Leighton exits raise investor ire
Exit packages worth more than $24 million for former Leighton Holdings chief executive Hamish Tyrwhitt and chief financial officer Peter Gregg have been slammed by investors after the company’s independent directors recommended a revised $1.2 billion takeover offer from controlling shareholder Hochtief. The Fin
Cleared Kizon’s blast for ACC
Law enforcement target John Kizon has slammed the Australian Crime Commission after beating five charges over an alleged insider trading conspiracy. The West
PM will put ‘blue map’ to work
Australia is headed for coast-to-coast Liberal governments, with expected Labor defeats in South Australia and Tasmania tomorrow and Tony Abbott welcoming the prospect of working with ‘‘like-minded’’ leaders to ‘‘reshape our country to provide more jobs and prosperity’’. The Aus
BHP’s food bowl plan
BHP Billiton says it is well positioned for the next boom in energy and food production, with chief executive Andrew Mackenzie saying he is “very optimistic” that the Jansen potash project in Canada could become the fifth pillar of the company’s operations alongside oil, iron ore, coal and copper. The Fin
WA jobless rate worst in 10 years
Unemployment across WA has hit a 10-year high as mining construction ebbs, but there are signs of jobs emerging in other sectors. The West
Growing cost of mining tax
The cost of the government’s inability to abolish the mining tax and associated measures will reach $900 million next week when it has to pay the unemployed $150 million for the March payment of the Income Support Bonus. The Fin
Telstra media boss exits as telco shrinks his portfolio
Telstra boss David Thodey has downgraded the telco giant’s $2 billion-a-year media business in a shake-up that has seen its digital media boss Rick Ellis exit the company after his portfolio was shrunk. The Aus
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: BHP Billiton says it is well positioned for the next boom in energy and food production, with chief executive Andrew Mackenzie saying he is “very optimistic” that the Jansen potash project in Canada could become the fifth pillar of the company’s operations alongside oil, iron ore, coal and copper.
Page 3: Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s audit commission will recommend structure and job cuts to the government weapons purchaser – the Defence Materiel Organisation – in a bid to reduce cost over-runs and delays on defence projects.
Page 4: The cost of the government’s inability to abolish the mining tax and associated measures will reach $900 million next week when it has to pay the unemployed $150 million for the March payment of the Income Support Bonus.
Page 5: Tony Abbott has all but sealed the fate of Treasury secretary Martin Parkinson by implying he was not a team player and a poor fit for the Coalition’s economic agenda.
Page 6: Expectations of costly delays at Lend Lease’s billion-dollar Barangaroo project are intensifying. The project is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2015, but some predictions have extended the time frame on works by six months.
Page 8: The federal government will not pursue charging motorists for road use, ruling out a key recommendation of the Productivity Commission, which is examining how to improve the funding of national infrastructure.
NBN Co is poised to sign a $35 million deal with SingTel-Optus to improve the performance of its satellite broadband services for 48,000 regional and rural customers.
Page 11: The Gonski panel’s vision for school funding will “never come to fruition” after talks cloaked in secrecy failed to produce a coherent national system, a Senate inquiry has heard.
Page 13: Exit packages worth more than $24 million for former Leighton Holdings chief executive Hamish Tyrwhitt and chief financial officer Peter Gregg have been slammed by investors after the company’s independent directors recommended a revised $1.2 billion takeover offer from controlling shareholder Hochtief .
Page 15: Rio Tinto believes its embryonic grasp of ‘‘big data’’ has improved free cash flow by $80 million over the past year, signalling the massive potential for the technology to go company-wide.
Page 16: Intense competition in the discount retail sector has claimed another victim, with The Reject Shop managing director Chris Bryce stepping down in the wake of poor first-half profits.
Page 17: The Reserve Bank’s decision to scrap the need for the banking regulator to oversee credit card issuers by the end of 2014 will make it cheaper for a host of competitors to bypass local banks’ card transaction fees by issuing cards directly.
Page 22: Iron ore prices are expected to hold above $US100 a tonne or more in 2014 despite this week’s “flash crash”, but analysts are divided as to how long a predicted over supply will last.
The Australian
Page 1: Australia is headed for coast-to-coast Liberal governments, with expected Labor defeats in South Australia and Tasmania tomorrow and Tony Abbott welcoming the prospect of working with ‘‘like-minded’’ leaders to ‘‘reshape our country to provide more jobs and prosperity’’.
Page 4: The number of people with their welfare benefits quarantined for essential living expenses rose by a record-breaking 500 per cent last year.
Page 7: The royal commission into union corruption will hold its first public hearing next month after being formally established, amid a dispute over gains to the economy from workplace change.
Climate Change Authority chairman Bernie Fraser has accused the Abbott government of standing up for business interests and not community interests in a parting shot ahead of the CCA’s abolition.
Page 17: Telstra boss David Thodey has downgraded the telco giant’s $2 billion-a-year media business in a shake-up that has seen its digital media boss Rick Ellis exit the company after his portfolio was shrunk.
A business group led by Australia’s richest woman, Gina Rinehart, says the nation must ‘‘get its head out of the sand’’ and think strategically about its role in the Asian region.
One of the world’s most powerful business leaders has a message for corporations and governments in Australia, the US and beyond: ‘‘The days of the Rambos, the Dirty Harrys, and going it alone are part of history.’’
Page 18: The newly appointed chief executive of Leighton Holdings, Marcelino Fernandez Verdes, has been described by those in the construction business as ‘‘the front line field marshal’’ who did ‘‘the hard yards’’, although the industry has questioned how long he will hold the job before he moves on to run Spain’s global company ACS.
Page 19: Origin Energy, operator of the Australia Pacific LNG project, has suspended drilling at coal-seam gas sites in Queensland after asbestos was found in drilling fluids.
The West Australian
Page 9: Former treasurer Troy Buswell could still be charged with drink-driving over the crash that ended his ministerial career.
Page 11: The Department of Fisheries is investigating the sabotage of baited drum lines off Cottesloe beach this week.
Page 12: Unemployment across WA has hit a 10-year high as mining construction ebbs, but there are signs of jobs emerging in other sectors.
Page 13: Western Power shelled out almost $4 million last year to 48,000 households and businesses affected by extended interruptions, a 65 per cent rise on the previous year.
Page 14: The Government’s communications watchdog has warned against imposing more red tape on regional television stations, saying some could go bust under the burden of greater regulation.
Page 21: A key minor party is on the verge of directing preferences to the Liberal Party in the WA Senate re-run election, a move that could stop Clive Palmer strengthening his influence in the Upper House.
Business: Law enforcement target John Kizon has slammed the Australian Crime Commission after beating five charges over an alleged insider trading conspiracy.
More and more shareholders cannot be bothered with annual meetings, with major companies recording the biggest loss of support, new analysis shows.
Three State Government backbenchers have broken ranks with ministerial colleagues to launch a potentially explosive inquiry to WA’s rail freight network.
A drilling product made from walnut shells has caused the suspension of operations at an LNG project after traces of asbestos were found in the powder.
Regis Resources’ efforts to restart its Garden Well mine are on track after a major flood left it in limbo until at least May.