Morning Headlines

Singapore backs AUKUS subs

Singapore has backed the Albanese government over the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines, undercutting former prime minister Paul Keating’s claim that Australia was at odds with the region over the China-US strategic rivalry. The Fin

Private hospital warning as premiums rise

A leading health insurer has warned the embattled private hospital system faces rising costs at the same time as more patients opt for day surgery over longer stays, reducing revenues. The Fin

Pressure mounts on PwC global over report

Former PwC Australia acting CEO Kristin Stubbins is ‘‘frustrated’’ the firm has not released the Linklaters report into the involvement of offshore partners in the tax leaks scandal. The Fin

Imports fall as households cut back

A sharp decline in the number of Australians travelling overseas and a large fall in imports of consumer goods like toys, clothes, cars and appliances may have prevented the economy from contracting in December. The Fin

Business champions to navigate risks

Anthony Albanese says companies should make their own assessments about sovereign risk when investing in Southeast Asia, but has announced 10 new “business champions” to help entrepreneurs tackle complex legal and regulatory environments overseas. The Aus

Resources to the rescue: exports prop up cracked, ailing economy

Booming iron ore and coal exports are poised to save the economy from going backwards in the final three months of 2023, with public spending providing a further prop to growth. The Aus

Labor lauds WA’s 4.7pc wage growth

Wages for WA workers are growing at more than twice the rate of the decade under the former Coalition government, according to new analysis. The West

HBF blames inflation for large price rises

WA’s biggest private health insurer, HBF, has lifted its annual premiums by an above average 3.95 per cent. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 4: Super fund bosses say they have narrowed their gender pay gaps through scrutiny of remuneration and more open-minded recruitment, challenging the excuse from investment banks that there are not enough women willing to work in their highest-paid roles as ‘‘absolutely nonsense’’.

Page 6: Plans by the Coalition to build large nuclear reactors on the sites of old coal-fired power stations would be prohibitively expensive, take more than a decade to implement, and would not work in most cases because such reactors need to be near water, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

Page 8: Brittany Higgins says she believes both sides of a long-running defamation dispute with former Liberal minister Linda Reynolds are working in good faith to reach an outcome that would stave off another high-profile trial.

Page 9: Football Australia executives and coach Tony Gustavsson were kept in the dark about a criminal charge involving Matildas skipper Sam Kerr over the alleged racially aggravated harassment of a police officer more than a year ago.

Page 10: Arguments by car makers and industry lobbyists against the rapid introduction of first world fuel standards have been dismissed by influential think tank the Grattan Institute, which says they are critical for Australia to meet its 2050 net zero emissions goal and will raise prices ‘‘by about only 1 per cent’’.

Page 11: The Chinese government has pledged to grow its economy by about 5 per cent this year, matching last year’s target, but it failed to unveil any of the big-ticket stimulus measures that economists say are crucial to offsetting a deepening property crisis and flagging investor and consumer confidence.

Page 12: Apple on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) was fined €1.8 billion ($3 billion) by European Union regulators for thwarting competition among music streaming rivals, a severe punishment levied against the tech giant in a long-simmering battle over the powerful role it plays as gatekeeper of the App Store.

Page 14: KPMG flagged Downer EDI’s contract with utilities group AusNet as a ‘‘risk’’ in 2020 and 2021 and should have discovered that its revenue was overstated, the company has alleged in a lawsuit filed against its auditor.

Page 14: The nickel turmoil of last year may blow over more quickly than previously expected, according to Macquarie’s 44-year veteran nickel watcher Jim Lennon, as unexpectedly high Chinese demand and potentially slower Indonesian growth rebalance the market.

Page 19: A contractual dispute has hit Mineral Resources’ $3 billion Onslow iron ore project after the builder of a 147-kilometre haul road walked off the job at a time when Mineral Resources is trying to sell a stake in the road for up to $1 billion.

Page 20: Virgin Australia has told staff it recorded $2.8 billion in revenues for the six months to December 31, up from $2.5 billion one year earlier – a result described by the airline’s outgoing chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka as a ‘‘strong performance by all parts of the business’’.

Page 29: A rally in ASX-listed gold stocks has spilled into a second day, bolstering hopes that the bourse’s beaten-up precious metals sector may finally be turning.

Page 31: In what could be a groundbreaking legal case if successful, Perth townhouse buyer Paul Scanlan is suing Yolk Property Group in the WA Supreme Court seeking an order compelling the developer to honour an off-the-plan contract executed three years ago, which it terminated in 2022.

The Australian

Page 6: Australia’s largest gas heating manufacturer will close its Albury factory by December next year, saying the Victorian government’s “inexcusable anti-gas obsession” is partly to blame.

Page 15: The Australian-born executive vice-president of Air France- KLM Group says airfares won’t reduce quickly given high inflation and ongoing supply chain and aircraft maintenance capacity shortages.

Page 17: Australia’s corporate insolvencies are set to reach the highest level since the Global Financial Crisis as a tsunami of struggling businesses fail amid crippling debt levels.

Page 17: Optus has been fined $1.5m for failing to upload customer details to the public emergency database.

Page 19: The fear of missing out, or FOMO, is resulting in Australian businesses rushing to take up artificial intelligence offerings faster than any other technological advance before it, according to Accenture.

Page 21: Jeff Bezos is back on top. The Amazon founder is once again the world’s richest person, eclipsing Elon Musk and topping the Bloomberg Billionaires Index for the first time since the fall of 2021.

Page 21: Four former top Twitter executives have sued Elon Musk, saying that, collectively, he owes them more than $US128m ($197m) in severance pay.

The West Australian

Page 8: Housing is emerging as a key battleground at the next Federal election, with the Greens proposing a government-run property developer to build 610,000 cut-price homes for renters and first-homebuyers.

Page 21: Electric cars made up almost one in 10 new vehicles sold in Australia, according to new data, in the best result for the low-emission technology to date.

Page 22: The Australian Securities and Investment Commission is set to tell insurers to lift their game after finding chronic problems with disaster claims handling and inconsistent improvement efforts.

Page 22: Crown will shed almost 200 jobs as the casino and resort giant reviews its business structure following the end of the Packer era.

Page 36: Budget-conscious consumers can expect further discounting from retailers, with recovery in the ailing sector not anticipated until the second half of the year when Stage 3 tax cuts kick in and interest rate cuts become likely.

Page 38: The peak group for women in construction wants the State Government to impose an aspirational target of 25 per cent female participation on all its projects, ahead of this week’s International Women’s Day.

Page 39: Nurses, health and education staff and other future workers at the new Murdoch Health and Knowledge Precinct will have access to a $100 million social and affordable housing complex.