Third runway is a step closer
In a major step forward in future-proofing WA’s aviation infrastructure, Perth Airport has awarded a $45 million contract to design its third runway and gain environmental approvals. The West
Inpex poised to come clean
There is mounting speculation in oil and gas circles that Inpex will concede as early as today its $US34 billion ($48.4 billion) Ichthys LNG-condensate project will not be operational by the end of next year, sparking concerns a significant cost blowout is to follow. The West
Woodside investors criticise Oil Search bid
Woodside Petroleum investors said the company would be better off buying distressed assets rather than paying $11.6 billion for Papua New Guinea focused producer Oil Search. The Fin
Woolies advised to get rid of Big W, Masters
Leading fund manager Hamish Douglass says the Australian grocery industry will remain profitable enough to support three big players but wholesaler Metcash could disappear entirely within 10 years and Woolworths should consider ditching Masters and BIG W. The Fin
Morrow reveals NBN strategy
The NBN is needed in Australia to put an end to a broadband market that lacks competition and competitive prices, according to NBN chief executive Bill Morrow. The Fin
No FTA talks with a ‘racist’ opposition
Trade Minister Andrew Robb has explicitly ruled out a negotiation with Labor on the China free-trade agreement as the opposition yesterday stopped short of threatening to block it over its concerns about foreign workers. The Aus
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: A shift in attitudes about sugar, similar to the movement against tobacco in the 1960s, will drive a rethink of everything from global growth rates to investment in the food, beverage and drug industries, global fund manager Platinum Capital argues.
Page 2: For Apple, it’s all about control. At its annual iPhone launch in San Francisco on Wednesday, the world’s most profitable company announced new versions of its most profitable device, the iPhone, which sports anew way of controlling a phone: 3D Touch.
Page 3: The NBN is needed in Australia to put an end to a broadband market that lacks competition and competitive prices, according to NBN chief executive Bill Morrow.
Page 7: Victoria and Western Australia experienced the biggest drop in their respective unemployment rates in August but South Australia and Queensland have been unable to budge their stubbornly higher-than-average jobless figures.
Page 11: One of the biggest industry superannuation funds, Cbus, accused the trade union royal commission’s top lawyer of ‘‘faulty reasoning’’ and denied its chief executive, David Atkin, was involved in leaking of confidential information to the construction union.
Page 12: Leading fund manager Hamish Douglass says the Australian grocery industry will remain profitable enough to support three big players but wholesaler Metcash could disappear entirely within 10 years and Woolworths should consider ditching Masters and BIG W.
Page 13: Woodside Petroleum investors said the company would be better off buying distressed assets rather than paying $11.6 billion for Papua New Guinea focused producer Oil Search.
Page 18: The competition regulator will consult with hotel operators to help determine if ‘‘price parity’’ clauses imposed by online travel agents Expedia, Wotif and Booking.com are unfair.
The Australian
Page 2: Pacific Island leaders have split on how to tackle dangerous climate change at a key regional summit, with Australia and New Zealand declining to back an ambitious target to limit global temperature increases to 1.5C.
Page 3: University vice-chancellors say a 10 per cent cut to the research training scheme looks increasingly likely with plans for fee deregulation and other reforms seemingly set to hit a wall in the Senate.
Page 6: Trade Minister Andrew Robb has explicitly ruled out a negotiation with Labor on the China free-trade agreement as the opposition yesterday stopped short of threatening to block it over its concerns about foreign workers.
All nine federal politicians who have travelled to Western Australia to campaign in the Canning by election claim they were also in the state for parliamentary business reasons and were therefore entitled to taxpayer-funded travel.
Page 19: Global equity markets continued their wild ride by largely giving up almost all of the ground they made on Wednesday, spooked again by uncertainty over the Chinese economy and bracing for a possible rise in US official interest rates later this month.
Page 20: Australian miner BHP Billiton and wagering firm Tabcorp are among big winners from this year’s shake up of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, which assesses the performance of the world’s biggest publicly listed companies on economic, environmental and social criteria.
Page 21: Hamish Douglass, the high profile fund manager and founder of Magellan Financial Group, says that German discounter Aldi will capture as much as 15 per cent of the nation’s $90 billion grocery market with Woolworths and Coles expected to also gain more power, while independent grocery wholesaler Metcash might not exist in 10 years.
Page 22: Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox has taken control of National Geographic’s trophy assets in a $US725 million ($1 billion) deal marking the first major move by sons James and Lachlan since they were elevated to the helm of the media empire created by their father.
The West Australian
Page 3: Prison guards who may have faced the sack under tough new laws aimed at rooting out corruption in the State’s jails have “fallen on their sword”, according to Corrective Services Minister Joe Francis.
Page 5: In a major step forward in future-proofing WA’s aviation infrastructure, Perth Airport has awarded a $45 million contract to design its third runway and gain environmental approvals.
Page 11: The Abbott Government has pushed back at calls to legislate to remove doubts the China Free Trade Agreement might threaten Australian jobs, saying doing so would be a terrible embarrassment for Beijing.
Business: There is mounting speculation in oil and gas circles that Inpex will concede as early as today its $US34 billion ($48.4 billion) Ichthys LNG-condensate project will not be operational by the end of next year, sparking concerns a significant cost blowout is to follow.
By late tomorrow afternoon we will know the winners on the field. But off the field — no matter what the score — the big winner is the AFL.
Former Westpac boss Gail Kelly has joined the board of South African retail giant Woolworths Holdings, parent of the David Jones and Country Road chains in Australia.