Turnbull’s class war fightback
Plans to raise the pension age to 70 have been put on the backburner and the government has forgone more than $2 billion in planned savings in a bid to convince the Senate to pass about $4 billion more in welfare cuts that have dogged the Coalition since the notorious 2014 budget. The Fin
Post accused of underpaying workers
Australia Post is facing legal action for using an executive recruitment agency to engage low-level workers at below the minimum wage. The Fin
PM finally takes off the gloves
Malcolm Turnbull has set his government on an aggressive new course to tear down Bill Shorten and rally drifting voters to the Coalition, by casting the Opposition Leader as a “simpering sycophant” who was betraying the workers he claimed to defend. The Aus
WA Labor in drive for 50pc renewables target
The Labor Party is poised to announce it will set a 50 per cent renewable energy target for Western Australia by 2030, in a move the Barnett government claims would lead to big rises in power prices, blackouts and the death of the coalmining town of Collie. The Aus
Rio faces $1bn tax bill in Singapore hub dispute
Rio Tinto could be facing an additional tax bill of almost $1 billion following the Australian Taxation Office’s crackdown on the controversial practice of transfer pricing. The Aus
Great train robbery
An 18-month sting operation has nabbed hundreds of commuters illegally using concession Smart-Rider cards to secure cheaper train and bus fares. The West
Grylls ponders second poll over mining tax
Nationals leader Brendon Grylls yesterday refused to rule out sending West Australians back to the polls should his Liberal alliance partners reject his mining tax as a condition of forming government. The West
H&M posts a winner with GPO store
Fast-fashion juggernaut H&M will open its much-anticipated CBD store in the historic GPO building on March 2. The West
Deloitte recruiting spree bags Thornton partner
Deloitte has widened its hiring spree in Perth, this time taking on the WA head of mid-tier firm Grant Thornton to augment its restructuring practice. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Plans to raise the pension age to 70 have been put on the backburner and the government has forgone more than $2 billion in planned savings in a bid to convince the Senate to pass about $4 billion more in welfare cuts that have dogged the Coalition since the notorious 2014 budget.
Australia Post has been shamed into a review of chief executive Ahmed Fahour’s pay packet after a Trump-like intervention from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who said $5.6 million was ‘‘too high’’.
Rio Tinto has capped off an extraordinary turnaround in commodity prices by spending $US3.6 billion ($4.7 billion) on dividends and share buybacks just one year after axing its progressive dividend and being downgraded by ratings agencies.
Page 3: Australia Post is facing legal action for using an executive recruitment agency to engage low-level workers at below the minimum wage.
Page 5: Tony Abbott’s Liberal Party conservative faction is portraying manoeuvring to choose a candidate for former NSW premier Mike Baird’s seat as the first stage of an attempt to remove the exprime minister from Parliament.
Page 6: Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation’s biggest property lender, is set to announce that it will indefinitely suspend new finance applications for some investment home loans.
Page 8: The Turnbull government’s push to wind back senator Derryn Hinch’s amendments to the Australian Building and Construction Commission laws will immediately block hundreds of construction companies from new Commonwealth-funded projects and hand the construction union huge leverage, industry experts say.
Page 13: Lenders will continue to shy away from risky home loans as mortgage stress rises, according to Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia, which saw its shares plunge as it reported a drop in annual underlying profit of almost 20 per cent.
The Australian
Page 1: Malcolm Turnbull has set his government on an aggressive new course to tear down Bill Shorten and rally drifting voters to the Coalition, by casting the Opposition Leader as a “simpering sycophant” who was betraying the workers he claimed to defend.
The Labor Party is poised to announce it will set a 50 per cent renewable energy target for Western Australia by 2030, in a move the Barnett government claims would lead to big rises in power prices, blackouts and the death of the coalmining town of Collie.
Page 2: One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has threatened to torpedo $5.5 billion in budget savings unless the Turnbull government slashes Australia Post chief executive Ahmed Fahour’s $5.6 million pay.
Page 4: The Future Fund can be tapped to start covering public-sector superannuation payments from 2020, but $250 billion would eventually be saved if the government held off for a further four years.
Malcolm Turnbull has thrown down a $4.3 billion savings challenge to parliament over family payments, seeking support for cheaper childcare and more generous paid parental leave funded by cuts to middle-class welfare.
Page 6: Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce has warned his federal colleagues that the party will not allow wholesale coal-seam gas mining across prime agricultural land, but says farming and mining “can exist in balance and should be considered on a case-by-case basis”.
Page 8: The US Justice Department faced tough questioning yesterday as it urged a court to reinstate Donald Trump’s travel ban targeting citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, put on hold in a legal challenge last week.
Page 19: Rio Tinto has delivered a surprise boost to shareholders in the form of a stronger than expected fullyear dividend and a $US500 million ($654m) buyback after beating profit expectations.
Page 22: Rio Tinto could be facing an additional tax bill of almost $1 billion following the Australian Taxation Office’s crackdown on the controversial practice of transfer pricing.
The West Australian
Page 1: An 18-month sting operation has nabbed hundreds of commuters illegally using concession Smart-Rider cards to secure cheaper train and bus fares.
Page 4: Malcolm Turnbull has sought to quell internal coalition unrest by belittling Opposition Leader Bill Shorten during a venomous Question Time in one of his most aggressive performances as Prime Minister.
Page 6: Treasurer Mike Nahan ramped up the rejection of the Nationals’ proposed new mining tax by saying he will quit if forming government comes down to a deal with Brendon Grylls.
Nationals leader Brendon Grylls yesterday refused to rule out sending West Australians back to the polls should his Liberal alliance partners reject his mining tax as a condition of forming government.
Page 11: Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi does not “stay in trash” — and she made sure those wanting her to grace their event with her presence knew that only fivestar would do.
Page 12: Fast-fashion juggernaut H&M will open its much-anticipated CBD store in the historic GPO building on March 2.
Page 13: Opposition Leader Mark McGowan will ask the AFL for a contribution to the $1.3 billion Perth Stadium if he becomes premier.
Page 16: The Barnett Government has not been handed the $1.2 billion it needs from the Federal Government to build the Perth Freight Link, with Canberra saying the money is not free to be used for any other project.
Page 18: While the economy and jobs are underpinning the daily election campaign jousting, transport remains a high-profile battlefront.
Page 49: Rio Tinto has roared back to profitability on the back of its global cost-cutting program, beating analyst expectations to post a $US4.6 billion ($6.02 billion) net profit for 2016 after the previous year’s impairment-driven loss.
Deloitte has widened its hiring spree in Perth, this time taking on the WA head of mid-tier firm Grant Thornton to augment its restructuring practice.
Page 50: Fears of a housing market collapse grew yesterday when Commonwealth Bank joined its subsidiary Bankwest in turning away new customers wanting to refinance their investor home loans.
Blackham Resources has gone back to the capital markets, chasing about $30 million to fund the expansion of its Wiluna gold operations.
