Morning Headlines

PM’s push for clean coal power

The government has flagged subsidising the construction of clean coal power stations and compensating farmers to encourage states to lift coal seam gas bans as Malcolm Turnbull laid out a new energy security and affordability push. The Fin

Supermarket prices hike to power sales

Higher grocery prices will underpin stronger sales in Australian supermarkets in 2017 after the slowest industry growth in more than 20 years. The Fin

Workers in limbo, JKC hunts for new Ichthys contractor

Cimic’s decision to stop work on a power plant will have a ‘ripple’ effect on Inpex Corporation’s $US37 billion Ichthys  liquefied natural gas project, potentially causing delays to its forecast start-up date later this year, unions have warned. The Fin

Australia shines in global uni rankings

Australia has achieved stellar results in a new league table of universities which has inverted the world order by ranking US institutions as also-rans. The Aus

Unions spend $20m to unseat Turnbull

Unions spent $20 million last financial year campaigning against the Coalition and making direct donations to the Labor Party, Australian Electoral Commission records reveal. The Aus

Barnett baulks at naming end date

Colin Barnett says he will serve ‘most’ of a third term in power if West Australian voters return his government next month, as the long-serving premier began the five-week election campaign with a concerted attack on the Labor Party. The Aus

I’ll fix the mess

Labor leader Mark McGowan has declared himself the underdog in next month’s election but believes people are starting to agree that Colin Barnett’s time is up. The West

Bid fallout smears CBH poll

The election campaign for board positions at Australia’s biggest grain handler has become embroiled in claims of dirty tricks and Trojan candidates as the fallout of the failed bid for the co-op continues. The West

Pluto LNG for Pilbara miners

Woodside Petroleum is poised to truck LNG to customers in the Pilbara in a bid to break the region’s 3 billion litre-a-year addiction to diesel. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: The government has flagged subsidising the construction of clean coal power stations and compensating farmers to encourage states to lift coal seam gas bans as Malcolm Turnbull laid out a new energy security and affordability push.

Donald Trump’s top trade adviser has accused Germany of using a ‘grossly undervalued’ euro to gain a competitive advantage as the White House widens its accusations of currency manipulation beyond Japan and China.

Page 2: Donald Trump believes his own unpredictability is a great advantage for the US in its dealings with other countries.

Page 3: The organiser of the controversial ‘Mediscare’ campaign and friend of Bill Shorten, Sally McManus, is firming as the only contender to replace Dave Oliver as head of the Australian Council of Trade Unions after his shock resignation.

Page 5: Energy companies have given Malcolm Turnbull’s call for Australia to embrace new clean coal power plants the cold shoulder, and experts say the Prime Minister is ‘tilting at windmills’.

Page 6: Santos has triggered a showdown with green activists by applying for approval of its $2 billion Narrabri coal seam gas project in NSW amid speculation on whether it will even keep the venture within its portfolio.

Page 7: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has put GetUp! And the union movement on notice that he favours moves to outlaw foreign political donations as new figures show the activist group, partly funded by foreigners, spend more than $10 million influencing last year’s federal election.

Page 9: West Australian Premier Colin Barnett’s plan to finish a ring road around Perth could cost his Coalition government power.

Page 13: Higher grocery prices will underpin stronger sales in Australian supermarkets in 2017 after the slowest industry growth in more than 20 years.

Cimic’s decision to stop work on a power plant will have a ‘ripple’ effect on Inpex Corporation’s $US37 billion Ichthys  liquefied natural gas project, potentially causing delays to its forecast start-up date later this year, unions have warned.

The Australian

Page 1: The Turnbull government is planning to help fund the construction of new clean-coal-fired power stations in an extraordinary measure to intervene in the looming energy security and pricing crisis.

Malcolm Turnbull has revealed he gave the Liberal Party $1.75 million to help it fight the last election, as he turned on Bill Shorten for labelling him ‘Mr Harbourside Mansion’ because of his wealth.

Page 2: News Corp executive chairman Rupert Murdoch has paid tribute to 30 years of ‘inspirational’ research to improve children’s health, at an anniversary celebration for the institute his mother helped establish.

Page 3: Australia has achieved stellar results in a new league table of universities which has inverted the world order by ranking US institutions as also-rans.

Page 4: Unions spent $20 million last financial year campaigning against the Coalition and making direct donations to the Labor Party, Australian Electoral Commission records reveal.

Page 7: Relentless price rises for homes in Sydney and Melbourne showed no sign of abating at the start of 2017, keeping the annual rate of capital city housing price growth above 10 per cent.

Colin Barnett says he will serve ‘most’ of a third term in power if West Australian voters return his government next month, as the long-serving premier began the five-week election campaign with a concerted attack on the Labor Party.

Page 19: Two cuts to the official interest rate last year from the Reserve Bank have ignited rampant lending to property investors.

Australian Institute of Company Directors president Elizabeth Proust has called on the federal government to look at major tax reform, including increasing the GST to 15 per cent, rather than focusing on a cut in the corporate tax rate.

Page 20: Investment bankers are fixing their sights on the west for the first time in a while after West Australian Premier Colin Barnett dropped in yesterday on the state’s first female governor, Kerry Sanderson, to issue the writs for a March 11 election.

The West Australian

Page 1: Labor leader Mark McGowan has declared himself the underdog in next month’s election but believes people are starting to agree that Colin Barnett’s time is up.

Page 4: With the state election campaign officially getting underway yesterday, the leaders of the two major political parties were outlining their belief that voters have never had a more stark choice on polling day.

Page 7: The timing for the on-again, off-again Ellenbrook rail link has been brought forward but could still be more than 30 years away.

Page 12: The Barnett government is under pressure to justify locking in on the eve of the state election campaign a disability services deal that will cost WA millions of dollars in administration costs each year.

Page 14: Colin Barnett is facing a noisy uprising from newsagents complaining that mandatory refits to outlets selling Lotterywest products are dampening sales and costing up to four times the government estimate.

Page 17: Some of WA’s most controversial and expensive restoration projects are finalists in this year’s WA Heritage Awards.

Page 47: The election campaign for board positions at Australia’s biggest grain handler has become embroiled in claims of dirty tricks and Trojan candidates as the fallout of the failed bid for the co-op continues.

One of WA’s biggest and lowest-cost power plants has suffered a major outage that could keep it out of operation for months.

The Building Commissioner has repeated a warning about Perth construction group BuiltonCorp after revealing it had imposed conditions on its registration.

Page 48: Woodside Petroleum is poised to truck LNG to customers in the Pilbara in a bid to break the region’s 3 billion litre-a-year addiction to diesel.