Morning Headlines

Labor’s plan to woo right investments

Overseas investors with a proven record, such as Canadian pension funds, will receive accelerated approvals under a revamp designed to lure foreign capital. The Fin

Passengers stranded as Bonza appoints administrator after planes repossessed

Bonza has appointed a voluntary administrator to run the discount regional airline after the company behind its aircraft provider repossessed its planes in Australia, leaving thousands of passengers stranded yesterday. The Fin

New gas supplies needed: Bowen

Energy Minister Chris Bowen believes Australia has no option but to seek new supplies of gas even as the government accelerates the rollout of renewables, including green-lighting preliminary work on six potential offshore Gippsland wind projects. The Fin

Investors the focus in Westpac mortgage war

Westpac’s consumer bank boss, Jason Yetton, has promised to secure the “right returns for shareholders” rather than try to restore years of lost market share with aggressive price competition. The Fin

Fiscal funnel to Labor winners

Jim Chalmers will shake up foreign investment rules to fast-track a wave of overseas capital into the priority economic and national security policies that underpin Anthony Albanese’s push to boost the nation’s sovereign capability and create a more green economy. The Aus

ALP network and the $1bn deal

Two Labor-linked firmed employed by US-based company PsyQuantum helped the private tech business facilitate nearly $1bn in taxpayer funds to build the world’s first fault-tolerant quantum computer in Brisbane, amid concerns about the government’s selection process. The Aus

PM set to invest big in green hydrogen

Anthony Albanese will make a major investment in green hydrogen in this month’s federal budget, with expectations industry will be handed direct subsidies and the dollar amount will surpass the $2bn “down payment” promised for large-scale hydrogen projects last year. The Aus

Sharaz waves the white flag

Brittany Higgins’ fiancé David Sharaz says he will no longer defend himself against a defamation claim lodged against him by Linda Reynolds, while the senator’s lawyer says Ms Higgins recent “sorry” post to her former boss was a “pseudo apology”. The Aus

Frontline DV worker failure

WA is supposed to hire 38 new frontline domestic violence workers by the end of next month, but it is unclear if it has yet recruited a single one. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 3: Annual growth in retail sales has fallen to its lowest level since the pandemic as cash-strapped households tighten their belts, but economists expect tax cuts on July 1 to breathe new life into consumer spending.

Page 3: A review of the Fair Work Ombudsman found the highly politicised nature of its oversight of the construction industry, including attacks on it from unions, was a significant obstacle to its enforcement of workplace laws in the sector.

Page 3: Corporate watchdog chairman Joe Longo says he would love to run more court cases against badly behaving companies and dodgy directors, but his hands are tied because he does not have enough money.

Page 7: The budget is on track for a $13.4 billion surplus this year but will swing into deficit next year and beyond, which could be worsened by Labor’s Made in Australia industry policy, one of the country’s leading forecasting firms says.

Page 9: The Albanese government expects China will remain undeterred from trying to duchess Pacific political leaders, despite the pro-Beijing Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare relinquishing his grip on power.

Page 9: Almost three decades after she first became one of Australia’s most divisive public figures, Pauline Hanson is finally on trial for an offence detractors have long levelled at the Queensland senator: that she is a white supremacist masquerading as a right-wing populist.

Page 15: Coles chief executive Leah Weckert says keeping supermarket shelf prices down will require the cooperation of suppliers to ensure customers, who are shopping around more than ever, get a good grocery deal.

Page 15: The corporate watchdog has launched Federal Court action against troubled renewables player Magnis Energy and its executive chairman Frank Poullas over alleged disclosure failures relating to the company’s ‘‘flagship’’ lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility.

Page 16: West Australian lithium and nickel miner IGO has said criticism of the relationship with its Chinese partner Tianqi is unfair, after Tianqi ordered a huge shipment of lithium this week at a ‘‘favourable’’ price.

Page 16: Commonwealth Bank’s breach of royal commission-era bonus caps has angered the chairman of the corporate regulator, who vowed to lift scrutiny on the country’s largest lender pointing to increased risk of banker misconduct.

Page 27: Home values have lifted by 0.6 per cent nationwide in April, matching the gains recorded in the previous two months and extending the upswing for the 15th consecutive month, despite high interest rates and worsening affordability, according to CoreLogic.

Page 34: KPMG has increased its borrowings by $296 million over the past two financial years, while booking revenue growth of more than $500 million over the same period.

The Australian

Page 2: The Coalition will look to reduce red tape pushing up the price of lending and expand on its proposal allowing people to raid super in a bid to help more get into the housing market if it wins the election next year.

Page 13: Bonza has pledged to “fight on” after being placed into voluntary administration following the repossession of its fleet of five Boeing 737 MAX 8s, with the corporate regulator to consider whether the airline traded while insolvent.

Page 13: Worley’s largest shareholder and former suiter, Sidara – formerly known as Dar- has sold the vast majority of its stake in the engineering company, sending shares in the ASX-listed company down nearly 8 per cent.

Page 14: Perth Airport’s owners are understood to have passed up the opportunity to increase their holdings in the asset for a second time, sources say.

Page 15: TPG Telecom is calling for more government action to crack down on phone scams, including a mandatory SMS sender ID register and stricter controls on the ability to use Australian phone numbers.

Page 19: The sharemarket inched higher on Tuesday after a surprise slump in retail sales allayed fears of possible Reserve Bank rate increases.

Page 19: Qantas Super has made a $200m investment in sustainable farming businesses.

Page 19: Coles is bulking up its range of “home brand” groceries to benefit from the pivot by shoppers to value purchases amid cost of living pressures.

Page 21: Influential federal Labor backbencher Julian Hill has warned that introducing a “blunt, hard cap” on the number of international students entering the country would be a “terrible policy tool” and undo the benefits Australia has gained from international education.

The West Australian

Page 4: A litany of blunders meant a former detainee was unmonitored and free to allegedly bash and rob an elderly Perth couple — sparking calls for key Federal ministers to face the sack.

Page 23: The allegations against Leon Warburton have been detailed in a judgment that says a Fremantle-based trustee would be justified in pursuing recovery actions against four people, who allegedly received as much as $1.42m each from the Cayman Islands investment fund he founded.

Page 24: The battery metal price pinch has dragged IGO’s quarterly earnings into the red for the first time in well over a decade, but the miner helmed by Ivan Vella feels it has turned a corner.

Page 35: Market jitters that Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting and SQM would be blocked from getting their hands on Azure Minerals for $1.7 billion have been quelled.

Page 35: Bapcor’s incoming chief executive and former race car driver Paul Dumbrell has stunned the Autobarn owner by making the last-minute decision to pull out of the top job one day before he was due to start.

Page 37: Perth is set to double in size, with a new planning scheme allowing the base plot ratio to more than triple in some parts of the city, under the biggest planning changes in two decades.

Page 40: A significant lease has become available at one of the country’s biggest redevelopment projects — at Perth Airport — where there is still a further 220 football fields worth of land to develop.