Gloss comes off Baloo glister as Sirius seals Nickel West deal
Sirius Resources has ignored the uncertainty surrounding Nickel West’s future after signing up BHP Billiton as a key customer of its $443 million Nova mine, though the news was overshadowed by a disappointing exploration update from the market darling’s gold venture. The West
Thai oil player turns on Tap’s boardroom
Thai entrepreneur Chatchai Yenbamroong, who pocketed $22 million after orchestrating the takeover of Nido Petroleum, is trying to take control of Tap Oil by sacking the company’s top brass. The West
BHP readies for oil deals
BHP Billiton is prepared to buy conventional oil projects in order to arrest a looming fall in oil production, but will wait until it beds down its planned $US15 billion ($19.2 billion) spin-off South32 in June. The Fin
Rinehart sues for Hancock ‘falsehoods’
Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart is pushing ahead with defamation action against Nine Entertainment, claiming the TV network knowingly aired 20 ‘‘glaring errors’’ in its drama House of Hancock. The Fin
Upfront payments for doctors
Health Minister Sussan Ley could end Medicare’s universal ‘‘fee for service’’ approach and pay GPs a lump sum per patient, rather than for each visit, under a replacement plan being considered for the government’s unpopular $5-a-visit medical charge. The Fin
BCA backs long-term budget fix
The federal government is being warned against making savage cuts in the May budget as Tony Abbott resets his economic message, with the Business Council of Australia calling for “modest” action this year in favour of deeper savings over the decade ahead. The Aus
Myer shares dumped as Brookes exits
Myer chairman Paul McClintock will not provide shareholders with a timeline of when the department store will return to growth, but has tried to ease investors’ fears that the surprise resignation of chief executive Bernie Brookes yesterday could mean the half-year results will miss already bearish earnings forecasts. The Aus
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Health Minister Sussan Ley could end Medicare’s universal ‘‘fee for service’’ approach and pay GPs a lump sum per patient, rather than for each visit, under a replacement plan being considered for the government’s unpopular $5-a-visit medical charge.
With the matter on hold indefinitely due to a rebound in the polls for the Coalition and an uptick in Tony Abbott’s fortunes, senior Liberals believe lead contender Malcolm Turnbull stands to lose over time due to an increasingly vitriolic campaign being waged against him by the Liberal Party’s arch-conservative base.
Page 4: Canberra needs to immediately kick-start a decade-long program of budget reform in which the heavy lifting of restoring surpluses is done by spending cuts, better use of welfare budgets and boosting confidence, the Business Council of Australia says.
Page 5: Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has singled out stamp duty on insurance, a major source of revenue for state governments, as an area ripe for reform as part of the coming white paper on tax.
Page 6: Government legislation stuck in the Senate will cost the budget more than $112 billion in revenue over the next decade unless the measures are passed, the Parliamentary Budget Office has found.
Page 8: The nation’s largest blue-collar union has urged fellow unions to reconsider their blanket opposition to nuclear energy, declaring the uranium sector to be a source of ‘‘jobs of the future’’.
Page 15: BHP Billiton is prepared to buy conventional oil projects in order to arrest a looming fall in oil production, but will wait until it beds down its planned $US15 billion ($19.2 billion) spin-off South32 in June.
Page 17: Explosives giant Orica will buy back up to $400 million of its own shares after selling its chemicals business to private equity group Blackstone.
Aurizon will take an earnings hit of up to $30 million due to costs associated with Cyclone Marcia and strikes by rail unions over a new enterprise bargaining agreement, the rail group has warned.
Nickel developer Sirius Resources has struck a deal with BHP Billiton to supply nickel concentrate to the mining major’s Nickel West business.
Page 18: Embattled education company Vocation crashed to a $273 million loss for the first half of 2014-15 because of heavy write-downs and fewer enrolments due to its battered reputation over the quality of some of its courses.
Telstra’s mobile chiefs say it is impossible to predict when the multibillion-dollar next generation of mobile network technology, known as 5G, will be rolled out across Australia.
Page 20: Australians will not embrace subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services such as Netflix as quickly as Americans because they are less used to paying for television content, according to SBS chief executive Michael Ebeid.
Page 21: Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart is pushing ahead with defamation action against Nine Entertainment, claiming the TV network knowingly aired 20 ‘‘glaring errors’’ in its drama House of Hancock.
The Australian
Page 1: The federal government is being warned against making savage cuts in the May budget as Tony Abbott resets his economic message, with the Business Council of Australia calling for “modest” action this year in favour of deeper savings over the decade ahead.
Page 2: Smokers will today face a tax rise of up to 37c for a packet of cigarettes on top of an increase last month for beer, spirits and petrol.
Prices paid to farmers for their produce are tipped to rise by more than 5 per cent this year as the increasing global demand for food hits home.
Page 3: The world’s richest woman, Gina Rinehart, has once again come to the aid of Swimming Australia, agreeing to become the sport’s commercial saviour for the next two years through her company Hancock Prospecting Group.
Page 19: Myer chairman Paul McClintock will not provide shareholders with a timeline of when the department store will return to growth, but has tried to ease investors’ fears that the surprise resignation of chief executive Bernie Brookes yesterday could mean the half-year results will miss already bearish earnings forecasts.
Page 21: The government will proceed with a food industry code of conduct that aims to deal with unconscionable behaviour by big supermarket chains despite wholesaler Metcash not signing up.
The $110 billion Future Fund is in the market for a global tax consultant to help the sovereign wealth fund put its tax affairs in order following the Lux Leaks scandal that erupted last year.
Page 28: Optus Business has reinvested in marketing after three successive years of company-wide job cuts, establishing an offshore centre for “power users” of software that will soon be rolled out to other divisions.
The West Australian
Page 3: Electricians would be almost entirely banned from doing live electrical work under a proposed shake-up to avoid a repeat of deadly incidents.
Page 4: Federal Cabinet last night finally killed off its GP co-payment plan, almost 100 days after Tony Abbott promised to rid his Government of “barnacles”.
The Federal Government is reassuring parents that it has no intelligence of a “particular threat” to schools after announcing funding to bolster security at schools judged at high risk of terrorist attack or ethnic violence or slurs.
Page 9: Dozens of indigenous people are living in a “refugee camp” at Heirisson Island in protest against the planned closure of up to 150 remote communities.
Page 11: The Department of Fisheries has conducted its first covert operation under contentious laws giving it the power to take assumed identities and commit crimes while undercover to crack poaching rings.
Business: Sirius Resources has ignored the uncertainty surrounding Nickel West’s future after signing up BHP Billiton as a key customer of its $443 million Nova mine, though the news was overshadowed by a disappointing exploration update from the market darling’s gold venture.
Thai entrepreneur Chatchai Yenbamroong, who pocketed $22 million after orchestrating the takeover of Nido Petroleum, is trying to take control of Tap Oil by sacking the company’s top brass.
Macmahon Holdings executive chairman Jim Walker and two other board members have been buying shares in the mining contractor during recent volatile trading.
As Australia’s nascent online video streaming sector finally comes to life, the company that pioneered the local industry has suffered a massive first half loss.