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The Australian

Good morning,

The Victorian government is leading a push for the commonwealth to underwrite importing LNG into Australia for the first time, a major intervention aimed at fixing looming gas shortfalls on the east coast.

Project Antares was the radical plan Star Entertainment CEO Steve McCann had quietly been working on for months. Read columnist Eric Johnston's inside story on how it all fell into place just as the casino was about to run out of cash.

And Simon Conn is leaving Investors Mutual after 27 years but before he goes he has something he wants to say about Donald Trump, government spending and the fact that our market is "quite vulnerable to shocks".

The markets

Making news this morning

1

Mecca’s tech men out-earning its female retail workers

Beauty giant Mecca’s C-suite pay gap favours women but lower wages for its hundreds of female retail workers, compared to higher paid men in its technology team, are an issue.

2

Wanted: a minister who likes crypto

The crypto industry is mobilising ahead of the looming election to lobby for political backing, setting up a potential clash with ASIC over plans to regulate the sector.

3

Chinese links stall WA rare earths mine’s funding

Government sources said ‘unresolved identities’ on the Northern Minerals register remained a barrier to the company securing funding.

Editor's picks

New hi-tech SBS production hub in limbo

The project appears mired in red tape and bureaucratic blame-shifting, and it is unclear if the ‘business case’ for the production hub in western Sydney is even under way.

By JAMES MANNING, JAMES MADDEN

Beer kind Bartels exits tower of power

Former Foster’s Group chief Peter Bartels has listed his sub-penthouse in the Marquise Residences, one of the exclusive so-called towers of power in Melbourne.

By JONATHAN CHANCELLOR

Australian AI hacking helper attracts big investors

A Sydney start-up that uses AI to act as ethical hacker so companies can be protected has just raised about $4.7m as its founder looks to tackle our greatest threats.

Commentary

Underspending Albanese puts ANZUS at risk as warships circle

By ROBERT GOTTLIEBSEN

Business Columnist

In the very week that heavily armed Chinese warships circumnavigated Australia, the PM is skirting defence spending obligations that risk angering the ally we need most.

DataRoom

→	Barrenjoey, Jefferies in box seat for $4bn pet group float

A strategic buyer is eyeing Greencross, leaving TPG Capital with plenty of thinking to do over whether it floats the business.

→	Gupta seeks exec for struggling GFG empire

Sources believe that Sanjeev Gupta will likely target a restructuring expert for his empire that includes InfraBuild.

→	Private equity starts keeping close tabs on Integral Diagnostics

Could the Australian listed diagnostic imaging service provider be the latest group to be snapped up in a buyout?