Morning Headlines

Newmont surge helps boost Newcrest pitch 

The stars could now be aligning for Newmont to lift its bid to buy the $25bn Australian gold miner Newcrest, with its share price staging a 23.5 per cent rally in the past month. The Aus 

$3b profit as lithium powers up IGO play 
WA’s Greenbushes lithium mine last year underscored its earnings power by storming to one of the biggest profits recorded in the State on the back of higher prices for the battery metal. The West 

Defence hit over weapons 

The Defence Department is squeezing its maintenance and operating budgets for warships and aircraft to free up billions of dollars, sparking alarm over reduced availability of weapons at a time of rising regional tensions with China. The Fin 

Business, unions square off over full employment 

Treasurer Jim Chalmers faces a fight between unions and big business about whether Australia’s historically low unemployment rate can be sustained, with one labour market expert urging the government to target a 4 per cent jobless rate. The Fin 

BHP wins big backers for OZ acquisition 

An escalating native title stoush linked to South Australia’s prized copper mines threatens to overshadow institutional support for BHP’s $9.6 billion OZ Minerals deal, which is expected to be sealed on Thursday with the endorsement of the world’s biggest investors. The Fin 

Opening night for Hoyts deal, $2.1b forecast 

A box office boom and a flurry of blockbuster releases will drive revenues at Hoyts to $638 million this year, well past pre-pandemic levels. The Fin 

Budget hit as tobacco sales go up in smoke 

Supermarket and petrol station bosses say the federal government faces up to a $5bn hole in its budget from lost tobacco excise and uncollected GST caused by collapsing tobacco sales, as smokers switch to illicit tobacco, counterfeit smokes and an explosion in vaping. The Aus 

Alcohol watchdog ‘front for industry’ 

Regulation of alcohol marketing should be taken over by an independent statutory authority, the Australian Medical Association has urged, following claims the advertising watchdog is a “front” for the powerful alcohol lobby. The Aus 

Long-awaited autonomous machinery is finally being put to work across WA grain farms 

The forward-thinking farmer is one of four in WA’s $11 billion agriculture industry to put long-awaited autonomous machinery to work across his grain farm 180km east of Perth. The West 

The Australian Financial Review 

Page 1: The Defence Department is squeezing its maintenance and operating budgets for warships and aircraft to free up billions of dollars, sparking alarm over reduced availability of weapons at a time of rising regional tensions with China. 

Page 2: Treasurer Jim Chalmers faces a fight between unions and big business about whether Australia’s historically low unemployment rate can be sustained, with one labour market expert urging the government to target a 4 per cent jobless rate. 

Page 6: The Melbourne man who invented mobile wireless EFTPOS in the 1990s, Daniel Elbaum, believes Australians will soon need to carry a wallet-sized personal security card to access banking and basic services to protect against the unstoppable threat of cybercrime. 

Page 7: Federal Labor’s landmark policy to build 1 million new homes in five years is on track to fail, with the housing industry warning that high interest rates and rapidly rising costs are crushing the pipeline for new homes. 

Page 9: Industry superannuation funds are lobbying the Albanese government to establish super entitlements for the gig economy as part of its upcoming regulation of the sector, estimating they would add $29,000 to the average gig worker’s retirement. 

Page 13: An escalating native title stoush linked to South Australia’s prized copper mines threatens to overshadow institutional support for BHP’s $9.6 billion OZ Minerals deal, which is expected to be sealed on Thursday with the endorsement of the world’s biggest investors. 

Page 14: A box office boom and a flurry of blockbuster releases will drive revenues at Hoyts to $638 million this year, well past pre-pandemic levels. 

Page 17: The $13 billion US healthcare sector is the big prize for 4D Medical, the four-dimensional lung imaging software company backed by Australia’s Medical Research Future Fund that is trying to crack the world’s biggest clinical market. 

The Australian 

Page 1: Supermarket and petrol station bosses say the federal government faces up to a $5bn hole in its budget from lost tobacco excise and uncollected GST caused by collapsing tobacco sales, as smokers switch to illicit tobacco, counterfeit smokes and an explosion in vaping. 

Page 2: Fewer than 20 people turned up to listen to former Indigenous Australians minister Ken Wyatt speak in favour of the voice at an event hosted by the West Australian Liberal Party before he and his wife Anna quit the party last week. 

Page 3: A new augmented reality screened helmet will allow drivers, motorcyclists and soldiers to view data from applications including maps and videos on their vehicle’s screens in a bid to improve safety. 

Universities are demanding an end to the Coalition’s Job-ready Graduates university funding scheme that forces some students to pay fees nearly four times as high as others, and reduced overall funding for key courses such as science and engineering. 

Page 7: Regulation of alcohol marketing should be taken over by an independent statutory authority, the Australian Medical Association has urged, following claims the advertising watchdog is a “front” for the powerful alcohol lobby. 

Page 13: Tech start-ups will still be able to attract funding but their founders must be prepared to accept haircuts in valuations, particularly those dealing in blue sky or unproven technologies to combat climate change, Telstra’s venture capital arm says. 

Page 14: The stars could now be aligning for Newmont to lift its bid to buy the $25bn Australian gold miner Newcrest, with its share price staging a 23.5 per cent rally in the past month. 

Page 16: A diagnostics company backed by mining billionaire Andrew Forrest is donating thousands of PCR tests to Papua New Guinea to avoid Australia’s closest neighbour becoming a hotspot for new Covid-19 variants. 

The West Australian 

Page 4: The shadow treasurer is warning the Government must not take billions of dollars in mining royalties for granted as it shapes its next financial plan. 

Historic WA timber has been removed from the heart of the halls of power and is languishing in a loading dock underneath Parliament House after being replaced by wood from NSW and Queensland. 

The State Opposition is ratcheting up pressure on Mark McGowan over Federal Labor’s live sheep export ban, calling on the Premier to table “every single piece of correspondence” regarding the issue between the State and Federal governments. 

Page 6: Essential workers are spending about two-thirds of their income on housing as Australia’s rental affordability crisis prices them out of their communities and exacerbates staff shortages. 

Page 9: Nationals leader David Littleproud says the Coalition “failed” to stop children vaping when it was in power as he again made the case for relaxing laws around the use of e-cigarettes. 

Business: WA’s Greenbushes lithium mine last year underscored its earnings power by storming to one of the biggest profits recorded in the State on the back of higher prices for the battery metal. 

The forward-thinking farmer is one of four in WA’s $11 billion agriculture industry to put long-awaited autonomous machinery to work across his grain farm 180km east of Perth.