Morrison won’t rule ‘bonkers sugar tax’ out
Treasurer Scott Morrison has declined to rule out a tax on sugar, only hours after Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce said it was a ‘‘bonkers mad’’ idea that his party would never countenance. The Fin
Snag for Woolworths’ sale of Masters stores
Landlords are seeking millions of dollars in compensation from Woolworths after claiming they will be left out of pocket by the retailer’s $1.5 billion exit from the home improvement sector. The Fin
South32 cops criticism on executive pay
Influential proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services has alleged South32’s executive pay does not reflect the mining company’s performance and has joined the Australian Shareholders’ Association in recommending that investors vote against its remuneration report. The Fin
Clubs face union threat on penalties
The hospitality workers’ union has opened a new front in the industrial campaign against business by threatening action against more than 700 clubs if they adopt reduced Sunday penalty rates approved by the independent umpire. The Aus
Push for new trade deals in the region
Business leaders have urged the federal government to press ahead with trade liberalisation including deals with India, Indonesia and an alternative multilateral agreement driven by China after the push for global trade pacts suffered a major setback after US president-elect Donald Trump reaffirmed plans to abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The Aus
Airport’s profits flying high
Perth Airport defied weaker passenger traffic to pay out a bumper dividend last financial year on record revenue. The West
More jobs on contract a boost for staffing firm
Iron ore majors turning to contract workers to cut costs has been good to staffing and maintenance provider Programmed. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: The government has hailed the passage of its $6 billion in cuts to superannuation concessions as an important step in preserving the nation’s AAA credit rating but warned the rating remained at risk unless Parliament passed another $20 billion in spending cuts and revenue increases.
ME Bank, which is owned by 29 industry funds, will today announce that it is also raising its variable rates by up to 10 basis points, the first hike in a variable rate in the latest round of increases.
Page 3: Young Australians should not at 17 be deciding to be a lawyer, accountant, or some other profession. Instead they should choose whether they are an ‘‘informer’’, a ‘‘generator’’ or a ‘‘technologist’’.
Page 6: Treasurer Scott Morrison has declined to rule out a tax on sugar, only hours after Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce said it was a ‘‘bonkers mad’’ idea that his party would never countenance.
Page 7: An overhaul of the nation’s road, rail and port systems to cope with burgeoning freight demands will be a central part of a new 15-year national infrastructure plan to be launched on Thursday by the Turnbull government.
Page 9: The federal government will today outline plans to shake up the way it delivers services via technology, opening up as much as $560 million for spending with start-ups and smaller technology companies.
Multinational defence contractor BAE Systems backed the Coalition’s corporate tax cut plan, saying Australia will not be competitive if the US cuts taxes.
Page 10: Bank executives will give evidence on small business lending practices next Tuesday and Wednesday, as part of an inquiry into lending practices by the Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Kate Carnell.
Trade Minister Steve Ciobo said Australia must redouble efforts to remain internationally competitive after he revealed the rate of new investment into Australia has slowed by 25 per cent, falling $38.7 billion on the year before.
Page 13: One of Asia’s largest mobile classifieds marketplaces, Carousell, is expanding to Australia, hoping to tap into the country’s thriving ecommerce industry.
Macdoch Ventures founder Alisdair Macleod was one of the few to do well from registered training organisation Vocation and etailer Temple & Webster, getting out before their ultimately disastrous ASX listings, but now he’s created an avenue for businesses to stay private longer.
Page 14: The disruption to politics-as-usual may make markets testy, but it’s a mistake to see events such as Brexit and the election of Donald Trump as determinants of where markets are heading, say the experts.
The election of Donald Trump might be grabbing the headlines, but the people trading foreign exchange believe the fate of the Australian dollar is more tied to the Federal Reserve and the state of the US and Australian economies.
Page 17: Landlords are seeking millions of dollars in compensation from Woolworths after claiming they will be left out of pocket by the retailer’s $1.5 billion exit from the home improvement sector.
Private equity firm Quadrant has bought a large chunk of the Peter Warren Automotive Group, which generates $1 billion in revenue annually from nine vehicle retailing outlets in Sydney and the Gold Coast, as corporate activity accelerates in the $81 billion industry.
Former Santos chief executive John Ellice-Flint has declared that much of the east coast’s gas supply problem could be solved in one fell swoop with the construction of a 200-kilometre pipeline to tap into Queensland’s gasrich Bowen Basin.
Page 19: Amazon will cut a swath through the $222 billion retail sector when it arrives next year but the retailers with the most to lose may not be Woolworths, Coles, JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman.
Qube investors will get their first look at Patrick ports’ performance under new management at the logistic group’s annual meeting in Sydney following the loss of a key contract to DP World.
Page 20: Hashching, a website for home buyers to choose mortgage brokers, has built the first fully-digital process for home loan verification in Australia, which would allow banks to comply with strict regulations for identifying clients without having to send them to a branch.
Portfolio managers at Wilson Asset Management have told investors why they’ve fallen back in love with the big banks, what they’re doing to monitor a turnaround in fortunes for Ardent Leisure and what they learnt from Donald Trump on the golf course.
Page 21: Customers will not benefit from an open banking data regime unless strict deadlines are imposed on banks and they are forced to honour payment instructions made by third parties such as fintechs, according to the executive director of Tyro Payments, Jost Stollmann.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average broke through 19,000 points for the first time in the United States and bank shares have led the charge since Donald Trump’s stunning election victory.
Page 22: The chief executive of Australia’s biggest labour hire firm, Programmed, says spending on maintenance and repairs across the nation will grow twice as fast as the broader economy because infrastructure is getting older and companies and governments are trying to do more with less.
Page 23: Influential proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services has alleged South32’s executive pay does not reflect the mining company’s performance and has joined the Australian Shareholders’ Association in recommending that investors vote against its remuneration report.
The battle for soccer broadcasting rights may be wrapped up by Christmas, after broadcasters this week received tender documents from Football Federation Australia requiring bids to be lodged by December 9.
Page 24: With plenty of money and a scarcity of deals, private equity firms’ cash piles are the highest they’ve been since the depths of the financial crisis.
Page 31: The remarkable outperformance of small caps seems to have run out of puff, with investors finally turning their attention back to the growth potential of blue chips.
Page 34: Aged-care operator Estia Health has defended its business model after facing shareholders for the first time since a series of damaging earnings downgrades.
Page 35: ASX-listed real estate agent McGrath pacified shareholders at its first annual general meeting on Wednesday, offering hopes of better property listings in 2017.
The Australian
Page 1: The hospitality workers’ union has opened a new front in the industrial campaign against business by threatening action against more than 700 clubs if they adopt reduced Sunday penalty rates approved by the independent umpire.
Page 3: In a major shake-up of the nation’s pub market, the high-powered investors behind the $300 million Australian Pub Fund are selling two of the portfolio’s largest hotels, with more Sydney and Brisbane pubs up for grabs if the investment trio can achieve the right prices.
Page 7: Scott Morrison has tried to turn the tables on Bill Shorten in the political brawl over superannuation by legislating $3 billion in savings, warning voters that Labor would lift taxes even higher on retirement nest eggs.
Page 8: Donald Trump has indicated he is unlikely to disentangle himself from his business empire as fully as he previously suggested, raising questions about potential conflicts of interest while he is US president.
Page 9: South Korean prosecutors raided offices of the Samsung Group and the state pension fund yesterday as the electronics giant is dragged further into a snowballing influence-peddling scandal engulfing President Park Geun-hye.
Page 19: Business leaders have urged the federal government to press ahead with trade liberalisation including deals with India, Indonesia and an alternative multilateral agreement driven by China after the push for global trade pacts suffered a major setback after US president-elect Donald Trump reaffirmed plans to abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The Australian Federal Police has yet to decide whether to investigate Rio Tinto over the Guinea corruption scandal that has seen two senior executives sacked and the reputations of former chief executives Sam Walsh and Tom Albanese tarnished.
Page 21: Boral chief executive Mike Kane has declared the Australian building materials company is confident it will beat its $100 million annual savings target once the $3.5 billion Headwaters acquisition is completed next year.
Aggressive online travel agency Webjet more than doubled its market capitalisation last year to about $860 million, despite more of its offshore customers booking lower-quality hotels.
Australia’s oldest business, the Australian Agricultural Company, has announced a solid half-year profit of $47.9 million, slightly lower than the record earnings reported for the same period last year.
Page 23: The prudential regulator’s supervision of the $1.2 trillion superannuation sector has been found to be wanting in a concerning number of cases following a review by the Australian National Audit Office.
The West Australian
Page 12: That is the question that will be pondered for the next three days as the owners of popular Trigg cafe Yelo battle the City of Stirling in Perth Magistrate’s Court over a potential $1 million fine for breaching planning rules.
Page 14: The State Government is looking for more CBD office accommodation, less than two weeks after announcing plans to decentralise and relocate 1500 public servants to Fremantle.
Page 17: More than 50,000 WA children will not get a gift for Christmas as economic conditions worsen, a study has found.
Page 19: A proposed overhaul of media ownership laws has been shelved until next year as the Federal Government battles to woo crossbench support.
Page 60: Perth Airport defied weaker passenger traffic to pay out a bumper dividend last financial year on record revenue.
Cash Converters has urged investors to stick with the hardhit company, while defending its role as an easy-access lender to customers who often have nowhere else to go for quick credit.
A 26-storey, 250-room hotel at 900 Hay Street is one of five new hotel deals signed by the hotel and resort operator Mantra Group, adding 900 extra rooms across Australia and New Zealand.
Kasbah Resources faces a legal challenge to its $21.1 million merger with Toronto-listed Asian Mineral Resources, despite an overwhelming vote in favour of the scheme at a shareholders meeting yesterday.
Page 61: Iron ore majors turning to contract workers to cut costs has been good to staffing and maintenance provider Programmed.
The acronym for Ocean to Outback Contracting has been dispatched to put the company’s growing swag of surveying and town-planning businesses under one brand.
All levels of government need to be open minded in encouraging innovation to improve housing affordability, Peet managing director Brendan Gore says.
The State Government will not take any further action against two former workers who bungled a lucrative IT contract that cost taxpayers at least $41.5 million.