Business strikes deal with Gillard – The Fin; Miners strike out against tax – The Aus; Mini-America risk in Barnett GST wish – The West; BGC sues port for cost of ship berthing delays – The West; Shorten moves to keep docks open – The Fin
Business strikes deal with Gillard
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has struck an historic agreement with business leaders to speed up approvals for big projects and cut regulation. The Fin
Miners strike out against tax
The mining industry has broken its advertising truce with the Gillard government, launching a pre-emptive strike against potential tax rises aimed at the resources sector in next month’s budget. The Aus
Mini-America risk in Barnett GST wish
Colin Barnett has been warned by a fellow premier that his demands to change the GST carve-up would turn Australia into a “mini America” where state borders divide abject poverty from enormous wealth. The West
BGC sues port for cost of ship berthing delays
Billionaire Len Buckeridge is suing Fremantle Ports over claims the authority is unlawfully forcing its customers to foot the bill for delays at the harbour. The West
Shorten moves to keep docks open
Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten was forced to intervene last night to head off war on the docks after Patrick threatened to lock out Maritime Union of Australia wharfies in a Qantas-style showdown. The Fin
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 4: Billionaire Len Buckeridge is suing Fremantle Ports over claims the authority is unlawfully forcing its customers to foot the bill for delays at the harbour.
Page 7: Living on $17 a day would challenge most people, but WA Greens senator Rachel Siewert will do just that in an attempt to highlight the struggle faced by those on the dole.
Page 9: Colin Barnett has been warned by a fellow premier that his demands to change the GST carve-up would turn Australia into a “mini America” where state borders divide abject poverty from enormous wealth.
Page 12: WA's Parliamentary Inspector of the Corruption and Crime Commission, Christopher Steytler, will head a new Independent Media Council to handle complaints against Seven West Media print publications and websites.
Page 16: The Reserve Bank may have to wind back plans for a series of aggressive interest rate cuts after new figures showed the nation's job market sharply improving.
Page 18: The boss of the scandal-plagued Health Services Union showed the first signs of pressure by resigning as vice-president of Unions NSW yesterday, just as he was about to be dumped.
Business: Investors dumped Kagara yesterday on fears the embattled Perth base metals miner would struggle to stay afloat after failing to replace a debt funding from long-term financier ANZ.
Iluka Resources has delivered on a promise to cut zircon production to protect the high price of the commodity as it yesterday reported a 13 per cent drop in first-quarter sales revenue to $196.3 million.
Chinese authorities are cracking down on outbound foreign investment following a string of troubled projects that have run up tens of billions of losses, including two major iron ore deals in WA.
Caterpillar dealer WesTrac wants to add underground coal miners to its blue-chip client base and up to $650 million in extra revenue from the acquisition of the Bucyrus mining equipment business in its Australian territories.
Network Ten has pinned its hopes on a suite of new local and overseas programs as the third-ranked broadcaster seeks to claw back market share and revenue after confirming a 70.1 per cent plunge in half-year profit.
National Australia Bank may slice hundreds of millions of dollars from its earnings this year amid heavy restructuring charges and a top-up in provisions against troubled commercial property loans.
A disappointing level of support from institutional investors has forced Galaxy Resources to cut the size of a proposed capital raising from $50 million to $30 million and restructure merger terms with Lithium One.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Prime Minister Julia Gillard has struck an historic agreement with business leaders to speed up approvals for big projects and cut regulation.
Surprising strength in job creation led by Western Australia has kept the jobless rate at 5.2 per cent but also undermined the case for an interest rate cut to help to non-resources states buckling under the high dollar.
Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten was forced to intervene last night to head off war on the docks after Patrick threatened to lock out Maritime Union of Australia wharfies in a Qantas-style showdown.
Page 8: BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers has defended the coal producer's decision to shut a mine in Queensland's Bowen Basin, saying the company has a long-standing policy of not running facilities that lose money.
Page 10: A truce in the mining industry's advertising war against the government – agreed when Julia Gillard became Prime Minister and offered to renegotiate the mining tax – is about to be broken with new print ads set to complain about possible new imposts in the budget.
Page 11: Strong employment data has shocked experts whose job it is to predict the way the Reserve Bank of Australia's official interest rate will move.
Page 13: The investment flowing into resources is greater than all other industries combined and underpins record employment levels in minerals-rich Western Australia, a new mining report says.
Page 14: State premiers will mount a fresh assault on faltering reforms to harmonise regulations across state borders at their meeting with Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Page 16: Energy retailers may absorb up to $50 million in losses a year after the introduction of the carbon tax because of its impact on “green power” supplies being provided to over 750,000 customers.
Page 19: Ten Network CEO James Warburton is hoping for a ratings turnaround mid-year with new programs expected to boost advertising revenue.
Page 20: Retailers are coming under renewed pressure to reduce the 25 per cent to 50 per cent gap between local and global prices as growth in omni-channel retailing gives consumers greater transparency over costs.
Page 21: Seven Group Holdings' WesTrac has paid $US400 million for Caterpillar's distribution and support business, Bucyrus, bringing the newly acquired assets under the WesTrac umbrella.
Page 26: The latest drilling results from Northern Star Resources will probably underpin a further resource upgrade at the Paulsens project that is likely to leave Intrepid Mines nursing a growing sense of seller's remorse.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: The mining industry has broken its advertising truce with the Gillard government, launching a pre-emptive strike against potential tax rises aimed at the resources sector in next month’s budget.
Business leaders have joined a state push to slash costs in the $120 billion construction industry, increasing pressure on Julia Gillard to act on the problem as she sits down with premiers today.
Page 2: Tony Abbott will move to prevent Labor claiming full political ownership of the planned national disability insurance scheme by proposing the creation of a joint parliamentary committee to deliver the reform in a spirit of bipartisanship.
Strong jobs growth in March has dented the case for an interest rate cut and shows the economy as a whole is performing much better than the acute problems in sectors such as retail and housing suggest.
Page 3: Some poor households promised full compensation for the carbon tax may be left out of pocket when power prices rise 16 per cent from July 1.
Page 6: Australia's largest stevedoring company, Asciano, has threatened a Qantas-style lockout of its workforce amid warnings from the company’s advisers that a shutdown of its freight terminals could cost the national economy up to $1.1 billion a month.
Labor faces growing business pressure to scale back its renewable energy target when it is reviewed this year, with BHP chief executive Marius Kloppers urging the Gillard government to ‘‘take a cold, hard look’’ at how it will interact with the carbon tax.
Doubts about the future of Julia Gillard’s national workplace safety reforms have intensified amid growing acrimony between Canberra and Victoria over the costs to business.
Business: Ten Network chief executive James Warburton will tackle an alarming fall i n first-half net profit, down 70.1 per cent to $14.8 million, with a new programming strategy aimed at reversing the slide on its under-performing main channel.
Australian bank funding costs have started to rise again amid renewed fears the European debt crisis is spreading.
The former chief executive of Nathan Tinkler’s Aston Resources has filed a claim in the NSW Supreme Court that could cost the coal miner almost $190 million.
Already grappling with difficult conditions to sell assets, private equity houses seeking deals are facing hurdles that are limiting the scope of striking landmark acquisitions.
Blackrock, BHP Billiton’s major shareholder, and owner of the world’s biggest mining fund, has sold about $800 million worth of the company’s Australian-listed stock after last month revealing it had reduced its mining fund’s exposure to the miner.
Shares in Iluka were sold off heavily in early trade yesterday on its report that mineral sands revenue for the March quarter had slumped 13 per cent to $196.3 million.
Rare-earths miner Lynas has had a win in its battle to complete a processing plant in Malaysia, after a court dismissed an attempt to delay the operation.
The Seven Group-owned WesTrac has bought the Australian arm of US parts and services business Bucyrus for $US400 million ($385m) as the company looks to align its product line and build its customer-base.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: Chinese authorities are cracking down on foreign investment after a string of troubled projects that have run up tens of billions of dollars in losses, including two big resources deals in Australia.
Page 2: A Western NSW mine seeking to expand has repeatedly drilled without approval and pleaded guilty to a string of environmental mishaps.
Page 3: Power bills will rise between $182 and $338 a year from July 1, figures from the state's independent price regulator show, sparking a war of words between the state and federal governments over the impact of the carbon price.
World: Syrians have taken to the streets to demonstrate against President Bashar al-Assad, emboldened by a ceasefire negotiated by United Nations envoy Kofi Annan.
Business: Network Ten pins its hopes on a suite of new shows to improve its earnings.
Sport: Rugby league is guaranteed a $1.2 billion broadcasting deal, with monopoly pay TV network Fox Sports declaring it won't be beaten for the five-year rights.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: The Gillard government's carbon tax will add up to 20 per cent to power prices in NSW from July.
Page 2: Patti Newton will walk the red carpet at the Logies despite her troubled son's recent entanglement with the law in the US.
Page 3: A Sydney woman who was asked out by a band member of One Direction has received hate mail.
World: North Korea has fuelled up a rocket in preparation for what appears to be imminent lift-off.
Business: Network Ten has forecast a more stable advertising market for the coming year as the company pins its hopes on a suite of new shows to improve its earnings.
Sport: An injury crisis has thrown this weekend's round of NRL representative selection into chaos.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Victoria's economic slump has touched a new low, with seasonally adjusted unemployment rising to 5.8 per cent, its highest level for 21.2 years.
Page 2: The mother of a teenage boy who went missing more than eight years ago thanked police last night after they charged her former partner with his murder.
Page 3: In a rare act of bipartisanship, Tony Abbott today will offer to become jointly responsible for the government's ambitious plan for a national disability insurance scheme.
World: Some of the tsunami alert sirens that are supposed to protect the city of Banda Aceh failed as an earthquake shook the city.
Business: Chinese authorities are cracking down on outbound foreign investment following a string of troubled projects that have run up tens of billions of dollars in losses, including two major resource deals in Australia.
Sport: Melbourne has dumped former captain Brad Green for tomorrow's crunch game with Richmond at the MCG and reinstated another struggling veteran, Aaron Davey.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: A new generation of citizens on patrol, armed with mobile phones, will be asked to dob in graffiti vandals, hoons and neighbourhood burglaries directly to police.
Page 2: A backyard was being dug up last night to search for the body of Gary Adams as his stepfather was charged with his cold-case murder.
Page 3: Stoic Patti Newton will put on a brave face when she takes to the red carpet at the Logies on Sunday, with her son Matthew again in the headlines after an alleged incident at a bar in Miami last weekend. After spending $370,000 on a controversial study for the Anzac centenary, the federal government has blown another $150,260 on a secret investigation to explain what the first report meant.
World: A mother fell to her knees in shock when she found her baby alive in a coffin in a morgue almost 12 hours after she had been declared dead.
Business: Ten Network chief James Warburton has hitched his success to a batch of new talent contests and reality shows as he fights desperately to win back viewers and advertisers.
Sport: Carlton players expect to win every game they play, starting against Collingwood tonight, star defender Michael Jamison says.
