Morning Headlines

Chevron fix could cost $500m

The repair bill to get Chevron’s Gorgon LNG project up and running again could top $500 million, as the operator of Australia’s biggest resources venture conceded yesterday it could take two months to rectify serious mechanical issues. The West

Pilbara Minerals’ cash call brings in $200m

The white-hot investor interest in all things lithium has seen would be developer Pilbara Minerals swamped with cash, with the company’s $80 million equity raising believed to have attracted almost $200m in applications. The Fin

AGL, Tesla join forces to drive electric vehicle uptake

Power retailing company AGL Energy has joined Tesla Motors and others to push for a range of policy measures, including tax incentives and emissions regulations, to accelerate the take-up of electric vehicles and tackle one of the country’s fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions. The Fin

WA lined up for warship contracts

Australia’s taxpayer-owned submarine builder could be split into two companies before both are privatised under a $1 billion-plus sale that would make WA the nation’s warship factory. The West

Woolworths CEO steers clear of role in ALH boardroom

Woolworths’ new chief executive Brad Banducci will not replace Grant O’Brien on the board of Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group, while former boss Roger Corbett is tipped to join the hotels and pokies operator as a non-executive director in the next month. The Fin

Turnbull tells banks to clean themselves up

Australian Securities and Investments Commission chairman Greg Medcraft hit back at accusations he wanted to change the law to hold directors accountable for wayward culture, particularly in the country’s big banks. The Fin

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull slammed what he said was the banks’ culture of greed as political pressure mounted for a royal commission into the scandal-plagued industry.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission chairman Greg Medcraft hit back at accusations he wanted to change the law to hold directors accountable for wayward culture, particularly in the country’s big banks.

Page 8: The cost of subsidised university and other higher education loans is going to explode over the next 10 years, likely prompting cuts to the scheme in next month’s budget.

Page 10: The Panama secrecy leak claimed its first casualty after Iceland’s Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson resigned following allegations he had sought to hide his wealth and dodge taxes.

Page 17: Two United States private equity firms are hovering with a potential buyout proposal for cash-strapped Arrium as the company’s desperate board secured an extra week to try to hammer out a deal with its angry banking syndicate, to avert a likely break-up of the business.

A former Leighton Holdings executive didn’t tell the construction group about alleged corruption when negotiating contracts with Indian businessman Syam Reddy between 2008 and 2010, an investigation by Deloitte a few years later said.

Woolworths’ new chief executive Brad Banducci will not replace Grant O’Brien on the board of Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group, while former boss Roger Corbett is tipped to join the hotels and pokies operator as a non-executive director in the next month.

Page 19: Power retailing company AGL Energy has joined Tesla Motors and others to push for a range of policy measures, including tax incentives and emissions regulations, to accelerate the take-up of electric vehicles and tackle one of the country’s fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

Page 20: Optus is the latest competitor looking to keep pressure on Telstra following its recent network outages, with mobile offers aimed at luring customers away.

The Australian

Page 1: The nation faces a $185 billion funding time bomb from soaring student debts at universities and technical colleges, in a shock analysis that will force a new approach to education policy to avert an “unsustainable” blow to the federal budget.

Page 2: Malcolm Turnbull has assured voters he is “totally committed” to funding public schools as he fights off Labor warnings of a secret plan to withdraw federal support from the sector as part of a tax deal he is pursuing with the states.

University admissions are set for an overhaul as the federal government demands institutions publish clear and honest minimum entrance scores that can be compared easily.

Page 4: A flood of jobs flowing from the $50 billion project to build 12 submarines will begin next year when work starts on a redevelopment of the ASC shipyard in Adelaide. The Australian has been told that the Defence Department has completed its evaluation of French, German and Japanese proposals to design the navy’s future submarines and it is now for the national security committee of cabinet to make a decision.

Page 19: One of the world’s richest pension funds, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, is set to increase its exposure to Australia after snapping up a 40 per cent stake in the global agricultural business of Glencore in a $3.3 billion deal.

Ferrovial has failed to sway Broadspectrum’s largest shareholder despite putting an additional $80 million on the table, valuing the firm previously known as Transfield Services at $794m.

Page 20: The white-hot investor interest in all things lithium has seen would be developer Pilbara Minerals swamped with cash, with the company’s $80 million equity raising believed to have attracted almost $200m in applications.

Page 21: Court documents from a case between Bruce Gordon’s WIN Corporation and the Nine Network reveal details of merger talks held between the free-to-air television affiliate partners in 2013.

Page 22: Oil Search managing director Peter Botten says the company is looking for growth opportunities and expects deal activity to pick up in the second half of the year, describing the industry as “unsustainable” with oil at $US30 a barrel.

The West Australian

Page 1: Australia’s taxpayer-owned submarine builder could be split into two companies before both are privatised under a $1 billion-plus sale that would make WA the nation’s warship factory.

Page 6: A blowout in student debt caused by Government and Labor policies will leave the Federal Budget mired in debt and soaring interest payments for decades.

Page 7: WA’s health chief has vowed to target flaws making the State’s public health system more costly and less efficient than the rest of the country.

Page 13: Transport Minister Dean Nalder has mounted a robust defence of his office, saying he had “complete faith” in the integrity of his ministerial staff amid an insider trading probe by the corporate watchdog.

Page 16: Thousands of offshore fly-in, flyout construction workers could lose several years of long service leave entitlements after a court ruled they were technically ineligible.

Page 17: An advertising company has back-flipped on a decision to block graphic anti-junk food advertisement targeting petrol station snacks after the Heart Foundation voiced concerns profits were being put before public health messages.

Business: The repair bill to get Chevron’s Gorgon LNG project up and running again could top $500 million, as the operator of Australia’s biggest resources venture conceded yesterday it could take two months to rectify serious mechanical issues.

Glenn Cooper credits a change in shareholding rules at the biggest Australian-owned brewer as the key manoeuvre in repelling a $420 million foreign takeover bid a decade ago.

High Court judges have expressed scepticism over the WA Government’s move to seize a $1.7 billion payout from the Bell Group’s former bankers.

Back-up power providers that get paid to pare back their use or switch off during peak periods face being all but wiped out in a revamp of the electricity market to be unveiled today.