Morning Headlines

Hockey demands deep cuts

The federal government has set the stage for long-term spending cuts in welfare, health and education after forecasting combined deficits of $123 billion over the next four years, a decline in growth, and gross debt to hit $667 billion in a decade. The Fin

Hospital to cost $850m a year

Fiona Stanley Hospital will cost $850 million a year to run, according to the health official overseeing the project. The West

Wage bill soars as 400 NBN staff top $200k

About 400 of almost 3000 staff at the government company rolling out the National Broadband Network are being paid more than $200,000 a year. The Aus

Coalition to hit the road with $35.5bn

The Coalition has pledged to spend $35.5 billion on infrastructure over the next five years to fast-track the development of essential projects, offsetting $1.1bn in costs by discontinuing a range of discretionary grants. The Aus

CEFC will still go despite actually making money

Scrapping the Clean Energy Finance Corporation will cost the federal government $439.2 million over four years, the budget update reveals. The Fin

Qantas and government in debt talks

The federal government and Qantas Airways are working together on a final proposal that would assist the airline in levelling the playing field against rival Virgin Australia Holdings without guarantee in gall of its debt. The Aus

BHP Shuts quake hit mine

BHP Billiton says it will start sourcing new ore for its Kalgoorlie smelter early in the new year, with Nickel West asset president Paul Harvey adamant the decision to close the Perseverance mine on safety grounds did not cast further doubt on the future of the mining giant’s WA nickel operations.The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: The federal government has set the stage for long-term spending cuts in welfare, health and education after forecasting combined deficits of $123 billion over the next four years, a decline in growth, and gross debt to hit $667 billion in a decade.

Australia’s federal revenue forecasts have plunged $10 billion a month for more than year, wiping out almost half the pre-global financial crisis gains from the resources boom.

Page 3: The official interest rate is not seen headed for any probable cut soon despite expectations of weakening growth, after minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia’s last board meeting strengthened the view that it is not inclined to reduce beyond the current 2.5 per cent in coming months.

Page 4: Corporate Australia has called on all sides of politics to back tough measures which tackle the nation’s deteriorating fiscal position, but warned against sacrificing productivity and economic growth.

Page 8: The government will book nearly $3 billion in savings from cuts in the price of drugs over the next four years.

Scrapping the Clean Energy Finance Corporation will cost the federal government $439.2 million over four years, the budget update reveals.

Page 10: A Liberal Party-aligned policy director at the Institute for Public Affairs research group, Tim Wilson, has vowed to defend what he calls traditional human rights in his new role as Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner.

Page 12: Gas pipeline giant APA Group has sweetened its takeover offer for long time target Envestra, winning the gas distributor’s agreement to work towards a final deal that would re-orientate APA’s portfolio towards regulated pipeline assets with stable returns, but worrying some in the market that it is over paying.

Page 13: The federal government and Qantas Airways are working together on a final proposal that would assist the airline in levelling the playing field against rival Virgin Australia Holdings without guarantee in gall of its debt.

Page 15: Origin Energy’s new chairman, Gordon Cairns, has called on governments to end energy price regulation and reduce red tape for resource development, arguing that open access to markets and resources benefits consumers and the country more broadly.

Outgoing Coca-ColaAmatil (CCA) chief executive Terry Davis expects his successor, Alison Watkins, to endorse the bottler’s return to the $11 billion beer market, even though analysts believe beer is unlikely to generate profits for years. “The logic for us getting into the premium beer business is still the same as it was two years ago,” Mr Davis said on Tuesday, as a two-year non-compete agreement with former joint venture partner SABMiller came to an end.

Page 16: BHP Billiton is reviewing its Nickel West division after halting mining at its underground nickel mine at Perseverance in Western Australia due to safety concerns following an earthquake in late October.

Page 23: Global wheat prices have slumped to their lowest point in 18 months on the back of bumper production, but local analysts say Australian wheat will be shielded from the worst of the falls, propped up by strong Asian demand and low local inventory levels.

The Australian

Page 1: Australia is heading for an economic trough that will put more jobs at risk as the mining boom subsides, deepening the budget deficit and putting federal debt on track to hit $667 billion.

About 400 of almost 3000 staff at the government company rolling out the National Broadband Network are being paid more than $200,000 a year.

Page 2: Former Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella has been appointed to the board of the government’s defence shipbuilding contractor, just months after losing her job at the federal election.

The NSW government has failed in its second attempt to include superannuation increases in a 2.5 per cent wages cap imposed on 300,000 public sector employees, a move it says could mean the loss of 8000 jobs.

Page 4: Australia faces years of economic stagnation with elevated unemployment, as Treasury concludes it has been far too optimistic about the prospects for both the resource sector and the rest of the economy.

Page 5: The Coalition has pledged to spend $35.5 billion on infrastructure over the next five years to fast-track the development of essential projects, offsetting $1.1bn in costs by discontinuing a range of discretionary grants.

Joe Hockey has warned that the government won’t be handing out blank cheques to businesses under financial stress on the eve of the announcement of a regional support package in the wake of Holden’s decision to cease manufacturing in Australia.

The government will provide $2 billion across four years for the offshore processing of asylum seekers in the face of a $1.2bn blowout in costs since Labor’s pre-election economic statement in August.

Page 6: Joe Hockey has lashed Labor for holding up about $15 billion in Coalition savings, including about $13bn on the mining tax, as he released his mid-year economic and fiscal outlook.

Page 17: REA Group chief executive Greg Ellis has emphatically rejected suggestions there is anything untoward in the circumstances surrounding his surprise departure yesterday from the online advertising powerhouse.

Canadian dairy giant Saputo has put more money on the table to gain control of the highly sought-after Warrnambool Cheese & Butter, taking the target’s value to as much as $538 million in the three-way contest.

Page 18: Billionaire mining magnate Gina Rinehart and her joint venture partner in a promising Queensland coal project have announced that the resource they have identified near Bundaberg is one-third larger than previously thought.

Page 22: The chairman of the company building the National Broadband Network expects to access Telstra’s and Optus’s broadband networks at no extra cost to their existing $12 billion deals despite conceding that the assets will become more valuable under the Coalition’s new-look NBN.

The West Australian

Page 6: Telstra management has directly contradicted claims by its workforce that the telco’s copper network is in disrepair.

About 200 workers in the Goldfields received the worst possible Christmas present when BHP Billiton announced the closure of one the State’s biggest and oldest nickel mines yesterday.

Page 10: Joe Hockey has warned Australians to prepare for deep spending cuts or risk their standard of living after revealing a $68 billion Budget blowout.

Page 14: Fiona Stanley Hospital will cost $850 million a year to run, according to the health official overseeing the project.

Page 16: WA’s monopoly water provider has called for the gas drilling technique known as fracking to be banned in areas where it affects drinking water sources, saying contamination risks are unacceptable.

Business: BHP Billiton says it will start sourcing new ore for its Kalgoorlie smelter early in the new year, with Nickel West asset president Paul Harvey adamant the decision to close the Perseverance mine on safety grounds did not cast further doubt on the future of the mining giant’s WA nickel operations.

For the first time in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s illustrious history, the top two jobs at WA’s most powerful lobby group will be held by women.

Union firebrand Joe McDonald has been fined $40,000 for contempt of court after breaching a court order to stay away from the Fiona Stanley Hospital construction site.

A BP-led consortium has signed a $US45 billion ($50.3 billion) deal to pipe natural gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field to Italy, offering the European Union an alternative to Russian supplies.

Doric Contractors will build Karratha’s new $53 million town centrepiece, with work on the long-awaited project due to start in the middle of next year.

A commercial development in one of West Perth’s best locations has sold for $8.35 million in a deal the selling agent says sets a new benchmark price for the area.