Morning Headlines

Wesfarmers has battery minerals at front of mind

Wesfarmers is on the hunt for more battery minerals mines as it reaches a crucial stage in work on the $1.9 billion Mt Holland lithium project in Western Australia. The Fin

Wong to push East Timor, Woodside deal

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong will visit East Timor this week and encourage its political leaders to resolve a stand-off with Australian energy giant Woodside over the potential development of a gas project in the Timor Sea. The Fin

Forced to turn away tourism

Australia’s labour shortage crisis is forcing one-in-three WA tourism businesses to turn away customers and reduce services, a survey has found ahead of this week’s Jobs and Skills Summit in Canberra. The West

Bargain deal for unions, small firms

Small business and the union movement have struck a ground-breaking agreement that supports multi-employer bargaining and a simpler test for approving pay deals that could ultimately apply across the rest of the workforce. The Aus

Parental leave ‘key to solving worker shortage’

This week’s jobs summit must make concrete commitments on increasing childcare subsidies,

expanding parental leave and revaluing ‘‘highly feminised industries’’ to help improve women’s workforce participation and ease the skill shortage crisis, influential ‘‘teal’’ MPs say. The Fin

Industry-wide pay claims in play

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says this week’s jobs summit must achieve an Accord-style ‘‘culture of cooperation’’ between business and unions, as the federal Treasurer all but confirmed the Labor government would support industry-wide bargaining in some sectors. The Fin

Australia ‘perfect’ for energy transition role

Major opportunities have opened up in the United States to Australian battery metals, critical minerals and clean hydrogen companies due to the introduction of a landmark package of legislation supporting clean energy, according to one of the Biden administration’s most senior climate diplomats. The Fin

Top execs call for boost to migrant levels

The Albanese government’s Jobs and Skills Summit needs to brainstorm ideas for putting Australia at ‘‘the top of the charts’’ for globetrotting workers, top executives say, and some warn they are holding back on committing money to big projects due to labour shortages. The Fin

Mining pay day drives up wages

WA’s mining industry is ramping up wage pressure, promising a sixfigure starting salary as employers compete for workers. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says this week’s jobs summit must achieve an Accord-style ‘‘culture of cooperation’’ between business and unions, as the federal Treasurer all but confirmed the Labor government would support industry-wide bargaining in some sectors.

Page 2: The head of the Quality of Advice Review, Michelle Levy, will propose a radical overhaul of the complex laws governing financial advice, scrapping reams of consumer protection and disclosure regulations and making it easier for banks and super funds to provide cheap forms of advice.

Page 3: Salaries for jobs advertised on online hiring platform Seek surged 4.1 per cent in July compared to a year earlier, adding to wide-ranging evidence wages are picking up strongly in the second half of the year.

Page 5: The unions’ sector-wide bargaining proposal would likely lead to a significant increase in strikes and could force businesses to move offshore, automate more roles or close altogether, a leading employment lawyer has warned.

Page 6: This week’s jobs summit must make concrete commitments on increasing childcare subsidies, expanding parental leave and revaluing ‘‘highly feminised industries’’ to help improve women’s workforce participation and ease the skill shortage crisis, influential ‘‘teal’’ MPs say.

Page 8: Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong will visit East Timor this week and encourage its political leaders to resolve a stand-off with Australian energy giant Woodside over the potential development of a gas project in the Timor Sea.

Page 10: Senior Defence officials have downplayed the possibility of acquiring new Spanish-built destroyers, as the shipbuilder behind the troubled $45 billion future frigate project says it has clawed back a year’s worth of delays and will start construction of the first parts of the ship in May next year.

Page 11: Major opportunities have opened up in the United States to Australian battery metals, critical minerals and clean hydrogen companies due to the introduction of a landmark package of legislation supporting clean energy, according to one of the Biden administration’s most senior climate diplomats.

Page 14: Universities are offering education to the corporate world on an unprecedented scale as businesses seek to upskill their workforces to tackle skill shortages and entice workers to stay.

Page 15: The Albanese government’s Jobs and Skills Summit needs to brainstorm ideas for putting Australia at ‘‘the top of the charts’’ for globetrotting workers, top executives say, and some warn they are holding back on committing money to big projects due to labour shortages.

Page 17: Wesfarmers is on the hunt for more battery minerals mines as it reaches a crucial stage in work on the $1.9 billion Mt Holland lithium project in Western Australia.

Page 18: Fortescue’s $US3.8 billion Iron Bridge operation has suffered a setback after the discovery of Indigenous heritage sites forced a 3 per cent reduction in the mineral resources available at the two magnetite deposits that underpin the project.

The Australian

Page 1: Small business and the union movement have struck a ground-breaking agreement that supports multi-employer bargaining and a simpler test for approving pay deals that could ultimately apply across the rest of the workforce.

Page 3: Scientists are developing technology that seeks out and destroys the deadly blockages that cause thousands of heart attacks a year.

Part of the Perth CBD’s main thoroughfare was closed off on Sunday after a meet-and-greet event for an Australian social media influencer was swamped with thousands of people.

Page 4: Australians aren’t getting pay rises in line with productivity growth because start-ups are thwarted from entering markets to give workers alternative employment options, new research has found.

Jim Chalmers will re-establish the “link between national economic success and what it means for local communities” to reverse poorer outcomes for Australians with lower socio-economic backgrounds in the regions and outer suburbs.

Page 7: Chinese students are failing to return to study in Australia at the same rate as the rest of the world, as the Education Minister warns the recovery of the international student market will be “slow”.

Page 13: Double-digit growth in revenue and profit for law firms in the 2022 financial year came with rising uncertainty as demand for services dropped in the second half, with clients concerned about interest rates, inflation and geopolitics.

Page 15: Australian salaries for vacant jobs grew by 4.1 per cent over the last financial year – well ahead of the 2.6 per cent official figure for wage growth – according to a new survey.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is stepping up its Australian operations, expanding its aliba-ba.com site for wholesale trading by Australian companies.

The West Australian

Page 8: Premier Mark McGowan will take calls for a potential overhaul of Australia’s visa and migration system with him to Canberra for this week’s national jobs summit to combat WA’s labour shortage.

Page 9: Australia’s labour shortage crisis is forcing one-in-three WA tourism businesses to turn away customers and reduce services, a survey has found ahead of this week’s Jobs and Skills Summit in Canberra.

Page 11: Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas has announced a series of drone shows in Elizabeth Quay — beginning in November — to culminate in a new-look fireworks show on January 26 to mark Australia Day.

Page 14: State Liberal MPs would be set fundraising targets and held accountable for their financial contributions as part of a plan to rebuild the party’s election war chest being considered by recently installed finance committee chair Ben Small.

Business: Australian Taxation Office-funded liquidators have moved to seize key Allen Caratti family assets as part of a $100 million-plus probe into the property mogul.

WA’s mining industry is ramping up wage pressure, promising a six-figure starting salary as employers compete for workers.