Morning Headlines

Perth Airport soars high in rankings

Perth Airport has shed its moniker as one of Australia’s worst airports to emerge as one of the best. The West

US fund manager pockets $432m-plus on Aussie gold miners

US fund manager Van Eck Associates has cashed in on strong Australian-dollar prices for gold by selling stakes in miners Northern Star Resources, Evolution Mining, Oceanagold and Kingsgate Consolidated. The West

Browse sparks growth query

Woodside Petroleum has shrugged off renewed questions about its growth strategy after yesterday putting the troubled Browse floating LNG project back on the shelf because it would lose money at a $US40 a barrel oil price. The West

Harding commits after missing top job

While copper prices have been bouncing around seven-year lows for most of the past 12 months, Rio Tinto and most of its rivals believe the market is going into structural undersupply, where supply, pushed down by declining copper grades, simply cannot keep pace with demand, led by China. The Fin

No favourites in subs race: Richardson

Defence secretary Dennis Richardson has tipped cold seawater on speculation Japan is the clear frontrunner in the $50 billion race to supply replacement submarines for the Australian navy. The Fin

Greens’ Brown praises Turnbull’s energy shift

The Greens’ spiritual leader Bob Brown has heaped praise upon Malcolm Turnbull for delivering “a feather in the Greens’ cap” with the decision to retain the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation. The Aus

The Australian Financial Review

Page 2: The income tax burden has shifted away from low-income workers towards the top 3 per cent, who now contribute $15 in every $100 of government tax revenue.

Page 4: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says Treasurer Scott Morrison knew of the plan to bring the budget forward by a week to May 3, but was not in the inner circle that finally decided this week.

Page 5: Defence secretary Dennis Richardson has tipped cold seawater on speculation Japan is the clear frontrunner in the $50 billion race to supply replacement submarines for the Australian navy.

Page 11: Wealthy borrowers who rely heavily on rental income to meet loan repayments could soon be classified as high risk by banks, JP Morgan and Digital Finance Analytics say.

Page 25: Agribusinesses in Australia are fortuitously placed at the seat of the Asian food bowl, but they need to think big to capitalise on the opportunities offered by the burgeoning export markets of near neighbours.

Page 26: The Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) forecasts that agriculture exports in 2020-21 will be 11 per cent higher than the average over the five years to 2014-15.

Page 59: While copper prices have been bouncing around seven-year lows for most of the past 12 months, Rio Tinto and most of its rivals believe the market is going into structural undersupply, where supply, pushed down by declining copper grades, simply cannot keep pace with demand, led by China.

Page 60: Rio Tinto’s iron ore chief Andrew Harding says he is committed to the business, despite not winning the top job at the major miner in a recent leadership change.

Page 61: Exhausted negotiating teams at Qube, Canada’s Brookfield Infrastructure and the international investment funds who will split up Asciano are planning some serious downtime over Easter after securing the biggest takeover of 2016.

Page 63: Australia’s workplace laws need a ‘‘rethink’’ according to Coles managing director John Durkan; he said the nation’s industrial relations system disadvantaged customers and discouraged innovation and productivity.

Page 69: Listed contractor Watpac has forecast a fall in profit in 2016 following a review of the group’s construction projects.

The Australian

Page 7: The Greens’ spiritual leader Bob Brown has heaped praise upon Malcolm Turnbull for delivering “a feather in the Greens’ cap” with the decision to retain the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

Page 19: One of Australia’s most prominent executive exports, Dow Chemicals chief executive Andrew Liveris, says the nation’s economy could be “transformed” if governments took greater action to encourage the supply of low-priced energy to advanced manufacturers.

One of the world’s biggest investment banks is linking with some of America’s most prestigious universities to create a landmark tool for the global pension fund industry to help them buy or sell shares in listed companies based on their environmental and social impact.

Page 23: Many property investors need a mere 2 per cent rise in values each year to easily beat returns from deposits, signalling ongoing demand from landlords despite the regulators’ crackdown on bank lending, according to a report.

The West Australian

Page 13: Rocketing numbers of Perth households are failing to heed the water wise message, according to figures showing the southern suburb of Baldivis as the worst offender.

Page 18: The State Government has been rocked by its biggest internal split yet after the Nationals said they would block the sale of Fremantle port, the supposed centrepiece of Treasurer Mike Nahan’s Budget repair job.

Page 26: Helicopters are out and politicians will find it tougher to take their families on taxpayer-funded holidays under sweeping changes to the entitlement system for Federal MPs.

Page 32: Perth Airport has shed its moniker as one of Australia’s worst airports to emerge as one of the best.

Business: Woodside Petroleum has shrugged off renewed questions about its growth strategy after yesterday putting the troubled Browse floating LNG project back on the shelf because it would lose money at a $US40 a barrel oil price.

US fund manager Van Eck Associates has cashed in on strong Australian-dollar prices for gold by selling stakes in miners Northern Star Resources, Evolution Mining, Oceanagold and Kingsgate Consolidated.

Sigma Pharmaceuticals, the owner of Amcal and Chemist King, is tipping slower underlying profit growth over the next two years after reporting a 4.3 per cent fall in annual net earnings to $50.5 million.

MZI Resources has nearly trebled the resource inventory at its Keysbrook mineral sands project, south of Perth, potentially increasing its mine life to 15 years or more.