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Calls for fresh inquiry into offshore 457 visas
The West Australian branch of the Maritime Union of Australia has called for a royal commission into the 457 visa program after revelations a US company is using a 183-day-a-year work roster on an offshore drilling rig to allow its overseas workers to avoid or minimise their income-tax obligations. The Fin
Contract sellers of coal favoured in price retreat
The spot market was the place to be for coal miners in 2016, but with prices for the bulk commodity sliding rapidly, 2017 looks set to favour those selling on traditional quarterly contracts. The Fin
Sims warns against ‘I’ll go broke’ excuse
Companies are relying too much on the prospect of imminent failure to justify mergers that should not go ahead, the competition regulator says.
CBH Group splashes cash across WA after bumper crops
The nation’s biggest grains exporter, CBH Group, is showering its 4100 farmer-owners with cash as successive bumper crops in Western Australia boost profits. The Fin
Resurgent market nears post-GFC high
Australia’s sharemarket burst above the 5800-point mark yesterday, hitting a 19-month intraday high of 5827.5 amid growing expectations of a surge in corporate earnings. The bourse is now less than 200 points away from hitting 6000, a peak the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index last traded at almost nine years ago, before the global financial crisis. The Aus
Thank me for miners’ GST push: Grylls
WA Nationals leader Brendon Grylls has claimed credit for the Minerals Council of Australia’s decision to advocate for an overhaul of Australia’s controversial GST carve-up provisions. The Aus
Toro gets nod for Wiluna uranium expansion
Toro Energy has received State environmental approval to expand its Wiluna uranium project, five years after it became the first uranium miner in WA to secure approval at its Centipede and Lake Way deposits. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: The future of billions of dollars worth of oil and gas revenue is in doubt after Australia has been forced to scrap its Greater Sunrise revenue-sharing deal with Timor-Leste.
Page 3: Mining projects could be assessed faster and find it easier to win government approval in NSW under changes to planning rules proposed by the state government.
Page 4: Health Minister Sussan Ley’s flight to the sin bin leaves premium rates covering 13.5 million health fund members and the $20 billion private health fund sector up in the air, as well as a raft of healthcare reforms.
Page 6: The West Australian branch of the Maritime Union of Australia has called for a royal commission into the 457 visa program after revelations a US company is using a 183-day-a-year work roster on an offshore drilling rig to allow its overseas workers to avoid or minimise their income-tax obligations.
Two miners sacked as part of mass redundancies during a three-month-long strike at Anglo American’s German Creek mine have temporarily won their jobs back after a judge found there was a ‘‘strong case’’ their termination was unlawful.
The Commonwealth Ombudsman Colin Neave will investigate the government’s controversial data matching-driven welfare debt collection system aimed at recouping as much as $4 billion in false payments.
Page 7: Investors whose wealth has increased through soaring property prices and rising assets are in danger of being pushed into riskier financial products as they gain sophisticated investor status.
Page 8: Onerous terms in increasingly hard-to-come-by offers of gas supply are forcing industrial east coast gas buyers to investigate setting up their own energy generation as they struggle to minimise risks on costs.
Dwelling approvals rose in November last year but the overall trend of approvals continues to point downwards as home building applications peak.
Page 9: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will invest $US1 billion ($1.37 billion) toward making three new Jeep models in the US, plus a Ram pickup now built in Mexico, as President-elect Donald Trump pressures the industry to hire workers and produce vehicles above the border.
Page 13: The spot market was the place to be for coal miners in 2016, but with prices for the bulk commodity sliding rapidly, 2017 looks set to favour those selling on traditional quarterly contracts.
A major shift in strategy may often rightly be met with scepticism and concern among shareholders, but Impedi-Med chief executive Richard Carreon says applying the medical device maker’s technology to heart failure patients is a huge opportunity that the next 12 months should justify.
Some of the most prominent companies in Australia fear looming recommendations from the Productivity Commission to increase data sharing will have a chilling impact on their market power by forcing the release of commercially sensitive customer insights to competitors.
Page 15: Companies are relying too much on the prospect of imminent failure to justify mergers that should not go ahead, the competition regulator says.
The nation’s biggest grains exporter, CBH Group, is showering its 4100 farmer-owners with cash as successive bumper crops in Western Australia boost profits.
Page 16: Morgan Stanley and UBS Group are in talks with local partners to boost holdings in their China securities businesses, a sign of growing confidence in those operations, according to people familiar with the matter.
Page 17: Retirement savers may have learnt lessons from the global financial crisis, with indications they are being more conservative in the run-up to the superannuation reforms coming in on July 1 than they were during the last big overhaul in 2006.
NAB has sent the personal details of 60,000 clients to a domain name squatter and adult website owner in a bungle that could have compromised the security of its customers and could also threaten its reputation.
Hunter Hall International insists it’s business as usual, appointing interim executives from within to steer the fund manager after founder Peter Hall’s shock decision to sell off part of his holdings and exit the business.
Page 18: The competition regulator has set a cap on the prices retail internet service providers such as Telstra, TPG Telecom and Vocus Group can charge wholesale customers to use their superfast broadband networks.
Fast-retreating coal prices are not the only factor taking some of the wind out of Whitehaven Coal’s sails, with the miner reporting that production at the Narrabri mine in NSW will be lower than previously expected.
The Australian
Page 2: Sussan Ley’s purchase of a $795,000 apartment during a taxpayer-funded side trip to the Gold Coast would not have been allowed if all recommendations from the independent review into the parliamentary entitlements system had been implemented.
One of the first tasks Arthur Sinodinos will have in the health portfolio is deciding how much health insurance premiums should rise this year and what the government can do to help cash-strapped consumers.
Page 6: Congressional Republicans’ worries over Donald Trump’s views on Russia are deepening, with hawks saying they still have questions about approving Rex Tillerson for secretary of state days before his scheduled confirmation hearing.
Page 7: Theresa May has revealed that Britain will not attempt to cling on to parts of its EU membership in the strongest sign to date that she is heading for a “hard Brexit”.
Page 13: Australia’s sharemarket burst above the 5800-point mark yesterday, hitting a 19-month intraday high of 5827.5 amid growing expectations of a surge in corporate earnings. The bourse is now less than 200 points away from hitting 6000, a peak the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index last traded at almost nine years ago, before the global financial crisis.
Investors expecting a dividend windfall out of the resources rebound could be left disappointed, with the chief commodity forecaster’s warning of a short-lived recovery in mining and energy export values likely to be echoed by a conservative capital management approach among the nation’s big miners.
The hefty spending by troubled infant milk formula company Bellamy’s on consultants was questioned by the company’s directors amid their growing concerns about the financial management of the company by chief executive Laura McBain.
WA Nationals leader Brendon Grylls has claimed credit for the Minerals Council of Australia’s decision to advocate for an overhaul of Australia’s controversial GST carve-up provisions.
Page 14: The British government is facing calls for its multi-billion-dollar privatisation of the Green Investment Bank to be halted amid concerns that the preferred bidder is preparing to “asset strip” the organisation.
China’s latest half-a-trillion dollar commitment to renewables will only boost the need for gas in the country, the only ASX-listed Chinese gas producer says.
Page 15: The chief executive of Australia’s biggest grain export and co-operative organisation, the Western Australia-based CBH Group, has dashed the dreams of investors and scheming corporate raiders hoping to bust open the co-op to harvest its earnings, saying an eventual demutualisation of the business is not inevitable.
The West Australian
Page 6: Malcolm Turnbull is sweating on a quick investigation into suspended minister Sussan Ley over her Gold Coast travel expenses scandal to avoid a potentially destabilising Cabinet reshuffle.
Page 9: Roe 8 opponents have failed in another legal bid to stop work on the highway extension after a Federal Court judge rejected a “weak” application for an injunction.
Page 12: Maverick Nationals leader Brendon Grylls has welcomed One Nation’s latest threat to run a candidate in his Pilbara electorate.
Page 14: Diabetes will cost the Australian economy $2.9 billion in lost income by 2030, according to new estimates. Australian researchers say an increase in the number of people aged 45 to 64 with diabetes will cost the economy heavily, not just in healthcare expenses but in indirect costs such as loss of income and tax revenue coupled with higher welfare payments.
Page 18: WA Labor has called for a Federal Government investigation into whether the use of subclass 457 visas and tax-minimising rostering arrangements are widespread in the offshore oil and gas industry.
Page 44: CBH has recorded a healthy 2015-16 pre-rebate surplus of $110.2 million, driven primarily by last year’s silo-busting harvest of 13.6 million tonnes.
Vaccines and blood products supplier CSL has secured marketing authorisation from the European Commission for its new treatment for haemophilia A and expects to launch the product in Europe in coming months.
Toro Energy has received State environmental approval to expand its Wiluna uranium project, five years after it became the first uranium miner in WA to secure approval at its Centipede and Lake Way deposits.
Page 45: Carnegie Clean Energy has announced a $5 million convertible note issue to “fast-track project opportunities and unlock growth”.
Page 46: Whitehaven Coal has lowered the production guidance for its Narrabri mine in NSW by about 6 per cent after encountering “adverse geotechnical conditions” at the site.