Hockey offers states billions to sell off assets
States will receive billions in federal government tax incentives if they privatise assets to fast-track the construction of productivity-boosting infrastructure projects under a deal reached between state and Commonwealth treasurers. The Fin
Qantas could go foreign
Treasurer Joe Hockey flagged allowing majority foreign ownership of Qantas Airways, or providing the airline with government support, as he acknowledged it was no longer operating on a level playing field with rival Virgin Australia Holdings. The Fin
Sewerage and desal plants on sales list
WA’s two desalinisation plants and its network of sewage treatment plants could be soon put up for a multi-billion dollar sale as part of Troy Buswell’s plan to regain the State’s AAA scredit rating. The West
Treasurers discuss GST slug on online purchases
Internet sales worth as little as $20 would be hit with the GST under a dramatic widening of the tax regime canvassed by state and federal treasurers to recover billions of dollars in revenue. The Aus
Mining expenditure plummets by $30bn
Australia’s mining construction boom has well and truly ended, with committed spending on new resources projects falling by almost $30 billion in the past six months. The Aus
Coalition finds cash for holdout schools
The Coalition is ruling out paying for the latter years of so-called Gonski deals, but has found $230 million for the hold-out jurisdictions of Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The Fin
Good fellow in frame to replace Jackman at Elders
The man set to take over the reins at Elders following the departure of Malcolm Jackman is in WA this week for a series of meetings with staff and key clients. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: States will receive billions in federal government tax incentives if they privatise assets to fast-track the construction of productivity-boosting infrastructure projects under a deal reached between state and Commonwealth treasurers.
Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey flagged allowing majority foreign ownership of Qantas Airways, or providing the airline with government support, as he acknowledged it was no longer operating on a level playing field with rival Virgin Australia Holdings.
Page 3: The Australian Taxation Office wants access to sensitive court documents in the bitter dispute between Gina Rinehart and her two eldest children over a $5 billion family trust.
Page 4: Consumers should know by March on which overseas online goods they will be paying goods and services tax, and by when.
Page 5: The Coalition is ruling out paying for the latter years of so-called Gonski deals, but has found $230 million for the hold-out jurisdictions of Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
Page 7: Treasurer Joe Hockey is using the rapidly looming breach of Australia’s debt cap to ramp up pressure on the Senate to approve a 66 per cent increase to $500 billion.
Page 8: Key grain grower-lobby groups will continue to protect against Archer Daniels Midland’s $3 billion takeover offer for GrainCorp despite securing a significant coup after the US agribusiness giant agreed to pay an additional $200 million on agriculture infrastructure.
Page 11: Leighton Holdings has been advised by teams sent to recover debts owed to its Middle East joint venture, the Al Habtoor Leighton Group, that it will struggle to recover all of the $1.1 billion it claims is owed for construction work.
Page 15: The mining sector has suffered another horror day with the $1 billion float of Bis Industries pulled and two other companies forced to negotiate balance sheet-restoring capital raisings amid the release of worrying new statistics on investment in the resources industry.
Grocery wholesaler Metcash and IGA retailers are defying calls from Woolworths and Wesfarmers to sign the grocery code of conduct, saying they had no part in drafting the code and are not “part of the problem”.
Page 19: Former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer has hit out at Aurizon’s plans to build a narrow gauge rail network in Queensland’s Galilee Basin, claiming the state would take “a massive step backward” after the rail group abandoned plans for a standard gauge line.
Page 38: A predominantly vacant industrial property in the inner-Perth suburb of Welshpool has sold for $5.25 million.
The Australian
Page 1: The Abbott government will offer financial help to the states to sell old assets to help pay for new infrastructure, under a landmark deal that will shape decisions in the May budget on projects worth billions of dollars.
Page 2: States poised to implement Labor’s Gonski school-funding reforms face having to share their extra money from 2015, after Tony Abbott and Education Minister Christopher Pyne refused yesterday to guarantee funding levels beyond next year.
A top business group is urging the Abbott government’s audit commission to direct any savings in defence spending into measures to keep Australia safe.
Internet sales worth as little as $20 would be hit with the GST under a dramatic widening of the tax regime canvassed by state and federal treasurers to recover billions of dollars in revenue.
The federal government risks slamming into the nation’s debt ceiling earlier than first thought as the commonwealth issues more bonds, putting pressure on both major parties to strike a compromise to lift the cap.
Page 4: Julie Bishop is likely to fly to Jakarta and deal directly with the Indonesians in a bid to soothe tensions in the wake of the damaging spy scandal.
Clive Palmer is throwing in the towel and abandoning his costly Supreme Court bid to sue an independent Football Federation Australia arbitrator for $10 million over a judgment that highlighted ‘‘dishonourable’’ conduct by the resources tycoon and federal MP.
Page 5: Joe Hockey has risked a fresh row within the Coalition over foreign ownership after yesterday calling for a debate on the future of Qantas as a national carrier.
Page 6: Treasury has revealed a $728 million hit to the potential savings from Tony Abbott’s plans to scrap the Schoolkids’ Bonus as part of the axing of the mining tax, if the bill has not passed parliament by the end of the year.
Page 17: Queensland Premier Campbell Newman wants US grains giant Archer Daniels Midland to be forced to divest two of its seven grain ports on the east coast as a precondition of federal government approval for its $3.4 billion takeover of the nation’s largest agribusiness, GrainCorp.
Australia’s mining construction boom has well and truly ended, with committed spending on new resources projects falling by almost $30 billion in the past six months.
Page 19: BHP Billiton’s principal geo-metallurgist, Kathy Ehrig, will today lift the veil of secrecy over the Wirrda Well discovery near BHP’s monster copper-gold-uranium operation in South Australia.
The West Australian
Page 4: WA’s two desalinisation plants and its network of sewage treatment plants could be soon put up for a multi-billion dollar sale as part of Troy Buswell’s plan to regain the State’s AAA scredit rating.
A bustling food market, urban rooftop garden and cascading water features will define the new civic heart of Perth, State Government concept plans reveal.
The company that hopes to test WA’s first shark barrier this summer wants to see them installed at at least five more WA beaches next year, if the test is successful.
Page 14: Another asylum vessel has arrived at Christmas Island, the first since Indonesia said it would cut all co-operation with Australia to fight people smugglers.
Page 26: Health Minister Kim Hames says he still does not know how much the delays associated with Fiona Stanley Hospital are going to cost WA taxpayers.
Business: Forge Group is on the verge of resuming sharemarket trading after being rescued from corporate collapse by its banker which has called in insolvency experts to ensure the engineering company survives huge project losses.
The man set to take over the reins at Elders following the departure of Malcolm Jackman is in WA this week for a series of meetings with staff and key clients.
The State Government has agreed to dig deeper for horticulturalists in Carnarvon facing big losses as they run out of water for their crops.
Queensland’s coal seam gas boom is providing rich pickings for waste management company Toxfree Solutions.
Programmed has warned investors that a campaign by offshore workers for “unrealistic” pay rises could lead to industrial action.