Morning Headlines

Calls for Leviathan cash back

Woodside Petroleum’s decision to walk away from its planned $US2.5 billion ($2.7bn) entry into Israel’s biggest offshore gasfield has sparked calls for chief executive Peter Coleman to signal that a special dividend or buyback is on the way. The Aus

Union threatens strike over pay rates

The federal government is considering stepping in to prevent a costly strike at Port Hedland in a rare move to break tensions between the Maritime Union of Australia and BHP Billiton after the mining giant warned on Wednesday that lengthy negotiations with tugboat deckhands were deadlocked. The Fin

Subsidies for clean energy to hit $21bn

Subsidies for renewable energy schemes such as rooftop solar panels and wind farms will cost electricity consumers up to $21.6 billion by 2020, a new analysis has found. The Aus

Newcrest sees steady Indian gold demand despite new taxes

Newcrest Mining chief Greg Robinson says the crucial Indian market for gold will not be dampened despite efforts by the Indian government to slow gold imports. The Fin

Tax breaks to cost almost $300b

Tax breaks on capital gains and superannuation could cost almost $300 billion over the next three years, budget figures show, renewing calls for the Abbott government to scale back concessions. The Fin

Qantas waves white flag

The prospect of a bottom line loss approaching $1 billion has pushed Qantas Airways into blinking in its bitter domestic aviation capacity war against Virgin Australia Holdings. The FIn

Consumers give thumbs down to Abbott Budget

Women, middle-income earners, borrowers and pensioners have given up on Tony Abbott and his first Budget. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: The prospect of a bottom line loss approaching $1 billion has pushed Qantas Airways into blinking in its bitter domestic aviation capacity war against Virgin Australia Holdings.

Page 3: Businessman David Gonski has joined the attack on last week’s budget, calling on the Abbott government to abandon its plan to cut growth to school funding.

Page 4: Tax breaks on capital gains and superannuation could cost almost $300 billion over the next three years, budget figures show, renewing calls for the Abbott government to scale back concessions.

Page 6: Tony Abbott has accused critics of the budget’s health and education cuts of exaggerating their claims and “screaming” in their own self-interest.

Page 8: In an onslaught of spending cuts and tax increases on budget night, the fact the Coalition’s exceptionally generous paid parental leave scheme was absent from the first Hockey budget was largely overlooked.

Page 9: Job losses among naval shipbuilders are unavoidable because any new warship projects will start too late to save all the industry’s 5000 jobs, according to Defence Minister David Johnston.

Page 13: The federal government is considering stepping in to prevent a costly strike at Port Hedland in a rare move to break tensions between the Maritime Union of Australia and BHP Billiton after the mining giant warned on Wednesday that lengthy negotiations with tugboat deckhands were deadlocked.

Page 21: Woodside Petroleum investors are again clamouring for a capital return after the oil and gas player ditched its $US2.5 billion ($2.7 billion) deal to buy into the Leviathan gas venture in Israel after 18 months of negotiations.

Page 23: Ports and rail group Asciano has started cutting jobs as it proceeds with a restructure, with some employees being asked to reapply for positions as the company merges its rail divisions.

Page 24: Genworth Australia has raised $583 million following its initial public offering on Tuesday, when investor demand saw the share price of Australia’s biggest lenders’ mortgage insurer soar 13 per cent on its first day of trade.

Page 26: Rio Tinto could cut its annual fuel bill at its remote Weipa bauxite mine in Queensland by a fifth through what is being heralded as the solar power industry’s world’s first major venture with a mining major.

Page 27: Newcrest Mining chief Greg Robinson says the crucial Indian market for gold will not be dampened despite efforts by the Indian government to slow gold imports.

The Australian

Page 1: Subsidies for renewable energy schemes such as rooftop solar panels and wind farms will cost electricity consumers up to $21.6 billion by 2020, a new analysis has found.

Page 2: Organic farming has moved from the hippie communes of Nimbin and hobby farms of Gippsland into the boardrooms, bank accounts, farming empires and bottom-line strategic thinking of corporate Australia.

Page 4: The deputy chairman of Tony Abbott’s indigenous advisory council, doctor Ngiare Brown, has denounced budget cuts to indigenous affairs and says the $7 GP co-payment will hurt indigenous people and other vulnerable Australians who desperately need help to close the health gap.

Page 19: Woodside Petroleum’s decision to walk away from its planned $US2.5 billion ($2.7bn) entry into Israel’s biggest offshore gasfield has sparked calls for chief executive Peter Coleman to signal that a special dividend or buyback is on the way.

Jetstar may have put a hold on expansion into new markets but chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka believes there are significant opportunities within its existing footprint as it enters its second decade.

BHP Billiton has indicated it will appeal to the federal government to intervene in its stand-off with the Maritime Workers Union as it looks to stave off strike action that could cost it and other iron ore miners more than $100 million a day.

Page 20: Newcrest’s new $2.2 billion Cadia East mine is set to underpin major gold production from the Cadia Valley near Orange in NSW for at least the next 30 years.

Page 29: Lend Lease’s Australian Prime Property Fund is again looking to expand its operations with a rebound in investor support after sustaining redemptions in its office and industrial funds last year.

The West Australian

Page 4: The RSPCA has accused the Federal Government of trying to cover up a report that backs sweeping changes to the live animal export industry.

Page 5: Women, middle-income earners, borrowers and pensioners have given up on Tony Abbott and his first Budget.

WA’s share of GST revenue would double under a proposal put forward by the co-chairman of a review that previously recommended no change to how the tax is spread among the States.

Page 6: Network Ten’s Perth newsroom is facing big job cuts after the station’s management revealed plans to shed about 150 jobs nationally and axe four news programs.

Page 9: WA’s energy safety watchdog is warning that thousands of homes could be firetraps after being fitted with faulty solar panel switches linked to dozens of blazes in the Eastern States.

Page 10: Ministerial offices have produced lists of Dorothy Dix-style questions for Barnett Government backbenchers to ask during this week’s parliamentary Budget estimates hearings, soaking up time and helping ministers avoid questions from the Opposition.

Business: Aurora Oil & Gas chairman Jon Stewart yesterday drew on Spike Milligan as he bade an emotional farewell to the company he co-founded nearly a decade ago.

A Perth-based luxury goods company has been given a $1.1 million grant to commercialise the world’s first perfume made from pearls.

A top regulator has joined the call for Australians to have access to a full register of financial planners to help overcome problems with dodgy operators hiding behind corporate registrations.

Shell Australia will lease an extra 5487sqm in Kings Square’s KS2 building to accommodate a big rise in staff numbers.

The State’s iron ore bosses say they are sanguine about the outlook for commodity prices despite falls that have wreaked havoc on the market value of Australia’s mid-tier mining stocks.

The Craig Mostyn Group has hailed a $10 million expansion as the biggest single investment in a piggery in Australia for the past 30 years.