Labor goes to war with Meta in far-reaching inquiry

Commonwealth Bank chief Matt Comyn says the strong job market is driving “robust” demand for corporate loans as economists warn strong business investment could push up prices for labour and equipment in the short term.

CBA said in a market update on Thursday its lending to businesses was up by $2.7 billion for the three months to the end of March, faster than the average of its rivals and more than in home loans. “We are seeing continuing resilience,” he said.

Other banks are also reporting healthy demand for business credit, which is being deployed towards new equipment, machinery and buildings.

Last week, NAB reported 8 per cent annual business lending growth, which chief executive Andrew Irvine described as “astonishing”.

The demand for equipment and labour comes at the same time as the Reserve Bank watches inflation closely, pushing out expectations of rate cuts until next year at the earliest.

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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 in the state appears to breach competition laws, former watchdog chief Graeme Samuel says.

The Financial Review will go digital-only in Perth from May 22, after the Seven West Media-owned monopoly printing company in Western Australia, Colourpress, cancelled Nine Entertainment’s contract and demanded a 100 per cent price increase. Nine, which owns the Financial Review, refused.

The decision – which means copies of the newspaper will not be printed in WA but does not affect subscribers’ ability access to the Financial Review’s digital offerings – prompted widespread criticism from political figures as an “extraordinary misuse of market power”.

Samuel, the former chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, said there appeared to be a breach of section 46 of the Competition and Consumer Act, which says companies must not engage in conduct that has the purpose or effect of substantially lessening competition.

“That section prohibits a party with a dominant position in a market (I assume Seven printing has that dominant position in the WA market) from taking any action that might substantially lessen competition in any market (in this case, the market for print news),” he said.

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Transport experts blame a $10 billion blowout in Victoria’s North East Link on costly CFMEU disruptions, a failed tender process and expensive design decisions that pander to environmental and community groups.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said $3.2 billion in Tuesday’s federal budget would be directed to the “great project”, increasing the federal funding to $5 billion, for the $26.1 billion toll road, which is on track to become the most expensive in Victoria’s history.

“It’ll save commuters more than half an hour on the roads, and get 15,000 trucks off suburban roads each day … this is a vital nation-building project,” Albanese said on Thursday, two days after Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan’s government revealed that the state’s debt would climb to $188 billion.

The opposition spokeswoman for infrastructure, Bridget McKenzie, called the funding a “bailout” by taxpayers forced to “fund sweetheart deals with the bullies of the Victorian CFMEU”.

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Good morning and welcome to The Australian Financial Review’s Need to Know Blog.

It’s Friday, May 10, 2024. Here are some of our top stories:

• Labor goes to war with Meta in far-reaching inquiry: 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.
• Business loan demand spikes, keeping inflation fears alive: Commonwealth Bank chief Matt Comyn says the strong job market is driving “robust” demand for corporate loans as economists warn strong business investment could push up prices for labour and equipment in the short term
• Behind the PM’s $3b ‘bailout’ of Victoria’s most expensive road: Transport expertsblame a $10 billion blowout in Victoria’s North East Link on costly CFMEU disruptions, a failed tender process and expensive design decisions that pander to environmental and community groups. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said $3.2 billion in Tuesday’s federal budget would be directed to the “great project”.
• Stokes’ anti-AFR price rise could breach competition 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 in the state appears to breach competition laws, former watchdog chief Graeme Samuel says.