$150m loan mystery
WA Treasury's Annual Report on State Finances – the document that records WA's official financial position – has never recorded Verve Energy's guarantee of the $150 million loan taken out to finance the botched Muja AB refurbishment project, in possible breach of accounting standards and WA law. The West
Rudd rules out bigger GST carve-up for WA
Kevin Rudd says he cannot offer WA a greater slice of GST, saying the state will have to ride the ups and downs of an independent assessment of states' ability to raise their own revenue. The West
Find other ways, urge BHP, Rio shareholders
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto shareholders have urged the global miners to find different approaches to sell up to a combined $US35 billion in assets by considering alternative methods and a wider range of operations to offload. The Fin
Direct talks best, Fortescue warns miners
Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Nev Power has issued a thinly-veiled threat to mining juniors Brockman Mining and Flinders Mines warning that they would be better off negotiating directly with Fortescue rather than use regulators to gain access to the miner's Pilbara railway. The Fin
Labor out of the doldrums
Kevin Rudd has stormed ahead of Tony Abbott as preferred prime minister and dramatically lifted Labor’s primary vote to a six-month high only days after becoming the party’s leader again. The Aus
Top Resources Headlines
Find other ways, urge BHP, Rio shareholders
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto shareholders have urged the global miners to find different approaches to sell up to a combined $US35 billion in assets by considering alternative methods and a wider range of operations to offload. The Fin
Direct talks best, Fortescue warns miners
Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Nev Power has issued a thinly-veiled threat to mining juniors Brockman Mining and Flinders Mines warning that they would be better off negotiating directly with Fortescue rather than use regulators to gain access to the miner's Pilbara railway. The Fin
New twist in Kagara deal
The mystery buyer of Kagara's remaining North Queensland mining assets is a Queensland horse trainer who was once sentenced to four years jail for his part n a gold stealing ring. The West
BHP talks on cutting contractor presence
BHP Billiton has opened talks to take more contracts at its Pilbara iron ore operations back in-house, as the mining giant renews efforts to cut contractor margins from its operating budgets. The West
FLNG should maximise jobs: Santos
Oil and gas producer Santos says the industry’s embrace of revolutionary floating LNG technology is being driven by high costs and remote discoveries but must also be accompanied by a push to maximise the creation of jobs for Australians. The Aus
Top Politics Headlines
$150m loan mystery
WA Treasury's Annual Report on State Finances – the document that records WA's official financial position – has never recorded Verve Energy's guarantee of the $150 million loan taken out to finance the botched Muja AB refurbishment project, in possible breach of accounting standards and WA law. The West
Rudd rules out bigger GST carve-up for WA
Kevin Rudd says he cannot offer WA a greater slice of GST, saying the state will have to ride the ups and downs of an independent assessment of states' ability to raise their own revenue. The West
Labor out of the doldrums
Kevin Rudd has stormed ahead of Tony Abbott as preferred prime minister and dramatically lifted Labor’s primary vote to a six-month high only days after becoming the party’s leader again. The Aus
Burke to take up the fight on boats
Labor will escalate its fight with Tony Abbott on border protection by moving former environment minister Tony Burke into the portfolio today as part of a cabinet overhaul that will also sharpen the attack on broadband and education. The Aus
Cabinet to weigh early switch to ETS
An early switch from a carbon price to an emissions trading scheme will be considered by the first meeting of Kevin Rudd's newly sworn in federal cabinet on Monday, after outgoing Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said the move was possible. The Fin
Top Property Headlines
'Creative accounting' from NBN Co
More than 30,000 homes and businesses counted as part of the national broadband network are unable to order an NBN service, prompting criticism that rollout statistics for the project are being artificially inflated. The Fin
New building code curbs union
Construction firms that strike enterprise agreements with the CFMEU could be frozen out of state contracts in the three most populous states, after NSW and Queensland this morning implemented building codes to crack down on ‘‘arrogant, irresponsible’’ industrial militancy. The Aus
The West Australian
Page 1: WA Treasury's Annual Report on State Finances – the document that records WA's official financial position – has never recorded Verve Energy's guarantee of the $150 million loan taken out to finance the botched Muja AB refurbishment project, in possible breach of accounting standards and WA law.
Page 3: Fresh concerns have emerged about the capacity of Perth's new children's hospital, with claims it will not have enough mental health beds to cope.
Page 8: Kevin Rudd says he cannot offer WA a greater slice of GST, saying the state will have to ride the ups and downs of an independent assessment of states' ability to raise their own revenue.
The Rudd government could strip work rights from asylum seekers who have failed appeals for protection as part of a suite of new get-tough measures aimed at repairing Labor's border security credentials.
Page 13: Australia's workplace watchdog has launched legal action against the operators of a restaurant in Perth's western suburbs, alleging a foreign chef was paid nothing for almost four months work, then sacked via text message for calling in sick.
Business: The mystery buyer of Kagara's remaining North Queensland mining assets is a Queensland horse trainer who was once sentenced to four years jail for his part n a gold stealing ring.
BHP Billiton has opened talks to take more contracts at its Pilbara iron ore operations back in-house, as the mining giant renews efforts to cut contractor margins from its operating budgets.
Former Robe River boss Charles Copeman, who almost singlehandedly rewrote Australia's industrial relations laws when he took on the Pilbara's iron ore unions in the 1980s, has died aged 83.
The state government has left the door open for Monsanto to keep increasing its stake in local crop breeding company InterGrain.
Perth's restaurant and bar owners are cautious but optimistic that they will survive the current economic downturn relatively unscathed.
Brazilian resources giant Vale is selling a Queensland coal mine, following retrenchments and writedowns across its Australian operations.
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Myer chairman Paul McClintock has demanded the Attorney-General review the Australian Human Rights Commission's conduct, igniting an extraordinary war of words over chief Bernie Brookes's comments on the national disability insurance scheme.
Kevin Rudd will seek to unify a Labor Party buoyed by polls suggesting an election win is possible by promoting both Rudd and Gillard supporters in his restructured cabinet.
Page 4: An early switch from a carbon price to an emissions trading scheme will be considered by the first meeting of Kevin Rudd's newly sworn in federal cabinet on Monday, after outgoing Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said the move was possible.
Page 6: More than 30,000 homes and businesses counted as part of the national broadband network are unable to order an NBN service, prompting criticism that rollout statistics for the project are being artificially inflated.
Page 7: Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has refused to be drawn on whether he is prepared to meet Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's challenge to two debates – on the economy and border protection – in the lead-up to the election.
Page 8: Mirvac chairman James MacKenzie said business was looking for guidance about the direction of policy under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Page 13: Bankers have mixed views on the outlook for corporate transactions over the next six to 12 months, as global market volatility and political uncertainty continues to weigh on confidence and the first-half of 2013 was one of the slowest for deals in recent memory.
Page 15: BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto shareholders have urged the global miners to find different approaches to sell up to a combined $US35 billion in assets by considering alternative methods and a wider range of operations to offload.
Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Nev Power has issued a thinly-veiled threat to mining juniors Brockman Mining and Flinders Mines warning that they would be better off negotiating directly with Fortescue rather than use regulators to gain access to the miner's Pilbara railway.
The Australian
Page 1: Kevin Rudd has stormed ahead of Tony Abbott as preferred prime minister and dramatically lifted Labor’s primary vote to a six-month high only days after becoming the party’s leader again.
Labor will escalate its fight with Tony Abbott on border protection by moving former environment minister Tony Burke into the portfolio today as part of a cabinet overhaul that will also sharpen the attack on broadband and education.
Business leaders have urged Kevin Rudd to call the election as soon as possible, warning that lack of certainty was sabotaging jobs and investment.
Myer is refusing to retreat from a stoush with the Human Rights Commission, with chairman Paul McClintock criticising the nation’s top anti-discrimination officer for launching an online campaign to persuade the department store to introduce a 10 per cent quota of disabled workers.
Page 2: Construction firms that strike enterprise agreements with the CFMEU could be frozen out of state contracts in the three most populous states, after NSW and Queensland this morning implemented building codes to crack down on ‘‘arrogant, irresponsible’’ industrial militancy.
Page 4: Former Labor attorney-general Robert McClelland will start work as a partner with a big employment law firm in Sydney today while continuing to draw his salary as a serving MP until the coming federal election.
Musings by Julia Gillard’s former communications director John McTernan blaming her ousting on Australia’s culture of blokey mateship have been denounced as a job application for a position back in Britain.
Page 5: Labor is vowing to put an ‘‘ immediate focus’’ on the welfare of children in detention centres as part of a shift in strategy on border protection.
Tony Abbott has resumed his pressure on Kevin Rudd to release warning letters about the ‘‘pink batts’’ scheme that were written to him as prime minister in 2009 by the then environment minister, Peter Garrett.
Page 6: The NBN Co has developed a campaign to counter property owners who object to having National Broadband Network fibre installed.
Business: Oil and gas producer Santos says the industry’s embrace of revolutionary floating LNG technology is being driven by high costs and remote discoveries but must also be accompanied by a push to maximise the creation of jobs for Australians.
Despite deep reservations about domestic political instability and shaky conditions in the resources sector, professional investors expect local shares to shrug off May’s malaise and see the All Ordinaries index retest 5000 points by Christmas.
The Reserve Bank is set to play a defining role in the country’s approaching election.
Russia has moved a step closer to becoming a rival LNG supplier to Australia’s key gas markets in North Asia following the decision by China’s biggest oil company, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), to take a 20 per cent stake in the huge Yamal LNG project in northwest Siberia.
