Forrest takes on insurers
The costly fallout from the Australian corporate cop’s failed pursuit of Fortescue Metals Group founder Andrew Forrest has made its way to London where the iron ore billionaire has taken on members of the 326-year-old Lloyd’s insurance market. The West
Barnett backs Obama’s climate plans
Colin Barnett has embraced Barack Obama’s demand for stronger climate change action, saying Australia needs to be bolder in its emission reduction targets. The West
Finance, tourism, health win China deal
Service providers have won unprecedented access to Chinese markets under the Australia-China free trade agreement, which will liberate more than 90 per cent of Australian exports from tariffs over the next four years. The Fin
Biomedical firm seeks $6m to fund protein research
Proteomics International Laboratories is seeking to raise a minimum of $4 million and a maximum of $6 million from new investors to fund the growth of its three protein analysis businesses. The Fin
Forrest seeks input on farming infrastructure spend
Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest wants his group of high-powered Chinese and Australian agricultural and food businesses to help determine infrastructure spending approvals in the sector by Infrastructure Australia. The Fin
Second step at FSH
Surgical procedures will begin tomorrow at Fiona Stanley Hospital as part of the next phase of the $2 billion facility’s staged opening. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Service providers have won unprecedented access to Chinese markets under the Australia-China free trade agreement, which will liberate more than 90 per cent of Australian exports from tariffs over the next four years.
Page 4: The chancellor of Murdoch University, iron ore magnate David Flanagan, has invited disaffected academics to find somewhere else to work, if they did not support the university’s direction.
Competition boss Rod Sims says the federal government must rip up the rules that give national broadband network operator NBN Co monopoly protection before splitting up its divisions and selling them off.
Page 8: Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest wants his group of high-powered Chinese and Australian agricultural and food businesses to help determine infrastructure spending approvals in the sector by Infrastructure Australia.
Page 17: Dick Smith chief executive Nick Abboud is considering taking his female-friendly Move stores offshore as the retailer eyes growth opportunities beyond its traditional consumer electronics base in Australia.
Page 19: Qantas Airways has flagged a bigger earnings lift from falling fuel prices in the second half of the year as it pushes ahead with a $2 billion cost-saving program expected to return the airline to profitability this year.
Page 25: Proteomics International Laboratories is seeking to raise a minimum of $4 million and a maximum of $6 million from new investors to fund the growth of its three protein analysis businesses.
The Australian
Page 4: The 35 communities of Western Australia’s Fitzroy Valley, in the deep inland of the state’s far-north Kimberley and home to almost 4000 Aborigines, are calling for a “proper conversation” about their future after the Barnett government’s announcement of mass closures.
Page 5: Retiring baby boomers are creating a national “brain drain” while young Australian workers struggle to get a foot in the door, new research shows.
Page 19: Business leaders have warned Group of 20 leaders that there is “no time to waste” in implementing a new wave of ambitious reforms to add 2.1 per cent to economic growth.
Page 21: Investors have raised concerns about ballooning levels of goodwill held by Australian listed companies following a decision by the corporate regulator to put the area under the microscope.
Retiring Arrium chairman Peter Smedley has defended the timing of the group’s shock $754 million equity raising in September, saying the dramatic slump in the iron ore price left the company with no alternative but to raise funds to shore up its balance sheet.
Australia’s oldest energy company and one of the biggest coal-fired power generators, AGL Energy, says it plans to lead the growing charge into household solar power, batteries and smart meters, with a goal of pushing a million households fully or partially off the grid by the end of the decade.
Page 22: Qantas chief financial officer Gareth Evans says he is now certain the airline group will get its loss-making international operations back into the black and he believes the “substantial headwinds’’ it has faced are abating.
Page 26: SBS chief executive Michael Ebeid says SBS is more efficient than any other broadcaster and he was “flabbergasted” by the ABC’s “waste of $1.5 million” on securing the Asian Cup football tournament.
The West Australian
Page 1: Colin Barnett has embraced Barack Obama’s demand for stronger climate change action, saying Australia needs to be bolder in its emission reduction targets.
Workers at small businesses should have their Sunday and public holiday pay rates cut, according to Small Business Minister Joe Francis.
Page 6: WA miners and farmers stand to be the biggest winners from the nation’s biggest-ever trade deal that is set to be signed today between Australia and China.
Page 9: Parking in central Perth could become cheaper as car park operators cut fees and offer specials to compete in the face of weaker demand.
Page 10: Racing and Gaming Minister Terry Waldron hopes laws that ban adults giving alcohol to other people’s children will act as a deterrent, rather than result in parents being hit with heavy fines.
Page 14: Surgical procedures will begin tomorrow at Fiona Stanley Hospital as part of the next phase of the $2 billion facility’s staged opening.
Page 15: Alannah MacTiernan says Perth is settling for substandard design and a lack of green space as it transitions from largely suburban living to an urban city.
Business: Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce has given a strong signal that he will back State Government plans to increase the size of Lake Argyle to wet the way for agricultural development in northern Australia.
WA’s biggest company cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 4.1 per cent in 2013-14 and was praised by Oxfam for tightening up its supply chain to prevent the exploitation of workers in Bangladesh, according to an internal report on sustainability.