Morning Headlines

Stevens calls for US75c dollar

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens wants the dollar to fall to levels last seen a decade ago and said official interest rate cuts would need to be delivered in a way that boosts confidence rather than remind people of the economy’s woes. The Fin

Browse partners start FEED

Woodside Petroleum and its Browse joint venture partners have quietly agreed to begin detailed design and engineering work on their contentious floating LNG development, a move they hope will guarantee them retention leases over the massive gas and condensate fields are renewed. The West

Court dismisses Clive Palmer’s attempts to thwart Citic

Clive Palmer has suffered another defeat in his ongoing legal war with China’s Citic, with the Western Australian Supreme Court yesterday dismissing ­efforts by Mineralogy to have two of Citic’s critical environmental approvals quashed. The Aus

Federation heads west with Currambine deal

Federation Centres has acquired Currambine Central shopping centre, outside Perth in Western Australia for $74 million from the investment arm of the Ray White property empire. The Fin

Ore price hits Hockey hopes

Plummeting iron ore prices will trigger a $9 billion slip in Joe Hockey’s Budget, possibly delaying a return to surplus into the next decade. The West

Stevedore expands lockout on MUA

DP World has escalated its dispute with the MUA, locking out its Fremantle workforce next week in response to a four-hour strike. The Aus

Majors scramble as oil prices slump

Australia’s major energy producers are scrambling to guard against the shock plunge in oil prices, with Origin Energy renegotiating debt facilities and Santos slashing its 2015 spending by 25 per cent as oil prices threaten to sink below $US60 a barrel. The Fin

Rio Tinto shipping woes ease in volatile oil situation

A slump in the price of oil to $US64 a barrel for Brent crude has delivered some much-needed relief to iron ore miners, who are receiving a significant discount on the cost of shipping their product to Asia. The Fin

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens wants the dollar to fall to levels last seen a decade ago and said official interest rate cuts would need to be delivered in a way that boosts confidence rather than remind people of the economy’s woes.

Page 5: Rivals to the government’s NBN wholesale broadband services, such as TPG Telecom, will face a federal government limit on how much they can charge internet retailers.

Page 6: The competition regulator and Coles are believed to be in confidential discussions to settle unconscionable conduct cases relating to the supermarket’s treatment of suppliers.

Page 7: The forecast average iron ore price is to be downgraded to around $US60 in next week’s mid-year budget update, resulting in a revenue write-down of more than $9 billion in two years and pushing back any hope of the budget returning to surplus.

Page 13: Australia’s major energy producers are scrambling to guard against the shock plunge in oil prices, with Origin Energy renegotiating debt facilities and Santos slashing its 2015 spending by 25 per cent as oil prices threaten to sink below $US60 a barrel.

Page 15: Boxing Day-style bargains may be on offer before Christmas if department store chains David Jones and Myer bring forward their end-of-year clearance sales after weeks of patchy trading.

Page 16: Australia’s second-largest grocery wholesaler, SPAR Australia, says misuse of market power should be a criminal offence and boards of companies that misuse their market power should be held to account.

A slump in the price of oil to $US64 a barrel for Brent crude has delivered some much-needed relief to iron ore miners, who are receiving a significant discount on the cost of shipping their product to Asia.

Page 19: The slump in crude oil prices is set to contribute to a lift in Caltex Australia’s profit this year, which the fuels supplier has flagged may increase by as much as 42 per cent.

Page 31: Federation Centres has acquired Currambine Central shopping centre, outside Perth in Western Australia for $74 million from the investment arm of the Ray White property empire.

The Australian

Page 1: Senate decisions have added almost $8bn to federal deficits over the next four years in a hit to be revealed next week.

The ANZ Bank has promised to stop evicting drought-stricken farmers from their land for the next 12 months.

Page 2: For every three people that have found a job since April, another two people have joined the unemployment queue.

Australia would begin uranium exports to energy-poor Ukraine under plans that are likely to anger Russia.

Page 3: Australians in the bush could pay more for broadband ­services than city-dwellers after the government yesterday abandoned uniform wholesale prices on the $41 billion national broadband network.

Page 7: DP World has escalated its dispute with the MUA, locking out its Fremantle workforce next week in response to a four-hour strike.

Page 8: Tony Abbott has revealed he wants the nation to vote for ­constitutional change to recognise indigenous Australians on the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum — May 27, 2017 — ­declaring he is “prepared to sweat blood on this”.

Page 19: Australia’s economy won’t grow strongly enough next year to warrant an interest rate rise, RBA board member John Edwards says.

Page 20: Clive Palmer has suffered another defeat in his ongoing legal war with China’s Citic, with the Western Australian Supreme Court yesterday dismissing ­efforts by Mineralogy to have two of Citic’s critical environmental approvals quashed.

Origin Energy has secured a $750 million “liquidity buffer” to protect the business from the ­falling oil price, which it says will inevitably affect this year’s profits.

Page 21: Swiss trader-miner Glencore is prevented from revisiting its Rio Tinto merger plans for six months but it has shown no reluctance to talk down its target’s capabilities and strategy as a phony war between the pair continues.

The West Australian

Page 1: Dean Nalder was guilty of multiple breaches of the Ministerial Code of Conduct as well as several errors of judgment, according to an internal review of his business affairs by Department of Premier and Cabinet chief Peter Conran — yet Colin Barnett still refuses to sack him from Cabinet.

Page 2: Plummeting iron ore prices will trigger a $9 billion slip in Joe Hockey’s Budget, possibly delaying a return to surplus into the next decade.

Page 13: The Abbott Government has quietly announced a surprise $900 tax for newly built homes connecting to the National Broadband Network.

Page 15: Australian school students are among the only ones in the world to have increased the time spent on homework, an international study has found.

The City of Subiaco will appeal against last month’s verdict on a Supreme Court challenge to local government reforms.

Page 17: WA stone fruit growers are urging consumers to buy local as market forces threaten to drive them out of the industry.

Page 18: The boss of the world’s biggest airline has criticised other airlines for not buying more A380 super jumbos after Airbus hinted at closing the production line in 2018.

Business: Woodside Petroleum and its Browse joint venture partners have quietly agreed to begin detailed design and engineering work on their contentious floating LNG development, a move they hope will guarantee them retention leases over the massive gas and condensate fields are renewed.

WA is set to extend a bounty on wild dogs after more than 500 were killed during a 12-month trial aimed at saving sheep stations in the Murchison.

Thousands of investors in failed plantations group Great Southern face years of financial hardship under a controversial settlement approved by the Victorian Supreme Court yesterday.

At just 26, Perth-based digital entrepreneur Kohen Grogan’s client list already includes international brands such as McDonald’s, Thermomix and Pandora Internet Radio.