Morning Headlines

Taxi battle

Perth’s taxi industry is facing a full-frontal assault from San Francisco-based technology company Uber, which will today launch its low-cost ride sharing service that promises to undercut taxi fares up to 30 per cent. The West

Aldi prepares for competition, not war

Retailer Aldi has outlined plans to invest another $700 million building two distribution centres and as many as 130 stores in Western Australia and South Australia, but managing director Tom Daunt has hosed down fears of a British-style price war in the $85 billion grocery market. The Fin

Airport cuts short builder’s contract

Perth Airport has terminated part of its contract with Broad Construction Services for the expansion of the airport’s international terminal, almost guaranteeing the chaos that has plagued travellers for more than two years will continue. The West

Investors slam Glencore

Former BHP Billiton chairman Don Argus is backing the aggressive expansion strategies of BHP and Rio Tinto, saying trading giant Glencore will have to pay “dearly in a premium” to force a merger with Rio. The Fin

Jobs figures are dodgy, ABS admits

The credibility of monthly employment data – arguably the most crucial gauge of the economy’s health – has been thrown into doubt by the official statistician, which said it was conducting a review of its July, August and today’s September figures. The Fin

Rio digs in for long battle

Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett said he would prefer Rio, which operates 15 iron ore mines and employs 12,000 workers in the state, to stay as it is. The Aus

The Australian Financial Review

Page  1: The credibility of monthly employment data – arguably the most crucial gauge of the economy’s health – has been thrown into doubt by the official statistician, which said it was conducting a review of its July, August and today’s September figures.

Corporate services group UGL paid Hong Kong’s embattled chief executive C.Y. Leung millions in secret fees in return for his support for its Asian business ambitions.

Page 3: Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles is set to launch a formal process for the construction of a $1.2 billion gas pipeline link to ensure gas is brought south in time to head off a potential shortage in NSW in 2017-2018.

Page 5: James Packer is likely to pay about $12.5 million to become a joint owner, with actor Russell Crowe, of National Rugby League premiers South Sydney.

Page 7: The Tax Office alleges multinational oil giant Chevron used a system of loans and related-party payments worth billions of dollars to slash its tax bill by up to $258 million.

Page 11: Mining companies will no longer get access to cheap government-backed loans after an overhaul of the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation, which now restricts its lending to small and medium businesses.

Page 19: Former BHP Billiton chairman Don Argus is backing the aggressive expansion strategies of BHP and Rio Tinto, saying trading giant Glencore will have to pay “dearly in a premium” to force a merger with Rio.

Those at the helm of Citigroup’s local investment banking team are tipping a surge in outbound acquisitions by Australian companies in the medium term, despite local merger activity lagging frenetic global deal flow this year.

Page 21: Retailer Aldi has outlined plans to invest another $700 million building two distribution centres and as many as 130 stores in Western Australia and South Australia, but managing director Tom Daunt has hosed down fears of a British-style price war in the $85 billion grocery market.

UBS and its sub-underwriters are likely to buy most of the $298 million retail part of Arrium’s equity raising after the offer closed with the steelmaker’s stock mired well below the offer price

Page 22: SingTel-Optus chairman Paul O’Sullivan has claimed that all sides of politics are letting Telstra get away with damaging competition because they need its help to build the national broadband network.

Page 26: Rio Tinto is expected to spend the next six months firming up new growth projects and building a cash pile for dividends as it seeks to insulate itself against another approach from Glencore in early 2015.

The Australian

Page 1: A “no disadvantage” grace period for welfare recipients, during which they would not immediately lose money when new streamlined payments are introduced, is expected to be among the recommendations of the McClure review.

Page 4: The Australian Bureau of Statistics has dumped the way in which it reports jobs figures after conceding its most recent numbers were wrong.

Miners have moved to counter arguments from the renewable energy industry that the target scheme is lowering electricity prices, releasing figures showing it is costing millions of dollars and comprising up to 15 per cent of total electricity bills.

Page 6: Clive Palmer has lost all political representation within the Queensland parliament after state MP Carl Judge last night resigned from his fledgling party.

Page 17: Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett said he would prefer Rio, which operates 15 iron ore mines and employs 12,000 workers in the state, to stay as it is.

CITI’s Australian chief Stephen Roberts describes pulling together a group of 25 chief executives and chairmen as akin to “herding cats”, crediting Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner Liz Broderick with marshalling chief executives including CBA’s Ian Narev, Telstra’s David Thodey, ANZ’s Mike Smith, Woolworths’ Grant O’Brien, and Qantas’s Alan Joyce to drive gender equality.

Page 18: Cliffs Natural Resources is the latest iron ore miner to have its credit rating cut by Standard & Poor’s, which warned that the company could be further downgraded if the price of the steelmaking commodity remained low.

Page 19: Seven West Media has won the pitch to sell television advertising for the Australian arm of global sports giant ESPN.

Page 25: Construction and development giant Lend Lease is readying to expand its US presence and enter the market as a master developer, with the group now reviewing urban regeneration projects across the country.

The West Australian

Page 1: Perth’s taxi industry is facing a full-frontal assault from San Francisco-based technology company Uber, which will today launch its low-cost ride sharing service that promises to undercut taxi fares up to 30 per cent.

Thugs and louts are being banned from WA pubs at a record rate as part of police efforts to crack down on booze-fuelled, antisocial behaviour at licensed venues.

Page 7: The Immigration Department has confirmed that six WA businesses are being investigated as a part of a nationwide crackdown on 457 visa scheme fraud.

Page 13: Qantas is going back to the future with its next plane to be delivered from Boeing.

Perth Airport has terminated part of its contract with Broad Construction Services for the expansion of the airport’s international terminal, almost guaranteeing the chaos that has plagued travellers for more than two years will continue.

Business: With a raft of audacious finance plays coinciding with the emergence of tech-based businesses and a softer resources sector, the job of identifying the year’s most influential local business leader has been a difficult one.

The search for market-beating returns has been costly for most investors over the past five years as three quarters of active large cap fund managers underperformed benchmark indices, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices research.

Poseidon Nickel will take advantage of its higher share price and buoyant mood surrounding nickel to raise cash for its Windarra project.

BC Iron has all but wrapped up its friendly takeover bid for Kerry Stokes’ Iron Ore Holdings after reaching 90 per cent ownership and securing the right to compulsorily acquire the rest.

Companies that felt the sting of shareholder anger over executive pay last year have in some cases taken drastic steps to avoid a second strike this AGM season.

Blood products and vaccines provider CSL will spend $210 million on expanding its Melbourne plasma manufacturing plant, creating 200 construction jobs and 190 permanent positions.