Morning Headlines

PM to demand more gas supply

Malcolm Turnbull will press the nation’s gas giants to ramp up production as a short-term solution to an impending domestic supply crisis on the east coast during an emergency meeting in Canberra today. The Fin

CBA, BankWest tighten screw on property buyers

Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation’s largest mortgage provider, and its subsidiary, Bankwest, are set to increase the size of deposits, raise interest rates and toughen lending conditions for property investors. The Fin

Gonski out in the cold on company tax

Australia’s banking heavyweights have renewed calls for business tax cuts, breaking with ANZ chairman David Gonski, who last week questioned the effectiveness of the long-awaited tax relief measures. The Fin

Penalty rate cut a job-creating boon, says Cash

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash has described proposed Sunday and public holiday penalty rate cuts as “moderate”, urging voters to support the pay reductions to help small business compete against big retailers and give more employment opportunities to young people. The Aus

RBA set to double down on loans

The Reserve Bank has given the strongest indication yet of its intentions to crack down on lending limits with fresh macroprudential measures, in a bid to ease renewed risks around resurgent house price growth and investor borrowing that could keep interest rates lower for longer. The Aus

Malone’s ring-in stirs the pot

Internet richie Michael Malone wasn’t told about Seven West boss Tim Worner’s illicit affair with group personal assistant Amber Harrison before he joined the Seven West board in 2015, but it looks like the iiNet founder is making his presence felt in the boardroom now. The Aus

Libs eyed raid on party funds to match ad spend

The WA Liberal Party was so short of election campaign funds that MPs floated the idea of raiding normally protected corporate holdings or even borrowing cash to fight against the onslaught of WA Labor and union advertising. The West

Break Link promise, Labor urged

The Federal Liberal Party is urging premier-elect Mark McGowan to ditch his promise to axe the Perth Freight Link, saying the weekend election proves there is support across the city’s southern suburbs for the project. The West

Alinta hands out bonus stock

Loyal Alinta customers will be given bonus shares as part of the gas utility’s $4 billion re-float, which kicks off with the lodgement of a prospectus tomorrow. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill’s $550 million energy plan has enraged the federal government which has labelled it confusing and ‘‘nonsense’’ as it seeks legal advice about whether it breaches the rules of the National Electricity Market.

Malcolm Turnbull will press the nation’s gas giants to ramp up production as a short-term solution to an impending domestic supply crisis on the east coast during an emergency meeting in Canberra today.

Page 2: A four-day working week, a six-hour working day and a ‘‘guaranteed adequate income’’ could make Australian workers happier and provide more opportunities for others, Greens leader Richard Di Natale says, questioning political orthodoxy that more work improves lives.

Page 4: Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation’s largest mortgage provider, and its subsidiary, Bankwest, are set to increase the size of deposits, raise interest rates and toughen lending conditions for property investors.

Page 5: WA Nationals leader Brendon Grylls has become the biggest scalp of the stinging backlash against the West Australian government, losing his Pilbara seat to Labor’s Kevin Michel.

Page 7: Building materials giant Brickworks will consider moving its manufacturing overseas after being forced to pay 76 per cent more for gas at its east coast operations.

Page 11: Australia’s banking heavyweights have renewed calls for business tax cuts, breaking with ANZ chairman David Gonski, who last week questioned the effectiveness of the long-awaited tax relief measures.

Page 13: Australia’s largest health insurer, Medibank, was set to save $24 million from a change to policies made just months before its float, a court has heard.

Page 14: Customers of the federal government’s $22 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme will be able to pay for health services through a new platform to be rolled out by Westpac Banking Corp, which has taken a 10 per cent equity stake in payments firm InLoop.

The Australian

Page 1: The nation’s biggest gas exporters are being threatened with tough new rules to guarantee domestic supply as Malcolm Turnbull meets industry chiefs today in the wake of South Australia’s dramatic $550 million plan to “go it alone” on energy security.

Incoming ACTU secretary Sally McManus will lead a national union campaign to pressure Bill Shorten to commit to sweeping pro-worker changes to workplace laws in the lead up to the next federal election.

Page 2: Employment Minister Michaelia Cash has described proposed Sunday and public holiday penalty rate cuts as “moderate”, urging voters to support the pay reductions to help small business compete against big retailers and give more employment opportunities to young people.

Page 6: The one-time kingmaker of West Australian politics, National Party leader Brendon Grylls, has lost his seat after taking on the power of the mining industry with his plan to force BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto to pay billions of extra dollars into state coffers.

The West Australian Liberal Party has sunk deeper into turmoil after former minister Joe Francis lost his once-safe seat and attacked the party’s “dysfunctional” election campaign, saying outgoing premier Colin Barnett should have been dumped last year.

Page 7: Health Minister Greg Hunt has called for fresh data on the cost of medical prostheses in public hospitals, signalling that the federal government will consider additional measures to reduce the high price of similar devices in the private sector.

Page 19: The Reserve Bank has given the strongest indication yet of its intentions to crack down on lending limits with fresh macroprudential measures, in a bid to ease renewed risks around resurgent house price growth and investor borrowing that could keep interest rates lower for longer.

Internet richie Michael Malone wasn’t told about Seven West boss Tim Worner’s illicit affair with group personal assistant Amber Harrison before he joined the Seven West board in 2015, but it looks like the iiNet founder is making his presence felt in the boardroom now.

Page 20: Origin Energy’s upstream asset sale is about to trigger a round of speed dating among its suitors, according to sources, with investment bankers believed to be in the process of pulling together bidding consortiums for the operation.

Page 21: Australia’s resurgent mining sector stands to generate up to $US34 billion ($45bn) in cash this year, but the market is divided over just what miners should do with it.

The West Australian

Page 1: High-profile election loser Joe Francis has delivered a scathing critique of how the Barnett government crumbled and he warned Liberal Party chiefs and the handful remaining MPs to be honest about what went wrong.

Page 7: The WA Liberal Party was so short of election campaign funds that MPs floated the idea of raiding normally protected corporate holdings or even borrowing cash to fight against the onslaught of WA Labor and union advertising.

Page 8: Nationals WA leader Brendon Grylls’ mining tax campaign has backfired spectacularly, costing the 2008 political kingmaker his seat in the Pilbara.

Page 9: The Federal Liberal Party is urging premier-elect Mark McGowan to ditch his promise to axe the Perth Freight Link, saying the weekend election proves there is support across the city’s southern suburbs for the project.

Page 11: Nearly one million people from overseas visited WA last year — a record fuelled by tens of thousands of new tourists from Malaysia, the United States, Singapore and China.

Page 14: One of the nation’s biggest home builders has backed calls to allow young Australians to use their superannuation to buy into the property market, just as the Reserve Bank signals it may tighten lending criteria.

Page 17: Andrew Forrest has urged the Federal Government to “show courage” and roll out its cashless debit card to all welfare recipients under the age of 18.

Page 29: Loyal Alinta customers will be given bonus shares as part of the gas utility’s $4 billion re-float, which kicks off with the lodgement of a prospectus tomorrow.

Australian Greens WA Senator Scott Ludlam has asked the corporate watchdog to investigate whether uranium hopeful Vimy Resources misled investors over the Mulga Rock project.

Page 31: Six companies at the heart of an alleged $200 million Pilbara Ponzi scheme have been put into provisional liquidation by the Federal Court.

Former AWB chairman Trevor Flugge has been cleared of being a “crook” who knew about the wheat exporter’s sham payments to Iraq and should not face any penalty, a court has been told.

Page 32: Prohibitive shipping costs will prevent Brickworks from ramping up production at its WA plants to help support an east coast network hit by sharply rising energy prices.

Exceptionally wet conditions in the north and a change of Northern Territory Government have meant plans to start building the developed world’s biggest prawn farm have been delayed by a year.

Page 73: Institutional property giant Charter Hall has made a strategic, counter-cyclical swoop on Perth’s beleaguered industrial market, snapping up the Smith’s Snackfood Company site in Canning Vale for $9.6 million.

Page 76: A Defence Housing Australia apartment development in Fremantle will add to the town’s transformation.