Morning Headlines

Qantas settles flights case

Qantas customers on cancelled flights will receive up to $450 in compensation after the national carrier admitted it misled travellers, and agreed to pay $120 million to settle a claim brought against it by the regulator. The Fin

Westpac in cash splash amid woes

Westpac chief executive Peter King says the return of $1.5 billion to shareholders via a dividend surprise and a supersized buyback is a sign of confidence in the Australian economy and the outlook for bad debts. The Fin

Chalmers to fight inflation, then spend

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says his budget next week will avoid a ‘‘scorched earth’’ approach but still put fighting inflation as the main near-term priority before boosting spending and deficits in later years. The Fin

Higgins ‘intent to defraud’: Reynolds

In a major escalation of her defamation case against Brittany Higgins, Linda Reynolds has alleged Ms Higgins intended to “defraud future creditors” by setting up a trust to protect money she received in her $2.4m commonwealth compensation payout. The Aus

Free radical

Throwing a bomb into a school toilet in late 2022 was a turning point for the 16-year-old high school student involved in a stabbing incident in Perth. The West

Are strikes finally done

Public school teachers will be told to accept a new pay rise of 12 per cent over the next three years in a major breakthrough. The West

Cash splash for rentals

The owners of vacant homes will be offered $5000 cash to put their properties on the rental market in the Cook Government’s latest bid to inject some slack into a tight housing market. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 3: A study by the Australian National University has found that appointing female directors to company boards added no value to the financial performance of those businesses.

Page 5: The Australian Taxation Office will force cryptocurrency exchanges to hand over up to 1.2 million traders’ transaction details each year as it cracks down on people dodging capital gains liabilities, amid a growing mania for the digital tokens as an alternative store of wealth among younger generations in particular.

Page 8: Former competition chief Graeme Samuel says the corporate watchdog should take over the regulation of large partnerships from the states to prevent conflicts of interest and halt unenforceable self-regulation.

Page 14: Irishman Stephen Rue has been charged with restoring Optus’ reputation with consumers and improving its services when he leaves the National Broadband Network to run the beleaguered telecommunications group.

Page 15: Kogan.com says a poor sales update that sent its shares tumbling more than 27 per cent was not material amid questions from the ASX about the sale of $17.4 million in options by the company’s senior executives just three weeks before the announcement.

Page 15: GrainCorp faces questions over its ability to live up to its earnings target after slashing guidance for financial year 2024, as grain handling margins tumble and Western Australia suffered drier conditions.

Page 17: The former chairman of the prudential regulator, Wayne Byres, has been appointed to the board of the ASX as the exchange faces governance questions after its failure to replace ageing but crucial market infrastructure.

Page 17: David Di Pilla’s HMC Capital will defy a gloomy outlook on the stalled shift away from fossil fuels and will target superannuation investors as it attempts to build a $2 billion fund centred on the clean energy transition.

Page 17: PwC has survived a review at financial services giant Macquarie Group that threatened to cut the professional services firm off from some of its most lucrative audit work.

Page 18: Two of Australia’s highest profile investors have given BHP the green light to make an improved bid for Anglo American, capitalising on rebuilt investor trust despite its chequered acquisition history.

Page 28: A rally in interest rate-sensitive technology and real estate stocks pushed the Australian sharemarket higher yesterday as investors eagerly wait for today’s Reserve Bank cash rate decision.

Page 29: Australia’s sharemarket is expected to climb past 8000 points for the first time by the end of the year, spurred by economic growth that continues to defy the expectations of investors and strategists.

Page 31: The Albanese government has stepped up its crackdown on the potential for dirty money being used to buy homes, committing to laws that expand reporting obligations to real estate agents, lawyers and accountants amid concerns Australia could become a money laundering haven for criminals in Asia.

The Australian

Page 4: Climate change resilience has been written into the investment framework of the $4.8bn Coalition-era Future Drought Fund, with Anthony Albanese allocating %519.1m over four years to support farmers and regional businesses.

Page 7: Bonza’s administrators Hall Chadwick were asked by the airline’s owner to provide a financial review of the company and advise on potential acquisition proposal five months ago.

Page 14: In her first major move into the investment arena after quitting politics, former prime minister Julia Gillard will chair a new $2bn energy transition fund backed by David Di Pilla’s HMC Capital.

Page 16: Newmont’s Telfer gold mine could be out of action until September amid major issues with its leaking tailings facilities, with West Australian mine safety officials banning the use of Telfer’s processing plant until problems are fixed.

Page 19: Real estate funds manager Centuria Capital is backing the recovery of the retail sector and has snapped up Halls Head Central in Western Australia from property heavyweight Vicinity Centres and super fund-backed ISPT for about $70m.

The West Australian

Page 10: Thursday’s State Budget contains an additional $843 million for the delivery of social and affordable housing as well as homelessness services.

Page18: New research from KPMG suggests 159,000 new workers will be needed in Perth over the coming five years to support the city’s in-demand housing and health care sectors as the population expands.

Page 18: A processing train at Chevron’s enormous Gorgon gas plant could be out of action for weeks due to faults with a compressor.

Page 31: South Korean suitor Hanwha will need to sweeten its potential $1 billion offer for Austal to entice Andrew and Nicola Forrest out of their major shareholding in the strategically important WA shipbuilder.

Page 31: An Applecross-based explorer has tapped investors for $29.9 million to advance its copper project in South America.