforming.

Bitcoin nursed losses yesterday after plunging amid El Salvador’s troubled rollout of the largest cryptocurrency as legal tender.