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- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Gillon McLachlan’s new Tabcorp job is a risky bet for both sides
The former AFL boss steps into a business that feels like it’s in a perpetual turnaround. He could end up looking like a hero, but the odds are not on his side.
CBA has fighting words as it prepares to get one back at Macquarie
Commonwealth Bank’s move to chase $20 billion in real estate agents’ bank accounts seems bitsy, until you realise who it is going after.
Employee-starved businesses likely to bypass migrant caps: report
Businesses are likely to recruit workers from New Zealand and working holidaymakers, a major report says, avoiding moves by Labor and the Coalition to cut Australia’s permanent skilled migration intake.
Leaders hold ‘candid’ talks over Australia-China differences
Visa access to China will be streamlined for Australian travellers and the free-trade agreement will be strengthened.
Shock property tax rise hits landlords, holiday homes
Investment properties in NSW will be hit by a $1.5 billion increase in land taxes, which the real estate industry warns could cost thousands of dollars a year and be passed on to renters.
- Live
- Shares
ASX eases, Tabcorp swings to gains
Shares dip; Tapcorp taps AFL’s McLachlan as new chief; Bapcor secures $400m in debt; China steel output jumps; oil prices slip. Follow updates here.
- Live
- Need to Know
Lehrmann’s new rape charge hearing closed to media
A major part of a committal hearing for rape charges against former Liberal Party staffer Bruce Lehrmann will be heard in closed court. Follow updates live.
PM starts China talks; Tabcorp’s risky CEO bet; WFH secures $1.8m sale
Edition
Fin Magazine – Paris 2024
Bienvenue to this special issue of Fin Magazine, a homage to Paris in its Olympic year.
MONDAY MEDIA
- Exclusive
- Media & marketing
Bruce Gordon backs Nine as $550m stake fuels succession questions
The billionaire says the publishing and broadcast giant is a company “worth investing in” despite turmoil, controversy and the abrupt departure of its chairman.
What restructure? Church and state blur over at national broadsheet
The bar for what’s newsworthy in media is sometimes difficult to gauge. News Corp’s massive restructure, and the high-profile exits that followed, was not.
Social media set to overtake TV as top source of news
The survey findings come as a Labor-led parliamentary committee demands tech firms and media companies face questions about the influence of such platforms.
Kim Williams shares Paul Keating’s lesson on art of persuasion
The ABC’s new 72-year-old chairman plans to use a speech next week to argue a tsunami of American and British content is diluting Australian culture.
Catherine West takes Nine’s helm – and crisis – from Peter Costello
The broadcast and publishing giant’s new chair is in the biggest role of her life, steering a company reeling through an uncertain future. Is she up for it?
Get the latest business news on the go with the AFR’s new iOS app.
Companies
Labor open to more ASIC funding to deter ‘existential threat’
Labor has increased ASIC’s funding by almost $200 million in the May budget, but the regulator says it needs more money to modernise its enforcement.
- Updated
- Gaming & wagering
Former AFL boss Gill McLachlan appointed Tabcorp chief executive
He arrives at a company in the midst of a painful transformation and after the departure of Adam Rytenskild, who was being investigated for offensive language.
APRA objects to small bank claims on ‘same’ regulation
The Customer Owned Banking Association says its members are ‘regulated in the same way’ as listed banks. APRA says that is false ahead of a new inquiry.
- Exclusive
- Retail
Country Road owner probes claim suppliers pressured into ‘rebates’
Woolworths Holdings has engaged a law firm to investigate whether managers improperly pushed for price cuts, threatening to buy less, to meet earnings targets.
Infratil nabs Goldman, Barrenjoey, UBS for $1b CDC data centre play
The three investment banks led the two-part transaction that will also bolster the New Zealand-based company’s balance sheet.
- Exclusive
- Mergers & acquisitions
Singapore’s Temasek snaps up $300m stake in ETF provider Betashares
The privately owned, Sydney-headquartered firm is one of the largest local providers of exchange-traded fund products with $38 billion under management.
GrainCorp looks beyond life as a rainy day stock
Wet conditions have boosted hopes of another bumper crop. The ASX-listed agribusiness’s share price has been a big beneficiary.
Companies in the News
Search companies
View stories and data from an ASX listed company
Markets
Riding the wave: this Regal-backed fund is betting big on water
Kilter Rural’s Euan Friday predicts water prices will rocket 300 per cent this year, after huge government intervention and the weather dries up.
- Analysis
- Foreign investment
Xi’s battle to stop investors fleeing China may be about to get easier
A new International Monetary Fund analysis shows global capital flows have soared in the US and plummeted in China and emerging markets.
This macro master doesn’t come with tales of impending doom
Raoul Pal wears the scars of both bull and bear market cycles. But he’s found contentment in embracing, rather than fighting, the system.
Traders tip RBA to keep rates on hold this week, and all year
Australian shares are set for a weak start this week ahead of the central bank’s meeting. Some economists even say the chance of a rate rise is underpriced.
- Opinion
- Private equity
Why things are looking up for private markets and dealmaking
Turmoil and uncertainty are a constant in asset management. But things are starting to turn for deal makers as money is finally being put to work.
Opinion
The bottom line is private hospitals are evolving, not collapsing
The government’s “financial health check” review should kick-start a conversation about innovation and the fate of some old, inefficient facilities.
Health fund representative
Zionism is about Jewishness. So anti-Zionism is antisemitism
Exploring the issue from a legal perspective allows us to better understand what constitutes unlawful discrimination under various state and federal laws in Australia.
Lawyer
Beware the uncomplicated politician: Dutton on the rise as PM falls
In December 2022 Anthony Albanese enjoyed a 26-point lead over Peter Dutton as preferred prime minister, but it has now dwindled to just two points.
Political editor
Poll shows the political risk to net zero
Reigniting the climate policy wars for short-term political gain will just make the longer-term challenge of transforming Australia’s carbon-intensive economy even harder, longer, and more costly.
Editorial
Chalmers might make right decision on banking
After Queensland Labor Treasurer Cameron Dick backed the ANZ-Suncorp merger, it’s hard to see how a Queensland-based federal Labor Treasurer would not.
Editorial
In the end, complexity felled the Lendlease empire
Lendlease was globally recognised for engineering excellence, its ability to build thriving community spaces, and its nurturing of many leading CEOs. Its diminution is instructive as well.
Contributor
Reports
Chanticleer celebrates 50 years
In 1974, Chanticleer revolutionised business journalism. This anniversary wrap celebrates 50 years of covering the corporate deals that shape the nation.
Politics
- Exclusive
- NSW budget
NSW $113b fund manager faces shake-up
NSW’s TCorp is a top 10 Australian institutional investor and is the central borrowing authority of the state.
APRA objects to small bank claims on ‘same’ regulation
The Customer Owned Banking Association says its members are ‘regulated in the same way’ as listed banks. APRA says that is false ahead of a new inquiry.
Labor slumps on climate, cost of living as Albanese’s ratings fall
Voters have marked down Labor over climate policy and the cost of living, while Anthony Albanese has lost significant ground to Peter Dutton.
Tensions remain but at least we’re talking, PM to tell Chinese
Penny Wong says Australia won’t be relaxing its foreign investment rules regarding lithium.
AI poses ‘massive’ risk to financial system, warns RBA reviewer
Renee Fry-McKibbin, one of the authors of the RBA review, says the risk posed by AI shows the need for specialist governance and interest rate-setting boards.
SPONSORED
World
- Updated
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Israel to pause daytime fighting to let aid into Gaza
The “tactical pause” announced by the military, which applies to about 12 kilometres of road in the Rafah area, falls far short of the ceasefire sought by the US.
- Analysis
- Foreign investment
Xi’s battle to stop investors fleeing China may be about to get easier
A new International Monetary Fund analysis shows global capital flows have soared in the US and plummeted in China and emerging markets.
- Updated
- Russia-Ukraine war
Ukraine peace summit seeks consensus on Russia rebuke
China’s absence from the meeting and the attendance of lower-level diplomats from the BRICS states cast a shadow over efforts to win over the Global South.
US targets Houthi radar sites after sailor goes missing
The attacks come as the US Navy faces the most intense combat it has seen since World War II in trying to counter the Houthi campaign.
Biden courts Hollywood, while Trump tackles swing state
Some of Hollywood’s brightest stars headlined a glitzy fundraiser for the president, while his opponent was on the hustings in the crucial battleground state of Michigan.
Property
Why house prices are surging once again around the world
In Australia, the US and parts of Europe, property markets have shrugged off higher interest rates to post strong gains – and there’s likely more to come.
The suburbs where unit values are on the cusp of a new high
Low supply and intense competition for cheaper properties are fuelling big gains in unit prices.
Strathfield mansion beats guide by $500k as auctions rebound
Auction clearance rates have returned to form after the long weekend lull, but long-term price growth is cooling.
- Exclusive
- Luxury property
Brighton mansion built by billionaire Larry Kestelman sells for $16m
The bayside suburb clocked its highest sale price so far this year after Rob and Melita Chaloner’s mansion sold.
- Exclusive
- Industrial
More cold sheds needed to supply veg and meds
Australia will have to ramp up its construction of cold storage sheds to service the food supply needs of our booming population, says CBRE.
Wealth
Cbus tops list for super complaints
Cbus also paid $1 million in compensation claims to customers in the first half of the financial year.
- Opinion
- Flat Chat
ATO warns property investors not to ‘double-dip’ on expenses
Rental property taxes can be tricky, and that’s before you add in the strata factor.
What to do with $400,000 inheritance when you have no super
A windfall could give a woman living in her daughter’s granny flat access to three income streams.
Technology
- Opinion
- AI
Even Apple cannot explain why we need AI in our lives
A souped-up Siri and personalised emojis are coming, but there is little sense that Apple has edited down the possibilities of generative AI to prioritise the truly useful, writes Richard Waters.
Sleeping Duck wins court battle with biggest investor
Venture capitalist Adir Shiffman had alleged the mattress retailer had sidelined him from the business. The Supreme Court of Victoria threw out the case.
What Apple Intelligence means for you
Though the “where” and “when” of Apple’s new AI system are still a mystery, we do know a lot about the “who”, “what” and “why”.
Work & Careers
- Opinion
- Workplace
Why your accent might be holding you back at work
Wall Street banks and big law firms are among employers addressing this potential discrimination.
- Analysis
- CFMEU
Setka’s mystery motive for vendetta on AFL umpire boss
John Setka’s main justification to go after the AFL head of umpires – that he pursued an official for holding a one-minute silence over the West Gate Bridge collapse – may have never happened.
Life & Luxury
Beauty-brand founders who started their careers in banking
Four successful women tell how they developed their skills at companies like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan before starting their own businesses.
- Driving With Tony Davis
- Motoring
Why this C-Class should come with its own racetrack
Mercedes-AMG may have dropped the V8 from its new C63 SE Performance model but it still packs a punch.
The truth about 13 popular weight loss supplements
From green tea to L-carnitine, there are dozens of supplements that are supposed to help you lose weight. Here’s what the experts say.
Tea, tarts and tears: My trip to France to honour a secret
It took one brave family and the silence of an entire town to protect this writer’s mother during the German occupation. This is what happened when she went to meet them.
A cello or a house? The answer was easy for this virtuoso
Two airfares to get anywhere. A mortgage-sized outlay on a new instrument. The cello is an expensive addiction for Nicolas Altstaedt, who is touring with the ACO.
