Morning Headlines

Wednesday, 30 March, 2022 - 06:56
Category: 

BUDGET: ‘Game changer’ $27b capex tax break killed

A massive business expense tax break announced by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic was killed off in last night’s federal budget. The Fin

BUDGET: Cash splash dash to the polls

The Morrison government has made an audacious bid for re-election with an $8.6 billion cost-of-living package that slashes petrol tax by 22¢ a litre for six months, gives 10 million low and middle-income earners a one-off bonus tax rebate of $420, and hands $250 cheques to 6 million pensioners and welfare recipients. The Fin

BUDGET: Vaccine funds to slow winter surge

Ahead of an expected surge in omicron infections this winter and Australia’s first serious flu season since the start of the pandemic, the Morrison government will spend another $1 billion on COVID-19 vaccines. The Fin

BUDGET: ‘On right course but not out of woods'

The Morrison government's 2021-22 budget lays the ground­work for a more secure economic future but fails to address the critical structural reform imperative to Australia's economic future, the nation's peak business bodies say. The Aus

BUDGET: Working dads get more time with kids

Working dads will be paid to spend more time bonding with their babies under sweeping changes to paid parental leave. The Aus

Morrison GST deal for WA ‘a disaster’: experts

The agreement to underwrite GST payments to Western Australia is a ‘‘disaster’’, undermining the apolitical system for distributing taxes to the states based on need, and encouraging states to lobby for special deals, say fiscal experts. The Fin

CHESSmate: participants call for drop dead date

Frustration is growing among ASX market participants over expected fresh delays to the CHESS replacement project, prompting calls for a drop dead date to be imposed on implementation. The Fin

Telstra workers desert the office

One of Australia's biggest employers -Telstra -has revealed its workers are averaging only one or two days in the office, in a radical realignment of work after two years of Covid-19. The Aus

Local and global risks temper strong outlook

Australia’s strong economic momentum has the potential to be derailed by new and more deadly strains of COVID-19, further supply-chain disruptions from widespread community transmission in China and rising inflation risks. The West

More jobs to go at Woodside

Woodside Petroleum has flagged what it calls “a limited number” of job losses at its Perth head office ahead of its planned merger with BHP’s petroleum division. The West

 

 

The Australian Financial Review

Page B1: The Morrison government has made an audacious bid for re-election with an $8.6 billion cost-of-living package that slashes petrol tax by 22¢ a litre for six months, gives 10 million low and middle-income earners a one-off bonus tax rebate of $420, and hands $250 cheques to 6 million pensioners and welfare recipients.

Australia’s top cyber spy agency will double in size with its budget boosted by $9.9 billion, as the Morrison government confronts the rising cyber threat posed by China, other malign countries and hackers, to safeguard national sovereignty.

Page B4: Ahead of an expected surge in omicron infections this winter and Australia’s first serious flu season since the start of the pandemic, the Morrison government will spend another $1 billion on COVID-19 vaccines.

Page B5: Returning foreign students and close to 200,000 skilled migrants a year are expected to offset a national brain.

A massive business expense tax break announced by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic was killed off in last night’s federal budget.

Page B8: Spending on the National Disability Insurance Scheme has blown out by $40 billion over the forward estimates, and costs are forecast to grow by almost 20 per cent over the next four years as the number of participants swells and their plans become more expensive.

Page B12: Australian iron ore and coal exports will add $29.5 billion to the bottom line over the next four years if booming commodity prices continue for another six months, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said.

Page 1: Australia has been warned it must increase investment and look at establishing a military presence in the Pacific to counter China’s influence in the region after Solomon Islands confirmed it was close to signing a security deal with Beijing.

Page 8: Fraudsters are setting up 25,000 fake self-managed superannuation funds each year, a number that is rising quickly, in order to steal the retirement savings of unsuspecting mum and dad investors.

Page 10: Trade Minister Dan Tehan wants the US government to change its trade finance rules to help pay for critical minerals projects and other strategically sensitive investments in the Indo-Pacific to counter China’s dominance and further rare earth shortages following the sanctions against Russia.

The agreement to underwrite GST payments to Western Australia is a ‘‘disaster’’, undermining the apolitical system for distributing taxes to the states based on need, and encouraging states to lobby for special deals, say fiscal experts.

Page 16: Frustration is growing among ASX market participants over expected fresh delays to the CHESS replacement project, prompting calls for a drop dead date to be imposed on implementation.

Page 17: A new impact investing group overseen by former National Australia Bank chief Andrew Thorburn has bought 1600 hectares of land in Western Australia ahead of rolling out a ‘‘Forever Fund’’ focused on regenerating farmland for carbon sequestration and improving biodiversity.

 

 

The Australian

Page 1: Strong corporate balance sheets and a significant economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic are expected to drive business in­vestment to a 12-year high by mid-2023, with the Morrison government banking on a surge in corporate tax receipts.

Page 2: The Morrison government's 2021-22 budget lays the ground­work for a more secure economic future but fails to address the critical structural reform imperative to Australia's economic future, the nation's peak business bodies say.

Page 3: Workers will endure a real wages cut this financial year and the government concedes the annual inflation rate will outstrip wage growth, despite Treasury predicting the fastest increase in pay packets in almost a decade will start from next year.

Page 4: Record infrastructure investment with a heavy focus on the regions will add an estimated 40,000 jobs and bolster the Coalition's hopes of retaining key seats outside the major metropolitan areas.

Page 5: Working dads will be paid to spend more time bonding with their babies under sweeping changes to paid parental leave.

Page 6: Australia’s biggest commodity export earners are set for big declines over the next six months despite prices currently trading at high levels with supply fears growing amid the Russia-Ukraine war, government forecasts show.

Page 19: More than 100 Australian sellers raked in tens of millions of dollars selling drugs and other illicit goods on the dark web's largest marketplace before it was shut down last year.

Page 20: The McGowan government has been urged to consider lifting employment vaccination mandates amid concerns the measures are creating a new social underclass.

Page 27: Australia’s biggest energy producer could see its revenues soar in the near term as a result of higher prices driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a leading market analyst has predicted.

Page 30: One of Australia's biggest employers -Telstra -has revealed its workers are averaging only one or two days in the office, in a radical realignment of work after two years of Covid-19.

 

 

The West Australian

Page 3: The McGowan Government appears to have snubbed the Chief Health Officer’s advice — something it has claimed to have based every COVID-related decision on for two years.

Page 7: Retiring WA Federal MP Christian Porter has urged politicians to protect the rule of law after having “experiences you wouldn’t wish on anyone”.

Business: Australia’s strong economic momentum has the potential to be derailed by new and more deadly strains of COVID-19, further supply-chain disruptions from widespread community transmission in China and rising inflation risks.

Australia’s peak motoring body says the Federal Budget’s inclusion of funding for a real world vehicle emissions test is a significant initiative that will make Australian motoring cleaner and more affordable.

Aged-care providers and operators say the Budget has failed to address wages in the sector, leaving their workers near poverty.

Bitcoin’s under-the-radar rally over the last few days has bulls once again eyeing levels the coin hasn’t seen since last year.

Woodside Petroleum has flagged what it calls “a limited number” of job losses at its Perth head office ahead of its planned merger with BHP’s petroleum division.