Morning Headlines

ScoMo says Pilbara backbone of nation as he pledges $250m for hydrogen and critical minerals

The Prime Minister is in Perth for his first trip during the election campaign and will on Tuesday announce $200 million for four new hydrogen hubs and $50m to create more critical mineral supply chain jobs. The West

PM seeks a WA tax fight with Labor

Scott Morrison has issued a tax challenge to Labor as part of a pitch for votes in Western Australia, by promising the state’s business community he will never introduce a mining tax, a carbon tax or touch the multibillion-dollar diesel excise rebate given to miners. The Fin

Animoca buys major stake in Perth agency

Hong Kong-based ASX crypto reject turned $US5.8 billion ($7.9 billion) unicorn, Animoca Brands, has acquired a 67 per cent stake in Perth-based digital services agency Be Media. The Fin

Big parties spend up under radar

The major parties have made almost $400 million in funding promises and allocations for dozens of local projects in a guerrilla grassroots campaign in just the first week on the hustings. The Fin

Rinehart interest suggests magnetite is back

Once written off as a boomtime folly, the dream of tapping the vast reserves of magnetite iron ore in WA has seemingly been revived as a fresh wave of new and old projects make their way back onto the agenda. The Aus

Booming jobs market, but Labor unhappy

Australia’s jobs market is pumping, with unemployment at a technical 48-year low, female unemployment solidly at a 48-year low, participation at a record high and youth employment the highest in 14 years. The Fin

Burgundy mines diamond niche

In a couple of months, Peter Ravenscroft plans to be in Paris launching Australia’s first ultra-luxury diamond brand since the renowned Argyle pink diamonds. The Fin

Primary pain for PM, Albanese

The Coalition and Labor are struggling to win enough primary support to take power in their own right, leaving them at the mercy of preference flows and facing the prospect of having to negotiate with minor parties or independents to form government. The Aus

Aged-care workers to strike over staffing, pay

Thousands of aged-care workers across three states have voted to take “unprecedented strike action” in protest at inadequate staffing and pay, with union officials declaring walkouts are almost certain in the final weeks of the federal election campaign. The Aus

China’s growth faces obstacles in shutdowns and geopolitical tension

Tough COVID-19 lockdowns and the fallout from the Ukraine war have combined to take the shine off China’s economy, casting doubt over whether Australia’s biggest trading partner can reach this year’s growth targets. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: The major parties have made almost $400 million in funding promises and allocations for dozens of local projects in a guerrilla grassroots campaign in just the first week on the hustings.

Scott Morrison has issued a tax challenge to Labor as part of a pitch for votes in Western Australia, by promising the state’s business community he will never introduce a mining tax, a carbon tax or touch the multibillion-dollar diesel excise rebate given to miners.

Page 5: Labor has accused Scott Morrison of supporting reforms that would cut workers’ pay after he committed to resurrecting a raft of dumped workplace changes, including exempting businesses from pay safeguards if they were hard-hit by the pandemic.

Page 8: Australia’s jobs market is pumping, with unemployment at a technical 48-year low, female unemployment solidly at a 48-year low, participation at a record high and youth employment the highest in 14 years.

Page 12: East coast gas prices are surging, to the worry of manufacturers, but fresh analysis shows the cause is the shutdown of coal power generation units in the domestic market rather than a pull from soaring international prices.

Page 13: In a couple of months, Peter Ravenscroft plans to be in Paris launching Australia’s first ultra-luxury diamond brand since the renowned Argyle pink diamonds.

Page 17: Food inflation has accelerated again in the third quarter and more price increases are expected, which should support revenue growth at the nation’s largest supermarket chains, according to UBS analysts.

Page 21: Hong Kong-based ASX crypto reject turned $US5.8 billion ($7.9 billion) unicorn, Animoca Brands, has acquired a 67 per cent stake in Perth-based digital services agency Be Media.

The Australian

Page 1: The Coalition and Labor are struggling to win enough primary support to take power in their own right, leaving them at the mercy of preference flows and facing the prospect of having to negotiate with minor parties or independents to form government.

Thousands of aged-care workers across three states have voted to take “unprecedented strike action” in protest at inadequate staffing and pay, with union officials declaring walkouts are almost certain in the final weeks of the federal election campaign.

Page 2: Businesses struggling with labour shortages are calling on the federal government to let them more easily sponsor overseas workers and scrap regulations forcing them to prove they have tried hard enough to fill vacancies with Australians first.

Page 4: The Catholic Church has appealed to all political parties to provide religious freedom laws that allow faith groups the ability to run schools, social welfare, hospitals and aged care according to their beliefs and ethos.

Page 5: Scott Morrison will move to lock in support from mining communities and outline his plan to secure long-term iron ore, coal, gas, gold, critical minerals and hydrogen production, warning voters that Labor would hold back the booming resources sector.

Page 14: Consensus is firming that the Aussie dollar will build towards US80c by the end of the year, with strong commodity prices and rising interest rates working in its favour.

Page 17: The federal government is under pressure to review the Your Future, Your Super performance benchmarks for the $900bn My-Super sector, with fund managers warning that they can deter investment in renewable energy and ethical investments.

Once written off as a boomtime folly, the dream of tapping the vast reserves of magnetite iron ore in WA has seemingly been revived as a fresh wave of new and old projects make their way back onto the agenda.

The West Australian

Page 3: State-of-the art cameras that can better detect motorists on their phones and not wearing seatbelts are the latest weapon in the fight against deadly driver behaviour.

Page 5: The Prime Minister is in Perth for his first trip during the election campaign and will on Tuesday announce $200 million for four new hydrogen hubs and $50m to create more critical mineral supply chain jobs.

Former Federal attorney-general Christian Porter is officially allowed to practise law again in WA, with his first major case just a few weeks away.

Page 10: The Anzac Day dawn service at Kings Park next week will not run at full capacity despite the easing of a raft of restrictions.

Business: Tough COVID-19 lockdowns and the fallout from the Ukraine war have combined to take the shine off China’s economy, casting doubt over whether Australia’s biggest trading partner can reach this year’s growth targets.

A perfect storm of COVID-19 disruptions, a scarcity of international talent and increased demand have made the software development sector one of the most difficult to hire for, according to a tech expert.

Western Australia could become a world leader in tech, but experts say the State’s success will depend on whether businesses can find more effective ways of delivering digital skills training.

Australian LNG exporters have a chance to expand exports to Japan should the country decide to stop imports from Russia, according to a respected industry analyst.