Forecast for Australian growth cut
The International Monetary Fund has cut its growth forecast for the Australian economy by a hefty half a percentage point this year, in recognition the country will not be immune to the global slowdown triggered by US President Donald Trump’s trade war. The Fin
Dutton’s $21 billion boost for defence
A Coalition government would boost defence spending by $21 billion over the next five years, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will pledge as he attempts to use national security to revive his flagging campaign after party leaders suspended hostilities yesterday following the death of Pope Francis. The Fin
Property boom, employment fuel record tax take
A boom in taxes on personal income, businesses and property fuelled a record $802 billion tax collection by all levels of government combined last financial year. The Fin
Raising gender pay could cost other workers $300 each week
Unions will challenge the workplace umpire’s landmark gender pay decision over concerns it perversely cuts social workers’ pay by hundreds of dollars a week, clashing with employers who say the decision aims to simplify the complex and confusing system. The Fin
Clamp down on spending, IMF warns
Australia’s next government must rebuild its fiscal buffers, clean up public sector spending and urgently enact tax reform in preparation for a sharp slowdown in economic growth as Donald Trump’s global trade war increases the chance of a US recession, the International Monetary Fund says. The Aus
ALP’s $22bn power hike
Peter Dutton will use new figures claiming households and small businesses have been hit with an extra $22.5bn in costs under Labor power price rises, as he starts a Coalition fightback against Anthony Albanese’s nuclear energy scare campaign. The Aus
Labor to target vow over lower budget
Labor will release its pre-election costings within days and put pressure on Peter Dutton to immediately outline where he will cut spending as part of the Coalition’s pledge to deliver a better budget bottom line. The Aus
Reporter takes stand at BRS retrial
The Nine reporter caught on a secret tape admitting he had breached his ethics during the Ben Roberts-Smith war crimes defamation case will take the stand as the former SAS soldier fights for a retrial. The West
Brownes on block over loan default
Brownes Dairy is on the market after its Chinese owner defaulted on a $200 million loan, triggering a forced sale of Australia’s oldest milk producer. The West
Two caught trespassing at mine site
Two Chinese foreign nationals were among a group of people detained over the weekend after they were allegedly found at the site of Lindian Resources’ rare earths project in Malawi. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 4: Labor and the Coalition face electoral upheaval in traditionally safe seats where housing affordability has deteriorated rapidly, making Millennial and Generation Z voters more likely to turn away from the major parties.
Page 8: Several large coal mines have slashed their annual carbon emissions by more than half as a result of mandated changes to accounting methods that have prompted experts to question the reliability of key data underpinning one of Labor’s flagship climate policies.
Page 15: King & Wood Mallesons is considering scrapping the position of global chief executive as a decade of poor relations and a collapse in investment between China and Australia forces the firm to rethink its leadership.
Page 15: Aussie broadband will use cheap phone plans to lure Telstra customers as the challenger telecoms group plots its most ambitious push into the $20 billion mobile services market.
Page 15: Baby Bunting, the country’s largest nursery retailer, is trying to turn around a steep slide in profits by trying different store layouts.
Page 20: A sharp rally in Commonwealth Bank shares helped offset broad losses across the Australian sharemarket and a brutal session on Wall Street triggered by US President Donald Trump’s criticism of the Federal Reserve.
Page 21: Australian shares are careering towards a bear market as US President Donald Trump’s trade war starts to hit the bottom line of ASX-listed companies and central banks delay cutting interest rates, delivering a fresh blow to valuations.
The Australian
Page 5: Peter Dutton will reinstate the activity test for parents wishing to access childcare if he wins the election, reversing Labor’s decision to give parents the ability to access taxpayer-funded subsidies for three days of care a week regardless of whether they are seeking employment, working or studying.
Page 6: More than 1.8 million Australians would eventually be hit by Labor’s unindexed superannuation tax on earnings and unrealised capital gains if the party agreed to the Greens’ demand to lower the threshold on accounts to $2 million, new analysis shows.
Page 6: The Transport Workers Union has used Labor’s “same job, same pay” laws to strike an agreement with Qantas Freight that will delivery pay rises of up to $8000 for labour hire workers, sparking a fresh industrial relations fight between the ALP and Coalition.
Page 17: Rare earths mined in Africa could be shipped to Australia for processing under a joint venture uniting an ASX minnow, taxpayer-backed Iluka Resources and the US-aligned Kenyan government.
Page 25: Medical institutes are demanding access to $1bn in research grants reserved for universities to speed up lifesaving breakthroughs in neuroscience and genomics, as an Australian Research Council funding review splits the sector.
The West Australian
Page 53: Mining giant BHP is again being threatened by a union, with its flagship iron ore operation increasingly the target of unions trying to muscle into the Pilbara.
Page 53: The chief executive of West Perth-based gold miner Capricorn Metals is on leave after being charged with aggravated assault.
Page 54: A $95,000 grant from Lotterywest has covered nearly the entire cost of a Computer Numerical Control machine in a funding win for Black Swan State Theatre Company.
Page 54: Perenti will cease work at the Khoemacau underground copper mine in Botswana by July after a job that yielded more than $1 billion in revenue for the contractor across 51/2 years did not meet “internal performance hurdles”.
Page 58: More than half of Perth’s large-scale speculative developments built last year have been leased, as industrial vacancy in metropolitan Perth tightens to 2.5 per cent.
