Morning Headlines

Blowtorch on WA to help ease energy crisis

NSW Treasurer Matt Kean has urged Anthony Albanese to implement a national reserve on gas and coal, demanding that Western Australia dump its state policy and provide gas at a discounted price to the east coast. The Aus

Australia must rule its rare earths destiny: Iluka

Iluka Resources managing director Tom O’Leary says Australia must take charge of its destiny by securing critical minerals supply chains to fix a situation where it can decarbonise only ‘‘with China’s permission’’. The Fin

Clough on the cusp of being saved by its Snowy 2.0 partner Webuild

Western Australia’s Clough is on the cusp of cutting a deal to save the nation’s oldest engineering firm, with Italy’s Webuild poised to buy the troubled contractor from its South African owners. The Aus

Female plea for action on airline toxic culture

Urgent change is needed to fix a toxic workplace culture for female airline workers, the chief of Australia’s peak piloting body says, following allegations of sexual harassment and gender discrimination among Qantas senior staff. The Aus

More rate pain to fight growing ‘evil’

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe has issued a bleak warning on the perils of high inflation after the bank lifted the official interest rate to 2.85 per cent and said more rises were coming with inflation now forecast to peak higher and stay there for longer. The Fin

Sex pest laws helpful, rather than ‘gotcha’

Sex Discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins has pledged to work with businesses rather than trying to ‘‘catch them out’’ for breaches of new laws requiring them to proactively prevent sexual harassment in workplaces, which are expected to pass parliament soon. The Fin

Blackbird sets record for raising by VC fund

Local tech investment stalwart Blackbird Ventures has closed the largest ever Australian venture capital fund, banking $1 billion from big superannuation funds and wealthy private investors. The Fin

TPG to beat Telstra in fixed-line auction race

TPG Telecom will beat rival Telstra to the punch with its own lucrative auction of the newly separated fibre optic cable business Vision Networks in the new year. The Fin

Credit checks could soon hit Afterpay users

Afterpay could be subjected to a new regulatory regime that requires credit checking of customers, under proposals being considered by Treasury. The Fin

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe has issued a bleak warning on the perils of high inflation after the bank lifted the official interest rate to 2.85 per cent and said more rises were coming with inflation now forecast to peak higher and stay there for longer.

Page 3: Sex Discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins has pledged to work with businesses rather than trying to ‘‘catch them out’’ for breaches of new laws requiring them to proactively prevent sexual harassment in workplaces, which are expected to pass parliament soon.

Saul Griffith, the outspoken scientist and critic of Andrew Forrest’s renewable-energy strategy, has another target: a hydrogen start-up backed by the father of Australia’s hydrogen strategy, former chief scientist Alan Finkel.

Page 4: Last week’s federal budget has left voters underwhelmed, with a new poll showing just over one in 10 voters believe it was good for them, and just 20 per cent believe it was good for the country.

Page 6: Big businesses that have entered into unfair contracts with small firms and consumers will have 12 months to rewrite the agreements before they face penalties for the first time, the consumer watchdog and the federal government have warned.

Page 8: The Albanese government’s bargaining reforms will effectively downgrade the union that has caused the most trouble to retail and fast food giants by making it harder for it to oppose agreements.

Page 12: President Joe Biden said he would seek to impose higher taxes on oil companies that record ‘‘windfall’’ profits without reinvesting in production, with US petrol prices still high a week ahead of midterm elections.

Page 13: Local tech investment stalwart Blackbird Ventures has closed the largest ever Australian venture capital fund, banking $1 billion from big superannuation funds and wealthy private investors.

Page 15: Morgan Stanley says none of the building products companies on the ASX will escape a substantial downturn from mid-2023 as the succession of interest rate rises bites hard and a backlog of projects starts to peter out.

Page 16: Afterpay could be subjected to a new regulatory regime that requires credit checking of customers, under proposals being considered by Treasury.

Page 17: TPG Telecom will beat rival Telstra to the punch with its own lucrative auction of the newly separated fibre optic cable business Vision Networks in the new year.

Page 18: Iluka Resources managing director Tom O’Leary says Australia must take charge of its destiny by securing critical minerals supply chains to fix a situation where it can decarbonise only ‘‘with China’s permission’’.

The Australian

Page 1: Anthony Albanese will lay down plans to “reform our way through” the impact on Australia of deteriorating global economic conditions and reject one-off cost-of-living cash handouts as “cheap politics and hugely expensive economics” that would have made the problem worse.

The ageing of the nation’s baby boomers could see demand for high-end aged-care surge by as much as 9 per cent annually for the next two decades, with the number of nursing home beds required set to almost double to 350,000.

Page 3: Urgent change is needed to fix a toxic workplace culture for female airline workers, the chief of Australia’s peak piloting body says, following allegations of sexual harassment and gender discrimination among Qantas senior staff.

Page 6: NSW Treasurer Matt Kean has urged Anthony Albanese to implement a national reserve on gas and coal, demanding that Western Australia dump its state policy and provide gas at a discounted price to the east coast.

Page 7: Almost 11,000 single parents are expected to access the expanded Paid Parental Leave scheme, new figures released by the Department of Social Services show.

Page 13: Western Australia’s Clough is on the cusp of cutting a deal to save the nation’s oldest engineering firm, with Italy’s Webuild poised to buy the troubled contractor from its South African owners.

Page 15: The nation’s largest loyalty scheme, Flybuys, is increasing its investment in cyber security to protect the personal data of its eight million members after hackers struck businesses including Optus and Medibank.

The European gas crisis has forced one of the world’s biggest fertiliser companies to look to its Australian operations for crucial supplies of ammonia, despite the cost of the two-week sea journey to make deliveries.

The West Australian

Page 3: The WA Police Union claims one in seven cops — and one in five detectives — are racking up more than 50 hours a week in the latest illustration of the extreme working conditions frontline officers face.

Page 5: Thirty years of number crunching has at last laid bare the truth in the great generational housing debate — millennials have every right to whinge about doing it tougher than baby boomers.

WA’s first dedicated eating disorder centre is in limbo, caught up in a dispute over the progress of the Peel Health Campus expansion in Mandurah.

Page 9: Teachers from a South West school are calling on their union and the Education Department for help to deal with the “shocking” amount of intimidating sexual harassment they endure daily from students.

Page 10: An unprecedented coal shortage will force Synergy to import fuel from NSW’s Hunter Valley — but the State-owned utility insists it has enough supply to maintain generation over summer.

Page 14: Small businesses across WA could be pushed to the brink if Labor’s “one size fits all” industrial relations omnibus Bill is rammed through Federal Parliament before Christmas, the State’s peak business group warns.

Page 17: Holiday-makers planning to head overseas during the summer break and needing to apply for or renew a passport are being urged to apply now, with processing taking at least six weeks.

Business: European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde said the peak of the current cycle of interest-rate increases must ensure that inflation returns to the 2 per cent target over the medium term.

Top banks are reinforcing their metals divisions to cash in on the volatility that’s lifted trading profits over the past three years.

Australian Venue Co increased its net profit to $34 million last financial year as revenue lifted despite trading being impacted by COVID restrictions.

Demand for gold jewellery in Australia surged 71 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter amid an easing of COVID restrictions, underpinning a 17 per cent increase in overall retail demand.

BP’s strategy is centred on investing in hydrocarbons while simultaneously putting money into the planned energy transition, the oil and gas chief executive says.