Morning Headlines

Rudd's revenge, Gillard gone

Kevin Rudd has reclaimed the prime ministership torn away from him three years ago, telling voters they now have a “real choice” at the federal election, the timing of which is uncertain. The Fin

Business wants early election

A despairing business community is calling on the government to trigger an election and return the nation's focus to the economic challenges it confronts. The Fin

Barnett strikes new deal on China

Colin Barnett’s bid to pursue a separate China policy to the federal government has been bolstered by a deal with one of the world’s most powerful financial institutions, China Development Bank, that could provide a multi billion-dollar boost to his state’s resources and agriculture sectors. The Aus

Miners hope for 'flow-through' exploration scheme

Australia's resources sector is increasingly confident that an election win by the Coalition could herald the introduction of long-awaited tax concessions aimed at boosting exploration activity. The Aus

Subbies get $5m payout for losses

The state government insisted yesterday that a $5 million ex gratia fund for subcontractors stung by the Building the Education Revolution insolvency debacle was an act of compassion - not an admission of wrongdoing. The West

  

Top Resources Headlines

Miners hope for 'flow-through' exploration scheme

Australia's resources sector is increasingly confident that an election win by the Coalition could herald the introduction of long-awaited tax concessions aimed at boosting exploration activity. The Aus

Forrest left to carry burden on jobs push

Federal bureaucrats have not done enough to support mining magnate Andrew Forrest’s scheme to create thousands of indigenous jobs, the Auditor-General has found. The Aus

Downer cuts back as work dries up

Downer EDI is the latest mining contractor to face job casualties as the slew of cuts across the mining sector continues to ripple down the food chain. The Aus

$US1,100 gold price new line in the sand: Papillon boss

Papillon Resources managing director Mark Connelly has described a gold price of $US1,100 an ounce as the new stress point for gold hopefuls as investor confidence in the sector sinks to historic lows. The West

 

Top Politics Headlines

Rudd's revenge, Gillard gone

Kevin Rudd has reclaimed the prime ministership torn away from him three years ago, telling voters they now have a “real choice” at the federal election, the timing of which is uncertain. The Fin

Kingmakers willing to crown Rudd

Kevin Rudd has the backing of independent Andrew Wilkie to become prime minister and his supporters are confident maverick Queensland independents Bob Katter and Peter Slipper will also support him, staving off the threat of a no-confidence motion. The Aus

Business wants early election

A despairing business community is calling on the government to trigger an election and return the nation's focus to the economic challenges it confronts. The Fin

Barnett strikes new deal on China

Colin Barnett’s bid to pursue a separate China policy to the federal government has been bolstered by a deal with one of the world’s most powerful financial institutions, China Development Bank, that could provide a multi billion-dollar boost to his state’s resources and agriculture sectors. The Aus

Red tape bogs farm loans

Beleaguered WA farmers are still months away from seeing a single dollar from the Labor government's $60 million concessional loan package despite high-level negotiations between state and Commonwealth authorities. The West

 

Top Property Headlines

Subbies get $5m payout for losses

The state government insisted yesterday that a $5 million ex gratia fund for subcontractors stung by the Building the Education Revolution insolvency debacle was an act of compassion - not an admission of wrongdoing. The West

Salwin takes helm at Aspen

After a drawn-out recruitment process, former Valad Property Group interim chief and UBS investment banker Clem Salwin has been named the Aspen Group's chief executive and managing director. The Fin

Two-way Murray Street plan

The City of Perth is stepping up its program to convert inner-city streets to two-way traffic, with Murray Street now in its sights. The West

  

The West Australian

Page 1: Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott could go head to head at a federal election within weeks after Labor last night tore down Julia Gillard in an attempt to avoid a catastrophic loss.

Page 3: Health Minister Kim Hames has conceded basic management issues need fixing at Princess Margaret Hospital, including unacceptable delays for seriously ill children needing medication.

The City of Perth is stepping up its program to convert inner-city streets to two-way traffic, with Murray Street now in its sights.

Page 5: Kevin Rudd has promised to unite the country and the Labor Party, while warning the country faces tough times ahead in the face of mounting global economic gloom.

Page 6: Julia Gillard believes the next woman to become prime minister will have an easier ride to the top job than she.

Page 7: Tony Abbott has challenged Kevin Rudd to stick to Julia Gillard's original September 14 election date or bring it forward, saying the Australian people deserved better.

Page 13: Perth is Australia's fourth-best tourist destination – behind only Sydney, Melbourne and Cairns – according to the world's biggest online travel site.

Page 14: The new WA museum has taken the next step with two key advisers appointed to help define the scope of the $428.3 million project planned for the Perth Cultural Centre.

Page 16: Kempe, the private Geelong engineering firm that entered into a joint venture with Verve to refurbish the 47-year old Muja AB coal fired power station, was paid $100 million for the engineering works.

Pre-construction site works at the Burswood major stadium will begin in August.

Page 18: The state government insisted yesterday that a $5 million ex gratia fund for subcontractors stung by the Building the Education Revolution insolvency debacle was an act of compassion - not an admission of wrongdoing.

Business: Beleaguered WA farmers are still months away from seeing a single dollar from the Labor government's $60 million concessional loan package despite high-level negotiations between state and Commonwealth authorities.

The 130 workers at Apex Minerals' Wiluna mine face an uncertain future as receivers from Ferrier Hodgson work out what to do with the loss-making gold operation.

Papillon Resources managing director Mark Connelly has described a gold price of $US1,100 an ounce as the new stress point for gold hopefuls as investor confidence in the sector sinks to historic lows.

Joe Ricciardo likens a change of leadership at GR Engineering Services to brining in a new coach at a football club.

Curtin University has been forced to mount an urgent investigation into its prestigious Master of Business Administration program, after allegations its top 100 global ranking was based on falsified data.

The world's biggest gold miner has swung the axe again in WA, with another 32 workers made redundant yesterday at Barrick Gold.

  

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: Kevin Rudd has reclaimed the prime ministership torn away from him three years ago, telling voters they now have a “real choice” at the federal election, the timing of which is uncertain.

In an unprecedented day in Australian politics, the government lost its three most senior figures, the prime minister, deputy prime minister and leader of the government in the Senate.

Page 3: Grocery suppliers hit back at claims by Woolworths and Coles that they are inefficient and generate excessive profits, saying a steep increase in discounts and rebates demanded by retailers has had a bigger impact than the cost of goods and labour.

Page 4: Anglo American chief executive Mark Cutifani has advised that 500 jobs at its $500 million Drayton South coal project in NSW are at risk because of delays in government approvals. Marking an escalation of the jobs and investment crisis that is gripping the country's mining industry.

The men in charge of two of the world's biggest coal producers say the future of Australian mining is bleak unless the government can help lower costs.

The Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics lowered its forecasts for export earnings from commodities because of falling prices and weaker demand from China.

Page 5: The Productivity Commission has criticised state and federal governments for failing to tackle rising power prices fast enough and argued energy reforms last year did not go far enough.

Page 10: The retirement of independent MPs Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott from politics will likely deliver two more seats to the Coalition at the election.

Page 11:A despairing business community is calling on the government to trigger an election and return the nation's focus to the economic challenges it confronts.

Page 21: Origin Energy and EnergyAustralia are poised to buy the first two of the power plants up for sale in the NSW government's $3 billion power sell-off, while expressions of interest are expected to be called next month for the largest generator.

Rio Tinto has backflipped on plans to retain its troubled Mozambique coal mines and is seeking to sell part or all of the assets amid growing political turmoil in the region and the need to develop a long-term infrastructure solution.

Page 24: Junior explorer Antares Energy has struck a deal to sell its key assets for $US300 million, several times its market value, underlining how cash-consuming shale activities are being undervalued in today's risk averse market.

The world's largest goldminer, Canada's Barrick Gold, may yet cut more jobs in Australia as part of a downsizing exercise deemed necessary because of the slumping gold price and market uncertainty.

Page 43: After a drawn-out recruitment process, former Valad Property Group interim chief and UBS investment banker Clem Salwin has been named the Aspen Group's chief executive and managing director.

  

The Australian

Page 1: Kevin Rudd’s return as Labor leader has triggered the prospect of an August election, a wholesale clean-out of the cabinet and a dramatic rewrite of key policies, including the Gonski school reforms, the crackdown on 457 visas and the fixed carbon price.

Page 2: Labor will go to the election with a new economic team as Kevin Rudd restores close ally Chris Bowen to cabinet as treasurer while promising new policies to prepare for the end of the mining boom.

Page 3: Kevin Rudd has the backing of independent Andrew Wilkie to become prime minister and his supporters are confident maverick Queensland independents Bob Katter and Peter Slipper will also support him, staving off the threat of a no-confidence motion.

Kevin Rudd’s remarkable return to the Labor leadership could halve the party’s anticipated losses in the looming federal election.

Bill Shorten’s decision to back Kevin Rudd three years after acting as a step-ladder for Julia Gillard’s ascension to the Lodge was as dramatic as it was Shakespearean.

Page 4: Reflecting on her time as the first female prime minister of Australia, Julia Gillard has declared the pathway to the nation’s top job will be less taxing for future women leaders.

Page 5: The Auditor-General has found that the Gonski education reforms contain only $879 million in new spending over their first four years, compared with the $2.9 billion reflected in the budget and that spending will decline in two of the first four years.

Page 6: Federal Labor is staring down fresh pressure from the Productivity Commission to scrap subsidies for rooftop solar systems that force the millions of households without the panels to pay ‘‘materially’’ higher electricity costs.

Business: Colin Barnett’s bid to pursue a separate China policy to the federal government has been bolstered by a deal with one of the world’s most powerful financial institutions, China Development Bank, that could provide a multi billion-dollar boost to his state’s resources and agriculture sectors.

Downer EDI is the latest mining contractor to face job casualties as the slew of cuts across the mining sector continues to ripple down the food chain.

Global mining giant Rio Tinto is considering a whole or partial sale of its troubled coal unit in Mozambique and has run a contest among several investment banks, known as a beauty parade, to select a financial adviser to assist with the process, people familiar with the matter said.

Shares in African uranium producer Paladin have been pulled back to near 52-week lows because of a delay in a planned debt-reducing sale of a minority equity position in the group’s flagship Langer Heinrich operation in Namibia.

Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett has called for a national energy policy that curtails the export of natural gas in a bid to ensure cheap and reliable supplies for the domestic market.

The competition regulator will soon begin an inquiry into the prices Telstra charges its competitors to haul internet data around the country in a move that could destroy the monopoly margins the telco giant commands in rural and regional Australia.

ANZ has rejected suggestions that the banks are engaged in a price war to win business customers, as concerns grow that lending margins may be eroded at a time of heightened jitters about the outlook for the banks’ share prices.

 

 

The Sydney Morning Herald

Page 1: Kevin Rudd plans to visit Governor-General Quentin Bryce on Thursday to be commissioned as prime minister after winning a Labor leadership ballot again Julia Gillard.

Page 3: The coalition will divert election resources from the vacant seats of Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott and increase focus on winning marginal seats in Sydney and Melbourne to fight a much tighter election against Kevin Rudd.

World: US President Barack Obama is moving to position America as the global leader on tackling climate change for the first time.

Business: Australia will take a $16 billion haircut on the value of mining and energy exports this year, according to the latest predictions from the government's top commodities forecaster.

Sport: NSW have been beaten by Queensland in the State of Origin.

 

 

The Daily Telegraph

Page 1: Kevin Rudd has avenged his 2010 knifing and won a Labor Caucus ballot 57 to 45.

Page 3: Kevin Rudd is Australia's prime minister again.

World: A Spanish civil guard patrol boat has chased a British jet-skier and fired shots at him off the coast of Gibraltar, sparking a diplomatic furore between the two countries.

Business: Rupert murdoch's News Limited newspaper business will be renamed News Corp Australia from July 1 as his global media empire splits into two companies.

Sport: NSW have been beaten by Queensland in the State of Origin.

 

The Age

Page 1: Kevin Rudd has promised to re-unite a government headed for a catastrophic defeat at the looming Federal election after beating Julia Gillard in a leadership ballot that will make him prime minister for a second time.

Page 2: Kevin Rudd plans to visit Governor-General Quentin Bryce on Thursday to be commissioned as prime minister after replacing Julia Gillard as Labor leader as the government all but collapsed on Wednesday night, losing its leader and much of its frontbench.

Page 3: Julia Gillard has delivered the ultimate act of leadership and paid the ultimate price, ending the most poisonous, inglorious chapter in modern Labor Party history.

Page 8 (Vic news): Andrew McIntosh, the state government MP who quit the ministry because he leaked sensitive information to the media, has been appointed to two parliamentary committees that oversee integrity issues.

World: Declaring the world does not have time for a meeting of the flat earth society, US President Barack Obama has unveiled a package of measures to reduce American carbon emissions, lead global moves towards clean energy and prepare for the impact of climate change.

Finance: Australia will take a $16 billion haircut on the value of mining and energy exports this year, according to the latest predictions from the government's top commodities forecaster.

Sport: Essendon is Black Caviar odds to be sanctioned by the AFL, even if its players manage to avoid suspensions for breaches of the doping code.

 

 

The Herald Sun

Page 1: Australia will choose between a Kevin Rudd-led Labor and Tony Abbott's Coalition in a back-to-the-future poll expected to be held in August.

Page 2: Kevin Rudd is set to bring forward the federal election after he sensationally replaced Julia Gillard as Prime Minister.

Page 3: Labor has recycled Kevin Rudd in an act of desperation that he can improve the Government's catastrophic election prospects.

Page 11 (Vic news): Victorian schools have been promised $3.5 billion from the State Government even if the bid for a national funding deal fails.

World: A German truck driver has confessed to being the mysterious Autobahn sniper who over five years fired more than 700 shots at passing vehicles on highways, citing anger and frustration about traffic as his motive, according to police.

Business: Business leaders are demanding stability at the top of the government, saying the bickering has damaged confidence in the economy.

Sport: Essendon chiefs remain bewildered by Jobe Watson's motivation for breaking ranks and escalating the doping furore.