Morning Headlines

Labor: pass our budget cuts too

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will try to put pressure back on the government over budget repair today by insisting it adopt more than $8 billion in Labor proposals, including curbs on negative gearing and scrapping plans to reintroduce a baby bonus. The Fin

Elite women earning more in boardroom

Top women directors are being paid more than men, according to new research by executive pay experts Egan Associates. The Fin

Doubts on Fortescue dividends

The bonanza dividend paid by Fortescue Metals Group this week could be hard to sustain in future, analysts warn. The Fin

Trade deal ‘benefits’ are mythical, economists say

A group of economists has criticised the government’s hallmark free-trade agreements, saying the deals fail to lock in key productivity gains and will give a limited boost to Australia’s prosperity. The Aus

Skilled foreigners to fill gaps in the west as workers try their luck elsewhere

The Barnett government is turning to skilled but underemployed migrants from Asia, Africa and the Middle East to help drive the state economy as data reveals a sustained exodus of West Australians to other states. The Aus

Caltex blames red tape for petrol prices

Caltex Australia chief executive Julian Segal has hit back at competition watchdog accusations of petrol price gouging, saying increased regulation has raised the cost of operating individual service stations, with compliance sometimes requiring an extra $1 million of investment not reflected in the margins. The Aus

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will try to put pressure back on the government over budget repair today by insisting it adopt more than $8 billion in Labor proposals, including curbs on negative gearing and scrapping plans to reintroduce a baby bonus.

Caltex Australia chief executive Julian Segal says he is interested in buying Woolworths’ $1.5 billion petrol station business as the fuels supplier looks to expand and revamp its retailing offer.

Page 2: Australia’s retailers have joined the attack on Apple’s global policy that prevents third-party payment applications from using the communications antenna on the iPhone, saying it will limit innovation in mobile payments and digital wallets.

Page 4: The Turnbull government believes it has locked in savings of more than $200 million from the myGov online portal for clients of a range of government agencies.

Page 5: Two of Australia’s most respected foreign policy analysts have given scathing assessments of the Turnbull government’s decision to block Chinese investment in the NSW electricity provider Ausgrid, saying the rationale behind the decision was unclear and the wider debate about investment in strategic assets confused.

Page 6: Macquarie Group ignored the early warning signs of van Eyk’s $30 million investment in a Cayman Islands-based account that eventually led to the collapse of the once respected fund manager, new court documents reveal.

Official data shows industry superannuation funds delivered an average 4 per cent return last financial year compared with 1.3 per cent for retail funds.

Page 7: Big power companies have a dirty secret – they don’t look after their most loyal customers, AGL Energy chief executive Andy Vesey says.

Page 8: Top women directors are being paid more than men, according to new research by executive pay experts Egan Associates.

Page 10: Pfizer has beaten numerous other bidders and agreed to buy US cancer drug company Medivation for $US14 billion ($18.3 billion) in cash, adding its blockbuster prostate cancer drug Xtandi to the company’s growing oncology roster.

Page 11: Rail haulage group Aurizon is considering external candidates to replace chief executive Lance Hockridge, with the company’s board expected to decide on a successor next week.

Page 14: Healthscope chief executive Robert Cooke has brushed off concerns about challenges hitting the health insurance industry, which provides most of the hospital operator’s income, and flagged greater investment in high-growth specialties like orthopaedic and cardiovascular surgery, and cancer care.

Page 15: The bonanza dividend paid by Fortescue Metals Group this week could be hard to sustain in future, analysts warn.

Page 16: Oil Search chief executive Peter Botten expects the oil price will be ‘‘a bit of a grind’’ all through next year and is not banking on prices much higher than today to provide relief for the Papua New Guinea oil and gas producer.

Page 23: The recent underperformance of bluechip stocks has spurred large-cap fund managers to seek growth elsewhere and clouded the outlook for the top 20. One fund manager says they should remain the cornerstone of an investor’s portfolio while others believe they have little to entice buyers.

Page 27: The $27 billion Scentre Group, the owner and manager of Westfield shopping centres, is upbeat about retail trading in its malls.

The Australian

Page 1: The French company that won the bid to design Australia’s new $50 billion submarine fleet has suffered a massive leak of secret documents, raising fears about the future security of top-secret data on the navy’s future fleet.

The pay of many top public servants has soared by 70 per cent since the global financial crisis, with some approaching earnings of $1 million, at a time when growth in average earnings has slowed almost to a standstill.

Page 4: The lack of accountability for indigenous program funding is “outrageous” and the awarding of contracts often appears politically motivated, prime ministerial adviser Warren Mundine says.

The next Northern Territory government might have to build cheaper remote indigenous houses or redirect maintenance money to cover a funding shortfall for the number of homes promised.

Page 5: The Barnett government is turning to skilled but underemployed migrants from Asia, Africa and the Middle East to help drive the state economy as data reveals a sustained exodus of West Australians to other states.

Page 6: A group of economists has criticised the government’s hallmark free-trade agreements, saying the deals fail to lock in key productivity gains and will give a limited boost to Australia’s prosperity.

Page 19: Caltex Australia chief executive Julian Segal has hit back at competition watchdog accusations of petrol price gouging, saying increased regulation has raised the cost of operating individual service stations, with compliance sometimes requiring an extra $1 million of investment not reflected in the margins.

Page 21: The decision by entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan to snap up Dick Smith’s online portal from the failed consumer electronics business has proved a winning gamble after it delivered millions of new shoppers to Kogan.com who helped the newly listed company overshoot prospectus revenue and profit forecasts.

Page 22: Most home loan borrowers who seek a better deal from banks get one, a new survey has found, signalling the biggest lenders will struggle to drastically pull back on discounts being offered to new customers.

Page 23: Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Nev Power says the company is “months away” from locking in a funding deal that would cover a looming $US270 million ($353m) bill for a fleet of new ships.

The West Australian

Plans for a hotel on the Perth City Link have been resurrected, with the Far East Consortium to build a $219 million development on the prime inner-city land.