Tax breaks for buying EVs blow out
Labor’s signature measure to boost electric-vehicle uptake has blown out tenfold, with taxpayers spending $560 million a year to exempt one in three EV drivers from paying fringe benefits tax. The Fin
Dutton renews threat to insurers
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has rekindled his threat to forcibly break up insurance companies if they engage in anticompetitive conduct, in comments that point in division in his ranks and reflect his disdain for big business before the election. The Fin
Investor warns against Rio ditching UK listing
A major fund manager invested in Rio Tinto says and activist push for it to ditch its main London listing will only enrich bankers and advisers, and do nothing for Australian shareholders. The Fin
Donation laws ‘tilted towards major parties’: Holmes à Court
Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes à Court says donations laws should treat cash given to independent candidates the same as for incumbent Labor and Coalition MPs, even as the group outspends the major parties nearly two-to-one on social media. The Fin
Increasing costs of building a home
Australians are paying up to $576,000 – or 49 per cent of the total value of home and land packages – on taxes, regulatory costs and infrastructure charges, which have accelerated by as much as 106 per cent since 2019. The Aus
Chalmers’ ‘obsessed’ with renewables
Jim Chalmers has declared the energy transformation and carving out of fourth economy are his “obsession” and “reason for being”, underpinning modern Labor’s intergenerational legacy vision to create an economy powered by clean energy. The Aus
Labor pushed to expand welfare
A committee hand-picked by Jim Chalmers to advise on economic and social inclusion has urged Labor to massively increase welfare spending in the March 25 budget, arguing renters and those on benefits are falling behind in the cost-of-living crisis. The Aus
Albanese urged not to shelve gas plans
Australia’s peak business lobby says it is “critical” the Federal Government makes a decision on Woodside’s North West Shelf gas project in the next few weeks. The West
Cook’s secret rugby deal
NRL boss Peter V’landys has revealed he and Roger Cook agreed to “down tools” during the election campaign on discussing details to bring a team to WA. The West
Fears the US won’t budge on punishing import tax
Hours before Washington’s axe falls on Australian steel and aluminium companies, the Government does not know if it can snatch a reprieve from 25 per cent tariffs on imports. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 4: Cash-strapped households should not expect much relief to come from lower power bills this year, as some experts predict consumer prices will climb by up to 5 per cent when the annual tariff reset comes in July.
Page 7: Union analysis estimates that retail workers could lose out on at least $5000 a year under an industry proposal to buy out managers’ penalty rates and overtime in return for a 25 per cent salary increase.
Page 9: Australian Securities and Investments Commission chairman Joe Longo has tapped Future Fund guardian and former lawyer Nicola Wakefield-Evans to lay out a road map for cutting the overwhelming regulatory burden that is turning some directors off sitting on public company boards.
Page 14: Healthscope, the country’s second largest hospital operator, says it will consider selling itself after reaching a deal with most of its lenders to halt interest payments for several months.
Page 17: Disney is considering spending more money on domestic sports rights as it prepares to launch ESPN on its streaming apps in direct competition to Foxtel, the subscription broadcaster being acquired by Dazn.
Page 19: The Reserve Bank of Australia has issued a scathing report card on banks’ planning for switching off the economy’s most critical payment system – the one that processes almost $18 trillion in company payroll, superannuation and government welfare – and demanded better coordination on the project to migrate to a new system by 2030.
Page 26: The Australian sharemarket closed at a seven-month low yesterday despite recovering some ground in the afternoon session, as heavy selling on Wall Street triggered a sell-off in technology stocks.
The Australian
Page 13: Qantas faces an 18-month wait for the new aircraft needed to lift standards of service and on-time performance after a decade of under-investment in its fleet under former CEO Alan Joyce.
Page 13: JERA executive Hitoshi Nishizawa, one of the world’s biggest LNG buyers, has delivered a bombshell to Australia’s $70bn export industry, saying it will look to rival nations for supply and warning of thousands of job losses unless urgent policy changes are made to fix the state of the local industry.
Page 15: The Albanese government will fail to hit its target of 82 per cent renewables by 2030, with green energy reaching only 65 per cent by the end of the decade even under a best-case scenario, Rystad Energy modelling shows.
Page 16: Airlines will not automatically be required to provide refunds for weather-related flight delays or cancellations, in what consumer group Choice says is a glaring omission from the draft aviation consumer rights charter.
Page 16: Paul Jones, who had to step aside as frontrunner for the top job at Virgin Australia bowing to union opposition, has been named the airline’s chief commercial officer.
Page 21: Australia’s tertiary education watchdog wants stronger punishment powers to obtain warrants, fine universities and suspend courses, despite pushback from defiant university leaders.
The West Australian
Page 12: Australians are getting better at identifying online con jobs but anti-scam and banking groups warn scammers are evolving, amid losses of $2 billion.
Page 18: Andrew and Nicola Forrest have thrown their support behind naval shipbuilder Austal, tipping another $40 million into the “sovereign champion” as it hits up investors for $220m to fund the expansion of its US shipyard.
Page 18: Raleigh Finlayson has lauded re-elected Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti for helping him shift a rail terminal in Leonora to make way for his new gold mine, a move the mining boss says would be unaffected by any plans to bring freight networks back into State hands.
Page 21: Mineral Resources’ biggest shareholder behind Chris Ellison is keen to see the company get a new chair by the end of June, while seemingly remaining a supporter of Mr Ellison staying on as boss.
Page 21: Fortescue’s stock has been shredded by growing fears of a massive cut in Chinese steel production, but one broker reckons the doom and gloom is “overdone”.
Page 35: The industrial and retail sectors were the big winners in the commercial property market last year, according to the Real Estate Institute of WA.
Page 36: Popular entertainment strip Beaufort Street could become home to a high-rise development of up to 16 storeys under planning changes proposed by the City of Vincent.
