Row escalates over China claims
Malcolm Turnbull says Australia’s prosperity and stability are at stake if rising tensions in the region caused by China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea are allowed to escalate. The Fin
RBA qualifies house price confidence
Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens left the cash rate unchanged at his final policy meeting, but was forced to qualify his confidence that the property market was not overheating. The Fin
Woolies, Lowe’s in arbitration over Masters
Woolworths is in arbitration with US retailer Lowe’s, which is believed to have made a claim for hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation over their failed Masters home improvement business. The Fin
China to build $400m lithium plant in WA, expand major mine
The world’s largest hard rock lithium mine will ‘‘more than double’’ its annual production of lithium from late 2018 in a move analysts say will threaten the existence of a wave of Australian junior players. The Fin
Anti-siphoning rules robbing sports
Decades-old rules that govern the market for media rights “corrupt the commercial process for sports”, robbing boardrooms and the grassroots level of additional funding, according to the chief executive of Australia’s largest sports programming broadcaster. The Aus
China not biggest holder of farmland
Eleven per cent of WA’s farmland is owned by foreign nationals and most of that is leased by British interests, the first breakdown of agricultural land ownership has revealed. The West
Federal blow to Grylls’ mine tax
Federal Resources Minister Matt Canavan has slapped down Brendon Grylls’ proposal to increase iron ore royalties, saying he had “grave concerns” it would cost Australia investment and jobs. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Malcolm Turnbull says Australia’s prosperity and stability are at stake if rising tensions in the region caused by China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea are allowed to escalate.
Page 3: Gas giant APA Group will build a new pipeline to link gas reserves used for the Gladstone liquefied natural gas export industry into the domestic market to help overcome a potential shortfall in east coast gas supplies.
Australian Federal Police have seized 170kg of silver bullion and coins in a raid in Queensland as the government’s widening Panama Papers investigation targets ‘‘a number of high net wealth individuals’’ – the term the Australian Taxation Office uses for taxpayers who control more than $30 million in net wealth.
Page 4: Fresh Australian lobster and oysters will soon be sold on Chinese tech giant Alibaba’s business to consumer ecommerce platform, Tmall, as part of the company’s expansion into Australia.
Page 6: The Turnbull government has agreed to review $1.2 billion in aged care cuts after the sector presented modelling showing the effect would be much greater than anticipated.
Page 7: Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens left the cash rate unchanged at his final policy meeting, but was forced to qualify his confidence that the property market was not overheating.
Page 12: The new local head of consulting giant Accenture has thrown down the gauntlet to rivals attempting to muscle their way into its business, declaring they are confusing the market by misunderstanding digital strategy and lacking the global capabilities of his firm.
Page 13: Dick Smith’s controversial use of rebates was a deliberate strategy according to non-executive director and former Woolworths chief financial officer Bill Wavish, who told the NSW Supreme Court he encouraged Dick Smith to use the strategy to reduce its reliance on bank finance.
Private equity firm Allegro Funds is hoping three former ‘‘burger flippers’’ from McDonald’s can restore the fortunes of Pizza Hut Australia and transform it into a stronger rival for market leader Domino’s.
Page 15: Woolworths is in arbitration with US retailer Lowe’s, which is believed to have made a claim for hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation over their failed Masters home improvement business.
The world’s largest hard rock lithium mine will ‘‘more than double’’ its annual production of lithium from late 2018 in a move analysts say will threaten the existence of a wave of Australian junior players.
Page 16: Wealth manager Providence has written to the corporate regulator, alerting it to what believes is ‘‘bizarre, inconsistent and preferential’’ behaviour of the responsible entity of the troubled Aurora Absolute Return Fund.
Page 18: The new head of National Australia Bank’s custody arm is confident a freshly finalised tie-up with Citi has the business poised to drive institutional banking growth.
The world’s largest zircon miner, Iluka Resources, has warned the company’s proposed $375 million acquisition of London-listed Sierra Rutile could be abandoned after the German competition watchdog pushed the deal proposal into a longer review process.
The Australian
Page 1: The Chinese company at the centre of an asbestos scandal at construction sites in Brisbane and Perth has been caught trying to import another shipment of building products containing the potentially lethal material.
Page 3: ABC staff are threatening industrial action ranging from bans on overtime and booking on-air guests to 24-hour strikes as their union accuses management of trying to impose cuts to employee conditions.
Optus’s English Premier League headaches threaten to worsen, with doubts raised about the telecommunication company’s technical capacity to provide a premium service.
Page 19: Taxpayers would be forced to foot the bill to return residents’ aged-care deposits if a provider fell into financial distress — an increasing concern as funding cuts hit the sector.
Page 21: Decades-old rules that govern the market for media rights “corrupt the commercial process for sports”, robbing boardrooms and the grassroots level of additional funding, according to the chief executive of Australia’s largest sports programming broadcaster.
Australia’s peak start-up body is calling for an independently administered fund designed to make agricultural technology more affordable, after a report found Australia’s farmers are at risk of missing out on vital investment.
Page 23: The competition watchdog has declared its resources are “fully utilised” as consumer groups push for the power of some of the nation’s most important regulators to be bolstered.
The West Australian
Page 13: Eleven per cent of WA’s farmland is owned by foreign nationals and most of that is leased by British interests, the first breakdown of agricultural land ownership has revealed.
Page 20: Federal Resources Minister Matt Canavan has slapped down Brendon Grylls’ proposal to increase iron ore royalties, saying he had “grave concerns” it would cost Australia investment and jobs.
Page 31: Former CBH chairman Neil Wandel is set to create history this harvest by exporting containerised grain out of Esperance.
Page 73: Diploma Group’s new construction business is down to one director and has moved out of its office as the company continues to wrestle with millions of dollars in sub-contractor claims.
The uranium price needs to double before WA’s nuclear triad of Cameco Australia, Vimy Resources and Toro Energy consider bringing new supply into the market, according to Toro Energy boss Vanessa Guthrie.
Page 74: Retail investments, particularly neighbourhood shopping centres, were hogging the commercial property spotlight as the only sector in WA to experience an “uptrend” in WA over the past 12 months.
Page 75: Perth Airport says it is in talks with short-listed parties for a high-quality hotel development that will have easy access to passenger terminals and the Perth CBD.
