Malone slashes his iiNet stake with $8.5m sell-off
Former iiNet boss Michael Malone has all but severed his links to the company he started in his parents’ garage some 20 years ago after yesterday ceasing to be a major shareholder by selling $8.5 million worth of shares in the Perth-based internet provider. The Aus
Gina nabs a $40m beef stake
Gina Rinehart, the nation’s richest person, has joined the rush to capitalise on Asia’s booming demand for Australian food by paying $40 million for a 50 per cent stake in two Kimberley cattle stations as she negotiates further investments in the agricultural sector. The Aus
Wesfarmers slashes $680m off Target
Wesfarmers boss Richard Goyder is confident the company’s Target retail business has reached the bottom of its earnings decline and is set for an upturn after the company slashed the value of the discount department store by $680 million. The Aus
Toro gives Woodside extra gas for Pluto
Woodside Petroleum is gathering some momentum in its search for gas supplies to extend or even expand its Pluto LNG plant with its best find in more than two years. The West
Royalties guess confuses miners
The Western Australia government took a “punt” when booking more than $180 million in additional royalties a year from an incomplete royalty rate review, according the state’s Mines Minister. The Fin
Labor pushes for $1bn takeover deal threshold
Labor will green light a $1 billion threshold for Chinese investment in non-sensitive sectors without requiring regulatory approval, and is inclined to support extending the same terms to all countries if a free-trade deal with China is clinched. The Aus
Buru chief out, resources heavyweights in
Buru Energy, the oil and gas explorer leading the charge into Western Australia’s onshore Canning Basin, has replaced chief executive Kieran Wulff and recruited two petroleum heavyweights to its board as it intensifies its push to become a major player in the industry. The Aus
Court rejects ASIC call for DJs bid probe
The scheme meeting for South Africa-based Woolworths Holdings’ $2.2 billion takeover of David Jones will proceed as planned after the corporate watchdog failed in a dramatic last-minute bid to get an expert’s valuation of a “collateral benefit” for DJs shareholder Solomon Lew. The Aus
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: A Melbourne developer says Victoria’s powerful construction union demanded he employ union leader John Setka’s brother-in-law and his best friend on $70,000-a-year jobs in return for industrial peace.
Page 5: Prime Minister Tony Abbott has urged incoming senator Ricky Muir to abolish the carbon and mining taxes and pass his budget measures when the new Senate sits for the first time next week.
Page 7: The Abbott government will introduce laws within a fortnight to make it harder for global companies such as Glencore Xstrata to reduce their Australian tax bills.
Page 8: The Western Australia government took a “punt” when booking more than $180 million in additional royalties a year from an incomplete royalty rate review, according the state’s Mines Minister.
Page 12: Newcrest will pay $1.2 million in penalties for breaching continuous disclosure laws after the Federal Court upheld a settlement deal proposed by the miner and the regulator.
Page 21: BHP Billiton’s efforts to push high-cost Chinese iron ore producers out of the market by increasing its own supply appear to be working, with a number of domestic Chinese producers closing in the last few weeks.
Page 23: Goodman Fielder’s major shareholders are expected to back a watered-down $1.3 billion takeover offer from two Asian suitors who threatened to walk away unless the board supported a lower offer.
Page 27: Legal firm Maurice Blackburn lodged documents in the Federal Court on Wednesday to begin a class action lawsuit against Treasury Wine Estates, on behalf of more than 600 shareholders, over what it claims was a late disclosure of heavy write-downs relating to its United States business in 2013.
Troubled rare earth miner Lynas Corp is to shift its head office overseas as part of a renewed cost-cutting regime as it seeks to stop haemorrhaging cash.
The Australian
Page 1: Australian police could be given the power to independently collect evidence and conduct surveillance operations in war zones such as Syria and Iraq as part of the biggest overhaul of national security laws in a decade.
Wealthy investors would be stopped from putting too much into their retirement funds under a radical plan for a “lifetime cap” of $2.5 million or less in their nest eggs.
Labor will green light a $1 billion threshold for Chinese investment in non-sensitive sectors without requiring regulatory approval, and is inclined to support extending the same terms to all countries if a free-trade deal with China is clinched.
Page 2: Proposed changes to childcare funding have attracted criticism from unionists and parent lobby groups.
Page 3: Former Liberal Party deputy leader Neil Brown QC and The Australian’s columnist Janet Albrechtsen have been appointed to the independent nominations panel overseeing board positions at the ABC and SBS.
Page 5: Gina Rinehart, the nation’s richest person, has joined the rush to capitalise on Asia’s booming demand for Australian food by paying $40 million for a 50 per cent stake in two Kimberley cattle stations as she negotiates further investments in the agricultural sector.
Page 19: The scheme meeting for South Africa-based Woolworths Holdings’ $2.2 billion takeover of David Jones will proceed as planned after the corporate watchdog failed in a dramatic last-minute bid to get an expert’s valuation of a “collateral benefit” for DJs shareholder Solomon Lew.
Wesfarmers boss Richard Goyder is confident the company’s Target retail business has reached the bottom of its earnings decline and is set for an upturn after the company slashed the value of the discount department store by $680 million.
Page 20: The man responsible for overseeing BHP Billiton’s iron ore sales into China says the mining giant has started to see high-cost Chinese iron ore production shut down in recent weeks, with the supply response helping to drive a rebound in prices.
Buru Energy, the oil and gas explorer leading the charge into Western Australia’s onshore Canning Basin, has replaced chief executive Kieran Wulff and recruited two petroleum heavyweights to its board as it intensifies its push to become a major player in the industry.
Page 21: Former iiNet boss Michael Malone has all but severed his links to the company he started in his parents’ garage some 20 years ago after yesterday ceasing to be a major shareholder by selling $8.5 million worth of shares in the Perth-based internet provider.
Page 25: Virgin Australia has echoed Qantas’s warnings about weak consumer sentiment as it revealed lacklustre growth in its key domestic market in May and low-cost joint venture Tigerair Australia battled to fill newly added capacity.
The West Australian
Page 3: WA researchers have grown an eye-catching apple with what some are calling a magical taste that is set to follow the Pink Lady around the world.
Page 4: An increase in suspension notices handed to public school students last year for physically assaulting or intimidating teachers reflects a growing social trend, according to Education director-general Sharyn O’Neill.
Page 9: Perth metropolitan house values have risen in the year to June, with the median house price jumping almost 7 per cent to $549,000.
Page 10: Prime Minister Tony Abbott has endorsed Tokyo taking a more active military role in the world’s trouble spots just days before the Japanese Prime Minister makes an historic visit to WA.
Business: The Australian Taxation Office yesterday apologised to thousands of people affected by a website glitch which left them unable to lodge their tax returns this week.
The Big Australian has joined the World Game, and with the stroke of a pen united WAFL club Swan Districts with Major Soccer League outfit Houston Dynamo.
Woodside Petroleum is gathering some momentum in its search for gas supplies to extend or even expand its Pluto LNG plant with its best find in more than two years.
The Doray Minerals team that discovered the Andy Well deposit north of Meekatharra and turned it into one of WA’s few new gold mines has won the prestigious AMEC Prospector Award.
State-owned energy provider Synergy is under investigation by WA’s economic watchdog over alleged market manipulation.
Northern Star Resources has completed the $82.5 million acquisition of the Jundee gold mine, north of Wiluna, from Newmont to end a six-month buying spree.