Morning Headlines

ANZ blows up bureaucracy

ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott will take an axe to the bank’s hierarchies and bureaucracy and shift the workforce into ‘‘agile’’ teams mimicking the way businesses such as Google, Facebook and Spotify operate, to launch new products faster as the bank grapples with an era of low credit growth. The Fin

Uni changes put squeeze on students

University students will be squeezed with a 7.5 per cent tuition fee hike and higher repayments on government provided loans, while universities will be hit with a 2.5 per cent efficiency dividend under higher education funding changes announced on Monday night. The Fin

Amazon to hit retailer earnings say fundies

Amazon will wipe 16 per cent off discretionary retailers’ earnings and 12 per cent off grocery retailer profits within years of entering Australia, according to surveys of fund managers and brokers by UBS. The Fin

MPs in fight to keep slush fund

A $45 million slush fund for MPs to use on small community projects is expected to be renewed in next week’s budget, with Malcolm Turnbull under pressure from the backbench to keep the program running. The Aus

Directors upbeat on economy

Confidence levels in Australia’s boardrooms have soared to their highest level in six years, driven by increased optimism about the Australian, Asian and US economies, but a majority of the nation’s directors still believe too many boards remain risk-averse in their decision-making. The Aus

Elliott envoys arrive to push BHP changes

BHP Billiton’s activist shareholder Elliott Management has sent representatives to Australia this week, to push a plan to dissolve the mining giant’s dual-listed structure for a London primary listing, float its US petroleum assets and return more money to shareholders. The Aus

Environment Minister investigates ways to cut shopping waste

Single-use plastic bags could be banned in WA after Environment Minister Stephen Dawson said they were a blight on the environment and he would look at ways of ridding them from the State. The West

Demerit plan splits builders

The construction sector is divided over a proposed demerit point system for builders that the State Government is considering as yet another company is banned from doing any work. The West

Chevron blasts tax judgment

A top Chevron executive says a tax ruling against the energy giant will affect investment in Australia and dramatically change the rules for intercompany lending. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott will take an axe to the bank’s hierarchies and bureaucracy and shift the workforce into ‘‘agile’’ teams mimicking the way businesses such as Google, Facebook and Spotify operate, to launch new products faster as the bank grapples with an era of low credit growth.

Treasurer Scott Morrison said the apartment market has peaked, showing that lending controls driven by banking regulator APRA have worked sufficiently to dampen demand by local investors and foreign buyers.

Page 3: Newly appointed Graincorp chairman Graham Bradley has warned the government’s 457 visa changes will push CEO pay higher and potentially force businesses to move their operations offshore after his US-born CEO Mark Palmquist joined a host of business heavyweights caught-up in the crackdown.

Page 4: University students will be squeezed with a 7.5 per cent tuition fee hike and higher repayments on government provided loans, while universities will be hit with a 2.5 per cent efficiency dividend under higher education funding changes announced on Monday night.

Page 6: In a precedent-setting decision, the Federal Circuit Court has held an accountancy firm was liable for an employer’s underpayments because it failed to make inquiries into whether minimum conditions were being met.

Page 8: Chinese investment in Australia is at its highest point since the 2008 global financial crisis, according to a new report which shows deals in the energy sector topped those in mining for the first time last year.

Page 13: Amazon will wipe 16 per cent off discretionary retailers’ earnings and 12 per cent off grocery retailer profits within years of entering Australia, according to surveys of fund managers and brokers by UBS.

Page 18: Rio Tinto has struck a partnership with Chinese state-owned entity Minmetals, in a move that deepens the company’s relationship with one of the world’s most powerful mining organisations.

The Australian

Page 1: Students will have to pay up to $3600 more for a four-year university degree and start paying back their loans as soon as their income reaches $42,000, as the federal government tries to reset its higher education reforms after three years of political fury over divisive budget savings.

Page 2: An aged-care corporation worth almost $1.4 billion has asked the Federal Court whether it can continue charging its residents $15 a day under the guise of a fee that was explicitly banned in September by the federal Department of Health, putting it on a collision course with authorities.

Page 4: A $45 million slush fund for MPs to use on small community projects is expected to be renewed in next week’s budget, with Malcolm Turnbull under pressure from the backbench to keep the program running.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk yesterday ramped up her attack on Malcolm Turnbull over his energy policy and GST review as it emerged the state government is facing a squeeze on its budgetary bottom line.

Page 17: Confidence levels in Australia’s boardrooms have soared to their highest level in six years, driven by increased optimism about the Australian, Asian and US economies, but a majority of the nation’s directors still believe too many boards remain risk-averse in their decision-making.

Shell has written off $390 million worth of newly acquired coalseam and other gas exploration and evaluation ground associated with the Queensland Curtis LNG plant at Gladstone because of poor drilling and testing results.

Page 20: BHP Billiton’s activist shareholder Elliott Management has sent representatives to Australia this week, to push a plan to dissolve the mining giant’s dual-listed structure for a London primary listing, float its US petroleum assets and return more money to shareholders.

The West Australian

Page 1: University students will run up thousands of dollars more debt and have to pay it back faster under a revamped higher education package that will save the Federal Government $2.8 billion.

Single-use plastic bags could be banned in WA after Environment Minister Stephen Dawson said they were a blight on the environment and he would look at ways of ridding them from the State.

Page 4: Treasurer Scott Morrison is poised to unveil a march back to Budget surplus built on a huge increase in the tax burden faced by the lowest paid workers in the country.

Page 9: The construction sector is divided over a proposed demerit point system for builders that the State Government is considering as yet another company is banned from doing any work.

Page 12: Qantas’ next nonstop flight will be Perth to Paris starting late next year, according to airline insiders, as analysts say the Boeing 787 Dreamliner services from WA will be a game changer.

Page 16: Sweeping public sector reforms should result in fewer than 3000 job losses, Treasurer Ben Wyatt believes.

Page 49: A top Chevron executive says a tax ruling against the energy giant will affect investment in Australia and dramatically change the rules for intercompany lending.

They struggle to promote the benefits of their industry, but mining companies face another challenge in coming years as they cut back workforces to fit technology-smart mines.

The Australian Institute of Company Directors believes the Federal Government has missed an opportunity to improve the GST by limiting the scope of its proposed inquiry.

Page 50: ANZ will kick off what is expected to be a solid round of bank earnings over the next week, with investors eager for clues on how long the blue skies over the sector can last.

Page 51: Big-bank dividend fever during a low-volume, rollercoaster session drove the Australian sharemarket to a marginal twoyear high yesterday.