Morning Headlines

Reservation policy hits gas future, paper says

WA’s domestic gas reservation policy could end up reducing the amount of investment across the State, the Federal Government’s energy White Paper has warned. The West

WA: Give them what they want, extend trading hours

Western Australia, the home of restricted shopping hours, is in no rush to relax when its citizens can shop. A review of competition policy led by economics Professor Ian Harper said full deregulation of retail trading hours was overdue and restrictions should be abandoned as quickly as possible. The Fin

Fortescue gears up to settle iron ore debt

Fortescue Metals Group chief Nev Power say he is confident the company is well placed to pay down its huge debt load amid sliding iron ore prices because of cost-cutting and productivity measures. The Aus

Gindalbie puts faith in China mates’ debt waiver

Gindalbie Metals’ troubled Karara magnetite project remains dependent on the forbearance of its Chinese friends, with the company still in breach of lending covenants despite debt injections of more than $US700 million this year. The West

TPG pins hopes on NBN

TPG Telecom executive chairman David Teoh will focus efforts on the construction of its controversial broadband network, which will connect more apartments to high-speed internet while depriving NBN Co of the revenue it needs to stay profitable. The Fin

Freer market will boost growth

Proposed changes that could inject greater competition into provision of government services would boost economic growth, according to Australia’s productivity tsar, who has cautioned against allowing reforms to be “knocked down by vested interests”. The Aus

Bennett’s business calls to Ashforth

Michael Ashforth has quit his job as Macquarie Capital’s WA rainmaker to run the family office of iron ore billionaire Angela Bennett. The West

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: Banks have taken the unprecedented step of asking the government for greater regulation of the financial sales industry in an admission that self-regulation has led to inadequate standards and a collapse in community trust.

Page 3: Hitting foreign property buyers with a modest application fee could generate more than $400 million to fund a crackdown on illegal purchases blamed for pricing locals out of the market.

Page 5: One of the Abbott government’s key industrial relations reforms – the re-establishment of the Australian Building and Construction Commission – is under a cloud as the Palmer United Party mulls its position on the proposal.

Page 6: Competition law experts warn that key elements of an effects test proposed by the Harper review could be unworkable, despite applauding the general direction of the reforms.

Western Australia, the home of restricted shopping hours, is in no rush to relax when its citizens can shop. A review of competition policy led by economics Professor Ian Harper said full deregulation of retail trading hours was overdue and restrictions should be abandoned as quickly as possible.

Page 9: One of the biggest egg producers has misled consumers, trying to pass off product as free range when their hens were housed in crowded barns, the Federal Court has found.

Page 15: TPG Telecom executive chairman David Teoh will focus efforts on the construction of its controversial broadband network, which will connect more apartments to high-speed internet while depriving NBN Co of the revenue it needs to stay profitable.

Page 17: BHP Billiton coal boss Dean Dalla Valle says the miner’s decision to cut 700 workers across its Queensland metallurgical coal business is a reaction to dramatic price falls for the commodity and the high cost of operating in Australia.

Brazilian mining giant Vale admits it is nervous about the plunge in iron ore prices below $US80 a tonne as the Chinese government dampens hopes of aggressive policy stimulus to fuel growth.

Page 18: Orica’s Ian Smith must be one of the only bosses in the mining services game talking about expanding margins, when much of the industry is engulfed in a deep malaise amid dramatic commodity price falls.

Page 19: Long-standing Australian Securities Exchange director Peter Warne has suffered a very high vote against him of more than 20 per cent after questions were raised over his independence and workload.

Page 21: Elders chief executive Mark Allison says the risk of “opportunistic” takeover bids from potential suitors including private equity firms has now substantially receded for the 175-year-old agribusiness company.

Page 29: Citi Research has upgraded its recommendation for the $11.5 billion diversified property fund manager Charter Hall from neutral to buy following its acquisition of a $603 million portfolio of pubs from the Woolworths -owned ALH Group and expansion of its fund management platform.

The Australian

Page 2: Proposed changes that could inject greater competition into provision of government services would boost economic growth, according to Australia’s productivity tsar, who has cautioned against allowing reforms to be “knocked down by vested interests”.

Page 3: Cinemagoers will no longer have to wait for films to appear in Australian theatres, the nation’s largest film distribution company scrapping the traditional release pattern to combat rampant online piracy.

Page 7: A behind-the-scenes push to install Ken Jones as the next Australian Federal Police chief commissioner has failed, with the federal government indicating it wants a local for the job.

The head of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, Megan Latham, has called for new laws to make it easier to prosecute people found corrupt, such as former Labor kingpin Eddie Obeid.

Page 8: The Abbott government has reached landmark agreements with Queensland, Western Australia, Victoria and Tasmania that will hand them responsibility for municipal and essential services in remote indigenous communities after years of failed attempts by the commonwealth.

Page 17: A glimmer of positive economic data out of China brought a temporary halt to the five-week fall in mining shares, which have come under attack while investors adjust to an entrenched decline in commodity prices from previous boom-time levels.

Page 18: Fortescue Metals Group chief Nev Power say he is confident the company is well placed to pay down its huge debt load amid sliding iron ore prices because of cost-cutting and productivity measures.

Rio Tinto’s proposed Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine expansion in Mongolia is looking harder than expected on the mining as well as the political front, after it was revealed $US1.5 billion had been slashed from internal valuations because of an altered mine plan that would extract less copper and gold from the giant deposit and increase payback time.

Page 19: The sale of $90 million worth of stock in Qantas by Capital Group revealed yesterday raises more questions about the group’s outlook.

The West Australian

Page 3: The tens of millions of dollars in camera fine revenue pouring into the State Government’s road trauma trust account is not being managed properly, according to a commissioned review that calls for an overhaul of WA’s road safety agencies.

Page 9: Treasurer Mike Nahan has refused to guarantee the Barnett Government will deliver an operating surplus in 2014-15 because of the slump in the iron ore price and its effect on State royalty collections.

Page 13: Taxpayers have forked out more than $124,000 maintaining 28 empty apartments at Pelago East apartment tower in Karratha while paying boom-time rents to house public servants in the complex next door.

Page 16: A top judge has dismissed the prospect of Clive Palmer forfeiting any parliamentary benefits after he allegedly siphoned off more than $12 million to fund his party’s election campaign.

WA farmers can now apply to the Federal Government for a drought relief loan of up to $1 million.

Business: WA’s domestic gas reservation policy could end up reducing the amount of investment across the State, the Federal Government’s energy White Paper has warned.

Michael Ashforth has quit his job as Macquarie Capital’s WA rainmaker to run the family office of iron ore billionaire Angela Bennett.

Gindalbie Metals’ troubled Karara magnetite project remains dependent on the forbearance of its Chinese friends, with the company still in breach of lending covenants despite debt injections of more than $US700 million this year.

The State Government is facing a land management crisis over the failure of scores of pastoralists and Aboriginal corporations to make rent and vermin control payments on leases covering millions of hectares of WA.