Morning Headlines

Lehrmann raped Higgins, judge finds, but no Morrison cover-up

The Federal Court has found that Bruce Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House, although her and Network Ten’s allegation of a political cover-up by the Morrison government was ‘‘supposition without reasonable foundation in verifiable fact’’. The Fin

Star’s plot to get rid of regulator

Star Entertainment’s chairman and former chief executive privately schemed to wage war on the casino regulator and considered engaging shareholders in a class action against a NSW government-appointed manager. The Fin

Agreement nears on doubling leave

Millions of workers could soon have the right to double their annual leave by taking it at half pay as part of a new entitlement under consideration by the workplace umpire. The Fin

Markets brace for Israel retaliation, fuel surges

Petrol hit a record $2.23 in Sydney yesterday as the deteriorating situation in the Middle East threatened to send Brent crude even higher. The Fin

‘I’m loving a monster’: murderer’s dad warned police

Sydney mass murderer Joel Cauchi’s father says he warned police last year his son had schizophrenia and a fascination with combat knives, and believes he may have targeted women because he couldn’t get a girlfriend. The Aus

Forrests’ Minderoo to dump 100 roles

About one-third of jobs at the Minderoo Foundation will be made redundant after a sweeping internal review of the organisation by chief executive John Hartman. The West

Au revoir to icon

Ian Parmenter, the larger-than-life Fleet Street journalist turned chef with an all-consuming passion for WA produce and tourism, has died aged 79. The West

Accusations of gatekeeping school cash support through app

The decision to “gatekeep” cash handouts to the families of schoolchildren behind the “clunky and unhelpful” ServiceWA app has been slammed by the Opposition. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 5: Broad enthusiasm within business and politics to extend federal parliamentary terms to four years is not shared by voters, with less than 40 per cent supporting the change.

Page 5: Former Reserve Bank governor Bernie Fraser has warned Labor’s Future Made in Australia Act was likely to waste taxpayers’ money, as another leading economist labelled the policy ‘‘depressing’’.

Page 8: Labor is protecting the interests of the powerful Shoppies union by opposing new powers to break up supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths, rival organisers have told an inquiry into price-gouging in the grocery sector.

Page 9: One in two lawyers in Australia and New Zealand have already used generative artificial intelligence to perform day-to-day tasks and almost the entire profession believe it will change how legal work is carried out in future.

Page 14: Australia’s second-largest wine group, Accolade Wines, has put an offer to 540 grape growers in South Australia’s Riverland region to buy them out of grape supply contracts in a push to help end an industry-wide grape glut.

Page 14: News Corp has tapped PwC Australia to help with its biggest restructure of the last decade as it seeks to deal with Meta ripping tens of millions of dollars out of the Australian news market.

Page 14: Corporate Travel Management chief executive Jamie Pherous allocated $16 million of his personal shareholding in the listed travel agency to long-time lieutenant Laura Ruffles, who left the business citing health-related reasons this year.

Page 15: An ASX-listed Russian coal miner backed by billionaire businessman Paul Little will sell itself to a Russian merchant after the Federal Court found it breached sanctions put in place after the Kremlin invaded Ukraine.

Page 15: Social video site TikTok has been referred to Australia’s anti-money laundering authority after the company lied to Irish regulators about gaps in its payments screening.

Page 17: Investment banking brokers were left divided at the weekend after an earlier-than-expected update from Cettire, the ASX-listed luxury clothing marketplace under intense market scrutiny, showed an 88 per cent rise in sales for the three months to March 31.

Page 20: Australian start-ups are being warned the boost of receiving funding from big-name investors, such as Blackbird Ventures, can sour if they lose faith, with other VC firms admitting to avoiding backing discarded companies.

Page 20: The Australian economy will be boosted by more than $200 billion a year between now and the end of the decade if key industries fully adopt artificial intelligence at the core of their businesses, a new economic analysis by a consortium of professors from eight Australian universities has found.

Page 21: Japanese multinational Fujitsu has built a 300-strong team of cybersecurity specialists following a string of acquisitions to win a larger slice of Australia’s $7.6 billion cyber consulting market.

Page 28: A sell-off in interest rate sensitive technology stocks dragged the sharemarket lower yesterday, after Iran’s drone attack on Israel added to fears that a wider Middle East conflict could impact inflation and rate cuts this year.

Page 28: The Reserve Bank of Australia might have to cut interest rates before the United States, as persistently high inflation in the world’s largest economy casts doubt over whether the Federal Reserve can do anything this year.

Page 31: The development of new warehouses is expected to rebound after last year’s slump, as interest rates and costs steady, tenant pre-commitments firm up, and key precincts become under-supplied, JLL says.

The Australian

Page 9: More than 100 farmers, environmentalists and Indigenous people will gather in a first-of-its-kind meeting this week to discuss how to return hundreds of gigalitres of water to the Murray-Darling Basin, in a bid to “set aside the antagonism” and break a deadlock of stakeholders over the water-sharing management scheme.

Page 9: Another reason the Albanese government cited for holding back some wage hikes until 2026, that higher pay would divert workers from aged care into other sectors such as disability and childcare, was criticised by aged-care providers and unions, who warned of a “workforce crisis” and said the full pay rise awarded would merely bring aged-care pay into line with other care jobs.

Page 15: Woolworths and Coles are more anxious than other businesses to protect their reputation, with the current spotlight of an inquiry by the Senate helping to restrain their ability to ratchet up prices, a former ACCC boss has said.

Page 15: Iran’s attack on Israel will disrupt international trade and supply chains, said Christine Holgate, chief executive of logistics company Team Global Express, as she advocated stronger co-operation with China amid improving relations.

Page 15: The Australian Securities & Investments Commission is facing turnover at the top as three of its most senior regulators including chief executive prepare to depart as the corporate watchdog.

Page 15: Three years on from the spectacular collapse of Lex Greensill’s financial empire and grinding through the entrepreneur’s complex financial web has turned into big business for insolvency firm Grant Thornton, which has so far billed creditors for more than $70m worth of work.

Page 16: The tragic weekend stabbing incident at Sydney’s Westfield Bondi Junction has thrown the spotlight on the issue of mental health at a time private care providers are claiming that the government’s billing changes for psychiatrists are hurting not just their bottom lines but patient care as well.

Page 16: Two interesting aspects of the NextDC equity raising have emerged: NextDC’s share price is above the $15.40 issue price, which typically suggests that there is more demand than the supply of shares, and there was a 99 per cent take up by investors, which is unusual on non-renounceable deals, as was the structure with the NextDC deal.

Page 17: Senior executives at Harvey Norman and Latitude Finance allegedly signed off on a promotion campaign spruiking no interest and no deposit credit cards, in a advertising blitz that now sees the companies facing the ire of the corporate regulator.

Page 18: Cleanaway is pushing ahead with plans to develop a local plastics recycling centre despite the likely closure of former partner Qenos, cutting a new deal with Viva Energy.

Page 21: The competition watchdog is refusing to use its product recall power to alert hundreds of thousands of Australians that their mobile phone might not be able to call triple-o when 3G is turned off this year, despite appeals from the big telcos.

The West Australian

Page 14: A mining economist has told the Federal Court that some royalty deals struck outside the Pilbara see traditional owners pocketing up to eight times more than sought by a group pursuing compensation from Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group.

Page 21: BHP wants to expand the Yarnima gas power station at Newman, a move it says will help decarbonise the State’s biggest industry.

Page 42: As fourth-generation heirs to WA building company AE Hoskins, brothers Jason and Craig are already beating the odds usually stacked against family-run enterprises.

Page 42: Perth clinical dermatology company Botanix has been elevated into the All Ordinaries index made up of the top 500 companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Page 44: Shareholders of Gold Road Resources appear to be anxious about the prospect of the passive owner of the Gruyere gold mine needing to rattle the tin to make a similar acquisition in Canada.

Page 44: Cashed-up gold hopeful Kin Mining has lined up a $123 million all-scrip merger with penny stock explorer PNX Metals, fresh from selling a good chunk of its WA portfolio to Genesis Minerals.