Business slams cut to foreign workers – The Aus; Barnett backs down in pay battle with nurses – The West; Miners lay claim to Port Hedland growth – The West; Rinehart children borrow to pay costs – The Fin; WA defends record as debts rise – The Fin
Business slams cut to foreign workers
Business has accused Labor of caving in to populist fear of foreigners by announcing a ‘‘crackdown’’ on skilled-worker visas, as union leaders use the changes to step up pressure to scrap a landmark migration scheme meant to fuel the resources boom. The Aus
Barnett backs down in pay battle with nurses
Colin Barnett has caved in to nurses' demands for a hefty pay rise, saying people could have died if staff had walked off the job. The West
Miners lay claim to Port Hedland growth
BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group appear set for moves to stretch the nominal shipping capacity at Port Hedland, believing that the official 495 million tonne limit can be pushed up. The West
Rinehart children borrow to pay costs
The three eldest children of Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart, are relying on wealthy businessmen and associates to fund their case to have their mother ousted as trustee of a family trust worth $4 billion. The Fin
WA defends record as debts rise
West Australian Treasurer Troy Buswell has defended the government's fiscal record, despite debt-to-revenue ratios hitting levels not seen for almost two decades, even before state election promises are factored in. The Fin
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN
Page 1: Colin Barnett has caved in to nurses' demands for a hefty pay rise, saying people could have died if staff had walked off the job.
Page 4: Small retailers such as independent grocers will be able to open longer and employ more staff under a state government plan to relax red tape.
Page 5: Labor and the unions have forked out more than $1 million on a month-long radio and television advertising blitz, compared with just $151,000 spent by the Liberals throughout the campaign.
More than 10,000 people marched through Fremantle yesterday in a pre-election protest over the planned Kimberley gas hub.
Page 6: In the shadow of the election, the level of WA's state debt has burst to the forefront of political debate as Mark McGowan seeks to charge Colin Barnett with reckless economic management.
Page 7: The engine room of the state's economy is expected to go into lockdown today as tropical cyclone Rusty zeroes in on the Pilbara.
Page 8: WA's powerful recreational fishing lobby has put the main political parties on notice ahead of the state election, outlining its wish list for the next four years.
Business: BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group appear set for moves to stretch the nominal shipping capacity at Port Hedland, believing that the official 495 million tonne limit can be pushed up.
Business groups have savaged a crackdown on the use of overseas workers to fill skill shortages, warning it will add to red tape for employers and suggesting the Gillard government is pandering to anti-foreign “jingoism”.
Marius Kloppers says his biggest mistake at BHP Billiton was pumping more money into expanding alumina production, even as BHP spotted substantial changes in the global aluminium market following the global financial crisis.
There is little chance that Intrepid Mines' former Tujuh Bukit project in Indonesia will end up in Sumatra Copper & Gold, according to major Sumatra shareholder Gavin Caudle, who also has a big stake in the project's new Indonesian ownership vehicle.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
Page 1: Federal cabinet will consider a package of wide-ranging media reforms including new rules that would prevent Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation from expanding its influence by aquiring free-to-air television or radio businesses.
The federal government's push to overhaul school funding should be shelved in favour of changes with greater chance of winning state support such as the national disability insurance scheme, said former COAG Reform Council chairman Paul McClintock.
Westpac Banking Corp chief executive Gail Kelly is aiming to increase the revenue it generates from Asia sevenfold to $750 million within five years, adopting a less risky offshore expansion strategy to rival ANZ Banking Group.
QBE Insurance Group is joining the ranks of Australian financial services companies offshoring jobs and business functions as the general insurer seeks to lower costs under chief executive John Neal.
Page 3: The three eldest children of Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart, are relying on wealthy businessmen and associates to fund their case to have their mother ousted as trustee of a family trust worth $4 billion.
Page 4: A reduction in Chinese tariffs for infant formula has made investments in the Australian dairy industry more attractive as China seeks safe milk products from abroad.
Page 5: The national broadband network is struggling to find workers to build it because subcontractors are being paid up to 50 per cent less for skilled labour than on equivalent projects.
Resource industry employers have warned the government that any extra complexity or cost imposed through changes to the temporary worker program would jeopardise $650 billion worth of projects on the drawing board nationally.
Page 6: More than 1 million school students may have to undergo intensive reading lessons in a blitz to address poor performance uncovered by international testing.
Page 7: Treasurer Wayne Swan has defended his department's economic forecasting after an independent review faulted its predictions on growth levels and the pace of economic recovery after the global financial crisis.
Former Reserve Bank of Australia board member Warwick McKibbin says the government should be prepared to inject funds into the central bank in the event of a crisis.
Page 8: West Australian Treasurer Troy Buswell has defended the government's fiscal record, despite debt-to-revenue ratios hitting levels not seen for almost two decades, even before state election promises are factored in.
A union push to boost first-year apprentice wages by up to 33 per cent could lead to the loss of 12,000 construction apprenticeships and cost $390 million over four years, industry groups warn.
Page 10: Single parents on welfare benefits would get up to $127 more a fortnight under an Australian Greens plan to be funded by plugging a “loophole” in the mining tax.
Page 11: A surge in the cost of gas has revived calls for domestic reservation policies and action on energy prices.
Page 15: A $10 billion cost-cutting drive has boosted the bottom lines of major Australian companies but investors warn that it is not a sustainable driver of long-term earnings growth.
Woodside Petroleum chief executive Peter Coleman has warned of a 12-month window of opportunity with Timor-Leste on the stalled development of the Sunrise gas field in the Timor Sea.
Page 17: The expat fund manager that Intrepid Mines claims conspired with Indonesian billionaire Edwin Soeryadjaya to seize its interest in the massive Tujuh Bukit copper and gold deposit has denied any wrongdoing and says the company only has itself to blame for its predicament.
THE AUSTRALIAN
Page 1: Business has accused Labor of caving in to populist fear of foreigners by announcing a ‘‘crackdown’’ on skilled-worker visas, as union leaders use the changes to step up pressure to scrap a landmark migration scheme meant to fuel the resources boom.
West Australian governor Malcolm McCusker has spoken out against the state’s mandatory detention laws, calling for a radical overhaul of juvenile sentencing practices that are resulting in the incarceration of hundreds of Aboriginal children.
Page 2: West Australian Premier Colin Barnett has been forced to increase nurses’ pay less than two weeks before the state election to avoid a mass strike that he says threatened lives.
Former Telstra managing director Ted Pretty says parts of the National Broadband Network should be ‘‘reconsidered’’, as the company building the network seeks a review of broadband technologies used in the rollout.
Page 3: One in six Australians believe the ABC provides favourable coverage to the Labor Party while one in 20 believe the ABC is favourable towards the Coalition.
Page 4: The nation’s animal welfare regime will come under scrutiny in a government probe into the domestic livestock industry amid a continuing backlash against the $1 billion live-export trade and a backbench push for tougher rules for farmers, transport companies and abattoirs.
Page 5: The business community has swung behind Tony Abbott’s pitch for a new Colombo Plan, which would see thousands of Australian undergraduates undertake a semester of university work in the Asia Pacific.
Page 6: Labor and the Coalition have been urged to target middle-class welfare amid warnings about the ‘‘unsustainable’’ load on the federal budget, with the $4.5 billion spent on Family Tax Benefit B each year a prime target for cuts.
Public hospital patients who want to utilise their insurance for a private room face higher out-of-pocket expenses and may lose other services as state governments deal with a new funding threat.
Page 7: West Australian Governor Malcolm McCusker has spoken out against the state’s mandatory detention laws, calling for a radical overhaul of juvenile sentencing practices that are resulting in the incarceration of hundreds of Aboriginal children.
Paul Keating says the Gillard government has lost an opportunity to make a vital amendment to native title laws that would shift the onus of proof away from indigenous claimants.
Business: Senior bankers have sounded the alarm about a potentially ‘‘dangerous’’ relaxation of credit standards in business lending, as the long-dormant segment starts to show signs of life.
A foreign takeover of Australia’s main bourse, such as the failed $8.4 billion raid by Singapore Exchange two years ago, would be more likely to succeed under new rules being proposed by regulators, ASX Limited’s chief executive said.
Australia's new guard of chief executives is faced with the challenge of boosting top-line growth, improving productivity and proving themselves to investors, as strategists warn that the results season has given little clarity on the clouded medium-term outlook.
Smiles have replaced the frowns on stockbroking dealing desks, as the rallying sharemarket and low interest rates drive investors back to equities.
A looming ‘‘investment cliff’’ could prompt the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates sooner than expected to help revive stubbornly weak activity outside mining.
Rio Tinto’s .7 billion ($1.64bn) Canadian iron ore assets could fall under the gaze of new chief executive and former iron ore boss Sam Walsh as he implements a more aggressive stance on sales of non-core or under-performing assets.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
Page 1: An improving international outlook means the backdrop for the NSW economy is better than at any time since the beginning of the global financial crisis six years ago, Treasurer Mike Baird says.
Page 2: Within a month of arriving on Nauru, `problematic' asylum seekers had tried to hang themselves or cut themselves with razor blades, internal Department of Immigration reports reveal.
Page 3: Julia Gillard's maths in launching a new school literacy program fails the data test, a former Treasury economist says.
World: Nostalgic and disillusioned members of the Chinese Communist Party's "red aristocracy" have rallied strongly behind the country's new leader, Xi Jinping, during the Spring Festival break.
Business: The growing influence of News Corp on the Ten Network is expected to come under scrutiny following the appointment of top News executive Hamish McLennan to take charge of the broadcaster.
Sport: The Sydney Roosters are set to record their first regular-season full house for Sonny Bill's blockbuster debut against Souths in less than two weeks time.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
Page 1: Lives are being put at risk by NSW ambulance wait times, with unions blaming the delays on health budget cuts.
Page 2: Ambulances take up to five hours to reach seriously ill patients in the bush.
Page 3: Thousands of fashion victims are limping to chiropractors every year with back and neck injuries caused by high heels, skinny pants and other must-have accessories.
World: At least 28 motor sport fans have been injured when a multi-car crash on the last lap of a NASCAR race sent wreckage hurtling into stands.
Business: UK credit rating falls.
Sport: The Sydney Roosters and Nine Network are aiming for a sell-out crowd and Origin-like ratings for the season opener against South Sydney.
THE HERALD SUN
Page 1: Drink-drivers will be ordered to have interlock devices in their cars - at their own cost. Fur seal takes a breather while watching surf carnival.
Page 2: Families face tax bills because they are still claiming for the defunct private health insurance rebate.
Page 3: Long-term unemployment reaches 20-year high. The F-22 Raptor to make its Australian debut at the Australian International Airshow.
World: UK loses it AAA rating and puts Finance Minister George Osborne under pressure.
Business: New Ten chief executive Hamish McLennan out to rebuild audience loyalty to rescue the network.
Sport: A Malthouse spray needed to get sluggish Carlton over GWS in NAB Cup encounter at Blacktown.
THE AGE
Page 1: Victorian motorists getting caught in record numbers by fixed speed cameras generating $166 million in revenue. Premier Ted Baillieu's building crackdown on union-friendly deals puts Bendigo's $630 million new hospital four months behind schedule. Hunger strikes and self-harm commonplace in Nauru's detention centre. Melbourne's first all-night arts extravaganza a massive hit as the crowds flock into the city.
Page 2: Funding hold-up puts welfare agencies in limbo.
Page 3: Shake-up of triple-zero calls to get tens of thousands of callers with non-urgent requests referred to doctors, nurses, mental health and community services. Aged spokeswoman Ita Buttrose tells Gen Y that their grandparents still enjoy an active sex life. The public service bucks up against reforms to make it easier and cheaper for people to use freedom of information laws. Olympic gold medallist Neil Brooks busking in London to get by and gets ready to fight fraud charges back in Australia after collapse of multimillion-dollar business deal in 2010. Thousands of juvenile prawns released in Lake Tyers in East Gippsland.
World: African troops in major battle in northern Mali with Islamists holed up in a remote mountain range.
Business: Ten's link with News Ltd expected to come under scrutiny from investors after appointment of top News executive Hamish McLennan as CEO.
Sport: Blues learn quickly under Mick Malthouse as they struggle against cellar-dwellers GWS but then monster Sydney in three-way NAB Cup trial at Blacktown.
THE ADELAIDE ADVERTISER
Page 1: Future generations will reflect on our treatment of disabled and vulnerable people with the same sense of shame that we now remember forced adoptions, the state's former mental health chief warns.
Page 3: Heatwaves will kill 130 Adelaide residents each year by 2050 because of global warning and high electricity prices, says AMA.
World: Egyptian Opposition leader Mohamed Elbaradei yesterday called for a boycott of parliamentary elections, drawing immediate criticism from some within his movement who said it was a hasty decision.
Business: New Ten chief executive Hamish McLennan needs to rebuild audience loyalty if he is to rescue the troubled broadcaster, analysts say.
Sport: Adelaide is to send its first contract renewal to AFL House since the Kurt Tippett scandal forced a forensic exam of every player deal at West Lakes.
