ABC swings axe
Some of the ABC’s best-known voices will be silenced and flagship programs squeezed as part of the public broadcaster’s response to Federal funding cuts. The West
Sprott the kingmaker in Heron board war
The battle for control of cashed up zinc hopeful Heron Resources has thrown the spotlight on Sprott Asset Management, one of the world’s biggest equities investors which has emerged as kingmaker in the surprise battle. The West
McAleese to diversify into consumer goods market
The McAleese Group plans to take on transport giants Toll Holdings and Linfox and start moving food, drinks and clothes as part of broader plans to diversify its trucking business away from commodities like iron ore. The Fin
GP co-payment still looking for a buyer
The federal government still wants the Senate to vote to impose a $7 charge for GP consultations despite speculation it would try to bypass a hostile Parliament through regulation. The Fin
Paladin raising buys breathing space
Paladin Energy managing director John Borshoff has said he has de-risked the miner’s balance sheet and strengthened ties with China through a $205 million recapitalisation. The Fin
Cameco doubles down on Yeelirrie’s potential
Cameco has dismissed the scope of BHP Billiton’s erstwhile ambition for Yeelirrie as unviable and inefficient as it steps up its own efforts to advance the uranium project near Wiluna. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Lawlessness in the construction industry is worse now than a year ago and Adelaide has emerged as a new militant hotspot, the building regulator says.
BHP Billiton chief executive Andrew Mackenzie declared on Monday the mining giant is “all but done” with buying new projects and will grow by sweating and expanding existing mines. After again cutting the capital expenditure budget, he denied BHP’s growth could be limited by its focus on assets in iron ore, petroleum, copper and metallurgical coal.
Page 4: The federal government still wants the Senate to vote to impose a $7 charge for GP consultations despite speculation it would try to bypass a hostile Parliament through regulation.
The federal government remains open to making small changes to the financial advice laws but will never revisit the wholesale package that was demolished in last week’s Senate ambush.
Page 8: Rio Tinto chairman Jan du Plessis is calling for reform of the global taxation system to end the “abusive” tax minimisation by multinationals.
Households are paying hidden subsidies of more than $200 million a year to homes that have installed solar panels, according to new research by one of the country’s top energy analysts.
Page 13: The McAleese Group plans to take on transport giants Toll Holdings and Linfox and start moving food, drinks and clothes as part of broader plans to diversify its trucking business away from commodities like iron ore.
Paladin Energy managing director John Borshoff has said he has de-risked the miner’s balance sheet and strengthened ties with China through a $205 million recapitalisation.
Page 15: Nine Entertainment Co Holdings chief executive David Gyngell says he can see value in media groups Discovery Communications and Foxtel making a joint bid for Ten Network Holdings because they could feed their content through the free-to-air broadcaster’s “pipes”.
Page 16: Arrium chief executive Andrew Roberts said a partial mothballing of his iron ore operations remains a real possibility, as he urged investors to look past Arrium’s struggling mining business to the growth potential in its grinding media division, which supplies miners with grinding balls and rods.
The Australian
Page 1: ABC managing director Mark Scott is linking the cuts required by the Coalition to a management restructure he always planned to institute, in order to push the blame for the changes on to the government rather than himself.
Page 3: The scale of the fraud alleged against Clive Palmer is tipped to almost double to about $23 million, the total amount of Chinese cash allegedly siphoned by Mr Palmer and his companies from a bank account set up to fund operations of a port for iron ore exports.
Senior management of Perth’s Murdoch University prevented a workshop on workplace bullying being held on campus during the period when an investigation uncovered evidence of bullying and other misconduct among academics.
Page 9: Men take home an average total pay packet 25 per cent fatter than that of women, who are absent from key management positions in one-third of Australian companies.
Page 19: BHP Billiton has outlined new plans to turn the Olympic Dam mine in South Australia into the world’s second-biggest copper mine and potentially the world’s biggest uranium mine, in a big-ticket expansion that could see extra production at the start of next decade.
Page 20: A string of high-profile investors, including US casino mogul Steve Wynn and local retail boss Brett Blundy, have pie on their faces after the collapse into voluntary administration yesterday of fast-food chain Pie Face, which has succumbed to an aggressive growth plan that wanted to take Australian pies to the world.
Page 21: Tagging Australia as one of its most challenging markets, McDonald’s, the world’s biggest fast-food chain, will use its 900strong local store network as a testing ground for a new fit-out design that will eventually be launched in its US home market.
Page 22: Back in March 2010, Lance Hockridge, the head of what was then QR National, now Aurizon, was at a formal industry dinner at the Sofitel Hotel in Sydney when he was approached by Nick Greiner, the former NSW premier, who at that stage had been retained by mining companies keen to buy the government-owned company’s railway lines.
The Australian coal industry’s optimism on the role of the commodity alleviating energy poverty has been questioned by Citi investment bank, which argues that a recent global report suggests that for some developing nations it is an “everything-but-coal” approach.
Page 30: Property funds manager Charter Hall Group has paid $171.4 million for a portfolio of logistics facilities leased to poultry processor Inghams Enterprises as it continues to bolster its $2.35 billion of industrial holdings.
The West Australian
Page 1: Some of the ABC’s best-known voices will be silenced and flagship programs squeezed as part of the public broadcaster’s response to Federal funding cuts.
Page 4: The Federal Government is facing a $20 billion blow to the Budget after Jacqui Lambie finally broke from the Palmer United Party and made clear she would oppose key spending cuts.
Clive Palmer has accused Premier Colin Barnett of trying to discredit him after WA Police confirmed yesterday it was examining allegations the mining magnate-cum-MP had siphoned $12 million from his Chinese business partner to splurge on electioneering.
Page 5: The State Government could more than halve the bag limit for WA’s most popular recreational fishing species amid warnings from the Fisheries Department that stocks are in serious decline.
Page 11: Doctors are being urged to be more watchful for possible signs of domestic violence, such as women with hidden bruises or children being aggressive, wetting their bed or being cruel to animals.
The CSIRO has put Australia on notice that the risk of a human disease pandemic or devastating blow to agriculture is growing by the day.
Business: The battle for control of cashed up zinc hopeful Heron Resources has thrown the spotlight on Sprott Asset Management, one of the world’s biggest equities investors which has emerged as kingmaker in the surprise battle.
Shares in ALS have bounced 18 per cent after the global testing company performed better than the gloomy guidance it provided two months earlier.
Cameco has dismissed the scope of BHP Billiton’s erstwhile ambition for Yeelirrie as unviable and inefficient as it steps up its own efforts to advance the uranium project near Wiluna.
Local dairy processor Brownes will step up its efforts to crack lucrative Asian markets armed with one of Australia’s most prestigious dairy awards.