Aust Post stripped of pay power
The Turnbull government has stripped the Australia Post board of the power to set chief executive pay following the dramatic resignation of long-time head Ahmed Fahour, who is leaving after controversy over his $5.6 million salary. The Fin
Packer pockets $387m in bumper dividend
Crown Resorts chairman John Alexander says he will make ‘‘no apologies’’ for a bumper dividend payment that will deliver more than $387 million to major shareholder James Packer, describing it as a win for all investors. The Fin
Shorten pays penalty as IR attack undermined
Bill Shorten’s assault on the Fair Work Commission’s historic decision to cut the Sunday and public holiday penalty rates of hundreds of thousands of workers has been undermined by revelations that a worker he paraded as a victim of the far-reaching ruling would not be affected. The Aus
Fairfax print ‘no interest’ to Nine
Nine Entertainment has scotched suggestions of a full merger with Fairfax Media, but said the broadcaster remained keen on the publisher’s radio and digital assets, including streaming service Stan, if they were to be spun out. The Aus
Westfield to navigate retail storm
Online behemoth Amazon and a growing legion of cutting-edge stores in food, cosmetics, technology, health and fitness were changing the face of retailing and bringing into question many existing business models, according to Steven Lowy, co-chief executive of shopping centre giant Westfield Corporation. The Aus
Barnett promises to cut penalties at state level
Colin Barnett has vowed to emulate the Fair Work Commission’s decision to slash penalty rates for almost one million Sunday workers, putting industrial relations at the centre of the State election campaign. The West
$5b link blowout is rubbish: Barnett
The Barnett Government has dismissed as “fiction” Labor Party claims of a $5 billion cost blowout in the divisive Perth Freight Link. The West
US fund manager Emeco bid
A US fund manager could end up with a controlling stake of more than 30 per cent in Emeco Holdings after a deal with another creditor. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Penalty rates are set to become an election battleground after Labor promised to reverse yesterday’s decision by the Fair Work Commission to cut Sunday and public holiday rates for the retail, hospitality and the fast food industries.
The Turnbull government has stripped the Australia Post board of the power to set chief executive pay following the dramatic resignation of long-time head Ahmed Fahour, who is leaving after controversy over his $5.6 million salary.
Page 3: Australia’s long four-year investment slump is set to continue through most of 2017 – official figures show spending by companies on new buildings, equipment and machinery fell for a fourth straight quarter late last year.
The last thing Westfield co-chief executive Steven Lowy bought from a shopping centre was from an Apple store – one of the very retailers seen as the biggest threat to shopping malls like his around the world.
Page 4: West Australian treasurer Mike Nahan says he will play on Pauline Hanson’s stance as a fiscal conservative to change her opposition to his $11 billion plan to partially sell the state’s electricity distribution network if the Liberals win the March election.
Page 5: NAB chairman and former Treasury secretary Ken Henry has damned modern politics for degenerating into trench warfare where populism is the ammunition and the reform narrative has been replaced by the language of fear and anger.
Page 7: Retailers have said they will use the Fair Work Commission’s cuts in Sunday penalty rates to employ more staff and boost trading hours.
Page 9: Competition and consumer regulator Rod Sims has released a shopping list of priority areas for 2017 that includes competition law breaches in the energy, healthcare, construction and agricultural sectors and consumer law breaches by car retailers and private health insurers.
Page 17: Crown Resorts chairman John Alexander says he will make ‘‘no apologies’’ for a bumper dividend payment that will deliver more than $387 million to major shareholder James Packer, describing it as a win for all investors.
Qantas Airway chief executive Alan Joyce says his $2 billion turnaround program has been vindicated after cost cuts and fuel hedging helped the airline to weather the impact of fierce international competition and a declining resources sector and beat first-half earnings forecasts.
Page 19: OZ Minerals has budgeted for power prices at its flagship Prominent Hill copper mine to rise 30 per cent in 2017 and 60 per cent in following years, as it seeks to protect its profits from further power supply shocks.
The Australian
Page 1: Bill Shorten’s assault on the Fair Work Commission’s historic decision to cut the Sunday and public holiday penalty rates of hundreds of thousands of workers has been undermined by revelations that a worker he paraded as a victim of the far-reaching ruling would not be affected.
Australia Post’s chairman has vowed to slash the pay of the company’s next chief executive, as outgoing boss Ahmed Fahour invoked the example of US basketball great LeBron James to justify his $5.6 million package.
National Australia Bank chairman Ken Henry has savaged the nation’s political leaders for failing to confront some of the biggest challenges facing the country, warning of mounting pressures on households amid a partisan divide over solutions.
Page 2: Tony Abbott says the Coalition risks a “drift to defeat” if it fails to lift its performance as he brazenly advocated ending subsidies for renewable energy, reducing immigration and abolishing the Human Rights Commission.
Page 3: Nine Entertainment has scotched suggestions of a full merger with Fairfax Media, but said the broadcaster remained keen on the publisher’s radio and digital assets, including streaming service Stan, if they were to be spun out.
Page 4: Australia’s energy sector will fall 10 per cent short of meeting its 2016 renewable energy target, after electricity retailers chose to pay penalties to the national regulator instead of buying enough green power.
Page 5: Accounting giant PwC and a slew of large building companies have emerged as some of the biggest winners under a government policy designed to stimulate economic development among indigenous businesses.
Page 6: Former ACTU president Martin Ferguson has called on unions to accept the industrial umpire’s decision to cut Sunday penalty rates, as labour leaders yesterday demanded parliament intervene and overrule the decision.
Page 7: Booming enrolments in online university teaching courses could play havoc with state governments’ ability to plan for future workforces, with hundreds of graduates going unaccounted for.
Page 8: Australia’s competition watchdog will work directly with Airbnb, Stayz and other shared accommodation providers to stop the dramatic rise in users being scammed on the site.
Page 19: Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce has added to business calls for greater certainty of energy supply and pricing in Australia, but said the nation also needed to be more competitive in taxation and industrial relations if it was to attract more global investment.
Online behemoth Amazon and a growing legion of cutting-edge stores in food, cosmetics, technology, health and fitness were changing the face of retailing and bringing into question many existing business models, according to Steven Lowy, co-chief executive of shopping centre giant Westfield Corporation.
The value of cash returned to James Packer’s private company is poised to exceed almost $1 billion in less than a year after Crown Resorts paid out a big special dividend to shareholders in its first half results despite reporting an 11 per cent fall in net profit.
Page 20: The future of the West Australian TAB could be decided two days before the state election, when the national competition regulator is due to rule on the Tabcorp and Tattersall’s mega-merger.
The first shareholder class action has been lodged against embattled infant formula company Bellamy’s as it reports today its first-half financial results after its spectacular $800 million stockmarket crash in early December.
The West Australian
Page 1: A secret tape recording has emerged of a crisis meeting held at the height of Essendon’s drugs war with the AFL.
Page 3: Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan believes WA’s “soft” borders are contributing to the State’s methamphetamine crisis, claiming Federal agencies needed to do more to stop the drug reaching Australia.
Page 4: Colin Barnett has vowed to emulate the Fair Work Commission’s decision to slash penalty rates for almost one million Sunday workers, putting industrial relations at the centre of the State election campaign.
Page 5: Businesses are promising more jobs and better service on the back of a cut in Sunday penalty rates but unions are warning of an industrial battle to block the move.
Page 6: A WA Liberal Party candidate twice worked for a real estate company now at the centre of an investigation into a failed $200 million Pilbara investment scheme.
The Barnett Government has dismissed as “fiction” Labor Party claims of a $5 billion cost blowout in the divisive Perth Freight Link.
Page 7: Hoon drivers are on notice that the covert camera fleet used to catch them will be doubled if the Liberal Government is re-elected.
Page 9: Self-managed superannuation funds are being used illegally to pay bills, lend to relatives and even buy groceries.
Page 17: Respected former Labor MP and minister Kim Chance has died aged 70.
Page 19: Former prime minister Tony Abbott has delivered a scathing analysis of the Turnbull Government, highlighting voter “despair” and concerns “the coalition has become Labor-lite”.
Page 53: A US fund manager could end up with a controlling stake of more than 30 per cent in Emeco Holdings after a deal with another creditor.
Atlas Iron has rejigged its production guidance as its Wodgina and Abydos mines approach the end of their life, after the company swung back into the black on last year’s rise in the iron ore price.
An Osborne Park gym run by a Stirling city councillor has suddenly closed after the landlord repossessed the property, claiming unpaid rent.
Page 54: Qantas chief Alan Joyce says the Flying Kangaroo is in world beating form, withstanding an onslaught of international competition spawned by lower fuel prices far better than its rivals.
WA apartment developer Finbar has blamed project timing and a writedown for a first-half net loss of $3.2 million.
Mineral sands miner Iluka Resources has failed to declare a final dividend for the first time since 2011 after sliding a “disappointing” $224 million full-year loss on the back of hefty writedowns related to restructuring.
Page 55: Toxfree Solutions’ share price slumped after reporting a 54 per cent profit drop for the first half.