Source : BUSINESS NEWS
WA spending ‘up another gear’
Western Australia Premier Roger Cook has vowed to shift infrastructure spending ‘‘up another gear’’ as the state splashes billions on cost-of-living and housing measures to absorb the record 95,000 people who moved west last year. The Fin
Demand for business loans spikes
Commonwealth Bank chief Matt Comyn says the strong jobs market is driving ‘‘robust’’ demand for corporate loans and economists warn that strong business investment could push up prices for labour and equipment. The Fin
Industry super funds weighed ASX takeover
A consortium of superannuation funds, including industry giants and major shareholders AustralianSuper and UniSuper, considered lobbing a takeover bid for ASX Ltd late last year. The Fin
Stokes’ anti-AFR price rise ‘may breach law’
Billionaire media baron Kerry Stokes’ decision to increase the cost of printing The Australian Financial Review in Western Australia so high it has forced the cancellation of hard copies, appears to breach competition laws, former watchdog chief Graeme Samuel says. The Fin
Era of Jim in, gospel of Paul out: Chalmers heralds new economic orthodoxy
Jim Chalmers’ third budget will take Australia down a new economic path from the “orthodoxy” embraced by Labor and Coalition governments since the 1980s, promoting a bigger role for government as Treasury forecasts a looming slowdown in private-sector investment growth. The Aus
Labor gas vision ignites critics
Navigating complex approvals, legal challenges, declining finance options, government interventions and a declining “social licence” for gas operations all loom as major challenges to Anthony Albanese’s plan to expand gas production and secure a smooth transition to net zero by 2050. The Aus
Rita Aura
Treasurer Rita Saffioti expects to bank a $3.2 billion operating surplus this year — WA’s sixth in a row — but her Budget has been plagued by yet another cost blowout in Labor’s flagship Metronet. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 3: Accenture was warned that it could be liable for up to $40 million in back-pay for staff working excessive hours and that its overtime system represented an ‘‘ongoing’’ underpayment risk, according to a former human resources executive.
Page 4: A recovery in business investment is tipped to slow markedly in federal budget forecasts, as a cooling economy forces firms to reassess capital expenditure plans.
Page 6: Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg and X owner Elon Musk could be called on to face federal parliament as Labor launches a far-reaching inquiry into the negative effects of social media, and Meta’s refusal to pay Australian news publishers for their content.
Page 7: Six years on from the Hayne royal commission, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has found evidence that fee for no service charges remain a feature of the superannuation industry.
Page 10: The Cook government has asked the Commonwealth to co-fund a multiuser critical minerals processing hub as it braces for lower revenue from iron ore royalties and the shutdown of refineries in Western Australia’s industrial heartland.
Page 17: News Corp has agreed an extension to its $US100 million ($152 million) a year content deal with Google as it progresses an ‘‘intense and ongoing’’ restructure expected to strip tens of millions of dollars from its Australian publishing business.
Page 18: Washington H. Soul Pattinson has backed KKR’s $2.2 billion bid for Perpetual’s corporate trust and wealth businesses, deeming it a fair price for perennially overlooked assets.
Page 19: Commonwealth Bank had ‘‘slightly lower margins’’ over the past quarter, which reduced profits to $2.4 billion for the three months to March 31, as its chief executive, Matt Comyn, said competitive pressures are improving.
Page 19: ANZ has hardened its stance against funding new oil and gas projects, joining other major banks in aligning lending with the Paris commitment to limiting global temperature increases to ‘‘well below’’ 2 degrees.
Page 22: Selling in Australian shares accelerated yesterday as investors worried about the impact of rising living costs on retail sales and the banks’ lending books.
Page 22: Overseas investors are backing the federal government’s ‘‘credible’’ plan to help shed its reputation as a coal-dominated polluter as it prepares to launch Australia’s first $7 billion green bond.
Page 23: Investment chiefs say the rally in Australia’s sharemarket that pushed the bourse to a near recod seems too good to be true, and that valuations are starting to look expensive given the very uncertain economic backdrop.
Page 25: Law firm Thomson Geer has built a 4.9 per cent stake in ASX-listed Qantm Intellectual Property, which is the subject of a takeover tussle between rival IPH Limited and buyout firm Adamantem Capital.
The Australian
Page 4: Australia’s defence sector risks being “crushed” by AUKUS unless the federal government dramatically lifts R&D funding and throws its support behind the industry’s small and medium enterprises.
Page 6: Western Australia will use its swollen treasury coffers to deal with the side effects of record migration, amid signs that years of booming economy have put a strain on the state’s infrastructure.
Page 13: Orica CEO Sanjeev Gandhi says the country risks losing more manufacturing if soaring gas prices are not tamed as a matter of urgency.
Page 14: The Ardonagh Group is understood to have tapped Macquarie Capital and Stanton Road Partners for its $2.26bn deal to buy PSC Insurance.
Page 14: Aussie Broadband boss Phillip Britt says the company is still assessing its next move with respect to rival Superloop, which it tried to buy in February for $466m.
Page 16: Oil and gas company Kaoon Energy has sought to ease shareholder concerns about poor capital management, announcing it was “not even close” to buying another asset before admitting a purchase could come by year’s end.
Page 16: Origin Energy will soon unveil how much renewable energy it intends to develop and how it will fund the pipeline, as Australia’s largest company moves to demonstrate it can deliver a transition away from fossil fuels while rewarding shareholders.
Page 17: China’s restart of Australian wine imports won’t be enough to offset the global supply and demand problems plaguing the local wine sector.
The West Australian
Page 8: Plans to expand the dental workforce for schoolchildren and vulnerable adults have been abandoned because not enough staff could be attracted to the role.
Page 9: Families doing it tough will be given another $400 power bill discount from July in the centrepiece of Treasurer Rita Saffioti’s first Budget
Page 9: Home ownership is slightly more accessible for young couples after the first-homebuyer stamp duty-free threshold was lifted for the first time in a decade.
Page 53: Business groups say the WA Government has failed to deliver any meaningful relief to small companies battling a cost-of-doing-business crisis, leaving them “drowning”.
Page 53: Economists warn the WA Government’s Budget could be inflationary thanks to record spending on infrastructure and a raft of cost-of-living measures — but an influential credit agency says high iron ore prices are likely to cushion its impact.
Page 53: Liontown Resources boss Tony Ottaviano says “something has to change” in the way critical minerals projects are financed, warning that new mines are too expensive to be built with cash only.
Page 54: Jim Chalmers’ confidence in the Government’s plans to attract massive amounts of private capital to critical minerals — and other sectors vital to the global energy transition — has been boosted by new forecasts showing six years of continuous business investment growth.
Page 55: A British artificial intelligence firm already helping global companies bid for billions of dollars worth of work has been prompted to ramp up its presence in WA by AUKUS, the landmark three-way defence alliance between Australia, the UK and US.
