Morrison takes on the wharfies
The Prime Minister has threatened to break the industrial gridlock on the docks and flagged legislation to break the power of the MUA.
- Opinion
- Coronavirus pandemic
Hours after a report on bad behaviour, MPs were back to the old ways
It’s just not possible to be nice when the ultimate objective of each party is to destroy each other, writes Phillip Coorey.
PM and premiers holding their nerve against omicron threat
The national cabinet considered bookings data from Qantas and Virgin Australia on Tuesday night, noting hundreds of thousands of trips would be in jeopardy if new border restrictions were put in place
Liontown Resources ready to roar with $450m raise
Liontown Resources is raising $450 million this week for its West Australian lithium project, as it rides the wave of investor appetite for the red-hot battery sector.
Savings and surpluses cushion economic pain
Households and businesses are now sitting on more than $360 billion in pent-up pandemic savings ready to unleash in an economy boosting wave.
KPMG’s cheating fine in the US shows system working: ASIC
The corporate watchdog has again argued it did not investigate widespread cheating by KPMG staff on tests covering ethics, independence and audit quality because the matter had already been dealt with by an overseas regulator.
Atlassian tech titans want to be the role models they lacked
Atlassian co-founders Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brookes and Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht headed to Canberra to discuss plans to fix the tech skills shortage.
What the regulator really thought when KPMG partners were pinged for cheating. In your inbox on Wednesday.
OMICRON
‘Pivotal’ mRNA capabilities needed to fight omicron: IDT
IDT says its mRNA vaccine shot means Australia is now on the cutting edge in the fight against new COVID-19 variants.
Victoria’s pandemic law wins critical support
The Andrews government has won the backing of independent MP Rod Barton, human rights and public integrity groups for its controversial pandemic powers bill.
![Stephane Bancel: “There is no world, I think, where [the effectiveness] is the same level . . . we had with delta.”](https://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20211130132414im_/https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_0.3531%2C$multiply_3%2C$ratio_1.777778%2C$width_1059%2C$x_0%2C$y_0/t_crop_custom/c_scale%2Cw_280%2Cq_52%2Cf_auto/4cc29b05b040e20f022e4b4bab33fb0f6e5b1fa7)
Moderna chief warns existing vaccines will struggle with omicron
Stephane Bancel said the high number of omicron mutations on the spike protein and the rapid spread of the variant in South Africa, suggested the current crop of vaccines may need to be modified next year.
Businesses should assume omicron variant will replace delta
A white paper by a leading public health expert outlines 18 simple interventions business can take to reduce risk from the omicron variant.
Omicron threat ‘manageable’: Hunt
The Morrison government has expressed cautious optimism about the omicron COVID-19 variant, as expert public health advice from around the world suggests it could be more mild than delta.
start-ups
Want to start a company? Be ready to lose your house
Creating a $4 billion wealth management group took ‘a lot of shoe leather, a lot of hard work, a lot of commitment’ says Netwealth’s Michael Heine.
- Exclusive
- Funding
The Aussie start-up selling AI that makes you buy more online
Particular Audience lets online sellers target customers with ‘upselling’ options at their checkouts, now its own cash register is full after raising $10 million.
- Exclusive
- Funding
Why $1.7b US tech investment giant’s president will be Aussie-based
The boom in the tech start-up scene has been highlighted by US venture debt heavyweight Partners for Growth promoting its Aussie boss to be its global president.
- Exclusive
- Skills shortage
Atlassian rides out skills shortage remotely as tech sector forms plan
Scott Farquhar says about 30 per cent of the software company’s new hires since the pandemic began have been based more than two hours from a city centre.
Aussie travel tech IPO slides amid omicron fears
Travel tech stock Alloggio hit the boards on Monday, amid fears of new omicron-induced restrictions, and shed more than 12 per cent of its IPO value.
Podcast | How Australia’s top entrepreneurs built their fortunes and what they learnt along the way.
Companies
Activists target Adani as first coal leaves Carmichael mine
The Indian energy giant says the Palaszczuk government should introduce tougher penalties for protesters who attempt to block coal exports.
Oil Search investors baulk at takeover
A few shareholders have resolved to vote against the $21 billion merger deal with Santos because they say the Papua New Guinea oil and gas producer is being sold on the cheap.
AMP’s Alexis George puts her stamp on De Ferrari plan
AMP chief executive Alexis George has echoed her predecessors in pinning the troubled company’s turnaround on its challenger bank and simplified wealth management business.
Airbus tips $35m into Sydney-based quantum start-up
Quantum technology has moved from the lab to the market, with Sydney-based Q-CTRL banking $35 million in its latest funding round.
Amazon key to Hydralyte growth for ex-Swisse bosses
Fitness enthusiasts and those looking for a hangover cure are among the target market for Hydralyte as it lists on the ASX.
Slow recovery for Australia’s big iron ore rival
Australian iron ore miners could benefit after Brazil’s Vale said recovery from catastrophic dam failures could take two years longer than originally expected.
EY gains ground on audit quality as rivals struggle in ASIC review
The standard of audit work undertaken by EY has improved for a third consecutive reporting period, the corporate regulator has revealed, while rival major auditors PwC, Deloitte, KPMG struggle.
Companies in the News
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Markets
Nuix crashes 12pc as ‘growth stock’ reveals no growth
A lift in revenue failed to offset Nuix’s few new customers nor the ballooning costs of the struggling data analytics company’s legal bills.
ASX inches higher as investors cling to omicron caution
The S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.2 per cent in Tuesday trading but fell 0.9 per cent in November for its third consecutive monthly loss.
Australian, NZ dollars record biggest monthly drop since pandemic
The Australian and New Zealand currencies look set to record their largest monthly losses in November since the coronavirus panic.
Iron ore surges on China ‘inflection point’
Rumours that China could begin easing steel production cuts in December sent iron ore prices soaring, recouping losses from Friday’s sell-off.
ASX rises; Biome tumbles 41pc on debut
Australian shares ended higher on Tuesday; Westpac sued by ASIC for widespread failings; GUD acquires AutoPacific Group for $745m; Fed chair Powell warns on omicron variant; Australia reports record current account surplus. Follow the latest here.
Opinion
This election is about who you trust not to change your lives
Labor wants the contest to be about shaping the future. Yet the PM’s focus on the economy and jobs is closer to public sentiment.
Contributor
Australia’s chief medical officer has a Christmas wish
Professor Paul Kelly is hoping for a milder, transmissible strain of the virus that could actually speed up the end of the pandemic by contributing to immunity.
Columnist
Omicron vindicates central bankers’ caution on interest rates
The emergence of the new virus variant has vindicated their decision to tread carefully in reducing monetary stimulus.
Columnist
Calling out Dutton’s war talk, khaki election tactics
Australia’s security would be better served by a defence minister who spoke more softly and carried a bigger stick – and a foreign minister who spoke about our strategic challenges.
Editorial
Omicron is the least of the problems for global trade
Postponing the Ministerial Conference is a setback for the WTO, but a more fundamental issue is lack of commitment to the multilateral trading system by the US and China.
Contributor
Omicron is warning to spread global vaccinations fairly
Emerging economies are a year behind developed economies in vaccinating their citizens. There are ways to speed things up.
Contributor
Politics
US, Australia working on new defence measures to deter China
US officials say classified areas of defence co-operation go beyond new facilities in northern Australia and increased deployment of US fighters and bombers.
Surging super sector could eliminate Australia’s income deficit
The $3.4 trillion super system is outgrowing the local sharemarket and piling money into foreign assets, transforming the shape of Australia’s current account.
- Live
- Need to Know
National cabinet agrees to continue suppression strategy
There will be no change to current pandemic rules after a meeting of national cabinet on Tuesday evening with state and federal leaders deciding to stick with a suppression strategy. Follow updates here.
Sexual harassment in Parliament at ‘unacceptable’ levels
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said there is no excuse for “appalling” behaviour detailed in a landmark review into federal Parliament’s workplace culture.
Religious freedom to dominate pre-election politics
The Prime Minister’s proposed changes to anti-discrimination laws will be considered by a parliamentary committee over summer.
SPONSORED
World
Omicron threatens US economic recovery, warns Powell
The Fed chairman is expected to tell a congressional hearing that omicron could set back robust US consumer demand and a strong labour market.
- Opinion
- Oil
Biden pumps oil to avoid 1970s-style energy crisis
Last week’s release of oil from America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve is the President’s short-term political choice to make his long-term policy decisions possible.
Prince Charles farewells Barbados as it adopts rejected Aussie model
Barbadians’ move to ditch the Queen for a president elected by MPs leaves just 14 countries, other than the UK, with the British monarch as head of state.
Urgent push to gauge omicron threat on claim symptoms ‘mild’
There’s no information to suggest that symptoms associated with omicron differ from those caused by other variants, the Geneva-based WHO cautioned.
China says omicron no threat as it doubles down on elimination
Beijing warns of a “colossal outbreak” if it were to adopt a US-style pandemic strategy.
Property
Eastern suburbs downsizers to drive Potts Point ‘renaissance’
Sam Arnaout says Eastern Suburbs downsizers will be the primary buyers of apartments in his redevelopment of the Bourbon and Empire Hotel site in Potts Point.
Mansion sets $12m auction record for upper north shore
The sale of a sprawling tennis court estate has smashed the suburb high in Sydney’s Pymble by more than $2 million.
- Opinion
- Population
We must switch back on the population growth engine
Polls show understandable hesitancy about the return of migration. But this step is a fundamental building block of our economic recovery.
Weekend shoppers return to CBDs while many office workers stay at home
Australia’s two largest CBDs are slowly getting back in the groove after a harrowing 20 months in which normal work and lifestyle habits were deemed illegal.
AirTrunk opens $5b Tokyo data centre
Along with the third Sydney data centre, the AirTrunk platform can offer more than one gigawatt of capacity, connecting and storing data in the Asia-Pacific.
Wealth
- Opinion
- Sharemarket
The ASX stocks in the metaverse
Only a few listed Australian companies offer exposure to the emergence of the next generation of the internet, although there are also crypto opportunities.
- Opinion
- Investing
Ways to build on ETF foundation
An open-minded approach and appreciation of what is really represented in an index should underpin the decisions behind a thoughtful share strategy.
- Opinion
- Commercial real estate
‘Dark stores’ a continuing opportunity for investors
What’s critical here is access to customers rather than an iconic retail precinct address.
Technology
- Opinion
- Social media
Jack Dorsey’s resignation as chief executive is overdue
Running multiple tech businesses side by side is not unheard of — see Elon Musk’s roles at Tesla, The Boring Company and SpaceX. But Twitter needs more than a part-time CEO.
Twitter taps tech chief to revive product focus Dorsey lacked
While Jack Dorsey is a billionaire celebrity with famous friends and millions of Twitter followers, successor Parag Agrawal is still a relative unknown.
- Opinion
- Leadership lessons
The three things Twitter’s new CEO should do
After Jack Dorsey’s resignation, Parag Agrawal has an opportunity. If he makes the right moves, it could be the turning point investors have been yearning for.
Work & Careers
10 quick and easy ways to boost your charisma
Psychotherapist Richard Reid teaches some valuable lessons on how you can radiate inner confidence and poise to help you control a room.
CFMEU fines top $2m for targeting crane companies
The construction union has been fined more than $500,000 for targeting a non-union crane company, sending total penalties for the campaign into the millions.
Life & Luxury
Fashion comes full circle for Linda Jackson
At 71, she is at last being recognised for her significant contribution to Australian fashion.
- Opinion
- Fine dining
This famous chef is serving 3D-printed food. I tasted it.
After Marco Pierre White announced he would begin dishing out manufactured, plant-based ‘meat’ cuts, I decided I’d better put them to the test.
Here’s what to buy for tricky types this Christmas
From stocking fillers that never fail to good picks for hosts, helpers and your mother-in-law, seven leaders tell us what they’re getting everyone – themselves included.
Secret messages are all the rage in jewellery
Over the past two years, and particularly during the last Sydney lockdown, requests for bespoke pieces with hidden meanings have skyrocketed, say jewellers.
No time (or inclination) for Christmas shopping? Call a gift concierge
Think of them as personal shoppers – but, instead of helping you choose a workable wardrobe, they select presents for your friends, colleagues and loved ones.
