Huawei hangs up
A $200 million contract controversially awarded to a consortium involving Chinese company Huawei will go back to restricted tender after the telecommunications giant was forced to pull out because of US trade restrictions. The West
Travel budgets among first for cut
Two in five organisations are mulling the need for less office space and nearly half will reduce their travel budgets as they eye new cost-cutting measures after COVID-19. The Fin
School offers pupil $500 'award' amid fears virus & guaranteed university has left them 'disengaged'
A top-ranking public school plans to use money to give Year 12 students $500 cash incentives to work harder. The West
Off-the-plan sales go off the rails
More than 3000 off-the-plan apartment sales have collapsed in the past three months with buyers forfeiting nearly $90 million in deposits. The Fin
Oil Search shakes up jobs as industry reels
Oil Search has axed its workforce by a third to cope with the dramatic collapse in oil prices which has wreaked havoc in the industry and ensnared global major Royal Dutch Shell. The Fin
Borders a business sore point
The easing of coronavirus restrictions delivered a temporary spike in economic confidence but the long-term outlook remains grim, with two-thirds of businesses forecasting worsening conditions in the year ahead. The West
AMP exits life insurance after 170 years
AMP will net $1.1 billion in capital and has dangled the prospect of a dividend for long-suffering shareholders after completing the sale of its life insurance division in what its chief executive said was a ‘‘complex deal to get over the line’’ amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Fin
NAB tells staff to stay at home
NAB has become the first big business to shut two CBD offices amid a fresh spike in coronavirus infections and as companies look to dramatically reshape their footprints as working from home becomes the new normal. The Aus
Branson in bid for Virgin 2.0 stake
Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is in talks with Bain Capital over its future involvement in Virgin Australia, which could range from a licensing deal to Virgin taking as much as 10 per cent equity in the Australian airline. The Aus
Hopping mad over new Aussie logo
A new logo developed to sell brand Australia to the world has been slammed as confusing by advertising experts who say the abstract gold wattle design looks more like a luxury perfume label than an official national logo. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: More than 3000 off-the-plan apartment sales have collapsed in the past three months with buyers forfeiting nearly $90 million in deposits.
Page 2: Two in five organisations are mulling the need for less office space and nearly half will reduce their travel budgets as they eye new cost-cutting measures after COVID-19.
Page 3: The new chief executive of the Australian Associated Press newswire, Emma Cowdroy, is confident the news agency’s services cannot be replicated and will remain highly valuable to a broad set of customers.
AMP Capital employees yesterday demanded their new chief executive Boe Pahari explain how he could guarantee an appropriate environment for the firm’s diverse workforce, following revelations he was promoted to the top role after settling a sexual harassment claim brought by a female employee.
Page 10: Contract services businesses such as Spotless can no longer rely on a broad exemption to paying redundancy when they lose contracts as a result of a precedent-setting ruling and are now potentially on the hook for millions of dollars in entitlements.
Page 11: Supermarket giant Woolworths has been hit with the media regulator’s largest fine yet – more than $1 million – after more than 5 million breaches of spam regulation.
Page 12: Hong Kong police made their first arrests under new national security laws during a tense stand-off with protesters yesterday just half a day after China imposed sweeping changes to the city’s legal system which mean its critics can be jailed for life.
Page 13: America’s pandemic is at risk of spiralling out of control, says the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, Anthony Fauci, as he warns of a ‘‘very disturbing’’ future in which cases of COVID-19 could surge by more than 100,000 a day.
Page 14: A rare Aboriginal board painting from the dawn of the Western Desert art movement has returned to Australia from Spain to be sold on the secondary market for the first time since its creation in 1972.
Page 15: Suncorp will offload office space, speed up digitisation and merge the insurance division into the parent group in a major pandemic-era shake-up that will put chief executive Steve Johnston’s stamp on the assurance giant.
Oil Search has axed its workforce by a third to cope with the dramatic collapse in oil prices which has wreaked havoc in the industry and ensnared global major Royal Dutch Shell.
Page 18: AMP will net $1.1 billion in capital and has dangled the prospect of a dividend for long-suffering shareholders after completing the sale of its life insurance division in what its chief executive said was a ‘‘complex deal to get over the line’’ amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Page 31: Hotel values could fall as much as 30 per cent across the Asia Pacific region, including in Australia, because of the impact of COVID-19, warns JLL Hotels boss Mike Batchelor.
The Australian
Page 1: Indigenous organisations will be handed unprecedented power, responsibility and funding to improve health and education outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people under a proposed new Closing the Gap agreement to be discussed at national cabinet.
Offshore crime syndicates have been targeting the government’s JobKeeper, JobSeeker and early superannuation access schemes with the Australian Federal Police freezing the financial assets of a number of suspected organised crime groups.
Page 3: Charging Tesla owners to use the roads would be a “unicorn reform” that would lift state government revenues and remedy a “deeply unfair” bias towards electric vehicles, says one of the nation’s top infrastructure advisers.
Page 6: Australia’s defence spending could hit 2.5 per cent of GDP within a decade under the federal government’s new force structure plan, but experts are questioning whether the $270bn funding envelope will be enough to deliver the full range of promised capabilities.
Page 7: The defence industry is turning to sidelined Qantas and Virgin workers and former Holden employees to meet skill shortages as the Morrison government pushes ahead with a $200bn hardware acquisition plan.
Page 13: The Australian Financial Complaints Authority will seek an urgent Federal Court ruling on the insurance industry’s ability to exclude pandemics such as COVID-19 from their business interruption policies.
Corporate Australia is bracing for a potential second wave of the coronavirus outbreak, with a spike in infections across Melbourne’s suburbs rattling already fragile confidence.
NAB has become the first big business to shut two CBD offices amid a fresh spike in coronavirus infections and as companies look to dramatically reshape their footprints as working from home becomes the new normal.
Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is in talks with Bain Capital over its future involvement in Virgin Australia, which could range from a licensing deal to Virgin taking as much as 10 per cent equity in the Australian airline.
Page 14: Australian department store David Jones is poised to launch the sales process for its $1bn property portfolio, with promotional material being sent out to the market next week.
Page 17: Lendlease has revealed the heavy toll the coronavirus has taken on its global operations, with the construction and development company saying it will post a full-year net loss of up to $340m as key projects are set back by the pandemic.
The West Australian
Page 1: A top-ranking public school plans to use money to give Year 12 students $500 cash incentives to work harder.
Page 3: Prominent Perth lawyer and Cottesloe local John Hammond has described a dispute over a proposed skate park as “elitist, embarrassing and disgraceful” after a bizarre letter drop by the plan’s opponents claiming local residents are “smarter”.
Page 4: A typical worker’s health will give out well before they reach pension age, research suggests.
Page 5: A new logo developed to sell brand Australia to the world has been slammed as confusing by advertising experts who say the abstract gold wattle design looks more like a luxury perfume label than an official national logo.
Page 7: The financial crimes squad is investigating four former City of Perth councillors and two staff members after referrals from a two-year inquiry into the dysfunctional council.
One in five West Australian children under three is not being read to regularly because their parents do not understand the benefits.
Page 8: Land sales have exploded to their highest levels in five years, with new releases selling out in days and warnings of an impending shortage of available lots.
Page 14: The Perth-based diving company accused of sending elite divers to record depths at excessive speed — causing seven of them to suffer ongoing brain injuries — is being prosecuted over the horrifying incident.
Business: A $200 million contract controversially awarded to a consortium involving Chinese company Huawei will go back to restricted tender after the telecommunications giant was forced to pull out because of US trade restrictions.
The former chairman of Australia’s biggest co-operative is suing his one-time CBH board colleague for defamation over explosive claims made about him.
The easing of coronavirus restrictions delivered a temporary spike in economic confidence but the long-term outlook remains grim, with two-thirds of businesses forecasting worsening conditions in the year ahead.
