Morning Headlines

15pc GST would lift economy

The goods and services tax should be raised to between 15 and 18 per cent, the OECD said in a report that warns Australia is falling behind other advanced economies in lowering the tax burden on household incomes and businesses. The Fin

Sundance cuts jobs to save project

Sundance Resources managing director Giulio Casello yesterday said the drop in the price of iron ore had been far more rapid than anyone expected, as he announced job and pay cuts at the developer. The Aus

Woodside in $4.6b LNG deal

Woodside Petroleum chief executive Peter Coleman is eyeing more potential acquisitions in the depressed oil and gas sector after striking a $US3.75 billion ($4.6 billion) deal to buy Apache’s stakes in two LNG projects and a Western Australian oil field that will add future as well as immediate production. The Fin

Cost-cutting Atlas says talks still active

Discussions designed to secure an infrastructure solution for junior iron ore miner Atlas Iron remain on the table despite the dire iron ore price. The Fin

Darwin and Perth rental markets hit by weak data

Rental markets in Darwin and Perth have been dealt a devastating blow by the weakening job market and lower levels of mining activity, with vacancy rates in both cities jumping during November. The Fin

Ten battle delays AFL talks

Talks for the richest sports deal in Australian television history have been postponed until next year due to ongoing uncertainty surrounding the sale of potential bidder Ten Network. The Aus

The Australian Financial Review

Page 1: The goods and services tax should be raised to between 15 and 18 per cent, the OECD said in a report that warns Australia is falling behind other advanced economies in lowering the tax burden on household incomes and businesses.

Page 3: The $60 billion liquefied natural gas export boom in central Queensland is set to push up domestic gas prices and contribute to a 5 per cent annual fall in Australia’s gas consumption over the next five years.

Page 5: The working-age population will by 2050 have to pay close to double their own personal expenditure on health to support an ageing population if policy reforms are not made, a report finds.

Page 10: Supermarket chain Coles has no plans to ease up on discounting after admitting its treatment of more than a dozen grocery suppliers was “unacceptable”.

The telecommunications industry and competition watchdog have been asked to help develop conditions to prevent Telstra getting unfair advantages from NBN Co, following the completion of a deal on Sunday.

Page 13: Woodside Petroleum chief executive Peter Coleman is eyeing more potential acquisitions in the depressed oil and gas sector after striking a $US3.75 billion ($4.6 billion) deal to buy Apache’s stakes in two LNG projects and a Western Australian oil field that will add future as well as immediate production.

Page 15: Iron Mountain has threatened to end its pursuit of Recall Holdings after the document management company rejected a $2.2 billion conditional takeover bid from its American rival.

Executives from Glencore and Rio Tinto were among the crowd that gathered in Melbourne on Tuesday to listen to a rare presentation by the chairman of the Swiss mining and trading company, Tony Hayward.

Page 16: Australia’s banks are about to pay an estimated $412.5 million to the Reserve Bank to be able to access cash from the central bank in the event of a bank run.

Discussions designed to secure an infrastructure solution for junior iron ore miner Atlas Iron remain on the table despite the dire iron ore price.

Page 34: Rental markets in Darwin and Perth have been dealt a devastating blow by the weakening job market and lower levels of mining activity, with vacancy rates in both cities jumping during November.

The Australian

Page 8: Excessive spending and unsustainable tax cuts have undermined the Abbott government’s strategy to return the budget to surplus, a vital goal given Australia’s dependence on foreign investment and vulnerability to commodity price shocks, the OECD has warned.

Australia Post will bring forward $41 million in payments to about 2900 of its licensees to help them cope with falling mail volumes.

Page 19: Talks for the richest sports deal in Australian television history have been postponed until next year due to ongoing uncertainty surrounding the sale of potential bidder Ten Network.

Page 20: James Packer’s Crown Resorts has revealed the next step in its online gambling strategy, striking a deal with bookmaker Matthew Tripp’s BetEasy business.

Page 21: A plan to hand over one third of Coca-Cola Amatil’s Indonesian arm to the US Coca Cola bottling giant in return for $US500 million ($608m) in fresh funding to underpin and accelerate its growth has been described as “fair and reasonable’’ to ordinary shareholders by the independent expert.

Page 22: Domestic gas use looks set to fall until 2019, according to a report that could renew debate over quarantining some of Australia’s energy supplies.

Page 23: Financial System Inquiry chairman David Murray has hit out at analysts warning that banks would be required to raise billions in fresh capital, saying they were wrong to include regional banks in their calculations and should “wait and see’’.

Page 25: Sundance Resources managing director Giulio Casello yesterday said the drop in the price of iron ore had been far more rapid than anyone expected, as he announced job and pay cuts at the developer.

The West Australian

Page 20: The State Government’s plans for ensuring a beefed-up City of Perth is not controlled by residential ratepayers should become clearer in the new year, with legislation to be introduced in the first sitting week of Parliament.

Page 22: In a big vote of confidence for south-of-the-river dining, the company behind the award-winning Print Hall began a $5 million transformation of the Applecross venue in August.

Page 33: The Barnett Government has been forced to slash petroleum royalty forecasts by more than half a billion dollars over the next 3 1/2 years due to the falling oil price.

Business: Woodside Petroleum says another six-month delay for the Browse floating LNG project is driven by a need to slice up to 20 per cent from development costs, and should not be seen as a diminishing commitment for the mega-venture off the Kimberley coast.

WA victims of the Timbercorp collapse are being urged to join a State beachhead against liquidators KordaMentha and ANZ.

Perth-based national property website Rent.com.au will become a public company today via a backdoor listing through a mining explorer.

After a record year in 2013, when CBD office buildings valued at more than $1 billion changed hands, 2014 has ended as one of Perth’s quietest years for investment sales.

Retailer Red Dot is continuing its rapid expansion, with WA-based national property syndicator Primewest set to build a stand-alone new store for the company adjacent to its Erskine Central Shopping Centre.