Rio’s iron ore boss blasts Grylls in letter to workers
Rio Tinto’s iron ore boss has warned WA Nationals leader Brendon Grylls’ mining tax plan would “severely undermine” the giant’s business and wipe out recent efforts to cut costs. The West
Coal price surge heats up economy
The mining industry has reached an agreement with Japanese steelmakers that prices for most Australian coking coal will jump 117 per cent in just three months, an increase that means that the benefit of rising prices could be felt across the economy. The Fin
Australians to make break-up bid for Kidman
A $375 million bid by cattle baron Sterling Buntine and three other wealthy Australian grazier families, likely to be lodged later this month, could see the country’s largest landholder S.Kidman & Co’s rural property portfolio broken up between them leaving rival Gina Rinehart and Chinese investor Shanghai CRED on the back foot. The Fin
Bank tribunal ‘could be a huge mistake’
The Credit and Investments Ombudsman, Raj Venga, says he is ‘‘extremely concerned’’ about Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull pre-empting the government’s own review into financial services complaints schemes, and has warned a new banking tribunal could become a lawyers’ picnic. The Fin
Private sector to help cut spending
The Turnbull government will turn to the private sector to help slash the $4 billion annual bill for running the public service, as it ramps up mammoth changes despite the growing prospect of a clash with unions over job cuts. The Aus
Japanese, miners blast WA ‘tax grab’
Japanese steelmakers have joined local iron ore producers in a rebellion against “job-destroying” plans in Western Australia to hike iron ore mining royalties to raise $7.2 billion. The Aus
Housing cheapest in 13 years
The Perth housing market is at its most affordable in 13 years, giving prospective buyers a chance to grab their own part of the city. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: The mining industry has reached an agreement with Japanese steelmakers that prices for most Australian coking coal will jump 117 per cent in just three months, an increase that means that the benefit of rising prices could be felt across the economy.
Many of the global investors who have bid almost $7.5 billion for Australia’s latest government bond sale may not live to get their money back.
Page 3: A $375 million bid by cattle baron Sterling Buntine and three other wealthy Australian grazier families, likely to be lodged later this month, could see the country’s largest landholder S.Kidman & Co’s rural property portfolio broken up between them leaving rival Gina Rinehart and Chinese investor Shanghai CRED on the back foot.
Page 6: Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has picked up the mantle of industrial relations reform and called on the government to investigate bringing unions and industrial behaviour under competition laws.
Page 7: The Turnbull government insists it has no plans to privatise the taxpayer-owned shipbuilding company ASC but has announced a restructuring of the company’s shipbuilding, infrastructure and submarine operations that will pave the way for a future privatisation.
One of the Federal Reserve’s more dovish policymakers, Charles Evans, accepts that a rate hike in December would be ‘‘reasonable’’ but believes the US economy needs monetary stimulus for longer to make sure inflation rises.
Page 9: The South Australian Treasurer says oil giant BP has done ‘‘tremendous damage’’ to its international reputation after scrapping its $1.4 billion exploration drilling program in the Great Australian Bight off South Australia, in what will be hailed as a major win for environmental groups.
Nearly one-third of all life insurance policies will not be subject to the industry’s first code of conduct because superannuation trustees are exempt, according to the Association of Financial Advisers.
Page 10: Samsung’s mounting crisis with its flagship Galaxy Note7 has left millions of premium smartphone buyers looking for an alternative. The obvious candidate is Apple’s iPhone 7, but Google’s slick new Pixel device could get a lift, too.
Wells Fargo, under fire from all sides because of a long-running scandal in which employees set up illegal accounts to meet sales quotas, announced a restructuring of its top management on Tuesday, solidifying the leadership structure beneath Timothy Sloan, who is widely expected to succeed John Stumpf, the bank’s embattled chairman and chief executive.
Page 12: The corporate regulator has fined Findex $21,600 over claims it provides independent financial advice to clients on its website.
It’s the new rule that forces accountants to specify the once-private list of potential red flags they discover during an audit. There have been 18 key audit matter reports published in annual reports by companies that have gone early on the new rules. The auditors of these companies have listed key issues raised during the audit, ranging from the valuation of assets through to the accounting treatment of goodwill and revenue.
Page 13: The Credit and Investments Ombudsman, Raj Venga, says he is ‘‘extremely concerned’’ about Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull pre-empting the government’s own review into financial services complaints schemes, and has warned a new banking tribunal could become a lawyers’ picnic.
Several more major mining companies have joined BHP Billiton and Newcrest in running the ruler over exciting copper and gold junior Solgold, according to chairman Nicholas Mather.
New Telstra chairman John Mullen has accused Vodafone Hutchison Australia of trying to close the ‘‘competitive gap by cheaply riding on our network to avoid spending their own money’’.
Page 15: Investors urged to ‘take the money and run’ Investment advisers have started urging UGL shareholders to accept CIMIC’s $524 million hostile offer as the contractor’s board mulls its options following the unexpected takeover bid.
Emirates Airline president Tim Clark says he hopes to strengthen the Gulf carrier’s alliance with Qantas Airways to tap into growing demand for air travel from Australia despite the impact of intense competition which is driving down ticket prices.
CSL investors are expected to lodge a protest against executive pay packets amid concern that the culture at the country’s largest biotechnology company is shifting under chief executive Paul Perreault.
Page 16: Woolworths’ hardware chain Masters has been a thorn in Beacon Lighting’s side since it started slashing the price of ceiling lights, desk lamps and light globes in a desperate attempt to lure shoppers and clear excess stock.
The likely contraction of the petrol market because of fuel efficiency and the growth of electric vehicles has underscored the necessity to be disciplined in any acquisition in Caltex Australia’s existing core business, chairman Greig Gailey has declared.
A firm that funds herds of cattle and flocks of sheep has built up a $250 million business in Australia over the past two years as farmers and graziers with an eye on high livestock prices and cash flow shift to nimble short-term funders.
Page 17: Blockchain technology promises to reduce the time and cost of transferring funds and increase access to liquidity, according to ANZ Banking Group and Wells Fargo.
Goldman Sachs has drawn up plans to transfer as many as 2000 employees out of London to a new banking centre in Europe should Britain lose its passporting rights, The Independent newspaper reported.
Treasurer Scott Morrison expects the Australian Securities Exchange to act to allow competition to emerge in equities clearing and settlement.
Page 18: Online fashion retailer The Iconic has changed tack several times in its short life but chief executive Patrick Schmidt says the e-tailer has no plans to bow to pressure to get ‘‘phygital’’.
Page 26: The head of the biggest privately owned US coal producer yesterday called electric-car maker Tesla Motors a ‘‘fraud’’ for failing to turn a profit despite subsidies.
Page 27: BHP Billiton is gearing up for a potential bid to enter the highly promising deepwater Mexican oil exploration sector just as some investors are questioning whether it would be better off using some of its petroleum budget to secure resources through acquisition.
The demise of the Masters hardware chain has prompted Woolworths and Hills Ltd to scrap a deal where Woolworths took control in late 2014 of the manufacture and sale of the well-known Hills hoist clothesline and 240 other Hills products for up to 19 years.
oOh!media’s $68.5 million purchase of Executive Channel Network will bulk up the out-of-home advertiser’s network to 630 office buildings with a weekly audience of 1.8 million, chief executive Brendon Cook says.
The Australian
Page 1: Australia’s tax war has reignited, with Bill Shorten facing fresh warnings over his plan to scale back the government’s proposed corporate rate reductions, as business argues Labor will discourage growth in 100,000 small companies and dampen job creation.
The Turnbull government will turn to the private sector to help slash the $4 billion annual bill for running the public service, as it ramps up mammoth changes despite the growing prospect of a clash with unions over job cuts.
Page 2: Jobs will be cut and the $900 million expansion of the Acland coalmine in Queensland delayed under the new level of environmental approvals being proposed by the Palaszczuk government.
Page 5: An Uber driver bearing sushi, Chinese roast duck or fancy burgers has become the new face of takeaway food delivery for thousands of well-heeled inner suburban Melburnians and Sydneysiders, as time-poor Australians abandon traditional home delivery staples for the food of trendy restaurants, accessed via smartphone.
Page 7: Family First senator and businessman Bob Day is being sued for $2 million by the former owners of Huxley Homes, the troubled NSW arm of his embattled house building empire.
Page 19: Some of the world’s biggest distressed-debt investors are on the hunt for deals in Australia, amid signs more companies — from mining transport firms to dairy farms — are unable to repay crippling debts.
Page 21: A bid by four of Australia’s biggest outback cattlemen and livestock transporters for the historic Kidman empire looks set to be quietly repulsed, unless the Foreign Investment Review Board rejects an accepted $365 million offer from mining magnate Gina Rinehart and her minority partner Chinese Shanghai CRED.
The reclusive head of ASX-listed goldminers Rand Mining and Tribune Resources has broken his long-held public silence to declare he will pursue an online troll into bankruptcy after winning a record-breaking $700,000 defamation payout.
Page 22: Japanese steelmakers have joined local iron ore producers in a rebellion against “job-destroying” plans in Western Australia to hike iron ore mining royalties to raise $7.2 billion.
Page 23: The Financial Services Council has defended its new life insurance code of conduct after it was criticised for lacking legal enforcement and exempting the superannuation industry, which writes around a third of the country’s life insurance policies.
Page 25: Coca-Cola says it will exercise a change-of-control clause, allowing it to buy SABMiller’s former interest in the soft-drink company’s largest African bottling company.
Page 28: Russian president Vladimir Putin has delivered a timely boost to Australia’s beleaguered oil and gas sector.
The West Australian
Page 3: The Barnett Government will forge ahead with signing contracts for Roe 8 by the end of the week, setting the stage for disruptive protests and a clear point of difference with Labor in the lead-up to the State election in March.
Page 12: The head of the world’s largest international airline has thrown his weight behind Qantas’ proposed non-stop flight from Perth to London.
Page 13: The Perth housing market is at its most affordable in 13 years, giving prospective buyers a chance to grab their own part of the city.
Page 24: The State Government has defused health sector wages claims as a potentially damaging election issue, after doctors and nurses agreed to 1.5 per cent annual pay rises.
Page 25: A Perth waste management company that is demolishing Pankaj and Radhika Oswal’s unfinished mansion Taj-on-Swan will be forced to stockpile the rubble because of WA’s stuttering recycling policies.
Page 31: Rio Tinto’s iron ore boss has warned WA Nationals leader Brendon Grylls’ mining tax plan would “severely undermine” the giant’s business and wipe out recent efforts to cut costs.
Grain co-operative CBH has launched an appeal to help WA farmers who have lost crops to frost.
Page 33: Local pot stock MMJ Phytotech has jumped on renewed interest in Perth’s medical marijuana stocks, yesterday announcing a $4 million placement to help list two of its cannabis-growing subsidiaries.
Telstra executives have once again tried to allay worries about their network, with the telco’s newly appointed chairman assuring shareholders it is “world-class”.
Page 34: LandCorp will pay up to $100,000 of stamp duty on industrial lots sold as part of a new campaign to encourage businesses to expand or relocate.
Page 35: AMP Capital has bought Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s newly built regional prison. The Sydney-based investment firm bought the Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison redevelopment project from LendLease and MLC.
Page 80: A Hay Street mall retail property has sold, in a rare transaction for Perth’s CBD.