Morning Headlines

Biden’s high-risk Israel mission

US President Joe Biden will make a high-risk visit to Israel as Benjamin Netanyahu’s government continues war plans for a ground assault on Gaza and widens the conflict to launch air strikes against targets in Lebanon. The Fin

Oil troubles could force RBA’s hand

Michele Bullock’s first Reserve Bank board meeting as governor warned that world oil prices, now being pushed higher by deepening conflict in the Middle East, could prompt another rate increase to tame inflation. The Fin

Tank drivers’ walkout may force farmers to pour milk down drain

More than 150 milk tank drivers kicked off what is set to be an unprecedented three days of strikes in the Victorian dairy industry that could force farmers to pour milk down the drains. The Fin

RBA staff weigh strike over 11pc pay rise in test for Bullock

Reserve Bank economists are considering industrial action after the central bank offered staff an 11 per cent pay deal that the Finance Sector Union says has left workers angry and frustrated. The Fin

Five Eyes’ bid to thwart ‘data thieves’ China

China’s theft of technology from Western nations and private businesses has become so relentless and frequent – every 12 hours in the US – that the chiefs of the Five Eyes security partnership, which includes Australia, have launched a crackdown to stop it. The Aus

Putin special guest but we sit out Belt and Road party

The Australian government will not be represented in any capacity at Xi Jinping’s 10-year anniversary for his Belt and Road Initiative, as Canberra continues to look warily on the $1.5 trillion project that is increasing Beijing’s influence in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. The Aus

Now your home is your castle

Councillors will be banned from meddling in home approvals as part of a sweeping overhaul of WA’s planning laws designed to turbocharge the delivery of new housing. The West

China boosts WA jobs, pay

West Australians are finding it easier to get a job and are taking home bigger pay packets than their east coast counterparts thanks to China, according to new research conducted by Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre on behalf of the Australia China Business Council. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 9: New crypto regulations will wipe out the bulk of Australian-registered exchanges as they struggle to comply with the requirements designed to limit the scams and fraud rife throughout the industry.

Page 9: Qatar Airways beat Qantas to the first homecoming flight from Israel after Foreign Minister Penny Wong accepted the offer of assistance put forward through its local partner airline Virgin Australia, which answered a request from Transport Minister Catherine King.

Page 11: The on-demand delivery service DoorDash has told a Senate inquiry into the Closing Loopholes Bill that if gig worker standards mirrored comparable award pay and conditions for casuals in the transport sector, prices could rise by more than 260 per cent.

Page 12: Embattled A-League club Perth Glory will be run by Melbourne property developer Robert Brij and entrepreneur John Nekic, in a multimillion-dollar deal that will attempt to make the West Australian team viable.

Page 12: A former big four accounting firm partner is being sued by the Commission of Taxation in the Federal Court for allegedly helping clients reduce their tax on tens of millions in profits by shifting income to loss-making third parties who took payments for their part in the scheme.

Page 14: Geopolitical risks such as the rising US-China tensions, the threat of a conflict over Taiwan, war in Ukraine, and the abrupt moves in global supply chains out of China mean investors and companies face the most unpredictable shifts in the world order in decades.

Page 15: New Telstra director Maxine Brenner has been hit with a 17 per cent vote against her election to the telecommunications group’s board after a proxy firm raised concerns over how she has handled corporate governance issues while on the board of Qantas.

Page 15: Activist investor Sandon Capital says it will vote against the re-election of Magellan Financial Group director and former rugby union legend John Eales at the fund manager’s annual general meeting, citing the group’s pay policies.

Page 15: AirTree Ventures sold 20 per cent of its Canva holdings in its 2014 Core Fund to other investors while buying a smaller amount of shares directly from the company through its 2021 Opportunity Fund.

Page 17: National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank have switched on a new identity checking service, ConnectID, that will allow companies to tap banks for information about customers rather than gathering it themselves, minimising the risk of another Optus style attack.

Page 18: Rio Tinto has hinted that a three-year boom in lithium prices is coming to an end, but unlike its rival BHP, the company says predicted supply shortages will ensure strong ‘‘market fundamentals’’ for the battery mineral longer term.

Page 19: Aware Super expects to invest up to $2 billion in small-scale solar and batteries through a partnership with privately owned Birdwood Energy. The investment will be in a distributed energy platform that would dodge the transmission logjam, which is putting a brake on the transition to renewables.

Page 29: Developers may have to form joint ventures and put in more equity to get projects off the ground if planned so-called thin capitalisation legislation to curb excessive tax deductions by companies goes ahead without modification, tax advisers warn.

Page 30: Nearly two dozen of the country’s most popular tree-change and sea-change destinations are turning into buyers’ markets, sparked by a sharp jump in inventory levels amid falling demand, data from Suburbtrends shows.

Page 31: Individual housing investors could be elbowed out of the market by cashed-up and professional build-to-rent operators, which have more capacity to negotiate increasingly strict rental rules, according to a Jarden analysis.

The Australian

Page 6: Laws to reduce financial disincentives faced by age pensioners looking to work will be introduced into federal parliament on Wednesday, a move advocates say goes some way to breaking down workforce barriers for older people.

Page 13: US private equity and property giant Blackstone is prepared to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in upgrading the operations of Crown Resorts, including a re- furbishment of the casino group’s original property in Melbourne, according to its global co-head of real estate, Kathleen McCarthy.

Page 16: Any delays to global efforts to build high-voltage transmission lines to transport new renewable energy generation will add 60 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere between 2030 and 2050 and drive temperatures well above the global target of 1.5C, the International Energy Agency has warned.

Page 16: Mining giant Rio Tinto is boosting iron ore and copper shipments from its flagship operations despite economic headwinds in the US and Europe.

Page 16: Santos should split the company and create a separate liquefied natural gas entity, which would increase the value of the business by 40 per cent, a group of shareholders has urged the South Australian oil and gas giant. 

Page 19: Households are risking their financial security by cutting back or cancelling insurance cover as living costs and surging premiums hit hard.

The West Australian

Page 21: Like shrinking packets of Doritos, popcorn and Mars Bars, Perth’s south-of-the-river IKEA store at Cannington will be considerably smaller than WA’s original megamart of Swedish furniture and homewares in Innaloo.

Page 26: WA’s economic growth is set to take a hit this financial year thanks to an expected slump in demand for the State’s exports, despite stronger consumer demand than elsewhere in the nation.

Page 26: Perth-based explorer St George Mining on Tuesday announced TDK-owned battery manufacturer Amperex Technology had made a strategic investment in Lithium Star, a subsidiary of St George, in exchange for a 10 per cent stake in the company.

Page 27: The ATO has issued a wind-up order to homebuilder Simsai Construction Group — which runs First Home Buyer Direct, Express Homes and Multi Develop 360 — will now face a Federal Court hearing in mid-November over the matter. It is understood it has up to 100 homes under construction at the moment, making it one of Perth’s bigger builders.

Page 27: Creditors of a major fruit and vegetable wholesaler Odeum Produce that went under with $15 million in debt have been asked to give administrators three weeks to secure a rescue deal.

Page 28: The liquidator of collapsed builder City Residence hopes to chase former boss Joseph Allia for more than $100,000 as their investigation reveals more details of the company’s demise.

Page 28: Some of the last of Rio Tinto’s famed Argyle pink diamonds have hit the market, with the ultra-rare gem collection expected to command a sum well into the millions.

Page 37: Newcrest Mining’s final quarterly report before being swallowed up by Newmont Corporation has delivered lower gold production and rising costs on the back of maintenance works.

Page 39: Sophisticated cyber hackers are taking up inconspicuous roles at some of Australia’s major companies in an effort to infiltrate systems and illicitly obtain information, IT security experts have claimed.

Page 39: A new report on the Pilbara by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has suggested the region invests in green mining practices and put more focus on First Nations economic engagement.

Page 42: Final plans for WA’s biggest urban regeneration project, the $3.8 billion mega project at Burswood Point, reveal a new shopping centre bigger than Claremont Quarter.

Page 43: City tavern Tiger Lil’s is set to be reopened with a $3 million makeover but the hospitality venue is facing a fight from the Anglican Schools Commission over its plans for a new rooftop bar.

Page 46: Perth’s urban sprawl has been ranked the 69th largest by geographical size in the world, placing just behind London which has a population five times bigger.