Crackdown on GST to slug business
The Gillard government plans to slug business retrospectively as part of a crackdown aimed at plugging leaks in goods and services tax revenue that are undermining state and territory budgets by hundreds of millions of dollars a year. The Fin
Battle of the billionaire iron ladies as Hope Downs court case looms
Gina Rinehart's 50 per cent interest in the multi-billion-dollar Hope Downs iron ore mine in Western Australia has been thrown into doubt after rival billionaire Angela Bennett launched legal action in a bid to seize control of key tenements and claim a share of the profits. The Aus
Wheat row a headache for Abbott
A brawl over wheat industry deregulation within the federal Coalition poses a new threat to Tony Abbott's attempts to present a disciplined and united front to voters, and raises new questions over his preparedness to back more protectionist policies of the Nationals at the cost of free market principles. The Fin
Roy Hill axes senior staff
Gina Rinehart has shed a number of senior executives at her Roy Hill project in the Pilbara as it struggles to win backing from bankers to fund the $10 billion project. The West
Lower ore prices force WA to cut
The West Australian government is ready to follow its conservative counterparts in the east in cutting public service jobs as it tries to maintain a budget surplus after finances were routed by lower iron ore prices. The Fin
THE WEST AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: Australia's two richest mining dynasties are set to clash in court again after the Wright family lodged a legal claim over a multi-billion dollar iron ore mine owned by Gina Rinehart and Rio Tinto.
Page 3: West Australians spent more on Lotto last financial year than ever, cementing their status as the world's most enthusiastic lottery players.
Page 6: The Barnett government's cherished budget surplus will disappear this year unless it can find even deeper cuts to the public service by December's mid-year economic review.
Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has likened "extremist" environmentalists to spoilt children in a speech to a farmers' convention.
Page 14: WA Liberal MPs have been openly encouraged by a senator and senior party stalwarts to defy Tony Abbott and support the immediate full de-regulation of the wheat industry.
Australia deserves a seat at the United Nations top table because it embodies UN ideals and punches well above its weight in helping achieve them, Julia Gillard will tell the world.
Business; Gina Rinehart has shed a number of senior executives at her Roy Hill project in the Pilbara as it struggles to win backing from bankers to fund the $10 billion project.
Uncertainty surrounding five of WA's highest profile future resource and agricultural projects has flowed into Government coffers, with the Department of State Development underspending its related budget by $143 million.
James Packer is set for a showdown with Crown minority shareholders in Perth next month, with the casino operator refusing the change the executive pay policy that was voted down last year.
Nexus Energy chief executive has called on his one-time mentor Don Voelte to take on the chairmanship and help build the fledgling company into an LNG producer.
The state's superannuation fund, GESB, capped an improved investment performance in the second half of the last financial year by boosting funds under management to $13.6 billion - even as members became eligible to move their nest eggs to other private schemes.
Mining operations at former market darling Kagara Mining's Baal Gammon copper mine in Queensland have recommenced through the help of an administrator, providing a small win for Perth junior Monto Minerals.
Perth-based gold producer Noble Minerals is expected to come out of a trading halt as soon as today, with speculation mounting a Chinese-backed company is making a play for the West African-focused miner.
THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW:
Page 1: The Gillard government plans to slug business retrospectively as part of a crackdown aimed at plugging leaks in goods and services tax revenue that are undermining state and territory budgets by hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
A brawl over wheat industry deregulation within the federal Coalition poses a new threat to Tony Abbott's attempts to present a disciplined and united front to voters, and raises new questions over his preparedness to back more protectionist policies of the Nationals at the cost of free market principles.
The West Australian government is ready to follow its conservative counterparts in the east in cutting public service jobs as it tries to maintain a budget surplus after finances were routed by lower iron ore prices.
Nathan Tinkler is considering removing Whitehaven Coal directors to regain control over the miner in a bid to shore up his finances.
Page 3: The Reserve Bank of Australia told its law firm Freehills RBA staff should co-operate with the Australian Federal Police in bribery inquiries "but not provide any more assistance than is necessary", police have alleged.
Page 5: Hancock Prospecting Ltd, the closely held company of billionaire Gina Rinehart, is being sued by the wealthy Wright family for half ownership of more iron or assets in Western Australia's Pilbara region.
Page 6: Mining giant BHP Billiton has asked for a 46 month extension of its indenture agreement with the South Australian government for the expansion of Olympic Dam.
Page 8: Slashing interest deductions for multi-nationals has emerged as a front runner in efforts to fund a cut in the corporate tax rate, after the Australian Industry Group joined banks and tax experts in indicating it might support the move.
Page 12: Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings sought out Asian investors for the beleaguered Gunns pulp mill project during her recent trip in the region.
Page 14: A radical long-term proposal to shake up the Australian federation, originating in the Treasury, has received praise for reopening the debate on the federation and productivity, even from those who do not agree with it.
Page 16: The Western Australian opposition has questioned whether the Coalition government was acting appropriately when it wiped $30 million off the price of land for Crown's $568 million new hotel at Burswood.
Page 17: Foreign direct investment in the mining sector is the biggest reason the Australian dollar remains high rather than another often cited cause, foreign inflows into Australian bonds, the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group says.
Australia's household debt levels are among the highest in the developed world, adding urgency to the federal government's achievement of its surplus pledge, warns the Standard & Poor's analyst charged with keeping watch over our AAA credit rating.
Page 23: Asciano's Patrick ports business has temporarily scaled back its Port Botany stevedoring operations due to bad weather, delays caused by the arrival of new equipment and employee absenteeism.
Page 25: Don Voelte's appointment as chairman of oil and gas company Nexus Energy has raised further questions about the longevity of his tenure as chief executive of Seven West Media.
Page 26: TPG Telecom is firming as the most likely buyer of Leighton Holdings' telecommunications assets, despite rival internet service providers iiNet and M2 Telecommunications both confirming interest.
Page 27: The chief executive of the Australian Securities Exchange, Elmer Funke Kupper, has called on the government to give tax breaks to mining companies to prevent a premature end to the resources boom.
THE AUSTRALIAN:
Page 1: The nation's superannuation industry has been rated among the best in the world at the same time as the Gillard government is warning the $1.4 trillion sector that it will be the target of billions of dollars in budget savings.
The Reserve Bank has been working on a top-secret project for five years to issue a new series of polymer bank notes for Australia at a cost so far of $9.3 million.
Page 2: Julia Gillard will highlight Australia's global peacekeeping record since World War II, declaring the nation ''embraces the high ideals of the United Nations'' and wants to be a member of the Security Council so it can fully participate in all the work of the UN.
Page 3: Home loans classed as ''subprime'' accounted for about one in 10 of the nation's mortgages when the global financial crisis hit, with those loans now more than six times as likely to be in arrears as normal loans.
Page 4: Greens leader Christine Milne has shrugged off recent poor polling, saying her party will continue to prosper at the expense of Labor.
Page 5: Tony Abbott has come up with a new, positive sales pitch to voters, declaring he is on ''a mission to rebuild Australia''.
Page 6: Hundreds of farmers have been left millions of dollars out of pocket by the collapse of Gunns Ltd, with some fearing for the survival of their farms.
Andrew Forrest says headline-grabbing austerity measures at his Fortescue Metals Group are his company's way of ''removing the frills'' and staying strong.
The Barnett government has imposed a freeze on public service staff levels as part of $330 million in savings as the state's exposure to volatile iron ore prices and the high dollar threaten to wipe out the slim $196m budget surplus forecast this financial year.
A controversial trial to burn coal underground and free natural gas started before regulators had assessed its potential impact on groundwater, the Queensland Ombudsman has found.
Business: National Australia Bank has hit back at opposition to banks' so-called super-profits, arguing that investors would abandon the industry if it failed to deliver strong returns.
Gina Rinehart's 50 per cent interest in the multi-billion-dollar Hope Downs iron ore mine in Western Australia has been thrown into doubt after rival billionaire Angela Bennett launched legal action in a bid to seize control of key tenements and claim a share of the profits.
James Packer's Crown has moved to address investor concerns surrounding the disclosure of its pay policies, reducing the prospect it could face a second strike against its remuneration report at next month's annual general meeting.
Australian companies are making far fewer bets on mergers and acquisitions than their global counterparts as weak confidence continues to hit deal flow.
The insolvency firm overseeing the collapsed Gunns group has prioritised the sale of the company's sawmills, and an announcement on the future of the Bell Bay and Tarpeena operations is expected soon.
A slowdown in expected Hunter Valley coal expansions from the likes of BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata and high construction costs have led fertiliser and explosives company Incitec Pivot to shelve a $600 million plant it was planning in Newcastle.
BHP Billiton has asked the South Australian Labor government for a four-year extension to indentures covering its shelved Olympic Dam mine expansion as the state's credit rating was yesterday downgraded to AA, the lowest level since 1991.
Anglo American plans to reduce coking coal output in the coming months, the miner's coking coal chief said yesterday as he warned that industry-wide cuts would continue.
Buru Energy will lock up some of the final pieces of highly prospective Canning basin in northern Western Australia under two deals announced yesterday, giving it a commanding position in a region increasingly on the radar of the world's oil and gas majors.
Seven West Media chief and former Woodside Petroleum boss Don Voelte will return to the energy sector next month when he takes over as non-executive chairman of Nexus Energy.
More industry bodies are joining the chorus of opposition against a proposal to scrap a series of concessions for business in a bid to fund a cut to the company tax rate.
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:
Page 1: an AFP chief says young Muslim men who took part in the recent Sydney riot could become terrorists in the future. Two thieves who broke into the Annandale hotel didn't find any cash, but had a beer and a paddle pop before leaving.
Page 2: It could be the case that missing ABC staffer Jill Meagher was abducted just a few minutes walk from her home in Melbourne. Australia should have a seat at the UN because it embodies its ideals, PM Julia Gillard says.
Page 3: A catfight between Giorgio Armani and Roberto Cavalli has broken out at Milan fashion week. The ADF has launched an investigation into anti-Islamic comments posted on Facebook.
World: There's been a call from the emir of Qatar for an Arab intervention in Syria as the battle for Aleppo steps up a gear.
Business: Receivers will try to sell the right to build the controversial Bell Bay pulp mill as they split up its collapsed owner Gunns.
Sport: Des Hasler has proved a great investment for the Bulldogs as the club experiences the most lucrative month in its 77-year history.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH:
Page 1: Students at some schools are going without laptops for weeks as their old computers are repaired. Images of missing ABC staffer Jill Meagher minutes before she vanished.
Page 2: A NSW school was barred from spending its BER cash on permanent classrooms even though it asked to replace its demountables.
Page 3: Parents are supplementing their childrens' poor diets with sugary vitamins. James Packer and his wife Erica have welcomed a healthy baby girl into their family.
World: 60 people have been left injured in riots in Madrid in clashes between police and people angered at the economic crisis.
Business: The number of new homes being built across the country has fallen to a 16 year low.
Sport: A jiu-jitsu expert is helping the Bulldogs prepare for Sunday's NRL grand final.
