Now for an India trade pact
Prime Minister Tony Abbott set an ambitious one-year deadline to seal a trade deal with India as both nations pledged to escalate military ties. The Fin
Woodside eyes Apache
Woodside Petroleum continues to mull a potential acquisition of Apache Corporation’s Australian and Canadian assets as the energy giant faces ongoing investor pressure to bolster its sagging growth prospects. The Aus
Midnight for Sunday sessions
WA Sunday sessions are to get longer after the State Government yesterday moved to extend trading until midnight on Sundays in recognition of the shift away from traditional working and playing hours. The West
Rush to bring power to India
Australia’s coal and uranium exporters are eager to capitalise on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise to connect another 300 million people to electricity but opportunities for liquefied natural gas sales look like a longer term prospect. The Fin
TWU claims offensive, say Coles
Supermarket giant Coles has slammed the Transport Workers Union for making “baseless” and “inaccurate” claims against the retailer as the union’s truck driver members staged fresh protests in Perth on Tuesday. The Fin
Ruralco profit soars despite ‘dire’ drought
Ruralco Holdings managing director John Maher said poor spring rainfall is hurting farmers in Australia’s drought stricken north, as the rural services group reported an 86 per cent jump in full-year profit to $10.6 million. The Fin
RAC calls for more cash to fix dangerous roads
The RAC says more needs to be done — and more money spent — to maintain WA’s roads and make them safe. The West
The Australian Financial Review
Page 1: Prime Minister Tony Abbott set an ambitious one-year deadline to seal a trade deal with India as both nations pledged to escalate military ties.
Fear of missing out on the Medibank Private share float led some fund managers to bid as high as $2.25 a share, well above the $2 proposed maximum price for the government-owned insurer.
Page 4: Big retailers have slammed the effects test recommended by the Abbott government’s Harper review of competition, warning it will chill competition and embroil them in expensive legal battles that will erode investor value.
Page 5: Commercial television networks say the ABC should be able to absorb the Abbott government’s budget cuts, describing them as “a glancing blow” and accusing the national broadcaster of being stuck in a “time warp”.
Australia’s coal and uranium exporters are eager to capitalise on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise to connect another 300 million people to electricity but opportunities for liquefied natural gas sales look like a longer term prospect.
Page 14: Chinese giant New Hope will invest up to $500 million in Australian dairy farms and processing plants as part of a deal with ASX-listed Freedom Foods in what could be the first of many deals fuelled by the historic China-Australia free-trade agreement.
Page 15: Mining giant Rio Tinto is expected to pull the trigger on developing a massive new iron ore mine in the Pilbara, despite facing the most challenging market conditions the sector has experienced in years.
AGL Energy’s board has opted to bring in fresh blood from the United States to lead the utility through the challenges of the transforming power market.
Page 17: Socks and jocks maker Pacific Brands has boosted its appeal to potential predators by selling the last of its non-core assets– including the iconic Volley and Grosby footwear brands – raising $39million to reduce debt.
Ruralco Holdings managing director John Maher said poor spring rainfall is hurting farmers in Australia’s drought stricken north, as the rural services group reported an 86 per cent jump in full-year profit to $10.6 million.
Page 27: Supermarket giant Coles has slammed the Transport Workers Union for making “baseless” and “inaccurate” claims against the retailer as the union’s truck driver members staged fresh protests in Perth on Tuesday.
The Australian
Page 1: China will never become the dominant power in Asia and its strategic rise should not determine the future structure of the Australian Defence Force, according to a major Kokoda Foundation report.
New documents in a legal action that accuses Clive Palmer of dishonesty over more than $12 million in Chinese funds challenge the tycoon’s claims about the prior existence of an oral agreement that he says authorised him to take the cash.
Page 2: The Reserve Bank does not expect the recovery in retail sales to last, saying it is mainly a spin-off from the boom in housing prices.
The Abbott government is facing new fire over its plan to double prime-time advertising on SBS as it prepares to confirm today its plan to cut budget outlays and shift the burden to the private sector.
Page 5: Asylum seekers who registered in Indonesia after July will no longer be eligible for resettlement in Australia as part of what the government argues is its regional effort to stop people smugglers using the nation as a transit lounge.
Page 6: The embers are dying out in the fiery feud that many feared would destroy Balgo, but the residents of this remote Aboriginal community in Western Australia’s Kimberley region now face a new threat.
The biggest businesses in Australia are putting pressure on their smaller counterparts to buy or contract from indigenous enterprises in a bid to dramatically increase the economic prospects of the nation’s first people, a new survey from the Business Council of Australia will show.
Page 8: The Abbott government is banking on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi being able to bulldoze bureaucratic resistance to trade liberalisation as it seeks another ground-breaking trade deal.
Page 21: The resources industry has lauded the FTA with China, the buyer of $83 billion of Australian minerals and energy in 2013.
Page 22: Iron ore and coal miners will continue to face ratings pressure next year given the slow rate of production curtailment in an oversupplied market, ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has warned.
Woodside Petroleum continues to mull a potential acquisition of Apache Corporation’s Australian and Canadian assets as the energy giant faces ongoing investor pressure to bolster its sagging growth prospects.
Page 24: Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is eyeing expanding its business opportunities in Australia following the freshly inked free trade agreement with China.
The West Australian
Page 3: WA Sunday sessions are to get longer after the State Government yesterday moved to extend trading until midnight on Sundays in recognition of the shift away from traditional working and playing hours.
Page 4: WA’s leading farm lobby group and one of China’s biggest conglomerates are joining forces to open the floodgates on agricultural exports and investment.
Page 5: WA’s immense uranium and natural gas reserves lie at the heart of a bid to strike a free trade agreement with India by the end of next year.
Page 6: The RAC says more needs to be done — and more money spent — to maintain WA’s roads and make them safe.
Page 11: The State Government is under fire over its investment in another residential development in the Pilbara, this time for forking out $53 million to get a service workers village in South Hedland off the ground.
BC Iron chairman Tony Kiernan says there will be no escaping the elephant in the room when he fronts shareholders at the company’s annual meeting today.
Australian Finance Group says a new partnership with National Australia Bank should make its own home loans more competitive amid surging demand.
Serial director Dalton Gooding has taken on the chairmanship of Indian sandalwood grower TFS Corp, replacing the incumbent Patrick O’Connor, who was in the job for just over a year.
Mermaid Marine Australia says it is on the verge of an enterprise bargaining agreement with dock workers who went on strike at its Dampier supply base last month.
Liquefied Natural Gas Limited shareholders yesterday signed off on a transformational year during which their company joined WA’s $1 billion dollar club.
