Woodside’s shale move received with caution
Woodside Petroleum’s move into the shale petroleum business, confirmed by Tuesday’s $US3.75 billion ($4.6 billion) deal with Apache, has been met with caution in the market, mostly due to the uncertainty over the economics of liquefied natural gas exports from western Canada. The Fin
Nalder silent on picking up the bill
Western Australia’s beleaguered Transport Minister, Dean Nalder, has refused to say why he paid for a lunch he attended at Perth’s Weld Club with a senior executive of telecommunications company Amcom and three public servants. The Aus
No entry for Pinnacles gas hunt
Oil and gas junior Norwest Energy has moved to stave off a protesters’ uprising after asking the State Government to excise big areas of a newly awarded exploration permit including land covering the Pinnacles. The West
Tax take hits miners
A top mining executive has warned the industry’s global competitiveness is at stake amid claims it should pay more tax, as a new survey shows the combined tax take on resources companies surged towards 50 per cent in 2012-13. The Fin
Sirius in ‘dream deal’
Sirius Resources managing director Mark Bennett says the company expects to begin construction work it its Nova nickel project early next month after Sirius agreed a “dream deal” with its banking syndicate. The West
Let’s use NBN to reconnect: Virgin exec wants to offer WiFi in the sky
A key Virgin Australia executive says the nation is “behind the rest of the world’’ in failing to offer inflight internet access for its domestic passengers, as airlines gear up for the launch of the National Broadband Network satellite network that could make the service a reality. The Aus
Truckies to pay the toll for $1.6b highway
Trucks will be charged a per-kilometre toll along 85km of highway from Muchea to Fremantle Port to pay for a 13km road link the Barnett Government claims will take 500 trucks a day off Leach Highway by 2031. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Russia’s rouble crisis has set off spectacular moves in currency markets and paved the way for a fresh four-year low for the Australian dollar as the rout in commodity prices proves unrelenting.
The Abbott government has delayed launching its tax white paper until the new year as the report’s scope widens.
Page 5: Islamic-State-linked jihadist groups are exploiting the horror of Sydney’s fatal hostage siege.
Page 6: A top mining executive has warned the industry’s global competitiveness is at stake amid claims it should pay more tax, as a new survey shows the combined tax take on resources companies surged towards 50 per cent in 2012-13.
The economy’s reliance on income and company taxes has barely shifted since the tax system was conceived after World War II, highlighting an urgent need for reform, the federal government’s tax white paper says.
Labor and the Clean Energy Council have offered to exempt every trade-exposed industry from the renewable energy target in a move that would meet the government almost half-way and break the political deadlock strangling investment in the sector.
Page 13: Vocus Communications will emerge as a new national competitor for entrenched market leaders Optus and Telstra after launching a $653 million play for Amcom Telecommunications.
Page 15: Waste handler Transpacific Industries will acquire construction materials giant Boral’s Melbourne western landfill for an initial $165 million in what could be the first of many deals.
Woodside Petroleum’s move into the shale petroleum business, confirmed by Tuesday’s $US3.75 billion ($4.6 billion) deal with Apache, has been met with caution in the market, mostly due to the uncertainty over the economics of liquefied natural gas exports from western Canada.
Page 16: Some of BHP Billiton’s biggest shareholders believe the timing of the company’s proposed demerger is looking worse than it was just a few months ago, but few expect the company to walk away from the proposal as prices for its key commodities continue to slump.
Page 22: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has cut its price assumptions for crude oil for the second time this month, raising the prospect that companies will face further pressure on their credit ratings as their creditworthiness is tested against the lower prices.
The Australian
Page 1: Treasury’s poor budget forecasting has resulted in a total of $290 billion in downgrades to its four-year budget estimates since 2010, with each of the 10 budgets and updates since then showing that the economy was generating less revenue and bringing higher costs than Treasury had previously expected.
Page 2: A controversial report commissioned by the former federal Labor government on income management has declared there is no evidence it has resulted in changes in spending or consumption, including on alcohol, tobacco, fresh fruit and vegetables and that it is instead entrenching welfare dependence.
The nation’s business leaders need to play the “long game” in education investment and get involved in schools earlier if they want to catalyse the transformation of the indigenous workforce, after new data reveals the number of Aboriginal people employed by some of the biggest firms has fallen.
The renewable energy industry will agree to a substantial cut to the large-scale renewable energy target under a plan it has put to both the government and Labor in a bid to end the deadlock between them on the future of the scheme.
Page 3: Business owners who have signed national broadband network contracts say telephone, fax and EFTPOS connections are “shambolic”.
Page 4: Western Australia’s beleaguered Transport Minister, Dean Nalder, has refused to say why he paid for a lunch he attended at Perth’s Weld Club with a senior executive of telecommunications company Amcom and three public servants.
ABC staff subject to the “Hunger Games” redundancy process heard their fate yesterday.
Page 17: Bruce Gordon, whose private companies control just under 15 per cent of Ten, attended the free-to-air network’s annual meeting in Sydney, sitting quietly in the back row of a ballroom at the Four Seasons Hotel.
A key Virgin Australia executive says the nation is “behind the rest of the world’’ in failing to offer inflight internet access for its domestic passengers, as airlines gear up for the launch of the National Broadband Network satellite network that could make the service a reality.
Page 19: Leighton Holdings has wiped more than $1.5 billion worth of debt from its balance sheet in the space of a week and will continue to have a presence in the growing services market after yesterday striking a landmark joint venture with international private equity giant Apollo Global Management.
The Kerry Stokes-controlled Seven Group Holdings has been called a “corporate raider” and accused of embarking on a “sophisticated and cynical” strategy to take control of Nexus Energy in a $208 million deal that has left shareholders with nothing.
Page 20: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has downgraded oil price forecasts for the second time this month, putting further pressure on the credit ratings of Australian LNG proponents Santos and Origin Energy.
Page 28: Australia is gaining on perennial rival Britain and in an increasingly strong position to push for a place in the top five on the medal tally at the Rio Olympics, according to the Australian Olympic Committee’s tracking of international results this year.
The West Australian
Page 3: Colin Barnett has dropped his opposition to naming a Perth City Link road Telethon Avenue after being lobbied by Federal Liberal deputy leader and Curtin MP Julie Bishop.
Page 4: Public outcry over how crazed Islamist Man Haron Monis was allowed to roam the streets with access to a gun has forced an urgent joint Federal-State review.
Page 11: Trucks will be charged a per-kilometre toll along 85km of highway from Muchea to Fremantle Port to pay for a 13km road link the Barnett Government claims will take 500 trucks a day off Leach Highway by 2031.
Page 14: The western suburbs will get a new secondary school to take pressure off Churchlands Senior High School, which has grown so big it has been likened to a “demountable city”.
Page 16: Tumbling petrol prices are predicted to deliver Perth motorists a $1400 windfall next year, giving them much-needed spending power.
Page 18: One of Australia’s top cattlemen has predicted the Kimberley herd size could increase four times through major investment driven by booming demand for beef.
Page 24: Australia is poised to reopen the live export trade with Lebanon for the first time since the notorious “Ship of Shame” episode.
Business: Amcom Telecommunications will be swallowed by Vocus Communications under a $700 million deal that would create the nation’s seventh-biggest telco.
Oil and gas junior Norwest Energy has moved to stave off a protesters’ uprising after asking the State Government to excise big areas of a newly awarded exploration permit including land covering the Pinnacles.
Sirius Resources managing director Mark Bennett says the company expects to begin construction work it its Nova nickel project early next month after Sirius agreed a “dream deal” with its banking syndicate.
Yeeda Pastoral Company boss Jack Burton is mustering his forces after revising plans to build a major abattoir in the Kimberley.
