Suitors run ruler over lithium play
Rio Tinto has emerged as the latest contender to buy a stake in the Greenbushes lithium mine in Western Australia’s southwest, joining Fortescue Metals and existing owner Albemarle as an interested party. The Aus
China steel fury behind barley threat
Australian barley growers are set to become collateral damage in a broader dispute with China over the government’s aggressive use of anti-dumping measures against its steel and aluminium producers. The Fin
Another China beef awaits
Australia’s beef and wine producers should be concerned about China’s threat to hit local barley imports with a tariff, according to a trade expert, who warns they could be in the firing line amid increased political tensions between the two countries. The West
Small wineries seeing red
Just one quarter of Margaret River wineries will be permitted to offer wine tastings under Phase Two COVID-19 restrictions that have been labelled unfair and will jeopardise the viability of boutique operations. The West
Two-year hangover from Covid
The industries most severely damaged in the COVID-19 shutdown — hospitality, accommodation, air transport and retail trade — will take two years to recover the losses inflicted by the pandemic. The Aus
Fair Work member sent secret emails to BHP
A Fair Work member appointed by the Coalition secretly emailed in-house modelling to BHP that showed its controversial new enterprise agreement left workers worse off than the award minimum, two hours before he approved the deal. The Fin
‘Australians know there is no money tree’: Treasurer
Josh Frydenberg will today start building the case for a new economic agenda while warning that going backwards in terms of combating the coronavirus will come at further heavy cost to the economy. The Fin
Supply chain finance scheme under review, says CIMIC
CIMIC, Australia’s biggest construction company, has put its supply chain finance scheme ‘‘under review’’ for the first time after reporting its first quarter net profit fell 8 per cent to $166 million. The Fin
Don’t risk early exit on JobKeeper: business
Business warns the federal government it should not cut short its $130 billion JobKeeper program even if COVID-19 restrictions are fully lifted by July, but should consider industry-specific packages after the six-month program finishes. The Fin
Retailers hear tills a-ringing as NZ reopens
The boss of electronics and furniture retailer Harvey Norman says the group’s 30 stores in New Zealand expect a sales bump from May 14 when retail across the board can reopen after lockdown laws there were further relaxed. The Fin
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Australian barley growers are set to become collateral damage in a broader dispute with China over the government’s aggressive use of anti-dumping measures against its steel and aluminium producers.
Page 3: The corporate regulator is scrutinising COVID-19-related disclosures, noting that share trading by company insiders could be damaging given the jittery state of markets.
Confidence about not becoming infected with COVID-19 is the key to a faster economic recovery, according to real-time data analysis of US state reopenings from Harvard University.
Page 4: Josh Frydenberg will today start building the case for a new economic agenda while warning that going backwards in terms of combating the coronavirus will come at further heavy cost to the economy.
Page 5: As the COVID-19 lockdown loosens and people begin going out and mixing, the latest fatality figures sound a clear warning for people over 70.
Page 6: A Fair Work member appointed by the Coalition secretly emailed in-house modelling to BHP that showed its controversial new enterprise agreement left workers worse off than the award minimum, two hours before he approved the deal.
Page 8: Business warns the federal government it should not cut short its $130 billion JobKeeper program even if COVID-19 restrictions are fully lifted by July, but should consider industry-specific packages after the six-month program finishes.
Page 10: Federal spending on the recovery from Australia’s disastrous summer bushfires will be ‘‘well more’’ than $2 billion amid a rush for assistance, Scott Morrison confirmed yesterday.
Page 11: Australia’s mining sector paid almost $40 billion in tax and royalties in the 2018-19 financial year, an annual increase of about $8 billion, according to a new report.
Page 12: Two of President Donald Trump’s top economic advisers expect unemployment to climb as the coronavirus pandemic sweeps across the US, with one predicting the jobless rate will jump to 20 per cent by next month.
Page 13: Travellers flying into Britain will soon be required to self-isolate, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned, as he extended the economic shutdown for at least another month.
Page 15: The boss of electronics and furniture retailer Harvey Norman says the group’s 30 stores in New Zealand expect a sales bump from May 14 when retail across the board can reopen after lockdown laws there were further relaxed.
CIMIC, Australia’s biggest construction company, has put its supply chain finance scheme ‘‘under review’’ for the first time after reporting its first quarter net profit fell 8 per cent to $166 million.
Page 17: Virgin Australia’s tip into administration will have a knock-on effect for the aviation supply chain as distributors struggle with outstanding debts and fight to find new customers, a credit reporting agency says.
Page 18: Investment manager Pendal has reported a 14 per cent decline in funds under management (FUM) and a 20 per cent drop in statutory profit, hit by virus-induced market volatility and $2 billion in redemptions from part-owner Westpac.
Page 19: Westpac Banking Corp will re-assess the need for thousands of highly paid technology staff to be in its big city offices, after seeing productivity increase among its developers and major projects delivered successfully by home-based teams during COVID-19 restrictions.
The Australian
Page 1: Global payments giant PayPal has become the latest big-name target of financial crimes regulator Austrac, which has hit the group with legal notices to produce information as it probes as many as 300 million potential breaches of the law.
The industries most severely damaged in the COVID-19 shutdown — hospitality, accommodation, air transport and retail trade — will take two years to recover the losses inflicted by the pandemic.
Page 2: Scott Morrison has left the door open to overhauling the $130bn JobKeeper scheme contingent on the nation’s economic recovery, as new forecasts indicate one million Australians were forced out of jobs last month.
Page 5: Chemists are using the coronavirus health crisis to push for a permanent increase in their power to issue customers with scripts for medications without a prescription, triggering a fresh stoush with doctors over their scope of their authority.
Page 6: Visitors wearing face masks streamed into Shanghai Disneyland as China’s most prominent theme park reopened on Monday in a new step towards rolling back anti-coronavirus controls that shut down its economy.
Page 13: Industry super funds have been flooded with the bulk of requests for early withdrawal for funds as payouts pass $6bn in the scheme, introduced to cushion the blow of the coronavirus downturn.
Buy now, pay later group Afterpay has swooped on Lee Hatton, the freshly appointed chief of Suncorp’s banking and wealth management unit.
Page 14: Rio Tinto has emerged as the latest contender to buy a stake in the Greenbushes lithium mine in Western Australia’s southwest, joining Fortescue Metals and existing owner Albemarle as an interested party.
Page 16: After tapping the market for $1.1bn, hearing implant giant Cochlear is now seeking to tap into the $130bn JobKeeper scheme and other government subsidies as the coronavirus wipes 60 per cent off its revenue.
The West Australian
Page 3: Just one quarter of Margaret River wineries will be permitted to offer wine tastings under Phase Two COVID-19 restrictions that have been labelled unfair and will jeopardise the viability of boutique operations.
WA pub and restaurant owners warn it is not viable for some to reopen for only 20 patrons, saying the easing of the COVID-19 restrictions failed to consider the economic impact on the phased approach.
Page 7: Bringing the economy out of hibernation will add $1.3 billion every month to WA’s gross domestic product by July and have 25,500 jobs returned in the next four weeks alone, according to Treasury modelling to be unveiled today.
Business: Australia’s beef and wine producers should be concerned about China’s threat to hit local barley imports with a tariff, according to a trade expert, who warns they could be in the firing line amid increased political tensions between the two countries.
Aspiring WA potash producer Kalium Lakes is seeking $60 million as part of an emergency raising to cover a cost blowout at its Beyondie project 160km south-east of Newman.
Insurance and banking giant Suncorp will take a $133 million hit from the pandemic as it also revealed incorrect payments to staff will cost it up to $70m.
Qantas has told both Airbus and Boeing that it is halting all plane deliveries until it completes a review of its fleet.
The coronavirus crisis has crushed the market for initial public offerings on the Australian Securities Exchange, with just two proposed listings in the pipeline.
