Swan calls new stage in China boom
Wayne Swan will today reveal that the Asian Century white paper will focus on driving the nation's productivity and resilience through five policy pillars embracing education and skills, innovation, infrastructure, tax reform and regulatory reform. The Aus
Banks ponder Fortescue debt plea
Critical negotiations with lenders are putting more pressure on Fortescue Metals Group to shore up its balance sheet with an equity raising amid further weakness in the iron ore market. The Fin
Myer to make way for hotel
The Fremantle Myer store is to make way for a $200 million retail development with a 4.5 star hotel, retail and dining areas and office space for 1,500 workers. The West
NBN struggling to connect new homes
The developer of a housing estate in the northern Perth suburb of Landsdale is waiting to be advised by the NBN Co on a new installation date, six months after the high-speed technology was supposed to be laid. The Fin
Stokes' ConsMedia bid hits ACCC hurdle
A counter-bid from Kerry Stokes's Seven Group for Consolidated Media is unlikely to receive the green light from the competition watchdog next month unless it makes major changes to its proposal. The Aus
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Andrew Forrest and shareholders in his iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group lost $1.5 billion yesterday in a share price crash sparked by concerns the company was struggling to deal with its debts.
Page 7: The Fremantle Myer store is to make way for a $200 million retail development with a 4.5 star hotel, retail and dining areas and office space for 1,500 workers.
Page 9: The Education Department will have to pay thousands of dollars in compensation to a US software supplier after more than 200 public schools were found to be using unlicensed software.
Page 10: The record state debt debt is poised to swell further after the Water Corporation flagged a massive spending splurge of almost $10 billion over the next decade to meet growing demand.
Page 11: Labor has salvaged its two year ban on the controversial supertrawler Abel Tasman after a day of fierce negotiations with crossbenchers.
Page 17: The state opposition accused the Barnett government of double standards yesterday after the Premier's office released details of payouts of more than $500,000 to seven former ALP staffers.
Page 18: WA theatre luminary Edgar Metcalf, known for years as Mr Playhouse for his pivotal role in the development of the Perth stage industry, died yesterday after a short fight with liver cancer.
A director of the company behind a planned $65 million Hilton hotel in Karratha, championed by Regional Development Minister Brendon Grylls under Pilbara Cities, is a former bankrupt linked to a string of failed hotel proposals.
Business: Fortescue Metals Group has been forced to deny widespread market speculation its lenders have put pressure on the company to temporarily shutter its high-cost Cloudbreak mine in the Pilbara.
The competition watchdog has dismissed criticism it is dragging its heels on Seven Group Holdings' potential acquisition of payTV investor Consolidated Media, saying analysts misunderstand its authorisation process.
Mincor Resources' share price hit a near 10-month high yesterday, breathing new life into WA's much-maligned nickel sector, which has borne the brunt of lagging prices.
WA consumers are being denied world class electricity services because of government meddling in the energy sector, the state's peak business lobby has claimed.
Myer is confident that closing its profitable but declining Fremantle store next year won't hurt business in what is its best performing state.
Australia's biggest grain exporter has called on federal Liberal MPs to reverse their opposition to further deregulation of the wheat market, increasing pressure on the party to back stalled Labor reforms.
A big speed hump has been placed in front of Perth-based copper explorer Zambezi Resources, after a local agency in Zambia rejected its plans to mine copper in a national park area on environmental grounds.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: Critical negotiations with lenders are putting more pressure on Fortescue Metals Group to shore up its balance sheet with an equity raising amid further weakness in the iron ore market.
Qantas Airways reached out to Singapore Airlines' owner in an attempt to get the carrier to dump its alliance with Virgin Australia before it formed a partnership with Emirates last week.
Law firms that specialise in defending big employers in industrial disputes generated record revenues last financial year.
Foreign Minister Bob Carr has warned that Australia should prepare for a slowdown in China's decision making as the emerging global economic power goes through its crucial leadership transition.
Page 4: New powers the federal government is giving itself to ban large commercial fishing vessels will end after a year, when a new fisheries management system should be in place.
Kevin Rudd's supporters have welcomed his emergence from self-imposed political exile following the February leadership challenge, but his key backers admit the former prime minister does not have the numbers to challenge Julia Gillard.
Page 7: BHP Billiton faces the threat of further strikes at its important coking coal mines in Queensland's Bowen Basin after union delegates rejected a mediated agreement to end a lengthy bargaining deadlock.
Ratings agency Fitch has downgraded Queensland's credit rating from AA+ to AA, saying the state's financial recovery will be slower than the government predicts.
Page 8: Reserve Bank of Australia officials have warned that a closely watched survey of company investment plans had overestimated the mining boom in recent years and should be treated with caution.
The central bank has warned that the foreign appetite for Australian financial assets and new global banking rules could force up bank funding costs and hit the broader economy.
Page 11: The developer of a housing estate in the northern Perth suburb of Landsdale is waiting to be advised by the NBN Co on a new installation date, six months after the high-speed technology was supposed to be laid.
Page 12: Qantas' push to forge partnerships with Emirates and a host of other international airlines has prompted one of the unions that wreaked havoc on the Australian flag carrier last year to chase an alliance of its own.
Page 13: Resources industry employers have rejected changes to curtail enterprise migration agreements that they said would give the government unnecessary power to interfere in private businesses.
The Fair Work Ombudsman is investigating cases of alleged exploitation of overseas workers in all states and territories, while increasingly pursuing players in the labour supply chain.
Page 15: Myer chief Bernie Brookes has defended the retailer's $17 million investment in extra staff to improve customer service, even though the decision contributed to a double-digit profit slump in 2012.
Page 17: The competition regulator has signalled that it may protect free-to-air television's bargaining power for sports broadcast rights by stating that a Seven Network tie-up with pay TV's Fox Sports Australia has the potential to substantially lessen competition.
Page 19: As one of the first to drill in the now-prolific Eagle Ford shale region in Texas in 2006, Aurora Oil & Gas has since been joined by some of the world's biggest oil companies, including ConocoPhillips, China's CNOOC and BHP Billiton.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Wayne Swan will today reveal that the Asian Century white paper will focus on driving the nation's productivity and resilience through five policy pillars embracing education and skills, innovation, infrastructure, tax reform and regulatory reform.
The nation's leading university vice-chancellors have warned Julia Gillard that any freeze to research grants as part of the budget savings drive could cost up to 1700 jobs, increase sovereign risk fears among international investors and spark a brain drain of leading researchers going overseas.
Page 2: Slashing the 20 per cent renewable energy target after a landmark Climate Change Authority review could add up to $119 million to consumers' electricity bills by furthering uncertainty over energy policy, AGL Energy claims.
Page 3: The building watchdog has launched Federal Court action against the construction union and six of its representatives over strikes and bans allegedly imposed on five Victorian projects last year.
Page 4: Labor has ruled out changing a rebate for low-income earners as it mulls cuts to superannuation tax breaks in the mid-year budget, amid a widening fight over the Coalition's intentions for the $1 billion annual benefit.
The operators of the world's second-largest super trawler have little chance of successfully suing for compensation after the House of Representatives last night passed amendments effectively banning the ship for at least 12 months.
Page 6: Former West Australian premier-turned-lobbyist Brian Burke knew a letter relating to one of his clients was confidential and not supposed to be disclosed, but asked a senior public servant for a copy anyway.
Business: Fortescue Metals Group has asked its lenders for debt relief in response to the spectacular collapse in iron ore prices, sparking a $1.5 billion share sell-off yesterday.
A counter-bid from Kerry Stokes's Seven Group for Consolidated Media is unlikely to receive the green light from the competition watchdog next month unless it makes major changes to its proposal.
The union movement is urging a crackdown on high-speed trading on the sharemarket to shield investors from growing volatility, warning that the practice has become a threat to the nation's $1.3 trillion in superannuation savings.
Myer chief executive Bernie Brookes is warning investors not to get too optimistic after the department store chain reported its first quarter of sales growth from existing stores in two years, saying poor consumer sentiment suggested further pain was on the way.
China will become an increasingly larger exporter of capital as part of the nation's planned financial reforms, which will help make its currency a force in world markets.
New rules on foreign exchange derivatives will force Australian banks to put up about $35 billion in high-quality liquid assets to meet margin requirements, Reserve Bank estimates show.
Two of the most active recent investors in Perth office space believe the local market can remain robust despite the turmoil in the mining industry.
Retail investors have opposed any dilution of the annual meeting as a forum for shareholder engagement, arguing corporate governance is ''too fragile'' to allow the corporate sector to dictate the AGM format.
Efforts to privatise specialist resources investor LinQ Resources Fund appear to have flushed out a higher offer, with a subsidiary of Singaporean company IMC Group launching an $80 million offer for the fund.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: The whistleblower who exposed alleged corruption in two Reserve Bank companies told five top bank officials of his explosive concerns, only to be forced out of his job and warned to keep quiet.
Page 2: The federal government has expressed full confidence in Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens as calls grow for a judicial inquiry into allegations that subsidiary companies of the bank bribed foreign officials to secure note-printing contracts.
Page 3: An ASIO officer may have inadvertently endangered a Melbourne man helping him spy on the Islamic centre raided in the city's southeast this week, after their secret conversations were outed on social media.
World: The four-hour assault on the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi may have been orchestrated by groups tied to al-Qaeda, politicians said as officials began to investigate the attack that killed the ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others.
Finance: The plunging iron ore price has forced Andrew Forrest's Fortescue Metals to ask its bankers for waivers of its loan conditions, triggering a 14 per cent share price plunge.
Sport: Daly Cherry-Evans will come up against the club that could have snared him when North Queensland face Manly in an elimination final.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: A Sydney sheik accused of involvement in the barbaric "genital circumcision" of sisters aged six and seven is alleged to have told his Muslim community to lie about its widespread practice.
Page 2: The Islamic group raided by police this week was established days after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the US, in support of militant goals and to spread anti-Western views, it has been alleged.
Page 3: First it was education - now the health budget is in Premier Barry O'Farrell's line of fire.
World: The US suspects the deadly attack on its consulate in Libya was a well-planned assault by militants not a rampaging mob.
Business: Struggling department store chain Myer's efforts to improve customer service appear to be paying off.
Sport: Anger Paul Gallen, get yourself a Queensland Origin jersey.
THE AGE:
Page 1: An ASIO officer may have inadvertently endangered a Melbourne man helping the intelligence organisation spy on the Islamic centre raided this week, after their secret conversations were revealed on social media. The whistleblower who exposed alleged corruption in two Reserve Bank companies told five top bank officials of his explosive concerns, only to be later forced out of his job and warned to keep quiet. Urban renewal authority head Peter Clarke, a friend and ally of Premier Ted Baillieu, is under criminal investigation over the collapse of the Prime Trust nursing home empire, court documents show.
Page 2: Australia's new Pacific solution began last night when a chartered jet left Christmas Island carrying the first asylum seekers to be sent to Nauru in more than four years.
Page 3: Victoria's TAFE system is facing deeper cuts than first thought, with secret documents revealing plans for a raft of campus and course closures. It was launched with great fanfare, but analysts say the iPhone 5 lacks wow factor. Childbirth can mean six years of bad sex, or at least sex not as good as it used to be, a medical conference has been told. Organ donor officials in Western Australia have admitted an embarrassing mistake in which two organs retrieved from a donor in Perth were flown to the wrong cities. The Transport Accident Commission posted a $1 billion financial loss in the past financial year yet the Victorian government diverted $140 million from it, a report shows. As Tony Mokbel's ex-girlfriend Danielle McGuire was in the Supreme Court doing battle over a major property development, she was having another spot of legal problems a tad closer to home.
World: US officials are investigating the four-hour assault that killed the ambassador to Libya and three other Americans as a well-orchestrated terrorist attack, not a spontaneous reaction to an inflammatory movie about the Muslim prophet Muhammad.
Business: The plunging iron ore price has forced Andrew Forrest's Fortescue Metals to ask its bankers for waivers of its loan conditions, triggering a 14 per cent share price drop.
Sport: Pavlich the key as Fremantle look to send Crows crashing out in straight sets.
THE HERALD SUN:
Page 1: Adult Parole Board figures reveal 1386 of 1843 prisoners on parole breached their orders last financial year, compared with 1059 the previous year, a 30 per cent spike and the highest in five years.
Page 2: Rogue police involved in bodybuilding and kickboxing are being corrupted by crime figures, the police watchdog has revealed.
Page 3: Sizzling South Pacific co-stars Lisa McCune and Teddy Tahu Rhodes gave Melbourne its first glimpse of what's in store when they step on stage at the Princess Theatre. Myki has cost Victorian taxpayers even more money after the state government was forced to stump up millions of dollars for delaying its introduction.
World: The US has sent 50 Marines to Tripoli to bolster diplomatic security after a mob attack that killed the ambassador and three other Americans.
Business: Fortescue Metals has suffered its biggest single day market rout in 12 years after asking bankers for breathing space on the terms of its loans.
Sport: Collingwood has sprung a selection surprise, naming speedster Jamie Elliott for the semi-final against West Coast.
