Morning Headlines

McGowan quits Labor’s fortress

West Australian Premier Mark McGowan has resigned near the height of his political power, in a shock move that makes it harder for federal Labor to maintain majority government at the next election. The Fin

PwC puts nine partners on leave, chairman exits

PwC Australia has directed nine partners to go on leave, apologised for ‘‘betraying the trust’’ of the public and vowed to ‘‘ring-fence’’ its federal government work, in an attempt to show it is taking decisive action over the tax leaks scandal. The Fin

Gold miner saw M&A talks as ‘distraction’

Relations have soured over St Barbara’s plan to sell its flagship Gwalia mine to Genesis Minerals at a price 10 per cent lower than Silver Lake’s $650 million offer. The Fin

Chalmers urges Coalition to back $2.4bn gas tax rise ‘on merits’ 

Jim Chalmers has urged Peter Dutton to back in the government’s $2.4bn tax hike on offshore gas projects “on its merits”, indicating any compensation for the industry will be dealt with later. The Aus

‘Plastic tax on packaging industry’ call as recycling goals fail

Australian packaging tsar Sanjay Dayal says the federal government should slap a UK-style plastic tax on his own industry, or risk Australia “spectacularly failing” its recycling targets. The Aus

Nickel miner Mincor at risk of defaulting on debt

Kambalda nickel miner Mincor Resources is at risk of defaulting on its debt, warning one of its financial covenants could be breached at the end of the financial year. The West

Orthocell all smiles with new dental biotech site

Perth-based Orthocell’s expansion follows an exclusive $23.1 million marketing and distribution deal with one of the world’s biggest dental implant companies, BioHorizons, for its Striate+ product. The West

Australian Financial Review

Page 3: The ACTU wants the Albanese government’s upcoming same job, same pay laws to target major companies such as CIMIC, Qube, BHP and Qantas for using labour hire-like structures to push down pay.

Page 8: After the Albanese government announced a taskforce would review the [aged care] system with a view to making those with significant assets pay more, Peter Dutton signalled the opposition was prepared to co-operate so long as the solution was measured and not a new tax or the imposition of a death tax.

Page 13: Vandita Pant usually leaves the commentary about the future of BHP to her boss. But the mining giant’s Singapore-based chief commercial officer has become the key player in setting up the iron ore giant for the next decade in a steel manufacturing industry that is going increasingly green.

Page 14: Wesfarmers is no stranger to the healthcare business. Having snapped up Australian Pharmaceutical Industries early last year, the West Australian conglomerate turned its attention to Melbourne-headquartered online medical prescriptions business InstantScripts.

Page 15: Sun Cable backer Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners is keeping an open mind on the best way to supply renewable energy generated from a proposed giant solar farm in the Northern Territory to customers.

Page 16: China’s biggest lithium producer, Ganfeng, has tipped $106.1 million into ASX-listed Leo Lithium to fast-track the expansion of its African project in the race to secure the commodity.

Page 18: Laboratory giant ALS argues a slowdown in mining work is being driven by rough financial markets, and the long-term outlook for the sector is underwritten by robust demand for battery metals.

Page 18: Alumina chairman Peter Day says the local manufacturing sector is at risk from government policies that do not adequately foster new types of energy storage and do not recognise the important role gas will play in the energy transition.

The Australian

Page 15: A small but well known Australian sports travel and clothing company is locked in a court stoush with a $31bn ($47bn) US giant over a trademark dispute that could threaten deals such as a $100m contract signed with the AFL this year.

Page 15: Gas prices have hit a 10-month high as markets evaluate the threat of a winter power crunch.

Page 20: Security advisers say the risk for foreign executives travelling to China is on the rise, following Beijing’s new anti-espionage law, raids on consulting firms that work with foreign companies and a tightening of the flow of information to the outside world.

Page 20: A Chinese data provider has for years been an essential resource for banks, securities firms and money managers. It has started to limit international users’ access to some information, making it harder for them to analyse how the world’s second-largest economy is performing.

Page 24: The Australian sharemarket enjoyed its biggest one-day rise in seven weeks as traders welcomed a tentative deal by US President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a default.

Page 24: Hills, once a powerhouse of Australian manufacturing, has suspended its shares from trade after a legal loss which could have a “significant impact on the company’s financial position’’.

The West Australian

Page 10: The battle to replace departing Premier Mark McGowan is shaping as a two-horse race between Roger Cook and Amber-Jade Sanderson — although Rita Saffioti remains an outside chance.

Page 14: Senior Liberals are optimistic the loss of brand “McGowan” will give their decimated party a much-needed boost ahead of an election they had near to no chance of winning against Mr McGowan.

Page 67: An AI chip craze, driven by demand for AI-powered chatbots and high-powered graphics processing units used to train such chatbots on supercomputers, has been typified by investors piling into certain stocks, with some observers raising concerns of a bubble.

Page 68: Resources companies must improve their understanding of mining impacts on human rights beyond compliance with the law to avoid litigation and project delays.