Tax breaks for start-ups
Investments in start-up enterprises will be capital gains tax-free after three years, and retail investors will be offered generous income tax rebates, to help drive innovation. The incentives will be among 24 new measures worth more than $1 billion collectively to be unveiled in the Turnbull government’s innovation statement on Monday.
Rio closing the gap for title as biggest miner
BHP Billiton’s long-held title of world’s biggest miner is under threat from rival Rio Tinto as sliding oil prices, BHP’s South32 spinoff and the tailings dam disaster at BHP’s half-owned Samarco operations in Brazil have ensured the gap in market value between the pair has closed to its narrowest since before the China boom. The Aus
Busselton gas test encourages
The Warren Buffett-backed company taking a fresh look at the Whicher Range gas field near Busselton says new testing has bolstered the prospects of commercialising one of WA’s oldest undeveloped discoveries. The West
K-Mart boss reveals Big W store hit list
Kmart boss Guy Russo has his eyes on at least 50 stores of struggling rival Big W as he hunts for ways to double the size of his department store business and drive revenue to $10 billion. The Fin
Brookfield to submit new Asciano plan
Brookfield Infrastructure intends to submit revised plans for its proposed $9 billion takeover of Asciano to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission this week, with the aim of getting regulatory approval before Christmas. The Fin
Healthe $938m price tag
A Chinese healthcare group headed by a one-time biology lecturer has paid $938 million for one of Australia’s biggest private hospital groups, Healthe Care Australia. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Investments in start-up enterprises will be capital gains tax-free after three years, and retail investors will be offered generous income tax rebates, to help drive innovation. The incentives will be among 24 new measures worth more than $1 billion collectively to be unveiled in the Turnbull government’s innovation statement on Monday.
Page 2: Former Productivity Commission head Bill Scales says imports of good-quality second-hand vehicles should be allowed, provided there are safeguards, because it will ultimately lower prices.
Page 4: Labor has moved to head off the findings of the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption by releasing a new policy promising stiff penalties, greater scrutiny and enforcement, and more power for courts to clean up union corruption.
Page 7: A talent war in Silicon Valley has sparked a software engineer shortage and driven up wages to near unaffordable levels for start-ups, nudging Australian expat entrepreneurs to consider expanding their businesses back home.
Page 13: Kmart boss Guy Russo has his eyes on at least 50 stores of struggling rival Big W as he hunts for ways to double the size of his department store business and drive revenue to $10 billion.
Sharing economy behemoth Uber is partnering with Australia’s leading peer-to-peer lender, SocietyOne, to provide existing and potential drivers with loans to buy new cars, as the car booking company looks to ramp up its workforce to put further pressure on the taxi industry.
Page 15: Australia’s biggest iron ore miners remain stoic, even as iron ore prices teeter cents from the $US40 a tonne range, heaping additional pressure on battered higher cost producers.
Page 17: Tax advisers and accounting experts say there is no ulterior motive in Westpac’s accounting treatment of software – which is at the centre of a controversy over payments of more than $10 million in bonuses to top executives – but concede banks’ uniquely defined ‘‘cash earnings’’ are not regulated by accounting standards and can sometimes appear to be arbitrary.
Page 18: Brookfield Infrastructure intends to submit revised plans for its proposed $9 billion takeover of Asciano to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission this week, with the aim of getting regulatory approval before Christmas.
The Australian
Page 2: A strategy to harness the explosive growth of information in the digital world to boost the nation’s economic productivity through innovation will be launched today by Labor leader Bill Shorten.
Page 3: Children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes are twice as likely to develop mental health conditions during early adulthood than their non-diabetic peers, researchers have found.
Page 4: Increasing the GST to 15 per cent could raise $27 billion, which could be used to compensate low-income earners, provide cuts to income tax and leave $11bn to boost state government balance sheets and cut the federal deficit.
Page 17: The former chairman of the Australian Energy Market Operator has lashed the “absence” of a clear energy policy agenda in Australia and urged governments to “confront rather than duck” major challenges in the sector.
BHP Billiton’s long-held title of world’s biggest miner is under threat from rival Rio Tinto as sliding oil prices, BHP’s South32 spinoff and the tailings dam disaster at BHP’s half-owned Samarco operations in Brazil have ensured the gap in market value between the pair has closed to its narrowest since before the China boom.
Page 19: The company behind the National Broadband Network says it will add 700 new high-skill jobs to the Victorian economy in a deal with the Andrews government to build a Cyber Security Operations Centre in Melbourne.
Page 23: Nine Entertainment’s chief operating officer, Simon Kelly, is headed for the exit in the latest senior executive shake-up following the departure of former chief executive David Gyngell.
The West Australian
Page 4: Ian Macfarlane’s defection to the Nationals may be blocked as the former resources minister incurs the Liberal Party’s wrath.
Page 7: Community Services Minister Tony Simpson has been labelled a Christmas grinch for revoking the holiday tradition of giving a $50 gift voucher to grandparents bringing up grandchildren.
Page 12: WA electricity consumers could pay for wind farms and solar plants in the Eastern States as part of plans by power provider Synergy to meet its green energy commitments.
Page 16: Nationals Kalgoorlie MP Wendy Duncan has decided to end her political career, throwing open a keen contest for her seat.
Business: The Warren Buffett-backed company taking a fresh look at the Whicher Range gas field near Busselton says new testing has bolstered the prospects of commercialising one of WA’s oldest undeveloped discoveries.
The University of WA is set to play a key role in the development of livestock and red meat industries in Mali where farming is dominated by nomadic herdsman.
A Chinese healthcare group headed by a one-time biology lecturer has paid $938 million for one of Australia’s biggest private hospital groups, Healthe Care Australia.