Morning Headlines

This year most disruptive ever, says Toll chief

Shipping goods to Australia is likely to be expensive and slow until at least early next year due to the Shanghai lockdown, the war in Ukraine and soaring inflation, Toll Group chief executive Thomas Knudsen says. The Fin

Mining giant makes a hash of CEO succession

You would be hard pressed to find a way to make a bigger hash of a chief executive succession than Woodside Petroleum did last year, but Fortescue Metals appears to have managed it. The Aus

Two-tier pay rise flagged by Fair Work

The Fair Work Commission has raised the prospect of a two-tier minimum wage scheme that would deliver higher pay rises to the lowest paid while moderating the increase for millions of higher paid workers to avoid a wage-price spike. The Fin

Albanese woos business with IR reform

Anthony Albanese has pledged an industrial relations reform agenda that includes simplifying the impenetrable award system for small business and removing the impediments that discourage

enterprise bargaining. The Fin

Big battery plans for Collie to trump SA

The company behind Tesla’s big battery in South Australia has revealed it is in the initial concept stages of plans to make Collie the location of an even bigger battery. The West

‘Asleep at the wheel’: why EV prices are rising

Battery makers are increasingly passing on higher lithium, cobalt and nickel prices, spurring carmakers to explore entering mining and different technologies, according to a new report, as the day when the cost of making electric vehicles hits parity with petrol cars is pushed out. The Fin

Optus fires up over TPG, Telstra sharing deal

Optus is ramping up hostilities over Telstra and TPG’s landmark network-sharing deal, trying to paint it as risky for regional consumers in the hope the competition watchdog will quash it. The Fin

Eagers forecasts earnings skid

In further evidence that havoc across global supply chains is constraining the delivery of new vehicles to Australian drivers, the nation’s largest car yard owner, Eagers Automotive, has issued a profit warning. The Aus

Hospitals hit code yellow

Two Perth hospitals declared code yellows this week due to a power outage and COVID-induced staff shortages, with more internal emergencies foreshadowed. The West

Miner stares into the abyss again

Long-suffering shareholders of Wiluna Mining Corporation are again facing an anxious wait as the embattled goldminer scrambles to avoid collapse. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: The Fair Work Commission has raised the prospect of a two-tier minimum wage scheme that would deliver higher pay rises to the lowest paid while moderating the increase for millions of higher paid workers to avoid a wage-price spike.

Page 3: The Commonwealth science organisation CSIRO has acknowledged it should have spoken out earlier to explain that carbon capture and storage is a viable technology and important to help meet net zero emissions, rather than leaving the energy industry to try to fight the ‘‘noise’’ of its many critics.

Page 4: Anthony Albanese has pledged an industrial relations reform agenda that includes simplifying the impenetrable award system for small business and removing the impediments that discourage enterprise bargaining.

Page 11: The last major injection of taxpayer funds into childcare subsidies produced almost no noticeable effect on the return to work of second-income earners.

Page 15: Shipping goods to Australia is likely to be expensive and slow until at least early next year due to the Shanghai lockdown, the war in Ukraine and soaring inflation, Toll Group chief executive Thomas Knudsen says.

Page 18: Battery makers are increasingly passing on higher lithium, cobalt and nickel prices, spurring carmakers to explore entering mining and different technologies, according to a new report, as the day when the cost of making electric vehicles hits parity with petrol cars is pushed out.

Page 19: BHP is looking to step up its massive Jansen potash project in Canada, hoping to seize the opportunity lying in the Russia-Ukraine war’s disruption to world fertiliser supplies.

Page 21: Westpac will offer cheaper loans to customers financing electric vehicles, as the big banks muscle in on the green lending space being dominated by smaller non-bank lenders.

Page 22: Optus is ramping up hostilities over Telstra and TPG’s landmark network-sharing deal, trying to paint it as risky for regional consumers in the hope the competition watchdog will quash it.

The Australian

Page 1: Anthony Albanese will lead a two-day, five-state blitz of 20 marginal seats as Labor attempts to hold off a late swing to the government which Coalition campaigners believe has tightened the election race in key battlegrounds.

The nation’s banking and financial services regulator has asked industry superannuation funds to explain the nature of some of the millions of dollars in payments made annually to trade unions.

Page 5: One in 25 teenagers dropped out of school during the pandemic, research reveals, with Covid-19 cementing postcode poverty among young Australians.

Page 6: Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese have set up an arm-wrestle in the final two days of the campaign over the cost of living and economic management, with both leaders asking voters to back their plans to increase wages and shield them from global pressures.

Page 15: Resources Minister Keith Pitt has vowed to lobby European banks and insurers to support Australian commodity producers over fears that companies are facing ongoing issues securing debt and insurance cover amid a climate backlash.

Page 17: In further evidence that havoc across global supply chains is constraining the delivery of new vehicles to Australian drivers, the nation’s largest car yard owner, Eagers Automotive, has issued a profit warning.

Page 19: Australia’s biggest health insurer Medibank is giving its customers another year to use unclaimed extras in a move it says will extend its Covid support to almost $500m.

Page 20: You would be hard pressed to find a way to make a bigger hash of a chief executive succession than Woodside Petroleum did last year, but Fortescue Metals appears to have managed it.

Page 21: Australian travellers are being disadvantaged by the slow return of airline capacity in the market with airfares soaring in response.

The West Australian

Page 5: Senior police and WA Health officials will be parachuted into St John WA in an extraordinary intervention designed to “ensure the full weight of government and the full resourcing of government” is used to plug any future holes in ambulance services.

Page 6: With Labor targeting three seats in the State and pinning its hopes on WA helping to change the Government, the Prime Minister is due to land in WA on Thursday evening.

Page 9: The WA Government may consider a segmented delivery of an Aboriginal cultural centre in Perth, admitting a matched Federal and State Labor $50 million pledge may not complete the project.

Page 17: Two Perth hospitals declared code yellows this week due to a power outage and COVID-induced staff shortages, with more internal emergencies foreshadowed.

Business: The company behind Tesla’s big battery in South Australia has revealed it is in the initial concept stages of plans to make Collie the location of an even bigger battery.

Santos boss Kevin Gallagher has launched a spirited defence of oil and gas and declared the scaled adoption of carbon capture and storage as essential to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

Long-suffering shareholders of Wiluna Mining Corporation are again facing an anxious wait as the embattled goldminer scrambles to avoid collapse.