City Canberra Financial News

Lachlan Murdoch has paid more than $1.3 million in legal costs to Crikey to settle the bill associated with the media mogul’s abandoned defamation proceedings against the small Canberra publisher.

Japan and Australia are planning a joint navy drill in the South China Sea off the western Philippines this week to underscore their commitment to the rule of law in the region after a recent show of Chinese aggression in the disputed waters, Filipino security officials said Sunday. On Aug. 5, Chinese coast guard ships used water cannons against Philippine vessels in the contested waterway where disputes have long been regarded as a potential flashpoint and have become a fault line in the rivalry between the U.S.

Carnarvon Energy boss Adrian Cook said Australia is losing some of its hard-earned reputation as a reliable jurisdiction for oil and gas investment at the hands of policy tinkering by the Albanese government.

Fortescue Future Industries director Guy Debelle has accused the federal government of lacking urgency in backing up climate targets with actual measures to drive decarbonisation, saying that another horrendous summer of bushfires might be needed to galvanise Canberra into action.

Sutherlands Transport, a Cootamundra-based trucking business, has landed on the radar of ambitious infrastructure player Clara, which has proposed a $600 million green hydrogen plant to power trucks plying the Hume.

The new boss of the company behind Ardmona canned tomatoes and Goulburn Valley fruit wants regulators to toughen up country-of-origin labelling so homegrown products can better compete with cheap imports that may have been made with poor labour practices.

Australia could be a testing ground for US hypersonic and other long-range precision weapons under the AUKUS pact, a top Pentagon official told AFP on Wednesday. US Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth said Australia's contribution to the three-way AUKUS agreement, which includes Britain, «doesn't always have to be dollars».

Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes and his commercial director Bruce McWilliam will be forced to hand over thousands of their emails exchanged with Ben Roberts-Smith’s legal team as Nine pursues Seven West Media for the costs of the disgraced soldier’s failed defamation action.

Joanna Mather has been appointed Wealth Editor. Jo brings deep experience to her new role, having previously covered the tax, superannuation and personal finance rounds and most recently been deputy news director for the past two years. After joining the Financial Review as education reporter in 2008, Jo spent four years in the Canberra bureau, covering two election campaigns, before returning to Sydney.

Wallabies captain Michael Hooper isn’t retiring – yet.

Shipbuilder Austal has warned it is in danger of sinking to a loss after a big blowout in costs associated with a US Navy contract.

By Lewis Jackson

SYDNEY (Reuters) -The United States commissioned a warship in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday, the first time a U.S. Navy vessel joined active service at a foreign port, as the two close allies step up their military ties in response to China's expanding regional reach.

INS Kirpan to Vietnam in reflection of growing bilateral strategic and defence partnership amid common concerns over China's increasingly aggressive behaviour in the South China Sea. It is for the first time that India handed over a fully operational corvette to any friendly foreign country, officials said. Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar, currently on an official visit to Vietnam, presided over the ceremony at Vietnamese deep water bay of Cam Ranh where the frontline warship was handed over to Vietnam People's Navy. The Indian Navy said the ship has been handed over to Vietnam People's Navy (VPN) with complete «weapon complement». «Today's handing-over ceremony symbolises the deep-rooted friendship and strategic partnership between India and Vietnam,» Admiral Kumar said in his address at the event. «What makes this occasion even more significant is the fact that this is the first-ever occasion that India is offering a fully-operational Corvette to any friendly foreign country,» he said. The Navy Chief said the transfer of INS Kirpan to the Vietnam People's Navy resonates with India's G20 vision of «Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — One Earth, One Family, One Future.»

Australia and the United States rehearsed precision missile strikes during war games on Saturday as Canberra overhauls its military strategy in favour of long-range firepower. A series of live-fire drills were held at the Shoalwater Bay military complex in the northeastern region of Queensland, showcasing the American-made HIMARS missile system recently sold to the Australian Defence Force. More than 30,000 troops will take part in the biennial Talisman Sabre exercises over the next two weeks, including soldiers from Japan, France, Germany, and South Korea.

Domestic travel is being hampered by delays and higher fares at the same time as more international competition is pushing tourist numbers higher, Sydney Airport says.

The United States Navy has written onerous change-of-control provisions into long-running contracts potentially worth billions of dollars with Austal, the ASX-listed shipbuilder fielding interest from acquisitive international firms.

EY has told a Senate inquiry that the firm runs “a very different tax practice” to PwC and does not have “partners roaming the market with solutions looking for problems”.

The head of big four consulting firm EY has criticised rival PwC over the firm’s tax leaks scandal, saying the “deeply disturbing and disappointing conduct” has rightly triggered “intense scrutiny” of the whole sector.

Deloitte chief executive Adam Powick has told a Senate inquiry the consulting sector operates without clear oversight and misconduct reporting rules, as he conceded in a fiery exchange that he was not worth a salary that is seven-times the prime minister.

Ben Roberts-Smith v Nine was the first part of the “defamation trial of the century”. Now it’s Ben Roberts-Smith v Justice Anthony Besanko.