Tourism, farming sectors informed lower backpacker tax
The new 19 per cent backpacker tax rate was based on recommendations from stakeholders including the tourism and agriculture sectors, unions and labour hire companies, according to a Deloitte report upon which the government built its compromise policy unveiled this week. The Fin
Foreign trade vital: Morrison
Treasurer Scott Morrison says immigration, foreign investment and trade are crucial to Australia’s prosperity, and that the way to deal with increasing pressures to close our borders to people and trade is not to be dismissive of them but have policies that address them. The Fin
Tailwinds give BHP a big boost
The hint of an agreement between major oil-producing nations looms as the icing on the cake of a three-month period that has been BHP Billiton’s best quarter in a long time. The Fin
Bendigo buys $1.35b WA home loan book
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has bought a $1.35 billion portfolio of home loans from the West Australian government as it looks to spread its exposure beyond Victoria and South Australia. The Fin
Contract awarded for new subs
The Australian arm of US company Lockheed Martin has won the contract to fit the combat system to the navy’s 12 new submarines. The system, including everything from sonars to torpedoes, is the reason for the submarines’ existence. The Aus
CBA rolls back deposit rates
Commonwealth Bank has quietly unwound a handful of term deposit rates put in place to offset the fallout from holding back half the Reserve Bank’s rate cut from homeowners, relieving the pressure on margins less than two months after the promotion went live. The Aus
Farmers in catch-22 as milk hits road
Dairy processor Lion will start trucking milk into South Australia from this weekend as it tries to manage oversupply issues in the WA market. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Quadrant Private Equity has snapped up gym chain Fitness First and will transform one of the country’s best known fitness brands to ensure it is not left behind by new trends sweeping the industry.
Fair Work Commission president Iain Ross is pushing the option of replacing weekend penalty rates with upsized hourly rates in the retail industry, in what business leaders have described as a major development.
Page 2: The new 19 per cent backpacker tax rate was based on recommendations from stakeholders including the tourism and agriculture sectors, unions and labour hire companies, according to a Deloitte report upon which the government built its compromise policy unveiled this week.
Page 3: Treasurer Scott Morrison says immigration, foreign investment and trade are crucial to Australia’s prosperity, and that the way to deal with increasing pressures to close our borders to people and trade is not to be dismissive of them but have policies that address them.
Page 4: E-commerce entrepreneurs have slammed the competition regulator’s proposed crackdown on mergers and acquisitions between large retailers and online rivals, saying it will remove exit options and force owners to change business models.
Page 5: Fair Work Commission president Iain Ross is pushing the option of replacing weekend penalty rates with upsized hourly rates in the retail industry, in what business leaders have described as a major development.
Page 6: Online retailers should steer clear of offering free delivery or free postage because, once it’s offered, it’s almost impossible to reinstate the charge, says the co-founder of Marketplacer.
Page 7: The 7-Eleven wages scandal and collapse of Dick Smith have ‘‘tarnished’’ the retail sector and made it harder to convince talented staff to consider retail as a career, industry leaders say.
Page 9: South Australia’s blackout crippled the Port Pirie smelter at a likely cost of up to $7 million, Whyalla steelmaker Arrium slashed output and BHP Billiton shut its huge Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine to ride out the storm.
Page 11: Most small- and medium-sized biotechnology companies will be hurt by a proposal to cap cash refunds for conducting research and development at $2 million a year.
Page 13: Former Deutsche Bank trader Andrew Donaldson, who cooked the bank’s books to the tune of roughly $50 million, has been given a lifetime ban from providing financial services.
Page 14: Bankers are turning up the volume in their bid to win a transitional deal that would allow those based in London to keep providing services throughout the European Union bloc on similar terms after Brexit.
Page 17: The hint of an agreement between major oil-producing nations looms as the icing on the cake of a three-month period that has been BHP Billiton’s best quarter in a long time.
Page 19: Discounted luxury travel is proving to be a big hit for ASX float candidate Lux Group, which has enjoyed a rise in profit according to documents recently lodged with the corporate regulator.
Page 20: A senior technology executive who worked for Commonwealth Bank of Australia has been charged with fraud in the US, over an alleged bribery scheme that enabled the bank’s software contractor to pocket more than $100 million in bonuses.
Page 21: Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has bought a $1.35 billion portfolio of home loans from the West Australian government as it looks to spread its exposure beyond Victoria and South Australia.
The founder of Firstmac, Kim Cannon, says Canberra’s banking inquiry will figure out the big four are well-run companies that sometimes do bad things.
Page 22: A tweak by the prudential regulator to new rules aimed at making bank funding sources more stable is set to ease competitive pressures for deposit funding.
It’s official. BlackBerry, the Canadian company that invented the smartphone and addicted legions of road warriors to the ‘‘CrackBerry’’ has stopped making its iconic handsets.
Page 28: Federal Reserve officials’ rhetoric will need to be more hawkish than recent pronouncements to raise the odds of higher US interest rates this year much above a coin toss, according to Westpac Banking Corp and BNP Paribas SA.
Page 31: Energy shares rocketed higher yesterday, following the surprise decision by OPEC to cut production for the first time in eight years, though companies that rely on the spot price may benefit more than those locked into supply contracts.
The Australian
Page 1: Scott Morrison will today flag real community anxieties about migration, foreign investment and trade but warns that currying political support by imposing restrictions would cut Australia off from the source of its prosperity.
Page 2: The Australian arm of US company Lockheed Martin has won the contract to fit the combat system to the navy’s 12 new submarines. The system, including everything from sonars to torpedoes, is the reason for the submarines’ existence.
Page 19: The concession by OPEC that a production cut was needed to accelerate a recovery in world oil prices proved to be a $6 billion market-value fillip for locally listed oil and gas producers.
Commonwealth Bank has quietly unwound a handful of term deposit rates put in place to offset the fallout from holding back half the Reserve Bank’s rate cut from homeowners, relieving the pressure on margins less than two months after the promotion went live.
Page 21: The former boss of struggling discount department store Target, Launa Inman, believes stablemate retailer Kmart has built some of its recent booming profitability by elbowing its way into Target’s traditional market, especially on price, with the retailer requiring a repositioning to survive.
Page 22: South32 does not want to be known as BHP Billiton’s baby any more. The Perth-based miner may entirely consist of only former BHP assets, may be run almost entirely by former BHP management, may have a share register almost identical to that of BHP, and indeed owes its entire existence to BHP’s decision to simplify its portfolio, but South32 chief operating officer Ricus Grimbeek makes it clear the umbilical cord has been severed.
The West Australian
Page 18: The WA jobs market is continuing to weaken, with signs the State’s construction sector is facing tougher days ahead.
Page 63: Dairy processor Lion will start trucking milk into South Australia from this weekend as it tries to manage oversupply issues in the WA market.
Page 64: Echo Resources boss Simon Coxhell says it will cost in the vicinity of $5 million to $10 million to restart the Bronzewing processing plant, the prize in the gold miner’s $38.9 million takeover of Metaliko Resources.
A Perth-based tech company developing technology to mimic the neural behaviour of the human brain has proved its doubters wrong, yesterday announcing a deal with an unnamed Las Vegas casino.
Page 65: A spike in oil prices provided the perfect incentive yesterday for a quarter-end window-dressing scramble that lifted the Australian sharemarket to a four-week high.