Big childcare fee hike
The nation’s second-biggest childcare provider has been accused of trying to rip off parents by issuing “curious” fee increases a day after Bill Shorten announced Labor would increase the government subsidy if elected on May 18. The West
Nickel surge could breathe life back into Ravensthorpe
A surge in nickel prices has Canadian miner First Quantum considering a restart of the Western Australian mine it shuttered in October 2017. The Fin
Dream is alive for first-time buyers
First-homebuyers struggling to get a loan will be given easier access to the State Government’s low-income lender as part of efforts to boost WA’s ailing housing market. The West
Labor electric car plan a ‘soft target’
Labor leader Bill Shorten’s electric vehicle policy is a ‘‘soft’’ target and politicians are ‘‘kidding themselves’’ if they think governments will still need to be mandating electric vehicle adoption by 2030, according to one of Australia’s biggest lithium exporters. The Fin
Facebook and Google sell big in Australia, taxed little
Australians paid Google $4.3 billion and Facebook $598 million for services in 2018, yet the search and social media giants paid corporate tax of only $49 million and $14 million respectively. The Fin
Deal-maker Fotios bankrupt
Perth mining boss Michael Fotios has been declared bankrupt after a long-running battle with the Australian Taxation Office. The West
NDIA chief in sudden resignation
The Coalition’s point man at the top of the National Disability Insurance Agency has resigned suddenly, effective immediately, less than two years after taking the job. The Aus
Hospitals bid wins backing of AusSuper
Canadian asset manager Brookfield has cleared a major hurdle to its $4.4 billion takeover of Australia’s second-largest private hospital operator after Healthscope’s biggest shareholder, Australian-Super, agreed to vote in favour of the scheme of arrangement. The Aus
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: The CFMEU has accused the Palaszczuk government of double standards by approving an expansion of a thermal coal mine in Queensland, but still blocking Adani’s own $2 billion Carmichael thermal coal project, in the Galilee Basin.
Page 2: Australians paid Google $4.3 billion and Facebook $598 million for services in 2018, yet the search and social media giants paid corporate tax of only $49 million and $14 million respectively.
Page 3: Moves to oust Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, over claims of corruption and financial mismanagement threaten a $16 billion gas deal agreed by Australia’s Oil Search just three weeks ago.
University PhD graduates are leaving academia in droves and looking for jobs in the private sector and government. A survey by the CSIRO and the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute shows that 51 per cent of PhD students want to leave the university sector and work in business.
Page 5: Labor will go to the May 18 election without estimating the cost to business of its climate change policy, saying it was impossible to do so.
Page 10: Labor leader Bill Shorten’s electric vehicle policy is a ‘‘soft’’ target and politicians are ‘‘kidding themselves’’ if they think governments will still need to be mandating electric vehicle adoption by 2030, according to one of Australia’s biggest lithium exporters.
Page 12: Netflix is teaming up with the company behind the hit movie Crazy Rich Asians to produce a mini-series about the perilous rescue of 12 young soccer players and their coach from a flooded cave in Thailand.
Page 13: Solid sales at discretionary retailers JB Hi-Fi and Super Retail Group suggest consumers are still willing to spend on technology, hobbies and sports despite weak wage growth, a weakening economy and political uncertainty.
Virgin Australia’s new chief executive officer has backed Boeing’s ability to deliver a new fleet of 737 Max aircraft on schedule, after two tragic crashes resulted in the planes being grounded worldwide.
Page 15: A surge in nickel prices has Canadian miner First Quantum considering a restart of the Western Australian mine it shuttered in October 2017.
Telstra has put industry lobby groups on notice over their positions on climate change, following major Australian companies such as Westpac and Rio Tinto in promoting a shift to a more progressive stance on the issue.
Page 20: Beach Energy is seen as well placed to chase after further growth or increase dividends to shareholders after reporting a strong quarter of production and earnings and confirming it will be debt-free some two years earlier than planned when it acquired Lattice Energy for $1.585 billion.
The Australian
Page 1: Richard Di Natale will appeal directly to Bill Shorten to work with the Greens in a Gillard-era inspired coalition after May 18 to combat climate change, warning the Labor leader he will never reach a bipartisan position with the Coalition.
Page 2: The Coalition’s point man at the top of the National Disability Insurance Agency has resigned suddenly, effective immediately, less than two years after taking the job.
Page 4: Bill Shorten has left open a Labor government granting taxpayer-funded wage increases to “underpaid” aged-care workers from next year, as he sought to contain demands for him to extend his $10 billion pre-election wage subsidy promise to childcare workers to other sectors.
Page 19: Macquarie boss Shemara Wikramanayake has warned Australia faces sluggish near-term economic growth as a housing correction and the pending federal election raise concerns investment may dry up.
Westpac will take a $753 million hit to its half-year cash profit on Monday after yesterday flagging a further $357m in customer remediation provisions associated with advice fees charged by its aligned planners.
Page 21: Canadian asset manager Brookfield has cleared a major hurdle to its $4.4 billion takeover of Australia’s second-largest private hospital operator after Healthscope’s biggest shareholder, Australian-Super, agreed to vote in favour of the scheme of arrangement.
Energy drink Red Bull has emerged as one of the biggest winners from a pivot to convenience shopping by supermarket heavyweights Woolworths and Coles, with the grocery channel the fastest growing sector for the category, along with licensed venues such as pubs and clubs.
Page 23: Banks and wealth management companies will be forced to remove conflicts of interest from their superannuation businesses after the prudential regulator agreed there was “ongoing weakness” in vertically integrated sections of the $2.7 trillion sector.
The West Australian
Page 8: The nation’s second-biggest childcare provider has been accused of trying to rip off parents by issuing “curious” fee increases a day after Bill Shorten announced Labor would increase the government subsidy if elected on May 18.
Page 9: Prime Minister Scott Morrison will today vow to give $16.25 million to a soccer facility proposed for Queens Park in Liberal MP Steve Irons’ marginal seat of Swan.
Page 10: First-homebuyers struggling to get a loan will be given easier access to the State Government’s low-income lender as part of efforts to boost WA’s ailing housing market.
Page 11: Dog owners should stop training their dog if it gets anxious in the process, according to new “health and welfare” guidelines drawn up by the McGowan Government.
Business: Perth mining boss Michael Fotios has been declared bankrupt after a long-running battle with the Australian Taxation Office.
Federal Labor has vowed to immediately ban live sheep trade over the northern summer if it gains power at this month’s election but caused confusion by failing to define the time frame.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce says the carrier’s attempts to connect Australia’s east coast with London or New York in a single 21-hour flight is the local equivalent of the space race.
