Stokes puts squeeze on News deal – The Fin; Shell, RBA warn on productivity – The Fin; Reform or face the fallout, says IMF – The Aus; Grange in royalty bid – The West; Flawed work left death traps – The West
Stokes puts squeeze on News deal
Kerry Stokes could frustrate Rupert Murdoch's $2 billion bid for Consolidated Media Holdings by using his critical stake in the company as a bargaining chip to try to gain greater exposure to the pay TV sector. The Fin
Shell, RBA warn on productivity
The global head of Shell, Europe's biggest oil company, has called on the Gillard government to act on high wages and poor productivity, which he says is threatening the long-term viability of important projects. The Fin
Reform or face the fallout, says IMF
The International Monetary Fund has warned that the global economy is losing momentum and is in jeopardy from the European crisis and a sharp slowdown in China. The Aus
Grange in royalty bid
A day after offering 30 per cent of its flagship asset for sale, Grange Resources has confirmed it is seeking a temporary royalty exemption from the state government to help get its Southdown magnetite project off the ground. The West
Flawed work left death traps
Botched work by Western Power contractors when connecting homes to the electricity grid could have left dozens of houses as potential death traps, according to a report by the state's energy regulator. The West
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 3: Botched work by Western Power contractors when connecting homes to the electricity grid could have left dozens of houses as potential death traps, according to a report by the state's energy regulator.
The state opposition will spend $17 million on Anzac Day commemorations if they win office next year, Opposition Leader Mark McGowan.
Page 8: WA is changing the face of the nation with the 2011 census revealing the growing impact of the state on the Commonwealth.
Page 11: Fewer West Australians own their own home outright now than a decade ago.
Page 12: Upper House Nationals MP Phil Gardiner revealed yesterday he would quit politics at the next election after becoming disillusioned by the party's snubbing of former leader Max Trenordan.
Page 17: Third World rates of hearing loss among Aboriginal children in the Kimberley and Pilbara had prompted some schools to install classroom speaker systems and use sign language interpreters, a parliamentary committee reported yesterday.
Page 19: The Corruption and Crime Commission will be able to investigate organised crime, with its exceptional powers broadened to look into unexplained wealth under proposed changes to the CCC Act.
Page 20: Australian tourism officials are broadening their Asian scope beyond China and looking to attract more visitors from countries such as Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.
Page 26: A Labor-dominated parliamentary committee has criticised the process used for the 20-year, $4.3 billion non-clinical services contract at Fiona Stanley Hospital.
Page 30: Australia's entire workforce needs will be broken down project by project and job by job under a new $700 million skills body.
Business: A day after offering 30 per cent of its flagship asset for sale, Grange Resources has confirmed it is seeking a temporary royalty exemption from the state government to help get its Southdown magnetite project off the ground.
Most Australian superannuation holders are set for a marginally positive investment return this financial year, provided world markets hold ground in the lead up to June 30.
More than 3,000km west of the Sydney office Forge Resources calls home, the iron ore explorer is studying the potential for a multi-user shipping operation on the Pilbara coast that could offer a path to market for otherwise-stranded juniors.
VDM Group's recovery story has suffered another multi-million dollar “kick in the guts”, with a project loss set to push the contractor into the red again this half.
After less than two months in the top job at surfwear group Billabong, chief executive Laura Inman has been forced to tear up the company's already brittle earnings forecast, issue a highly dilutive $225 million fundraising to keep her bankers happy and kill off dividends to investors for at least a year.
Gina Rinehart's coal joint venture with Indian infrastructure giant GVK may be struggling to win the necessary regulatory approvals but it has failed to dampen Mrs Rinehart's appetite for the mineral.
The administration of Kagara is set to move into its next phase, with speculation a financial adviser to aid Taylor Woodings in crunching the numbers on the collapsed base metals miner could be appointed within days.
Pacific Energy has won its biggest power station contract since Kalgoorlie Power Systems became the dominant part of the company three years ago.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Kerry Stokes could frustrate Rupert Murdoch's $2 billion bid for Consolidated Media Holdings by using his critical stake in the company as a bargaining chip to try to gain greater exposure to the pay TV sector.
The global head of Shell, Europe's biggest oil company, has called on the Gillard government to act on high wages and poor productivity, which he says is threatening the long-term viability of important projects.
E-commerce pioneer Paul Greenberg has called for a truce between online and traditional retailers and warns the industry to unite to fend off the challenge from foreign sites targeting Australian consumers.
Dumped attorney-general Robert McClelland says the Labor Party has not gone far enough in cracking down on corruption in the union movement, citing examples going back to the 1990s connected to Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Page 3: The federal government has appointed strong advocates of deep cuts in carbon emissions to the independent body established to advise it and the nation on future greenhouse gas targets.
Page 4: The mining boom has transformed the shape of Australia's population, according to the first results from the 2011 Census, released yesterday.
Page 9: Threats of industrial action at Fairfax Media have abated after the company and unions agreed to consult over the restructuring plan that will cut about 1,900 jobs over three years.
Page 10: The Gillard government has drawn up a hit list of funding programs across every government agency and department potentially at risk as a result of a High Court decision.
Page 15: The Reserve Bank of Australia says Australian's appetite for financial risk has plunged, adding to signs of a new conservatism among households that may erode future economic growth.
Manufacturers are still suffering because of the strong dollar, faltering construction and weak global momentum, the latest Westpac-ACCI industrial trends survey says.
Page 17: Foxtel may be at the heart of a $2 billion takeover bid but the dominant pay TV provider is facing a third straight year of weak customer growth with its landmark AFL rights deal failing to match expectations.
Page 20: Talks between Fairfax Media's chairman and mining magnate Gina Rinehart on Wednesday failed to resolve the impasse on key issues between the board and the company's biggest shareholder.
Australian banks raked in $11.3 billion in fees last year, with business customers contributing a large chunk.
Page 37: Toyota Australia has blamed supply-chain disruptions caused by Japan's earthquake and Thailand's floods for a $32.6 million after-tax loss that has added to the red ink flowing from Australia's car manufacturing sector.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Australia is exploding with people and income to the west and the north as the most dramatic census in modern times alters the very idea of who we are as a nation.
Page 4: The International Monetary Fund has warned that the global economy is losing momentum and is in jeopardy from the European crisis and a sharp slowdown in China.
Julia Gillard wants nations around the world to follow Australia’s lead in lifting millions out of poverty, drawing on Labor’s decision to increase foreign aid by 60 per cent across the next five years.
Australian customers are paying fewer bank fees, but the nation’s businesses are being charged more by the banks to cover the shortfall.
Federal Labor is in danger of missing its own deadline for a key plank of the carbon price scheme as it faces an uphill battle to strike deals to pay for the closure of 2000 megawatts of heavy-polluting coal power stations.
Page 7: Julia Gillard has ruled out using a UN summit of foreign leaders in Rio de Janeiro to approach Ecuador’s President about the future of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is holed up in the country’s London embassy.
Unions have welcomed Fairfax Media’s commitment to undertake consultations and postpone any job losses after a Fair Work Australia mediation.
Sweeping changes to the media sector have fuelled Labor’s appetite for industry reform as Communications Minister Stephen Conroy acts on calls for a new regulator to oversee news coverage.
Page 8: The mining boom has fuelled a big jump in household wealth in Western Australia, with the census revealing a 32 per cent rise in median weekly income and the state having four suburbs ranked among the nation’s wealthiest
Business: News Limited could be forced to up its $2 billion takeover bid for James Packer’s Consolidated Media Holdings, after analysts warned yesterday that fellow shareholder in the pay-TV company, Kerry Stokes, could hold out for a higher price.
Ailing surfwear group Billabong will raise $225 million in a last-ditch attempt to stabilise the business and restore growth, after yesterday announcing another profit downgrade and the departure of chairman Ted Kunkel before next February.
Concerns about the global economic outlook have deepened with fresh data showing falling orders for China’s small and medium manufacturers.
Xstrata's full development book in South American copper has prompted the proposed merger partner of Swiss-based Glencore to seek buyers for its 81.82 per cent stake in Papua New Guinea’s Frieda River coppergold project, one of the world’s biggest undeveloped deposits of the metals.
Rio Tinto and its partners in the $US13 billion ($12.8bn) Simandou project in Guinea — China’s Chinalco and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation — are still waiting to find out if the government will be a 15 per cent or 35 per cent partner in the project, dubbed by some the Pilbara of West Africa.
Treasury has declared that the national bout of low credit growth will promote greater rivalry among the Australian banks, in a sector it deems already highly competitive.
Gina Rinehart has responded to the chorus of criticism that has greeted her investment in Fairfax Media, telling a mining industry function in Melbourne that investors in Australia ‘‘should be appreciated, not derided’’.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: Qantas management warns the airline could "go under" if Etihad is allowed to buy enough of a share of Virgin Australia and start undercutting Qantas on domestic routes.
Page 2: Homes are changing hands at the slowest pace in 12 years.
Page 3: Commuters on the North West Rail Link will have to change into full trains at Chatswood, RailCorp says.
World: Two more Tibetan men set themselves alight in China's Qinghai province, bringing the total to 35 over the past year.
Business: Billabong chief executive Launa Inman forced to issue a $225 million capital raising only two months into the top job.
Sport: South Sydney fans are entertaining hopes of a first premiership since 1971.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: An urgent rescue is under way amid fears 200 asylum seekers have drowned in Indonesian waters.
Page 2: Boat capsized north of Christmas Island en route to Australia.
Page 3: Australian travel agent Michelle Smith was stabbed in the heart during an attempted bag snatch in Thailand.
World: French police storm a Toulouse bank arresting a gunman with psychiatric problems claiming to be an al-Qaeda militant.
Business: Billabong shareholders are asked to contribute $225 million in a $1.02-a-share capital raising.
Sport: A London rugby union club is prepared to pay $3.5 million to poach Brett Stewart from NRL.
THE AGE:
Page 1: Dozens feared drowned after a boat carrying up to 200 asylum seekers capsized on its way from Indonesia to Australia. Black Caviar prepares to shine at Saturday's Diamond Jubilee Stakes. The 2011 census shows more than one in four Australians arrived here as migrants, and almost one in eight have Asian ancestry. Sir Ken Jones may take legal action after Ombudsman found Simon Overland damaged Jones' reputation by booting him out of Victoria Police.
Page 2: High Court reserves decision in a case brought on behalf of a refugee facing indefinite detention after ASIO deemed him a security risk. Anthony Dunning, who was put in a choker hold for 80 seconds by Crown Casino security guards, died from cardiac arrest, forensic pathologist tells court.
Page 3: Former PM Paul Keating says Australia's $1.4 trillion of superannuation savings should be used for home loans. Liberal Senator Mary Jo Fisher resigns after suffering a panic attack similar to an episode in a supermarket 18 months ago that saw her charged with shoplifting.
World: Officials put off declaring a winner in Egypt's first democratic presidential election, leaving the country on edge.
Business: Qantas worried the airline could go under if the state-owned Etihad is allowed to buy enough of Virgin Australia to undercut Qantas on domestic routes. Billabong shares set to drop sharply when they resume trading on Monday.
Sport: AFL players don't `strike out' on illicit drug tests because players in drug treatment or rehabilitation aren't subject to testing by the AFL.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: More than 200 asylum seekers feared drowned after their boat capsized north of Christmas Island en route to Australia.
Page 2: Victorians pay almost $360 million a year for electricity they aren't even using. Paul Keating says eurozone will break up in the next few years, and calls German leader Angela Merkel "intellectually limited".
Page 3: Grant Hackett to make a desperate bid to restore his reputation with an interview on 60 Minutes. Super funds nosedived last month by an average of 2.2 per cent. Complaints to the telecommunications Ombudsman about huge phone and internet bills have almost doubled in a year.
World: Political tensions soar after officials postpone declaring a winner in Egypt's presidential election.
Business: Billabong shares poised to plunge to a record low after the company declares it's seeking more investor cash.
Sport: West Coast AFL great David Wirrpanda says indigenous stars could leave the game if they don't get greater welfare assistance.