Gulf gas majors put Santos in play
Santos is closer to realising the value of its overlooked strategic LNG assets after renewed takeover speculation linked to Middle Eastern money underlined the oil and gas producer’s status as a potential target in the wave of global energy consolidation. The Fin
‘Stay tuned’: Payman open to forming a new party
First-term senator Fatima Payman has not ruled out forming her own political party after she quit the ALP, citing its ‘‘indifference’’ to the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza. The Fin
Cattle farmers ‘unreasonable’
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has accused cattle farmers of attempting to unreasonably boost their profits at taxpayers’ expense in the long-running lawsuit stemming from Labor’s 2011 live-export ban. The Fin
Health fund talks on life support
The country’s largest operator of non-profit private hospitals has declared the crisis in private health is crippling its ability to care for patients as it threatens to walk away from negotiations with one of Australia’s biggest health funds. The Aus
‘Tough stance’ call on social media
Labor should introduce greater penalties for social media companies that break online safety laws, Australia’s peak legal body says, arguing the government needs to take a “tough” approach to prevent harm to children and teenagers. The Aus
Whistleblower Morris backs senate report into corporate regulator
Bank whistleblower Jeff Morris believes a dismantling of the corporate regulator’s structure is required to help lift its enforcement record and improve culture, as attempting to fix the current model won’t solve long-standing issues. The Aus
Stokes finally brings Boral into Seven’s fold
Boral will retain its position as a key player in Australian building and infrastructure, but now has even more opportunity to grow, according to Seven Group boss Ryan Stokes, who has finally taken full control of the near 80-year-old company. The Aus
‘3000 of new visas must be for tradies’
WA needs to attract 3000 international tradies in the next 12 months — headlined by carpenters, sparkies and plumbers — to have any hope of growing the home-building industry to the scale needed to catch up with demand. The West
Bringing it all home in WA
ANZ is expecting WA house prices to surge up to 21 per cent this year as the State’s economic performance accelerated in the first three months of 2024. The West
Iron ore surges on China stimulus hopes
Iron ore touched its highest in nearly a month as traders bet on a modest improvement for China’s steel market. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 7: Industry superannuation fund Aware Super increased its customers’ $175 billion retirement savings pot by 11 per cent last financial year, as it cashed in on a heavier exposure to soaring technology and healthcare stocks than its rivals.
Page 7: Construction industry superannuation fund Cbus’ heavy exposure to unlisted property dragged its returns for 2023-24 down to 8.4 per cent, falling short of rivals in a year that generally delivered stellar growth to Australia’s retirement nest eggs.
Page 9: The Albanese government will spend more than $2 billion with technology giant Amazon to build and run top-secret data centres for the country’s spies and military.
Page 11: Online gambling accounts should prominently display the total money punters have won or lost to offer better information to problem gamblers, a technology entrepreneur has proposed to the federal government.
Page 16: The economist who led a Health Department review into the pharmacy sector almost a decade ago says the industry is ripe for an ‘‘Uber’’ moment and antiquated laws protecting ownership are preventing true market competition.
Page 17: The head of the government’s debt agency has put banks appointed to manage multibillion-dollar bond sales on notice as a probe into alleged market manipulation by bank traders heats up.
Page 17: BHP bosses have docked employee incentives around the globe based on failures to hit internal performance targets on costs, production, safety and gender equity.
Page 19: Clean Seas, a major producer of kingfish, expects lower sales volumes next year, blaming ‘‘operational challenges’’ associated with the consolidation of its farming activities, part of its attempts to cut costs.
Page 24: A rally among mining and energy businesses helped shares to their second straight day of gains as liquefied natural gas producer Santos surged on reports Middle Eastern investors may lob a takeover bid.
Page 25: Fund managers are avoiding big bets on banks and property stocks, anticipating a potential earnings downturn from those sectors, which they believe are more susceptible to a ‘‘lagged global economic slowdown’’ later this year.
Page 25: The Australian dollar jumped to a six-month high and commodities rallied after a string of softer-than-expected economic data in the US indicated that the Federal Reserve will be ready to cut interest rates in September.
Page 27: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has given Lendlease and Stockland a two-month deadline to cut more than one-third of the assets out of their agreed $1.3 billion master-planned community sale or convince the watchdog its concerns about less competition are unfounded.
The Australian
Page 15: Convenience store and independent grocery operators say the Coalition’s divestiture proposal for supermarket giants is a must, with measures needed to prevent major players from using market power to hurt competition.
Page 15: Rents across Australia continue to skyrocket, with prices in capital cities surging to 10.3 per cent higher than they were 12 months ago and 8 per cent higher in regional areas.
Page 17: Travellers have spared major disruption by an air traffic controllers’ strike after an agreement was reached by Airservices, promising a pay rise and $8000 bonus.
Page 17: International airlines have told a Senate committee examining the meris of a “pay on delay” bill that the proposed legislation will only lead to higher airfares and compromised safety standards.
Page 17: Gold miner Westgold Resources will pay shareholders a 1.25c-a-share final dividend in October, promising greater returns after its integration with Canadian miner Karora.
Page 18: Sir Jim Ratcliffe has shelved plans for his Ineos Automative business to build and electric vehicle only months after a model was unveiled, citing low consumer demand and a lack of clarity over the government’s policy on net zero.
The West Australian
Page 7: WA Premier Roger Cook has questioned the actions of Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue after it emerged that private detectives and lawyers had shared photographs of the wives and daughters of two former executives before they raided their homes.
Page 8: Families priced out of WA’s soaring property market have been provided a lifeline, with Keystart increasing its low deposit loan limits to better reflect the State’s buying conditions.
Page 9: Under the deal, accepted after a ballot by the State School Teachers Union of WA, teachers will receive a 5 per cent rise this year, followed by 4 per cent in 2025 and 3 per cent in the final year of the agreement.
Page 59: More than 150 jobs are set to be created in the Mid West region later this year after the board of Fenix Resources resolved to dust off a discarded and dormant iron ore mine.
Page 59: Subiaco-based Boss Energy has churned out 57,364 pounds of yellowcake from its Honeymoon mine in South Australia and is ready to ship its first drums of nuclear fuel to utilities in Europe and expects to bank the cash in coming months.
