Nervous contractors propose an Atlas Iron rescue plan
McAleese Group chief executive Mark Rowsthorn is fighting for a rescue package for Atlas Iron after pressing the miner’s creditors to keep at least one of its Pilbara iron ore mines open. The Fin
‘Food can fill mining hole’
Coles boss John Durkan says he refuses to accept Australia is facing a “low growth future” as the plummeting iron ore price punches a hole in the budget, saying the nation’s agricultural sector can replace lost revenue if it focuses on the booming export market. The Aus
WA ‘should return $7b GST windfall’
Western Australia should give back the $7 billion goods and services tax windfall it received during the mining boom in return for its demand to change the formula that determines how much GST revenue each state receives, says SA Premier Jay Weatherill. The Fin
BHP may now reveal zero tax Singapore deal
BHP Billiton may reveal this month it pays an effective tax rate of zero on billions of dollars of Australian iron ore it sells through Singapore. The Fin
WA firm wins big Oman deal
A Perth architecture company has been hand-picked by the Sultan of Oman to design the country’s $500 million new museum, an international arts destination intended to rival New York’s Guggenheim and St Petersburg’s State Hermitage. The West
Broker’s Cauldron brews up five-year ASIC ban
A stockbroker with “a longstanding relationship” with the Tony Sage-chaired uranium explorer Cauldron Energy has been banned for five years for propping up the company’s share price. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: The new Victorian Labor government’s threat to legislate a $1.2 billion penalty clause out of existence for not building the state’s major infrastructure project has forced developer Lend Lease and several European builders to walk away with no compensation.
At a share trading centre near People’s Square in downtown Shanghai, China’s slowest pace of growth since the global financial crisis went unnoticed.
Page 2: Australians would no longer be able to claim losses on their investment properties against their wages, saving over $1 billion in federal revenue a year, under a plan put to the federal government by the Australian Council of Social Service.
Page 3: Woolworths’ spectacular social media blow-up Woolworths has been urged to adopt a social media risk strategy after being forced to pull the plug on an Anzac Day marketing campaign that triggered a vicious consumer backlash and has been labelled ‘‘the social media fail of the year’’.
Page 4: Western Australia should give back the $7 billion goods and services tax windfall it received during the mining boom in return for its demand to change the formula that determines how much GST revenue each state receives, says SA Premier Jay Weatherill.
Page 6: Treasurer Joe Hockey has used the example of digital disrupters such as AirBnB and Uber as an argument to remake regulation, including cutting penalty rates and liberating trading hours.
Page 7: BHP Billiton may reveal this month it pays an effective tax rate of zero on billions of dollars of Australian iron ore it sells through Singapore.
Page 9: The Clean Energy Regulator believes there will be strong interest in the first auction under the Abbott government’s Direct Action scheme, but analysts remain sceptical the price will be high enough to meet Australia’s 2020 carbon reduction targets.
Page 11: Australia’s naval shipbuilding industry needs to rationalise, lift productivity and be provided with a constant flow of new projects to be viable, according to an independent review to be released by Defence Minister Kevin Andrews.
Page 17: Murray Goulburn boss Gary Helou said investor appetite for a dairy business on Asia’s doorstep will trump any concerns about taking up units with no voting rights in Murray Goulburn’s $500 million listing.
ANZ chief executive Mike Smith has brushed aside fears about the crash in iron ore prices and slowing in China, saying a national obsession with the mineral fails to consider the potential of other sectors.
McAleese Group chief executive Mark Rowsthorn is fighting for a rescue package for Atlas Iron after pressing the miner’s creditors to keep at least one of its Pilbara iron ore mines open.
Page 19: Woodside Petroleum’s March-quarter revenue has plummeted 20 per cent because of falling oil prices and cyclones in Western Australia.
The Australian
Page 1: The nation’s corruption-fighting agencies are scrambling to determine the impact of a High Court ruling against the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption that could dramatically change the matters they are allowed to investigate.
Joe Hockey claims Australia’s slower return to budget surplus has the support of Wall Street, with financial markets unfazed by the timing, provided the government’s budget is heading in the right direction.
Page 2: High operating costs and labour shortages are the biggest challenges facing Australian agriculture, industry leaders warned yesterday, with companies looking to set up more offshore processing operations to save money.
Page 3: A deal to resolve the standoff between the Victorian government and construction companies over the East West Link cancellation will mean taxpayers are charged more than $420 million and is yet to include a conclusive settlement with banks.
Page 5: Australia’s naval warships are likely to be built on a continuous, rolling construction program for the first time, as a major report says this is the only way to ensure a cost-effective industry.
The local economies of at least 12 Australian cities and towns will be boosted by the imminent arrival of Royal Caribbean’s latest cruise ship, the $US1 billion ($1.3bn) Ovation of the Seas, which will be longer than three football pitches.
Page 6: Tony Abbott will face heightened pressure to reverse cuts of $80 billion to health and education, with a snapshot of public hospital performance handing the states fresh ammunition to press home their case.
Page 7: Tony Abbott’s adviser on women’s issues, Michaelia Cash, says now is the time to act on domestic violence, declaring “enough is enough”.
Page 19: Coles boss John Durkan says he refuses to accept Australia is facing a “low growth future” as the plummeting iron ore price punches a hole in the budget, saying the nation’s agricultural sector can replace lost revenue if it focuses on the booming export market.
Deep splits have emerged between the main commercial networks and regional broadcasters on media ownership and concentration laws ahead of a pivotal meeting with Tony Abbott.
Media baron Kerry Stokes has expanded his stake in Cooper Basin oil and gas, buying 37.8 million shares, or about 8 per cent, of Drillsearch Energy in a deal executed by Deutsche Bank.
Page 21: Virgin Australia’s move to provide free economy-class food service on all flights effectively completes its transformation to a premium, full-service carrier but will not be the last shot in the battle with Qantas.
The West Australian
Page 1: Some of the State’s biggest contractors are looking to attempt an audacious and desperate rescue of stricken miner Atlas Iron to prevent the collapse of WA’s fourth- biggest iron ore producer.
Page 3: Volunteer netball coaches, umpires and club committee members will be charged a compulsory fee, sparking claims it will discourage participation in WA’s most popular female sport.
Page 4: Colin Barnett will eyeball the Prime Minister and fellow Premiers at dinner tonight to demand a bigger share of the GST but his mission is under heavy fire well before hors d’oeuvres.
Page 5: Perth Glory are facing the threat of heavier penalties extending into next season with Football Federation Australia to issue the embattled A-League club with a third show cause notice over more undisclosed player payments and benefits.
The WA health system’s acting chief has conceded there are more clinical incidents at Fiona Stanley Hospital than at other WA hospitals and he has concerns about its sterilisation and the delivery of medical supplies.
Page 7: A Perth architecture company has been hand-picked by the Sultan of Oman to design the country’s $500 million new museum, an international arts destination intended to rival New York’s Guggenheim and St Petersburg’s State Hermitage.
Page 9: A leading international transport consultant says Perth’s obsession with building new freeways is “weird” and the opposite of what is happening in the rest of the developed world.
Plans to overhaul a 2.8km stretch of Beaufort Street include increasing maximum building heights in some areas, minimum lot sizes introduced in others and land set aside for future light rail.
Page 11: Lifts at Perth’s new underground train station have broken down 44 times since opening in December 2013 — one for up to 27 days.
Business: Woodside Petroleum fronts shareholders today to mark a transformational 12 months though celebrations are likely to be muted because oil and gas prices have halved since last year’s annual meeting.
In early January there were only six people on site at Sirius Resources’ Nova-Bollinger project, 100km north-east of Norseman on the edge of the Nullarbor. Despite Sirius having secured project financing and the go ahead for one of few new mine developments in WA, the site of the $443 million nickel and copper operation resembled little more than an exploration camp.
A stockbroker with “a longstanding relationship” with the Tony Sage-chaired uranium explorer Cauldron Energy has been banned for five years for propping up the company’s share price.
Austal chief executive Andrew Bellamy says the defence shipbuilder would like to oversee the Federal Government’s next generation submarine building.
Navitas has partly covered the looming loss of its biggest university partner by signing a new $5 million joint venture with the University of Western Sydney.
Byrnecut has dug up about $63 million in profits in what chairman Steve Coughlan called a flat year for the underground mining contractor.
